“Wait, what just happened? Are you mad because I monopolized Christina the whole time? I’m sorry. She took my arm and was showing me around. I didn’t want to be rude.”
“You’re fine, Lexi.” He ducked his head to figure out where to plug in the flash drive. When he stood back up, Lexi was right beside him, her eyes starting to brim with tears.
“Would you be more comfortable if I waited in the lobby? I don’t mind. I really shouldn’t be here, anyway. I’m just your assistant.”
His aloof posture immediately softened. He regularly dealt with snarling competitors, hostile businessmen, angry advertisers, but it appeared that a hint of misery in Lexi’s usually sparkling eyes could bring him to his knees. “Why do I keep making you cry?” He ran his hand roughly through his hair. “I’m sorry. I was being a jerk. I guess I got a little nervous. Please don’t go anywhere. I really do need you here.” He took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Lexi took a deep breath. Getting so weepy and emotional around him all the time only proved that his opinion meant way more to her than it should.
She wanted to do a good job, she wanted him to respect her and her abilities, but every time he shut down like that, Lexi took it personally. If she really wanted to be respected, she needed to stop crying, or Vincent would see her as the girl she had been, not the woman she had become.
To cover for her ridiculous behavior, Lexi tried to be snarky. “Did you get it all out of your system? The being nervous and being an jerk thing?
Because next time, I’m kicking you in the shins.”
“Do it, please.” He looked into her eyes and saw the tears had thankfully disappeared. “So are we good?”
“Well, I’m good, not sure about you, but you better be. I can hear Julian walking down the hall.” Lexi gave him a shove in the shoulder. “Loosen up, Vince.”
“I hate that name.”
“You let Maddie call you Vince.”
“That’s because she’s cute when she says it.”
Lexi put her hand over her heart and feigned sadness. “And I’m not cute?”
Rather than answer with words, Vincent’s eyes slowly traveled over her, lingering on the gentle curve of her hips and then her lips before returning to her eyes. She nervously fidgeted during his silent appraisal. When she didn’t think she could stand the quiet a second longer, Vincent gave her a slow and sexy smile. “You’re beyond cute.”
Just then the door flew open and Julian strode in, his booming laughter startling Lexi. She let out a tiny squeak and very conspicuously took three large steps away from Vincent. Julian paused and exchanged a quick glance with a grinning Christina.
“We interrupting something?” he asked.
Lexi’s cheeks flooded with color when she saw the knowing grin on Julian’s face. Vincent didn’t miss a beat. He strode over and tapped fists with Julian to say hello.
“Nope, we were just discussing beautiful women.” He took a quick peek back at Lexi, and then extended his hand to the two men who had followed Julian into the room. “I’m Vincent Drake.”
“Sal Irvin,” the man beside Julian said as he shook Vincent’s extended hand. “Julian and I’ve been friends since we were kids.”
“And now he’s my business manager. He’s one bossy son of a gun too. This guy here is Peter, my cousin.”
“I got all the good looks in the family.” Peter tipped his head in Lexi’s direction and grinned when she chuckled at his joke.
“Nice to meet both of you. Have you recovered from our game yet? Your ankle healed?” Vincent motioned to Julian’s left foot.
“Um, yeah. I limped around for a day or two, but it’s better now.” He shrugged his large shoulders and leaned against the wall.
“When were you limping? You’ve been fine,” Christina scoffed as she listened in on the last part of the conversation.
“It was sore. I twisted it while we were playing. That’s why I lost.” Christina rolled her eyes at Julian and shook her head. “Did you show Vincent my new toy?” Julian asked.
“No, I figured you’d want to do that yourself. That is, if your ankle is okay to walk on.”
Julian shook his head at Vincent. “Women. I’ll never understand them.” He motioned to the door. “Come on. Let me show you something before we do the presentation, if that’s okay. Then afterwards, maybe we’ll do a little two-on-two game.” The four men walked out, leaving Christina and Lexi giggling at the conference table.
“What’s the toy?” Lexi asked.
“The idiot just put in a basketball court outside, complete with the Sacramento Kings logo at center court. You don’t even want to know how much he had to pay for the right to use it.” Christina flipped through the packet that was sitting on the table, peeking at the information.
“Holy hell. He’s going to love this!” She jumped to her feet, hugging Lexi. “Come on, Vincent. Sell it, baby.” She held her hands up in a silent prayer.
“He will, don’t worry. He was amazing during the run-throughs. I think he’ll knock Julian’s socks off.”
“Good, he better. If I have to work with that creeper Reid, I’ll never forgive him.” The phone in the corner of the room rang. Christina excused herself and grabbed the receiver. “Stone designs. Can I help you?” Lexi watched her friend’s face wrinkle up with displeasure. “My name is Christina, and I’m Mr. Stone’s assistant. And you are?”
There was a long pause during which Christina’s brows furrowed. “Jade who? Is Mr. Stone expecting your call?”
No, no, no, it can’t be! Lexi screamed in her head and paled. What the hell is that psycho up to now?
“Well, Mr. Stone is about to start a meeting. No, he cannot talk to you first!” Christina said in a clipped tone, her irritation growing. “What about Vincent Drake?”
Oh my God! In a panic, Lexi began flapping her arms wildly to get Christina’s attention.
“Please hold,” Christina snapped into the phone before pressing her hand over the receiver to talk to Lexi. “This woman is nuts. She’s left three messages this week alone.”
“Jade, the model Jade?”
“According to her, she’s the supermodel Jade, and now she’s throwing Vincent’s name around left and right. You know anything about this?”