“That one would be perfect for her,” Vincent quickly said with a wicked grin on his face.

“No, silly, this one is for you. Lexi’s allergic to feathers. She told me when she got here.”

Lexi smirked triumphantly across the table as Maddie planted the hat on top of Vincent’s head, the feathers falling in front of his eyes. The way the sunlight sparkled off the rhinestones that outlined the hat sent Lexi into hysterics. “Vincent, you look fantastic.”

“Keep laughing, Alexandra, keep laughing.” Vincent stole the bag out of Madison’s hand and dug through until he pulled out a hat. “This one is perfect for Lexi.” In his hand was a huge, floppy ten gallon hat. As Vincent placed it on Lexi’s head, she could barely see the table in front of her.

“Well, that’s usually Daddy’s cowboy hat for tea parties. But, sure, Lexi, you can wear it and be a cowgirl!” Madison clapped happily while Lexi pushed up the brim of the hat to glare at Vincent in all his feathered glory.

“I hate you,” Lexi hissed so only Vincent could hear her.

Vincent leaned in even closer, pretending to adjust her hat. “No you don’t.” He gave her a sinful wink that made her cheeks turn pink.

Lexi was saved from any more embarrassment by, of all people, Sean.

“Real pretty, Vincent,” Sean boomed from the doorway. “You got a nice dress to go with that hat?” He gave Anna a hug and shook Erik’s hand. “Did Vincent drink all the tea again?”

“Uncle Sean!” Madison launched herself into his outstretched arms. Sean swung her around in circles as her feet dangled above the ground. “We haven’t started yet. I was waiting for you. Look, I put extra cookies out because you’re always so hungry.”

“You’re the best girlfriend ever, Maddie.” Sean kissed her cheek while Erik choked on his ladyfinger.

“Girlfriend?” Erik choked. “She’s never dating. And if she ever tries, I’m doing target practice in the front yard, dressed in full camos, when the little bastard pulls into the driveway.”

Erik’s rumblings about phone calls from boyfriends made Lexi think of Jade and the awful phone conversation they’d had a few hours earlier. She had forgotten all about it with the excitement of the presentation, but now she was swamped with guilt for not confessing sooner. She lightly touched Vince’s arm.

“I have to talk to you about something.” Vincent’s smile immediately fell when he heard Lexi’s serious tone.

“I get the feeling it’s not going to make me happy.”

“No, there’s nothing happy about it; that’s for sure. But I need to explain—”

Vincent held up his hand and cut her off. “Is it a matter of life and death?” Lexi thought about it then shook her head side to side. “Then can we just talk about it tomorrow. I don’t want to ruin Maddie’s tea party by being in a bad mood.”

Lexi watched the sweet girl run around and pass out napkins to all her guests. She was thrilled to have them all there, one big, happy family. There was no way Lexi would ruin that for her, so she agreed to table her confession until later. But first thing tomorrow, she would tell Vincent everything and accept the fallout.

Madison clapped her hands as she skipped across the room. “I better get more cookies on the big plate thing. And I need to find a hat for Uncle Sean. It’s almost time to start. I’ll be back.”

Sean sauntered up to the table and took the empty seat between Vincent and Lexi. “So, the entire office is a buzzing about the two of you.”

“You should know better than to listen to the crap they spew about me in the lounge,” Vincent said as he leaned back in his chair, pretending to be unaffected by Sean’s jabs.

“I don’t know. This was kinda juicy gossip. I actually hope it’s true.”

Lexi didn’t even want to imagine what they were saying about her and Vincent spending the night together at the office. Between that and the blow up with Tony, the rumor mill had plenty of fresh fodder to work with. She was certain it must be some horrible lie that Tony had concocted, like Lexi was pregnant with Vincent’s love child and after his money. Then an even more horrible thought popped into her head—Jade. The unresolved conversation between the two of them could be the source of the gossip. And if it was Jade spreading the rumor, Lexi knew it would be more horrible than anything she could ever envision.

“I think you need to stay out of it, Sean,” Vincent growled.

“How can I stay out of it if I’m directly involved?” Sean asked, looking back and forth between Lexi and Vincent incredulously.

“Listen, we spent the night together working, Sean. Nothing happened. Yes, we slept on the couch toget—”

Sean’s raucous laughter interrupted Vincent’s speech. “I was talking about landing the Stone account, dude! What were you talking about? You slept together? Do you two have something to confess? I’m all ears!” He happily tapped his fingers on the table, anxiously awaiting more of the details on their night together.

Lexi wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole at that moment. She knew the mere suggestion that she and Vincent had slept together was insane. The only place he’ d ever want to sleep with me is in my overactive imagination. He has a gorgeous girlfriend; he’s an established member of the community and a brilliant advertising executive. Lexi understood that he was way out of her league. A tiny angel swooped in at that moment and saved her from her thoughts.

“Time for the tea party to start!” Maddie declared as she returned to the room with Anna, who was now wearing a sparkling silver halo and carrying a fresh pot of tea. Madison placed a large, flamboyant hat shaped like an overflowing fruit basket on Sean’s bald head.

“Come on, Maddie. Don’t you have a police man hat in there or a baseball cap, something less girlie? Lexi, want to trade?” Lexi happily shook her head no. Suddenly, the giant cowboy hat didn’t seem so ridiculous anymore.

Anna walked over to her husband and tossed Erik what appeared to be a dunce hat with large plastic ears attached to it. “Daddy, I found your Dopey hat!”

“Oh, goodie,” Erik said unenthusiastically. “I thought it was lost forever. Wherever did you find it?” He shot Anna a dirty look.

“Mommy found it in the garage. It must have got lost in there when you were playing with it,” Madison said as she filled the tiny cups on the table and began passing them out to her guests.




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