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“Justine Blake,” she drawls.
“Justine’s an old friend,” Xander informs me. Although he seems to have some trouble getting the word “friend” out.
“And she’s a new one,” the woman states. “How did you two meet?”
“None of your business, Justine,” Xander says politely, with a little steel in his voice. “Juliette and I will be leaving now.”
The woman pouts. “But we were still hammering out the technicalities with regard to the wedding.”
“And I told you to speak to the manager. Lots of weddings have happened in this hotel and they’ve never concerned me.”
She flutters her long lashes. “Maybe not, but I’m in charge of this one.” Then she looks at me like she’s just realizing I’m standing here. “Oh, right. Sorry to keep you out of the loop, dear.”
Dear?
“I’m a wedding coordinator. Specifically, I run my own high end, event planning company.”
Noted. Although absolutely unnecessary. She’s friends with Alexander Callahan. Obviously, that means her work involves rich people. She didn’t need to spell it out.
“That’s amazing,” I say dryly.
She raises an eyebrow. “And what do you do?”
“She’s leaving,” Xander cuts in before I can reply. “We both are. Goodbye, Justine, and good luck with the wedding.”
We both walk away from the woman. Xander doesn’t say a word until we’re in the elevators alone.
“So, she’s your friend?” I ask, trying to appear aloof.
Xander stares at me. It’s almost like he can read it all over my face that I’m a tiny bit jealous.
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean, not exactly?”
For a moment, I’m worried about the implication of them being more than friends. I haven’t seen any other women around Xander, so I assumed he was single, but it’s quite possible Ms. Blake could be something more to him.
“We dated once,” Xander informs me and I suck in a breath. “A long time ago.”
“How long ago?” I ask, because until five years ago, he was married and the timeline is starting to confuse me.
“About fifteen years,” Xander tells me.
I gasp. “How old is she?”
“She’s almost forty.”
“No way.”
Xander chuckles. “Yeah. Anyway, you remember how I told you one of my tattoos was for someone very much alive?”
I nod slowly.
“The tattoo sprawled across my chest. The Latin words,” he pauses.
Luctor et emergo.It translates to, “I struggle and I emerge.” I looked it up as soon as I could.
“I got it because of Justine.”
