“We’re friends, Hope, and that’s more than I ever thought I’d have with him. So, can I just be happy with that rather than have you plant seeds in my head that’ll only lead to more schoolgirl mooning? Been there done that, and it sucked.” Lexi wiped her hand back and forth on her pajama pants to dry it.
“But what if—”
“There’s no if. He’s my boss. The end.” Lexi walked back to the table and took a big sip of coffee. “I’m not wasting years of my life pining after Vincent Drake again.”
Hope wrapped her arms around Lexi’s shoulder and pulled her into a hug. “Honey, I don’t want you to waste a second of your life. You’ve already missed out on so much. But let’s be honest—your experience with men is … well, limited. I’m not saying the guy’s in love with you or that you’re going to get married, settle down, and have throngs of children all from one dance, but answer me this, how did it feel when he held you?” Lexi glared at her friend. “Really, Lexi. Did it feel awkward or uncomfortable, like he was invading your personal space and all you could think about was getting away from him? Did he smell bad, have an unsightly mole or excessive nose hair?” A small grin spread across her face as Lexi shyly shook
her head no. “So how did it feel to be in the arms of Vincent Drake?”
Lexi bit her lip and thought about it for a second. “Comfortable?” she offered as her best explanation.
“Comfortable is good. Like you belonged there.” Hope snickered when Lexi’s mouth fell open. “You can’t fight chemistry, Lexi. It’s a natural thing between a man and a woman, an attraction, if you will. You can’t fight nature.”
“Thank you for the speech, Dr. Ruth, and I hate to burst your bubble, but Vincent isn’t attracted to me. He’s my friend. I gave up my schoolgirl fantasies years ago. This is the real world. I need to live in that, not my head, and sometimes reality sucks. Being friends works for me. I’ll take that.
That’s enough.”
Hope eyed her friend suspiciously. “Is it? You’ve spent years of your life wanting him, and this might be your second chance with him. Something in the cosmos brought you two back together—chance, fate, destiny, whatever you want to believe. So are you going to try and fight for whatever this could become, or settle for friendship because it’s the safer option? Would being friends really be enough for you, Lexi?”
For the briefest second Lexi considered pursuing Vincent. Maybe Hope was right. The way he held her after he’d pulled her close to talk had felt more than friendly, but was that real, or simply her overactive imagination where Vincent was concerned? Fantasy versus reality. Could she trust herself to tell the difference? Probably not.
Taking a moment to put on a brave face, Lexi decided to let this dream die and finally smiled. “Friends is enough, Hope. It has to be.”
Monday morning, Lexi arrived at work earlier than usual because she had countless appointments to reschedule and contacts to follow up on after the gala. Vincent showed up at exactly the same time and stopped Lexi in her tracks by handing her a bagel with cream cheese and tall cup of coffee as they stepped into the elevator together. Surprised, Lexi wondered what she had done to warrant such a kind gesture.
“You’re here early.” Vincent smiled as she tucked her keys into her purse. “My boss, he’s a real slave driver, and I know he has a pile of calls for me to make so I thought I’d get an early start.” She took a bite of the bagel then held it out and offered it to him, just to see what he’d do.
His lip twitched in revulsion. “No thanks, I had some egg whites before I left my apartment this morning.”
Jade must have been there this morning, Lexi thought to herself. How someone as big as Vincent survives on rabbit food is beyond me.
Lexi wrinkled her nose. “Please tell me you tossed some cheese in there, maybe a few pieces of ham?”
“There’s nothing wrong with plain egg whites,” Vincent chided. “They’re a healthy breakfast, not like the carb-ball slathered in cream cheese that you’re enjoying this morning.”
“Hey,” Lexi’s mouth fell open as the elevator doors opened and they both stepped out, “you brought me this calorie packed carb-ball.”
“Only because I knew if I didn’t, you’d spend the morning eating those Peanut M&Ms you have hidden in the top drawer of your desk.” Vincent winked and held his arm out, ushering her down the hall toward his office, but Lexi refused to move.
“How did you know about my candy stash?”
Vincent innocently shrugged. “I needed tape and stumbled across your Willy Wonka drawer.”
She looked over at Leigh who was now covering her mouth to keep from laughing out loud as she watched the exchange.
“Keep your hands out of my drawers, buddy.” As soon as the words left Lexi’s mouth, she wanted to suck them back in, but it was too late. Blush flooded her cheeks, and Leigh actually snorted from behind her desk.
Vincent, however, kept a straight face, which made it even worse. “I’ll try and remember that, Alexandra.” The sultry tone of his voice washed over her, instantly electrifying her body.
Suddenly, she needed some space between her and Vincent. “If you don’t mind, I have work to do!” Lexi started to storm down the hall.
She didn’t get far before Vincent caught up with her and whispered in her ear. “You need more licorice, by the way.” Without waiting for her snarky comeback, he continued down the hall in front of her.
“You ate my licorice?” Lexi pointed an accusatory finger at him. “Mr. Egg Whites chowed a whole pound of licorice?”
Vincent stopped and turned unapologetically toward her. “The bag was open, so I’m sure it wasn’t a full pound, and yes, I ate them. Haven’t you ever taken a moment to read the packaging? It’s a fat-free food.”
Rolling her eyes, Lexi shoved her way around him, brushing against his chest as he blocked her path. A flash of him holding her immediately popped into her mind, but Lexi shook it off and continued to her desk.
She tucked her purse into her drawer, flipped open her laptop, and got ready to pull up Vincent’s schedule for the day. As her fingers flew over the keyboard, he sat down at her desk. The apprehensive look on his face took her by surprise.
“Hey, I’m sorry about earlier.” He ran his hand through his hair as he only did when he was nervous.