“What good is it going to do for you to go off half-cocked and basically let him know you’re aware of his bullshit? It will stop for a while, but you won’t ever figure out who here at Hunter is screwing you.” She squeezed his hand encouragingly. “Whoever this is isn’t very smart or subtle. I think we can flush them out pretty easily. Let me help you.”
Vincent removed his hand from hers and fell back into his chair, feeling like he had just been kicked in the stomach. Whoever this was had to be stopped, and surprising as it was, Jade was right. If he let his temper get the better of him, he would never be able to figure out the source of the leaks. “I need to think about how to approach this.”
An evil grin spread across Jade’s face. “No worries, baby. I have an idea.”
Lexi sat at her desk, trying to keep busy, but every few minutes she glanced at Vincent’s door, wondering what the hell was going on in there.
Jade had been visibly pissed when Lexi walked into Vincent’s office, and thanks to Lexi’s smart mouth, was even more infuriated when she left.
So much had happened, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Lexi and Vincent had a lot to talk about. She wanted to know exactly what his feelings were about her working with him on the Stone account. He might have thought it was a good idea yesterday, but maybe after sleeping on it he would regret the suggestion.
If that wasn’t enough to agitate Lexi, there was the lingering topic of the kiss. The topic didn’t feel closed, but what more could she even say about it? “Thanks for making me hot in all the right places with one kiss?” or even worse, “Kiss me again?” There was no way she’d ever be able to discuss the topic with him openly and honestly because to do so would reveal how much she cared about him. Once she did that, she would just look desperate.
There were times when the small touches they shared, their playful banter, the way his eyes darkened while he spoke to her, or the way they lingered on her lips made her think that maybe he felt something for her too. In those situations, she would get a glimpse into what it would be like to be loved by Vincent Drake, and it felt wonderful. She let herself imagine the two of them working together, side by side, and the connection that would grow between them. Their budding friendship could deepen and turn into something more, something she had only dared to dream about until now. The naughty part of Lexi wondered what would happen if she, for once, went after her heart’s desire.
While she waited for Vincent, she worked on everything that had piled up with her being gone the day before. She had just clicked open a message when she heard a familiar voice. “Hey, Lexi!”
Christina stood in the doorway with her long, auburn hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. Under her arm was tucked a shiny, black motorcycle helmet. Lexi found herself feeling genuinely happy for the first time that day.
“Christina, what are you doing here?”
“Are you telling me you didn’t get my E-mail?”
Blush flooded Lexi’s cheeks as she glanced over at the monitor. “I was home sick yesterday and have been running around like a lunatic since I walked in the door this morning. I was just about to check it now.”
“It was no big deal. I wanted to see if you were free for lunch.”
“Lunch with you, sounds fantastic.” Lexi desperately wanted to get away from the office and have a little girl talk with someone who might actually understand what she was going through.
“Well, it was supposed to be lunch with just me, however, when Julian found out I was having lunch with you, he wanted to come, and then when Peter heard,” she flashed Lexi a cheeky smile, “he wanted to tag along too. Something about wanting to see you again.”
Lexi couldn’t miss the teasing way she mentioned Peter. Christina was playing matchmaker.
“What’s with that?” Lexi asked, eyeing the helmet Christina had tucked under her arm.
“We brought their bikes. Ever been on a motorcycle before?” Christina smiled wickedly at Lexi, tapping her nails against the top of the helmet.
“Seriously? I think it’s just what the doctor ordered.” She glanced down at the clock. “I do need to talk to Vincent, though, before I go, or at least make sure I can get ten minutes with him when I get back.”
“No problem. Let me run downstairs and let the guys know. They can race to the pier and back. That should occupy them for a few minutes and let them get that need for speed thing out of their system.” Christina winked and took off down the hall toward the elevator.
Lexi tidied up her desk as she waited for Vincent to finish up with Jade so she could let him know she was leaving for a while. After five minutes, she was ready to risk interrupting them again when the door opened and Jade’s short mop of brown hair peeked out.
“I’m hungry.”
“I don’t work for you,” Lexi said, not even looking away from her BlackBerry.
“Fine, your hero Vincent’s hungry.”
“Has he suddenly been rendered incapable of speech?”
“I’ve just about had it with you.”
Lexi gracefully stood up from behind her desk and walked over to Jade with not a bit of amusement on her face. “That makes two of us.”
Before Jade could say anything, Vincent appeared in the doorway. “Jade, your phone’s ringing.” He stepped aside so she could retreat into his office, out of the way. “Hi,” he said to Lexi, closing the door behind him, and thereby muffling Jade’s gossip-mongering.
“Hi,” Lexi replied, for a second getting lost in his green eyes at such close proximity.
“I’m sorry about before.” He said it so fast, she almost missed it. Raking his hand through his hair, he sighed. “What I said before was …
inaccurate.”
“My head hurts, Vincent.”
“I know I hurt your feelings before, and that was not my intention.” He leaned his shoulder into the wall beside her.
“And what was your intention? Just tell me. I’m a big girl, I can take it.” Lexi steeled herself for his answer. Telling herself not to cry, she held her breath and waited.
“What I wanted to say was—”
“Lexi! Hey, Vincent.” Christina and Julian came down the hall with Peter right behind. “You ready to get lunch?”
Julian walked over and shook Vincent’s hand. “Hey, man, you mind if we borrow Lexi for a little bit? Tina wanted to take her to lunch, and Peter and i kinda decided to crash their girl time.”