The thought of letting him sit there and stew for a minute crossed her mind, but her kind heart won out and she let him off the hook. “It was candy, Vincent. I was just kidding. A joke.” His face remained serious as he stared at her as if trying to determine whether she was really telling the truth.
Lexi let out an exasperated sigh. “Scout’s honor.” She held up three fingers and put her hand over her heart. “I swear I was just teasing you.”
Finally, Vincent relaxed. “It won’t happen again.” He stood up and made his way to his office. “And if I didn’t tell you on Saturday, thank you for all your help, Lexi.”
She handed him a copy of his schedule. “No problem.” A blush slowly crept into her cheeks at his words of thanks.
He pushed the door to his office open and glanced back over his shoulder. “Oh, and thanks for the dance, too.” The wink that he gave her before he disappeared into his office nearly stopped her heart.
There was no way she could allow herself to think too much about what had just happened. Instead, she began working furiously, planning Vincent’s week, lining up the phone calls she needed to make, taking information down to productions so they could begin the research on the new prospects. She did everything and anything she could to not let her imagination run away with her and over-think Vincent’s words and actions.
It was almost noon before she came up for air and found herself sitting behind her desk with nothing to work on. Her peaceful moment, however, was soon interrupted.
“Lexi, Lexi, Lexi!” Leigh sprinted over to her with a bouquet of roses in her hand. She placed them on Lexi’s desk and stepped away, grinning widely.
“Wow, those are gorgeous.” Lexi chuckled as she ran her fingertips over the velvety buds. “Who sent Vincent flowers?”
“I’d like to know the same thing,” a voice sneered from around the corner. Jade appeared, overdressed and as snotty as ever. A grimace shadowed her face as she yanked a flower from the vase, twirling it between her fingers. “Red roses. How … unimaginative.”
“Give it back. It’s not yours.” Leigh yanked the flower from Jade’s grasp, and one of the thorns sliced deep into Jade’s finger. The yelp and loud string of profanities that came pouring out of Jade’s mouth attracted Vincent’s attention from behind his closed office door.
“What the hell is going on out here?”
Jade sucked on one finger and pointed at Leigh with an uninjured one. “Your phone girl decided to stab me. I think I need some antiseptic.” She sat down on one of the chairs and rummaged through her purse until she pulled out a bottle of antibacterial hand sanitizer and poured a dollop into her hand. She swore loudly as the alcohol in the sanitizer burned, and then held her finger out for Vincent to examine.
He gave it a quick once over and sighed. “It’s going to be fine, Jade. I don’t think you’ll lose the finger.”
Jade was furious at his flippant tone. “Do I need to remind you that I’m a model, Vincent? This body is what pays the bills. The last thing I need is to have it marred by imperfections.” She turned on Leigh. “I should sue you!”
Leigh ignored Jade and addressed Vincent. “Sorry, Mr. Drake. I was just bringing these flowers down here to—”
“Who sent me flowers?” Vincent yanked the white envelope from the beautiful bouquet and removed the white card inside.
“But, they’re—” Leigh stepped closer, but was silenced by Vincent’s hand in the air as he read.
He tucked the card back into the envelope, his lips set in a hard line. With a flick of his wrist, he held the card out to Lexi. “They’re for you, Lexi.” His voice was clipped.
She tugged the white square from his tight grasp and glanced down at it. The card was written in blue ink, and the instant she read it, she knew why Vincent was so agitated. The flowers were from David Reid.
Alexandra, Sorry we were unable to tango on Saturday due to your pompous employer. My offer still stands. Leave Hunter and join up with the winning team over at Reid. You won’t regret it. Until we meet again, David Reid, CEo (555) 277-4653
“Who are they from?” Leigh peeked at the note. When she saw the signature, she gasped. “No way.”
Jade reached up from her seat and snatched the card out of Lexi’s hand. When her eyes skimmed the paper, her fury matched Vincent’s. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Vincent cleared his throat, the scowl still planted firmly on his face. “If it’s not too much trouble, when you’re done ogling your flowers, could I bother you to do some work?”
His biting words shocked Lexi and Leigh both, and the two women exchanged a surprised glance. “S-sure. What do you need me to do?” Lexi asked.
He looked over at Jade, who was still scowling at the tiny, white card. “Jade looks hungry. Why don’t you grab us some lunch, and I’ll make a list of things that need to be done while you’re gone.” He leaned over and kissed Jade on the cheek.
Jade’s eyes lit up, and she rattled off her order. “I’ll take a salad of field greens with no blue cheese, ex—”
“Extra sprouts and a bottle of water. I think I got it by now, thanks. And Vincent will take the same, of course.” Lexi snatched her purse out of the drawer in her desk and glared at Vincent.
Jade rolled her eyes as she took Vincent’s outstretched hand. “Good help is so hard to find,” she sniped as they disappeared behind the office door.
“What the hell just happened?” Leigh asked as Lexi slammed her purse onto her desk.
“David Reid happened. Vincent hates him, and I just got a big bunch of flowers from him so somehow we must be in cahoots. That’s how Vincent’s paranoid mind works.” Lexi sighed and tucked the bouquet into a corner of the room, hiding it as much as possible. “Back to square one,” she sighed to herself as she grabbed her purse and tossed her jacket over her shoulders. “Stupid David Reid.”
Leigh wrapped a reassuring arm around Lexi’s shoulder as she led her down the hall toward the elevators. “Mr. Drake will snap out of it, Lexi. Just give him time.”
For the next few days, Vincent spoke very little to Lexi. Unless he was giving her an assignment or needed her to answer a work-related question, he stayed locked behind his office door or out of the office at meetings. He was short tempered and in a foul mood with everyone, especially Lexi. Things came to a head when he returned from a meeting with the people from Keller Pharmaceuticals. It obviously hadn’t gone well.