“Give me the good news first.” Hope ushered Lexi into her apartment and sat her down at the kitchen table.
“Okay, the good news. I managed to successfully complete all of Vincent’s mental Olympics for the day.”
“Good for you! Does the idiot remember who you are yet?” “No, he’s still clueless and that might not be a bad thing once you hear the bad news.”
“Lay it on me.”
“I cleaned his office.” Lexi rested her head on the table, her cheek pressing against the cool, polished wood surface.
“And that’s bad news, why?”
“Apparently, he doesn’t like people touching his things, which I didn’t know. I mean, he’s had me rooting around in his office for the last few days. But according to Sean, Vincent lives his life in an ‘organized state of chaos,’ and i just messed with that elaborately screwed up system. I’m in so much trouble.” Hope rubbed her hand over her friend’s back, trying to console her.
“You don’t know that for sure, Lexi. Maybe he’ll be impressed with the fact that you took the initiative.”
“I’ll be fired before my butt hits the seat of my fine Italian leather chair first thing Monday morning. I can kiss my onyx BlackBerry, laptop, and corporate credit card goodbye. I knew this would be a disaster. Honestly, only Vincent Drake could drive me absolutely insane like this, and I haven’t even spoken to the man yet. I feel like I’m in high school all over again, driving myself crazy over someone who doesn’t even see me standing right in front of him.” “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. But maybe it won’t be as bad as you think.” Lexi raised her head slightly and rolled her eyes. “Okay fine, your world is about to explode—so, you wanna get drunk?” Hope’s big blue eyes twinkled as she waited for an answer.
Lexi sighed loudly against the table top. “I thought you’d never ask.”
∙ 6 ∙
t he next day, Lexi’s BlackBerry remained eerily silent the entire morning, allowing the paranoia plenty of time to settle in. She was so fearful the phone was malfunctioning that she had Leigh call her three different times from her desk just to make sure it still worked and she hadn’t accidentally set it to silent. As Lexi sat at her desk, she wondered if Sean had called Vincent and told him what she’d done to his office. Had she already been fired, but no one had told her yet? As the day passed with no communication, Lexi thought she was going to explode from the crushing silence. She stared at her phone and waited and waited.
After pushing her lunch around on her plate for an hour, she returned to her desk and found new files stacked in a pile. The first one was for Maximillian’s, the most well-known car dealership in the entire bay area. They sold only the finest European imports. If it was outrageously expensive and fast, Maximillian’s was the place to find it. Apparently, Hunter was handling their new ad campaign after a vicious battle with Reid Inc. for the account. The first photo shoot was scheduled for early next week.
Lexi was completely engrossed in the brochure that she had found in the file. She flipped through the pages, admiring the sleek, colorful vehicles. Her father had instilled in her a love for fast cars and a deep appreciation for horsepower and all things muscle when it came to automobiles. She let out a wistful sigh over one of the new Ferraris, and then suddenly the hairs on her arm stood on end. Her head shot up when she realized someone was silently standing on the other side of her desk, looming over her.
“Can I help yo—” Lexi started, but all the air rushed out for her lungs midsentence. Her mouth went dry and fell open in absolute shock. Standing in front of her was the picture of perfection, Vincent Drake, in the very masculine flesh.
It may have been ten long years since she had last laid eyes on him, but she would have known him anywhere. And her foggy memory simply hadn’t done him justice. His face was even more handsome than she remembered. Time had not only made him look more mature and distinguished, but if possible, even more attractive. His olive skin was still flawless. The strong line of his jaw, the light stubble on his face, and his spectacular green eyes sent her heart sputtering into overdrive. His hair was more tamed than it had been back then, but it still made Lexi want to run her hands through it to feel the delicate strands tangle between her fingers.
With her mouth still gaping open, Vincent silently stood before her, his arms folded across his broad chest. His pristine Hugo Boss charcoal black suit hung off his defined shoulders. The crisp, dark gray shirt he wore underneath was accented by a solid, ebony tie. He looked like he just stepped off the runway in Milan with that model-look about him, complete with an expression of arrogant annoyance frozen on his face.
Lexi sucked in air slowly and began stammering. “Wh-what are y-you doing here?”
“This is the door to my office. I’m Vincent Drake. You must be Alexandra.” He stiffly extended his hand and frowned when he noticed the Maximillian file wide open, the papers spread out everywhere.
“I know it’s your office, Vincent. Sorry, I—I wasn’t expecting you until Monday.” Lexi stood up and began nervously scooping the things off her desk, gathering them neatly back into a pile, unable to look him in the eye.
“I wasn’t aware I needed to clear my travel plans with you.” Vincent brusquely reached down and grabbed his messages off the desk. “Is there a particular reason you were thumbing through the Max file?”
“I—I just wanted to be prepared.”
“Well, that really isn’t your concern, Ms. White. I need a cup of coffee, black,” he snapped, flipping through his messages.
The quick dismissal and “Ms. White” confirmed that even after seeing her in person, he had no recollection of her from high school. To him, she was just another unqualified person taking up space behind that desk, somehow destined to screw up his day just like all those who had come before her had done. The callous way he spoke to her proved that he expected her to fail, and to fail miserably.
Even with his boorish treatment, Lexi still thought he was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on, much to her dismay. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop the thundering of her heart or the blush that flooded her cheeks in his presence. Shyly, she glanced up and watched him read the messages. Everything about him was attractive—from the way his lush red lips moved ever so slightly as he followed the words across the paper to the exotic, spicy scent of his cologne. He had the dark and brooding thing down to an art form.