The Rock Star Next Door, a Modern Fairytale (9 page)

He’d expected Jessie to be mad at him, but
afraid?
He hadn’t counted on that angle.
“I’d hardly stalk you, Jessie. Especially after your brother threatened me with bodil
y harm with his gang of hoods--I mean--
band members.” 

Nicely Played.
Deflect the attention and outrage elsewhere.
Lex thought, surprised by his survival instinct as it kicked in to save his ass.

Jessie turned completely to face him, horror registering on her p
ale face.
“Jack threatened
you!
Oh my God
.
Lex, I am
so
sorry
.
” She gazed at the ocean again. She drew
up her knees
and hugged them to her chest. “I can’t take him anywhere anymore.”

Could they have possibly gotten off on a worse footing? Lex reached up to twist his earring. What should he say to convince her they were destined to be together?

Words
were useless
. Instinct took over. He removed his hand from
Ozzy
’s
sof
t coat to stroke Jessie’s back as she continued to stare out into the horizon.

“Sorry.
He’s a little over protective.”
Her cheeks were flaming with mortification.

“I understand.” Lex whispered, brushing
a
stray copper
tendril behind
her ear. He wanted to kiss her, badly, but things were tangled enough at the
moment. “If I had a
beautiful
, famous
sister, I’d be wary of guys, too, especially in this town.”

“I asked him this morning what he was talking to you about so privately, and he said he couldn’t remember. The damned liar
.
”

“It’s pos
sible he doesn’t.” Lex inched
closer to her. “He was drinking
Kamikazes
, and snorting coke.”

Jessie stared at him, the hurt multiplying in her eyes at his words. “I’m sorry.” She stammered.
“He’s getting out of control.
Steve and I have been trying
to get him to quit using.”
  T
ears g
listened in her lovely green
eyes.
“I’m sorry if he offended you.”

“He didn’t.” Lex responded.
  

Words were useless, he told
himself, slowly leaning forward to taste her pink lips. Jessie was startled, but not for long as she returned his gentle caress. He wanted the embrace
to go
on forever
. Her lips were soft, compelling, intoxicatin
g, like sweet summer
wine.
Patience
, he told himself,
pa
tience
.
He’d been too zealous,
too forceful.

With reluctance, he ended the kiss, encouraged by the response he’d found in her after all that happened last night.  “Can we start over, Jessie?”

“Th
at depends.”

“On what?” Lex tried to look innocent.

“On you
.
No more media coverage on our
dates. Just you and me;
no Rub
y Star, no cameras, no more shocking
announcements
.
”

“I think I can restrain myself.”

“You aren’t sure?”

“I’ll do my best
.
” Lex promised, giving her the old boy scout salute. “I’ll even join limelight anonymous, if they’ll take me
.
”

“I mean it. No public dates, not for a while.
We couldn’t
even have
lunch at McDonalds right now without the vultures
claiming I’m expecting your
child by gauging how much food I o
rder. Underground and incognito
or it’
s over.”

Chapter Six

In the following week Jessie saw Lex nearly every day
. He called her in the morning, and they made plans together. The day f
ollowing their talk they went
on a secluded picnic in
a private shoal
overlooking the
Malibu shores
.
They walked the beach hand in hand, made a sand fortress and watched the waves slowly devour it.

Lex was fun to be with. He was a mix of hot damn sexy,
in
furiating courtesy, and plain goofing around fun. Last night they met at
his place and ordered pizza. Lex had
a passion for
old
classic
movies. 
Bogart
was
a favorite. So was
Carey Grant. They watched
Casablanca
and
Arsenic and Old Lace
. It was a relaxed evening compared to the
media circus event at Kyra’s engagement party. They sat together on
his
plush
sofa
in his home theatre. Lex was relaxed, low key as he put his arm about
Jessie and pulled her close.

Jessie sighed at the m
emory. An entire week of dating and there were
no wrestling matches between them
no insistent demands.
Just
companionship; a few
parting
hugs, a brush across her temple passing for a
light
kiss, a squeeze of her hand. Only his eyes b
etrayed his desire, giving Jessie
sultry, magnetic gla
nces and caressing her
with a patience she’d never known a man could possess.  She found his quiet presence deeply sensual, more erotic than the usual bear pawing she’d come to expect.  He exuded a powerful sensuality that didn’t need adornment, an invisible aura that made her want him to kiss her, to wrap her in a passi
onate embrace. His reluctance
to carry out her secret desires became a powerful aphrodisiac.

Today, they were going to LA, in disguise. It sounded fun. Lex confessed that he did it on rare occasions when he wanted to get out around real people without
being recognized as a s
t
ar. Jessie went across the beach and knocked at
his patio
door
.

“Are you ready?” He took her hand
and led her
upstairs and
into his bedroom. Laid out carefully on th
e bed were an assortment of wigs, glasses,
hats, a
nd odd clothing, ranging from
old fart to a punk rocker with resplendent green or bl
ue hair.  Jessie took it all in
and then
turned to give him a puzzled
look.

“First, what’s your pleasure
?” He grinned. “The Tar Pits, the
Hard R
ock Cafe on Hollywood Boulevard
or the
Museum of Contemporary Art?”

“I’ve seen the tar pits
and the H
ard Rock doesn’t do anything for me
. I want to get away fro
m the Rock lifestyle
. Maybe something
more tourist like, something every day,
anyone would do when visiting California
.”  Jessie picked up a long black wig, fingering the coarse ma
terial beneath it. “This is
like Halloween
.
”  She giggled.

“Been to Disneyland?”

“No. W
ho has time between the recording studio, interviews, phot
o shoots and touring. When we had
time, early on, we didn’t have the money.” Jessie pulled o
n the wig, and turned around to look
in the mirror.  She looked like a very pale Cher.

“Well, today’s the day.
” Lex concurred. “That will do the trick
.
If we camouflage that fiery hair, we’re golden.
”
He nodded approvingly at her reflection
.

“What are we going as
drag queen drop-outs?”

“As tourists, my sweet. Common
folk.”  He held up the worn bib overhauls he intended to wear. “From Tennessee.” He drawled with country style abandon. “I’ll be right out.” He disappeared into the bathroom.

Jessie
shook her head.
This was wild and crazy
. But she liked it.
She removed t
he wig and secured her hair into a tight
bun at the back of her neck. She re
turned the black wig to her head and
frowned
at the affect
. Her eyebrows were
still
reddish blonde.  “Do you have a black eyebrow pencil
?” She asked, cringing at the very idea. You’d think she was datin
g Marilyn Manson, not the artist who relied
only
on
sexual lyrics and seductive stage antics to gain
his
notoriety
.

“Yes.
” T
he muffled reply
came
from the bathroom.
“It’s in here.”

Jessie star
ed at her Gothic Lolita reflection with horror
. 
Do I really want to know why this man has makeup and dresses in his closet?

The bathroom door opened slowly. Lex, at least
Jessie knew it
was Lex
beneath the country hick who emerged
, s
huffled out. His
hair was in a ponytail, pinned up about his head like an old
librarian’s bun. He had applied
an au
thentic looking
goatee and mustache.
The white T-
shirt and w
orn bib overhauls completed his
costume, giving
him a completely different appearance
. H
e could be a field worker or
a country boy
mechanic to the unwary passerby.
His
black boots had been replaced with tan
lace up
work boots. 

“Well, sweet t
hing, are you ready?” He said
playfully in a false southern accent.

Jessie raised her eyebr
ows. “Do we have to drawl? I don’t think I can
do that all day without screwing up.”

“No
, we don’t
.
But it’s fun.” He laughed, genuinely amused. “We do need to use different names
in case the paparazzi gets a clue. Call me Al
ex. It was my nickname growing up. Now, let’s see . . . ?” He stared at her thoughtfully while stroking
the
fake hair on his chin. “Kelly--today you’re just plain Kelly. He
moved to the closet and took out a knee brace and cane, throwing them down on the bed. 

“This is incredible.” Jessie could only watch
him
with awe.

“Try this dress. He
suggested, lifting up a light calico floral
jumper from the back of his closet, “Or are you worried about
appearing too
out
of fashion
?”

“No
.
” Jessie huffed
. “Of course not.”  She took the jumper from him and went into his bathroom to change. When she came out, he was sitting on the bed with his pant leg rolled up as he strapped the leg brace on. Finished,
Lex rolled
his pant leg down over the knee brace. “Are you ready?” He smirked
, obviously pleased
. 

“How often do you dress up as a
woman?”

“
I n
ever have. I just like to have lots of options on hand in case I
have female accomplices
.
Mom
shops the second hand stores
in Phoenix and sends the stuff to me
.”
He edged past her carefully with his leg stiffened by the brace, slowly maneuvering his cane down the stairs. Jess
ie followed him. “The cosmetics came
f
rom a friend who works at universal studios in makeup
.” 
He slapped a white straw hat on his head as he spoke.
H
is cowboy hat hid his long hair, making him look quite conventional and clean cut. S
he noticed
his earring had been removed. Lex
was completely transformed into a farmer.

She lifted the baggy
skirt hanging loosely in front of her ab
domen. “I think this is
a maternity dress.”