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"Who?" Eric said, his face changing. He glanced at me. "You mean Alexandria?"
"Lexi, Alexandria, whatever. I mean Luke's new date. Quite the looker, isn’t she?"
Eric seemed upset and nodded quickly. "Yes, we met. Luke introduced us earlier." Then, he changed the subject. "How are you John? How's business been treating you?"
He had a nervous smile and I wondered what the heck was going on between the three men. Dana turned to me and smiled. "Don't you hate it when men talk about us like we're not actually here?"
"Oh, really?" I said, laughing nervously myself. "I didn’t notice."
"Well, what if I said something like, gee, doesn't Luke have nice pecs? He's quite buff, don't you think? Do you think these guys would like it?"
I frowned, not really wanting to get into any kind of controversial discussion.
"Oh, sorry, Dana," John said, a hand over his heart. "My bad. I was just so taken with Luke's new escort for the night that I lost my mind."
A really super weird vibe passed through the guys. Was John deliberately trying to out me as an escort? Why did he mention the word escort? Why was Eric's face so white and why was he pulling Dana closer?
"We really must mingle," Eric said quietly and started to lead Dana away from us. "Come along, darling," he said and leaned down to kiss Dana on the cheek. "We should go say hello to your mother."
Dana smiled at me before she left. "Nice to meet you Alexandria. That's such a pretty name. Very exotic."
"You can call me Alexa," I said.
"I hope we see you again," Dana said, eyeing Luke, narrowing her eyes. "Luke, you should bring Alexa to the beach house some weekend. Remember, we're having our annual family meeting in two weeks and there'll be lots of people there. I'm sure everyone would be glad to meet her."
"I plan on it," Luke said and squeezed me, his arm slipping around my waist. "As long as Lexi's free. She has exams, so…"
Then, Dana and Eric walked off, leaving me alone with Luke and John.
"So, what's the deal, Alexandria," John said, putting emphasis on my name, his blue eyes narrowed. "Tell us who you really are. You're not Lexi. Are you one of the other escorts at the agency?"
"I, I…" I stuttered, unsure of what to say. "I'm not from the agency."
"What?"
I looked at them both and took a step back. "I'm so sorry. I got your email by mistake and, well," I said to Luke, shrugging. "I went along just to see who you were. Then, I got too far in and couldn't find a way to bow out gracefully."
Luke glanced away, and I could see a muscle in his jaw twitch.
"Who the hell are you, then?" John said.
"I'm Alexandria Dixon. I'm an MA student in Political Science at Columbia."
"How did you get Lexxi911's email?"
I made a face. "I got Luke’s message in an old email mailbox I used when I worked for 9-1-1 as a relief operator. My friend and I, we thought it would be fun to play along. See who it was with an alias like Mr. Big Shot 69." I glanced at Luke who wasn't looking at me. Instead, he was clearly angry, his face dark. "I mean, what grown-up uses an email ID like Mr. Big Shot 69?"
"Oh, that?" John said with a laugh. "Let me tell you about Mr. Big Shot. He's been in business practically since kindergarten."
"John…" Luke said, giving John a deathly look.
John wasn't fazed. "No, I swear. He used to get all these comic books that he didn’t like. You know – Archie and Veronica, Scooby Doo. He sold them in public school. Then, he moved up to graphic novels. He had enough money saved up from selling used stuff that he started an online business when we were in high school. We called him Mr. Big Shot because he bought a really cool car when he turned sixteen with his own money made from his business. The name stuck."
John clapped Luke on the back, smiling at him. "Isn't that right, Mr. Big Shot?" John turned back to me. "As to the 69 part? Well,” he said and grinned. “I’ll leave that to your imagination."
He smiled so broadly I couldn’t help but smile to myself. I turned to Luke, who was frowning.
"I thought your family was really rich. Why were you selling used comics?”
