Jade was stuffed into a dress that was too short and too ugly for words. The sides of her black kimono-style dress had huge cutouts at the hips which drew the eye to her pasty, sun-starved flesh. As they were being photographed, her arms wrapped around Vincent so tightly that Lexi wondered if he was even able to breathe. From the uncomfortable look on his face, he wasn’t enjoying himself nearly as much as the radiantly unstable woman beside him was.
Flash after flash went off in his face until he could hardly see through all the spots in his vision. When he couldn’t stand the charade a second longer, Vincent stepped away from Jade and the cameras with a scowl, letting her continue to whore herself to the photographers alone. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited, his eyes scanning the crowd to pass the time. It only took him a second to find Lexi among the masses. He could have found her anywhere. The dress that Julian gave her fit like a glove, accentuating her curves in a simple but sexy way. Her hair with is brilliant caramel highlights spilled over her shoulders in big, loose curls. Nothing on her was overdone or screamed “look at me,” yet she had his complete attention, as always.
“Smile, Vincent.” Jade slithered back to his side and beamed her whitened teeth at the crowd. “I don’t want you to look like you’re having an enema in all the pictures.”
An enema would probably be more fun.
In need of a distraction, Vincent peered into the sea of people and found Lexi again. When her eyes locked on his, he smiled. Even though things between them had been strained over the last week at work, the bottom line was she made him happy. He couldn’t explain it and wasn’t even going to try. All he could do was enjoy it and hope it would last.
“Much better.” Jade kissed his cheek, not out of affection, but to give the paparazzi yet another picture. When the flashbulbs subsided, she hissed a warning in his ear. “And if you don’t stop staring at your little pet, I’m going to cram her into a very small cage.” Vincent opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him. “If you think I’m blind to the way you look at her you’ve got another thing coming, Vincent. I’m not stupid. We haven’t had sex
in weeks.”
“You’ve been traveling.” Vincent kept a blank look on his face, not wanting to give her any emotion to attack. “And you’re exaggerating.”
“Do I need to remind you that in the past when I would come home from a trip, we’d spend the next two days in bed? Now I’m lucky if you remember to send a car to pick me up at the airport.” Jade kept her perfectly poised façade through the entire conversation, not allowing the volatile subject matter to change the expression of the fabricated bliss on her face. “As if all that wasn’t enough, the most physical you get with me around her is a quick peck on the cheek as I leave.” Her ice blue eyes were as frigid as an Arctic glacier. “You need me, Vincent. Don’t ever forget that.”
They caught up with his family, and he welcomed the distraction from Jade’s ranting. This close, he could get a better look at Lexi too. She stayed off to the side with Hope, looking even more uncomfortable when Vincent smiled at her. He felt guilty for everything. For kissing her, for allowing his emotions to get the better of him, for wanting her beyond all reason while he was still ensnared in Jade’s world, and most of all, for not protecting her from him and his baggage.
“Vincent.” Elizabeth grinned as she turned and saw her son for the first time. “There you are. Look how handsome you are tonight.” She glanced over at Jade. “Good evening, Jade. My, is that a new tattoo? How … lovely.” Elizabeth pointed at the black symbol that was peeking out of one of the cut outs in her dress.
“It’s a Tahitian symbol.” Jade proudly thrust her hip toward Robert so he could take a gander.
“Ten bucks says it’s the Tahitian symbol for slut,” Hope mumbled to Lexi and Anna.
Snickering, Lexi stepped away, needing to put some distance between herself and Jade before she said something she’d regret. She didn’t get more than a few steps before she ran into someone. “Oh, I’m sor—” Her apologetic tone immediately turned snippy when she saw who it was. “Oh, Vincent. It’s you. Please excuse me.” She turned to walk away, but he took a hold of her elbow and refused to let her move from his side.
“Lexi, I—I just wanted to say—” He released her arm and raked his hand through his hair, struggling to find the words. “You look beautiful tonight.”
“Thank you.” Lexi instinctively smoothed out the front of her dress. “You look nice too.”
“Thanks. Listen, Lexi, I wanted to talk to you abou—”
“Hey!” A voice suddenly called from the crowd. “Mr. Drake! Vincent, can we get a picture of the two of you?”
“Would you mind?” Vincent asked, tentatively reaching out for her hand.
Not wanting to make a scene, Lexi acquiesced and slipped her hand into his, relishing the warmth of his palm and the strength with which he held onto her. They took their spot before the crowd, and as the cameras were about to start snapping, Jade slithered over.
“Baby, there you are,” she crooned and stepped into the picture, uninvited. Blubs flashed as Jade struck her latest outrageous pose on one side of Vincent, sandwiching him between herself and Lexi.
“Who are you wearing?” one of the people in the crowd shouted out.
“A new designer, Fredrique.” Jade gave them a slow spin. Her arms were thrust up over her head to show off the fabric equivalent of Swiss cheese.
“Like Fredrick’s of Hollywood?” someone yelled out, causing the crowd to erupt into laughter. The cameras flashed even more when Jade’s face showed her fury. “Jade, step aside. We want a few of just Vincent and Alexandra.” The photographers’ hands frantically waved her away.
“Alexandra, who are you wearing?”
“Julian Stone. His private collection.” The shutters on the photographers’ cameras clicked with insane speed, and each of them made sure to capture a shot of Lexi in one of Julian’s rare pieces of women’s clothing. All eyes were on Lexi as she stood there, the center of attention. Livid, Jade released Vincent from her grasp and sulked off into the background, seething as she watched her boyfriend wrap his arm around Lexi, who snuggled against his chest.
The crowd suddenly began screaming and pointing at the other end of the red carpet, excited into a near frenzy. As the crowd parted, two figures emerged—Julian Stone and Christina.