“How—and when—did that end?” he asked.
“Three years ago. My friend’s father helped me out.”
“Rubi?” he asked.
She nodded. “Her father is—”
“Rudolpho Russo?” he guessed.
Her gaze darted back to his. “How’d you know?”
“The Ferrari, her looks, Russo, LA,” he said. “Doesn’t take a genius.”
“Rubi’s amazing,” Lexi said. “She’s the best friend I could ever have. We met modeling and have been close ever since. She’s nothing like her father. Though, he came through at a terrible time for me, so I can’t say anything bad about him.”
“Did your modeling lead you to fashion?”
“No. All my money from modeling went into this”—she waved her arm toward the rest of the room—“until it grew big enough to support me.”
“How did you get started?”
A distant look came into her eyes, a small smile on her lips. “I used to get hand-me-down clothes from a local church. Really ratty stuff. The kids at school were pretty brutal, and I learned early to do what I needed to do to mesh. So I used to take the charity clothes, rip them apart, and put them back together in a way that either looked like everyone else’s or in a new, trendy style.”
“Why wedding dresses?” he asked. “Are you a closet romantic?”
“Hardly. I’ve been through too much for that. But when I was young, I was infatuated with fairies and princesses. I thought I was born to live in a castle. I think it was my way of escaping reality. I guess I never really grew out of it, because I love everything ethereal and sparkly and feminine. Those have become signatures of my work.”
She ran her hand over his chest. “Tell me about you. Where did you work today?”
“Desert. Riding bikes.”
She lifted one brow. “Bikes?”
“Motorcycles,” he said with a grin.
“Fun?”
“Hella fun.”
She laughed.
He caressed her cheek. “Your eyes sparkle when you laugh, and that dimple makes me want to do crazy things to you.”
Her smile softened. Her eyes grew heavy lidded with a look that made his cock ache. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“Very. Are you working in the same place the rest of the week?”
When his mind veered, Jax’s grin fell. “No. I’m there tomorrow, but have to jump on a flight right after for Idaho.”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed. Jax was disappointed too. “What are you doing there?”
He was already trying to fit one of his other guys into the shoot, but none of them had the experience. “Couple days of rock climbing.”
“For fun?”
“For work. Same thing. But I’ll be back Saturday early.”