“He’s even more handsome in person, just so you know.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Lexi said so low that Leigh thankfully missed it. She shook her head and gathered herself. “Well, it’s good to have a face to go with the name.” Lexi glanced over her shoulder at the disarray that was his desk. I’ ll have to get on that tomorrow. There’s no way he can find anything in there.
With her hand on the light switch, Leigh asked, “You ready to go?”
Lexi stole one last look at Vincent’s picture and without warning felt her pulse race through her body as she joined Leigh at the door. “Yeah, it’s been a long day. And I for one definitely need a drink.”
Hope sat at the bar, watching a baseball game on the large screen plasma TV that hung on the wall. She was swirling an olive around at the bottom of her martini glass when Lexi claimed her spot on the stool beside her, slamming her purse onto the bar and barking at the bartender.
“Vodka, neat. Make it a double.”
“You okay?” Hope looked over at Lexi, stunned to hear her drink order, but was even more shocked when the bartender handed her the drink and Lexi downed it in a single gulp, then ordered another.
“Long day,” Lexi hissed as the alcohol burned down the back of her throat.
“What happened?”
She threw her head back and laughed. “What happened? I’ll tell you what happened.” Lexi slammed the second drink, then stared Hope dead in the eyes. “Two words: Vincent Drake.”
Hope’s mouth curved into a perfect O as her eyes almost bugged out of her head. “The Vincent Drake? From high school? No way.” But Lexi nodded her head in confirmation. “Where did you bump into him?”
“On the twenty-third floor.”
“He’s a client of Hunter? I bet that was weird. How’s he look? Does he still have all his hair?” Hope winked as she popped the tiny, green olive into her mouth.
“He’s not a client, Hope. He’s … he’s my new boss.” Lexi nodded at the bartender for another drink.
Hope began choking on the remaining bit of olive in her mouth. “You’re working for the guy you were hopelessly in love with in high school? This is unreal.” She studied Lexi and saw her with the drink at her lips. “Oh my God, what are you going to do?”
Lexi slammed her empty glass back onto the bar top and grinned. “Quit!”
· 5 ·
l exi’s alarm started blaring at six a.m. sharp. With her mouth feeling like it was full of sawdust, she cracked open one eye just wide enough to see the irritating contraption and hit it with her fist, sending it crashing to the floor. The body beside her moaned.
“Shh, sleeping,” a raspy voice growled into the pillow.
“Shh, head hurts,” Lexi whispered in response.
“Maybe you should lay off the vodka next time.” A hand patted Lexi roughly on the head. “It makes you do crazy things, darlin’.”
Lexi groaned and rolled over, coming face to face with her bedmate. “You snore.”
“I do not!”
“Hope, trust me—you snore like a hairy wildebeest. I think that’s half the reason why my head hurts so much this morning.” Lexi pressed on her temple in an effort to relieve the throbbing.
A feather pillow smacked Lexi square in the face. “Your head hurts because you drank half a bottle of vodka in less than an hour, just because your new boss happens to be a hunky guy who you had a huge crush on in high school.”
“Bite me, Hope.” Lexi rolled herself out of bed and fell onto the floor. “It’s not too late for me to quit.”
“Don’t you dare!” Hope sat straight up in bed and glared at her friend crumpled up beside the bed. “I stayed up past three this morning convincing you to stay at Hunter Advertising, and you promised you’d give it a try.”
“Hope,” Lexi whined as she stood up on her still wobbly legs and brushed her hair out of her face.
A yawn escaped Hope’s lips, then she laughed. “You promised me. And you, my friend, are a good person. You wouldn’t break your word to me or leave Hunter high and dry. So, get your little butt in the shower and quit your whining.”
Lexi’s feet thumped angrily against the hardwood floor as she stormed off into the bathroom to shower and get ready for work. When the door slammed shut, Hope slowly rolled over with a satisfied grin on her face and went back to sleep.
Still annoyed at Hope for making her act like a grown up and return to work, Lexi began texting her every five minutes after leaving the apartment. When Hope shot off a message with every curse word known to man, Lexi felt victorious.
“Look who’s here bright and early.” Leigh beamed as Lexi stepped of the elevator.
“Good morning, Leigh.” Lexi laughed, pausing to tuck the BlackBerry into her purse.
“Go get yourself settled. I have a feeling today will be a busy one.” Leigh seemed to be trying a little too hard to sound nonchalant.
With a suspicious look on her face, Lexi sighed. “Okay, I’ll get a few dozen cups of coffee in me, twenty or so ibuprofen, and then I should be good to go. I’m going to mess around on the computer today and try and look through some current projects and proposals so I have an idea what everyone is talking about in meetings.”
A huge grin broke across Leigh’s face. “That sounds like a great idea, Lexi. Don’t let me keep you.” She waved her hands dismissively, and then busied herself behind her desk.
Lexi said good morning to a few of the other assistants on her way to her desk. Each of them wished her luck, which Lexi found odd, but she had so much she wanted to get accomplished that she shrugged it off and headed for her desk.
She no sooner sat down than the sound of her chirping bird ringtone filled the room, making her head throb. Suddenly, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest, when she wondered if it could be Vincent calling to check in for the day.
“Lexi White,” she said nervously into her phone.
Hope’s laughter rang out. “Lexi White? That’s how you answer the phone now, not ‘Hey, Hope’?”
Lexi let out the breath she had been holding. “Hope, I’m hung over, exhausted, and about ten minutes away from a nervous breakdown, and you called to give me grief?”
“Absolutely,” Hope chuckled. “You need to lighten up and breathe, Lexi.”
Drumming her fingernails on her desktop, Lexi waited. “Are you done?”