The photo must have been taken seconds after the pie hit the ground because the slice wasn’t anywhere in the shot. Lexi and Hope were beautiful, natural, with their hair flowing loosely over their shoulders and carefree smiles on their faces. In the background were Vincent and Jade. Vincent had a secretive smile and his eyes locked on Lexi, his face full of adoring wonder. Lexi felt her cheeks blush as she stared at the shot. Next to Vincent was Jade, the picture of trend-inspired perfection. Every hair was in place, her eyes lined and lips painted flawlessly, and yet she may as well have been invisible. Everything about Vincent’s body language showed how drawn he was to Lexi. Jade stood completely alone in the group.
“This?” Lexi squeaked out, holding a shaky finger at the screen. “What is it?”
“The new Marradesi campaign,” Vincent murmured as his breath left him. “This is it.”
Elizabeth turned around like a proud mama. “Good boy, you see it, right? Think big picture.”
“The power of natural beauty, inner beauty. Effortless perfection. Trends come and go, but bring out the beauty from within. So naturally beautiful that the men won’t even see the other women in the room, no matter how put together and made-up, only you. Not overdone or fake; real and true, just like the women who wear it. Perfect, just like you.” His eyes left the screen and went to Lexi, who was standing open-mouthed beside him.
“Yes,” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I think Paolo and Francesca will love it. In Europe they are the ‘it’ brand, known for being avant-garde, but I think here in the States they want to go in another direction.” Elizabeth got up and grabbed paper, and she and Vincent walked off to the table.
Lexi heard them talking, but her eyes stayed fixed on the computer screen in front of her as she studied the picture. She and Hope were laughing in the foreground, and Jade was lurking in the background, pissed off, big surprise. But Lexi couldn’t stop staring at Vincent’s face in the picture. He was looking at her, not her and Hope together, just her, like she was the only person on Earth.
Erik looked over his shoulder and noticed what Lexi was staring at. He put his hand on her arm. “The camera never lies. I know you can see it. He will too, someday.”
Tears welled into Lexi’s eyes but she refused to let them fall. “Sure, Erik,” she said, unconvinced.
“Really?” He arched his eyebrow and began flipping through more pictures that he had taken today. “Maybe you should look at the rest of these.”
There was one of Lexi and Madison in the garden. Over Lexi’s shoulder, there was Vincent, standing at the edge of the deck, watching her. There was another from when Lexi was making a plate for Robert, and Vincent watched her adoringly as she kissed Robert on the cheek. The last one was her sunbathing while Vincent was on the other side of the pool, peeking at her over the top of his newspaper. The look in his eyes was not playful or adoring, it was lustful and hungry, the way a man looks at a woman he wants in his bed.
“Now do you see it?”
Erik flipped to one last picture. It was the two of them standing against the rail of the deck, eating and laughing. Their bodies were touching, their faces turned toward one another. They were, in that picture, the perfect couple. “This is what I see when I look at the two of you.” Erik smiled. “And it’s beautiful.”
Lexi didn’t trust herself to speak, so she simply nodded. Then she heard Vincent call out to her.
“Lexi, I need you.”
· 27 ·
m onday morning, Lexi arrived at Hunter ready to work. They finally knew where they were going with the Marradesi account, and after numerous E-mails back and forth on Sunday, she and Vincent were focused and ready to work out the remaining details.
Jade had had a fit when she saw the picture that Elizabeth insisted be the focus of the campaign, and when Sean pointed out that at least she’d get to be in the print ad, she went storming to Vincent’s car. She stayed there and pouted until Vincent came out and took her home.
As Lexi poured herself a cup of coffee, Vincent snuck up behind her. “Lexi, I need you.”
“Jesus, give me a heart attack, why don’t ya? I swear I’m going to tie a bell around your neck.” She saw what was in his hand and nearly passed out. “What the hell is that?”
“This?” Vincent held up a poster sized blowup of Erik’s photograph. “It’s for the presentation boards.”
“Can’t we reshoot it with professional models?”
“Eventually, yes, but we’re in a crunch, so no, not right now. We use this and go with it. Once they sign as clients, we’ll talk about it, but I think you and Hope look absolutely beautiful. Besides, professional models would look too posed.”
Lexi stared at the picture again, trying not to focus on the way Vincent was looking at her in it. It was too much to take in. “Fine, but keep it in your office. That thing creeps me out.”
Laughing, Vincent went into his office to get settled in. Lexi began returning E-mails. There were quite a few for Vincent from Julian and Christina about the upcoming fashion show. This week was going to be a busy one for everyone at Hunter.
In the middle of the day, Vincent stuck his head out the door. “Lexi, when you get a minute, I need to talk to you about something important.” His teasing tone from earlier in the day was gone. It was all-business Vincent asking for her time. His features were tightly drawn, tension radiating off of him.
A sense of dread washed over Lexi. “Sure, give me a second to finish this up.”
“Actually, I need to speak with you now, and if that’s the Excalibur file on your desk, bring it with you.” He pointed at the pile of papers beside her hand and held the door open wide.
Lexi logged off of the computer, grabbed her desk keys and the file, and sat down on Vincent’s couch, waiting for the bad news. Her stomach dropped when he began pacing the room. Pacing was never a good thing where Vincent was concerned. When he sat down beside her, Lexi felt like she might throw up.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked.
“What?” Vincent was caught off guard by her question. “No, of course not.”
“Really, you can tell me, Vincent. I can take it. No need to sugar coat things. If I did something—”
Very abruptly, Vincent exploded. “Not everything is about you, Lexi.”
“Okay, thanks for biting my head off.” Lexi’s eyes threatened to fill with tears, but she turned her face toward the window so Vincent wouldn’t see.