She stood in front of Vincent and retold every bullet point, every angle and opinion printed on the notes in front of him. Never once did she have to refer to the papers for information. She spoke from memory and from her heart. She even added a few things that popped into her head while she was talking, and Vincent made note of them. She transitioned from corporate history to current market trends and called attention to the pertinent details in the print ad.
She held her back straight, her posture confident, only giving away her nervousness by occasionally twirling a piece of hair around her finger.
Vincent seemed mesmerized throughout her speech, and Lexi could feel his gaze on her lips as she spoke. At one point she stopped presenting to discuss a certain point with him, wanting to understand why he had included it. After talking about it for a few moments, she had a better grasp on his thinking, and jumped back into the presentation. When she finished, Vincent was speechless.
“Vincent?” Lexi asked, watching and waiting for some sort of reaction. Her stomach knotted, assuming he was just trying to figure out how to break
it to her gently so she didn’t fall apart. “Okay, just tell me what I did wrong on my parts so I can work on it before tomorrow. If I can’t, then we can tell Elizabeth it didn’t work out. I’ll pretend to get sick or something, maybe laryngitis.”
Vincent stood up and came around the front of the desk to where she was standing. Sitting on the edge, he tried to look like a hardass, but then the corner of his mouth twitched.
“You were superb.”
Lexi’s eyes rolled, her hands planting on her hips. “Just give it to me straight. Don’t blow smoke up my ass. The truth, Vincent.”
He folded his arms across his chest and paused. “The truth is you were fantastic. You twirled your hair when you were nervous, and you turned your back too much when you referred to the ads, so work on that. You also added things that weren’t in the bullets, but they’re included now because they were spot on. I couldn’t take my eyes off you when you were up there. You were charming and engaging, and I think you’ll have not only Paolo, but also Dante eating out of your hand. You were that good.”
Lexi didn’t even try to hide her shock. Her mouth gaped as his words ran in a continuous loop in her head. She had impressed him, Vincent Drake, the most captivating man in any board room, to the point that he felt comfortable standing beside her during one of the biggest pitches of his professional career. He was saying something. She could see his lips moving, but Lexi couldn’t tell for the life of her what he said because millions of thoughts rushed around in her head at the speed of light. When his lips stopped moving, Lexi tried to speak.
“S-say that again? I’m hallucinating, or maybe this is an alternate dimension. I feel like I stepped into the Twilight Zone in this building today.”
The tiny spark of excitement began to grow as Lexi considered what a huge opportunity it would be to have her name linked with this account if their presentation was accepted. But then she remembered what Elizabeth said earlier at breakfast about what a huge account this was for Hunter. Lexi couldn’t risk her inexperience jeopardizing everything.
“Perfect. I’m so proud of you, and I meant every word I said. I think you’ll be wonderful.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers sweeping over her cheek and lingering down the side of her neck.
Before she could stop herself, Lexi nuzzled the side of her face against his hand and allowed her body to lean against his. When she felt his arm wrap around her waist, she jumped, realizing the emotional turmoil she was causing herself as alarms started going off inside her head. She wasn’t anywhere near ready to do this with him. It would be too easy to say the hell with it and fall into his waiting arms, as she had dreamed of so many nights alone in her room, but her wounds were still too raw. Every moment she spent around him helped heal the ache a little, but she didn’t know if her heart could stand the unknown with him anymore.
“I can’t do this with you, Vincent.” Lexi stepped back, putting some distance between them.
“We belong together.” There was no doubt, no question in his voice, as he said the words, only utter certainty.
“We’re attracted to each other, but a future is another thing all together. A future requires faith and trust, two things that I’m afraid you’ve shattered.”
He winced at her harsh words, even though her tone was kind as she said them. “I know you’re trying. I can see the effort you’re making. I’m just not sure if it should be this much work. Maybe we just aren’t meant to be long term.”
“But Lexi—” She held up her hand and stopped him.
“I can’t go there with you now. It took every ounce of my courage to walk into that restaurant and face you this morning, but I did it. The only reason I’ve made it through these last few hours, locked in this office with you, is because we’ve kept it all business, but talking about the future and my feelings, I can’t do that. I know my limits.” She grabbed his hand and held it over here heart so he could feel the wild thrashing in her chest and the sweat on her palms. “I can’t do this right now. If I try, I’ll end up in tears, and I am done crying over you. Done.”
Lexi turned on her heel, letting Vincent’s hand slide from her chest and slam lifelessly into the side of his leg as he watched her gather her things.
“I’m not running away from you. Please know that. I’m just putting myself first for a change, and I hope you can respect my choices. Good luck with the presentation tomorrow, I know you’ll do a fantastic job. I’ll call Elizabeth and explain that I need a few days off. I need to clear my head and get away from here.” She looked over her shoulder, needing to see him one more time so she could take every detail of his face with her wherever she ended up. “We’ll talk when I get back. I promise.”
Lexi sat at her kitchen table, a bowl of Captain Crunch with extra milk in front of her as she started to unroll the Friday issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. She began scanning the headlines and stopped mid-crunch when she saw another picture of Vincent on the front page. All of the outside scrutiny on Lexi played a big part in her needing to take a few days off to get her head screwed on straight before she made any decisions about Vincent. She wanted to let the drama blow over so she could think and breathe again.
Despite Elizabeth’s reassurances, she still worried about the Marradesis’ reaction to this whole situation. Their public image meant everything to them, and they were very careful about business entanglements. If Lexi showed up, giving part of the presentation to such a high profile client with as little experiences as she had in the industry, it might look even worse for Hunter. For all of these reasons, Lexi had become more confident in her decision to bow out of the presentation. She would stay at home and wish Vincent well. He didn’t need her help.