Trust in Advertising (19 page)

The smooth operator quickly turned into a pubescent high school boy right before her eyes. The hors d’oeuvre in his hand never made it to his mouth, but rather hung in mid-air as he interrogated Lexi. “Really? She asked about me?

In a good way or a bad way? What
exactly
did she say?”

Leigh excused herself and went to talk to some other people.

“Well, she asked if ‘everyone’ from Hunter would be here tonight, which is Hope-speak for ‘Is Sean going to be there?’ She’s incredibly stubborn, if you hadn’t figured that out yet.” Sean stood beside her, hanging on her every word and nodding his head. “Then she asked …”

“What? She asked what? For my phone number?”

“Sorry, champ, no. She asked me to, and I quote, ‘take a picture of that rat bastard if he looks hot.’”

Only Sean would find a way to take that comment as a compliment.

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“She asked you to take a picture of me? She thinks I’m hot? Really?” His face lit up like a kid in a candy store. “Well, get that phone out and let’s send the woman a little something to think about.” Sean popped the last mushroom into his mouth and thought about it for a second. He finally tucked his hands deeply into his pockets, hunched his shoulders forward, dropped his chin and lifted his eyes to the camera from underneath his long thick lashes. His dimples accentuated the sexy smirk on his face as Lexi snapped the picture.

“She’s gonna love that. You know, maybe Jade can get you a modeling gig.

That was very GQ of you.” Lexi quickly sent the picture to Hope with a note that said, “What do you think?” She elbowed Sean in the stomach when she caught him peeking over her shoulder trying to get Hope’s phone number.

“Modeling isn’t my thing. Too many uptight, skinny bitches in modeling.

Oh, speaking of which, are Vincent and Jade here yet?” They both took a quick inventory of the room and came up empty. “They’re always late.”

Lexi’s phone suddenly chirped. Sean ripped it out of her hand and laughed as he pumped his fist in the air. He proudly handed the phone to Lexi, showing her Hope’s message.

That man is totally lickable.

“If you ever tell her you saw that message, I swear I’ll glue your office door shut.”

“Scout’s honor.” He strutted away with a shit-eating grin on his face and a newfound bounce in his step.

Lexi wandered around the ballroom, trying to take stock of the guests who had arrived already. More famous faces slowly trickled in, and Lexi was happy to see a few couples she recognized from the hit list. She watched to see who they talked to, and more importantly, who approached them. She was about to get a glass of water when she heard someone squeal her name.

“Lexi! Is that really you?”

She turned and found a petite, gorgeous woman with beautiful, long bronze hair standing behind her with a huge smile on her face. “Christina?”

Christina launched at Lexi and wrapped her arms tightly around her. “You look gorgeous! What are you doing here? I was so bummed when I heard you quit the record store.”

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her find quite a few Beatles albums for her boss, who apparently was a huge collector. Just before Lexi quit, she had found the last one in a small antique shop to complete his collection. Christina had literally jumped up and down in the store when Lexi put it in her hands.

“Thank you. You look amazing too, Tina. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye to you, but you hadn’t been to the store for a few weeks,” Lexi explained.

“I decided to try out a new job, see if I could get back into the career I was working on before I got sidetracked.”

Christina nodded her head in understanding. Lexi had shared a surprising amount of information about herself with Christina during her frequent visits to the store.

“So, give me details. Who are you working for?”

“Actually, I’m working for a company called Hunter Advertising. I’m the executive assistant to—”

“Vincent Drake?” Christina interrupted, laughing.

“Yeah, do you know him?”

“I know of him. Remember when I told you that I worked in fashion? Wel , I work for a fashion designer. You might have heard of him, Julian Stone. Vincent has called a few times to try and set up appointments.”

Lexi’s jaw fel open, and then snapped shut. He was one of the people Vincent was most desperate to make contact with, and Lexi had known his assistant all along. “You work for Julian Stone? He’s the one collecting the Beatles albums?”

“Yep, that’s him. Sorry I didn’t mention it before, but it’s not something I walk around broadcasting—that I work for one of the hottest fashion designers—

ya know? People tend to act all weird when they find out.”

“I can imagine. So, how long have you worked for him?”

“A little over a year. He’s a great guy, lots of fun.”

“Aw, Christina, you talking about me again?” A platinum blond gentleman who looked more like a surfer than a fashion designer wrapped his arm around Christina’s shoulders and placed a playful kiss on her temple. Lexi noticed the slight blush that rushed into her friend’s cheeks at the gesture.

“Isn’t there someone who wants to schmooze you somewhere in this room, Julian?” Christina halfheartedly tried to shrug away from him, but Julian wouldn’t have it. He held her beside him and continued smiling.

“You know you love me, Tina. Hi there, I’m Julian Stone.” He leaned forward and extended his hand to Lexi.

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“Lexi White. It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Stone.”

Julian barked in laughter. “Please call me Julian, only Christina here has to refer to me as Mr. Stone.” She rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the side.

“Lexi works for Vincent Drake over at Hunter Advertising, and she’s the one that found that autographed White Album for you, you big idiot.”

“You’re my album goddess? I love you!” Julian released Christina and threw his arms around Lexi’s neck, pulling her into a hug. “Any chance you know where I can find a Japanese-produced Stones box set?” He released her from his grasp and returned to Christina’s side.

“Off the top of my head, no. Sorry. But I’ll keep my eyes open for you if I hit up any auctions over the next few weeks.”

“That would rock. Thanks, Lexi. So, you work for Drake, huh?”

“Yes, I’ve been there a few weeks now. Do you know Vincent?” Lexi knew very well the two men had never met. Julian Stone was a difficult man to get an appointment with. He had a reputation for being quite elusive, letting very few people into his inner circle.

“Never met the guy, but he’s been asking to meet with me about the new line. What’s he like? He seems kind of like a stiff.” Julian waved over one of the champagne servers and handed a glass to each of the women before taking one for himself.

“Honestly, he
is
a little stiff, until you get to know him. But he’s very good at what he does, that I can assure you. The campaigns he’s constructed over the last few years have been very successful for his clients.” Lexi tried not to sound like a Hunter Advertising cheerleader, but she also wanted to be honest with Julian and make sure he had all the facts about Vincent. “He’ll be here soon. Maybe I can introduce him to you.” Lexi held her breath and waited for his answer.

Julian stood there and stared at her for a minute as if he was trying to see into her soul and gauge if she was lying to him about her boss or had been working Christina.

“Oh, quit with the stare-down thing. It’s so annoying. Lexi, find me later when Vincent gets here, and I’ll drag his stubborn ass over to meet him.” She turned to Julian and scowled. “And
you
will be polite, Mister Famous Fashion Designer, and talk to him. If I had to chat with that wretched woman from Parketti, the one with the claws, you can talk to Vincent. Stiff sounds better than trashy to me.”

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“Yes, boss,” Julian said sarcastically as he mockingly saluted Christina, then excused himself to go back to making the rounds. “Lexi, awesome meeting you.

I was just being a jerk before. Bring Vince by to say hello. I’ll try and get a few drinks in him and see if we can loosen him up that way.”

As he walked away, Christina’s eyes remained glued on Julian until he disappeared into the crowd. When she turned back to Lexi, she realized she was caught and blushed. “Sorry about him. He has this whole macho thing he does, but really he’s a big softie.”

“So are you two dating?” Lexi asked, trying to hide her smile.

“No, yes … oh, hell, I have no idea. All I know is the man makes my knees weak, and when he walks past me, I just want to grab him and kiss him. That is, when I don’t want to slap him across the face because he’s driving me crazy.”

“Is it really okay to bring Vincent by, or will it annoy him? I have to admit he really wants to meet Julian, but if it’s not the right time, then I’ll explain it to him.”

“No, bring him by. If Julian goes with Hunter, then we can see more of each other. And if you say Vincent’s a good guy, that’s all the recommendation I need. Anyone has to be better than that strange guy—Reid? Something’s off about him, and I really don’t feel like talking to him all hours of the night on campaign things. I’ll work my magic on the big guy, don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”

Christina glanced over her shoulder and saw Claire heading in Julian’s direction.

Suddenly feeing territorial, Christina excused herself and ran off in pursuit.

Left on her own, Lexi’s head began to swim with excitement.
Oh my God, I
think I just got Vincent a meeting with Julian Stone.
It took every bit of self-control she had to not do a happy dance in the middle of the ballroom.

The party finally began to pick up, and the elite of San Francisco poured into the ballroom at an alarming rate. Donation checks were being written left and right, and the champagne flowed. Lexi stood off to the side and took inventory of the guests, noting that about half of the people on the hit list were already in the room. Celebrities that Lexi had only seen on television stood ten feet away from her, and she had to fight the urge to gawk at them or ask for an autograph. When Cameron Lett, the star of the biggest action film of the year, said hello to her and complimented her on her dress, Lexi was completely star 112

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struck. Fortunately, Leigh found her and led her back to the table before she could make a fool of herself.

“I can’t believe all the people who I recognize from the newspaper and magazines,” Lexi told Leigh as she watched Anna, Erik, and Madison make their entrance down the staircase. Madison was dressed to the nines, complete with long gloves and a sparkly tiara tucked neatly into her hair. Anna’s husband, Erik, was a well-known photographer in the business, and as soon as they made it off the last step, people crowded around the couple, greeting them and admiring their daughter, who instantly became the center of attention.

“I saw you talking to Julian Stone earlier.” Leigh leaned in closer to get the skinny. “Is he nice?”

“Yeah, he was a normal person. I think I might have gotten Vincent a meeting or at least lunch with him. Word is he wasn’t too thrilled by Reid when they had their meeting last week, so hopefully Vincent can dazzle him a little.”

“That’s awesome, Lexi! What a snag he would be for Hunter.”

Lexi continued watching the people come in and out of the room, marking them present and accounted for on her mental tally. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied a very distinguished-looking taller man with long, whitened hair standing off to the side, talking with someone. She knew the man to be Paolo Marradesi, one of the heads of Marradesi Cosmetics. Curious, she sprung to her feet and decided to do a little snooping and perhaps grab a snack from the flock of servers hovering around the man.

“I’ll be back. I’m going to grab something to eat.”

Just as she got close to the spot where he had been standing, the sound of Paolo’s fluent Italian faded. She looked around and saw him being led across the room by his wife Francesca where he was greeted by a large group of people, one of whom was David Reid. Any chance she had of eavesdropping was gone unless she wanted to risk contact with Reid. Dejected, she grabbed a crab cake and continued her people watching from a secluded corner of the room.

“Lexi?”

She spun around to see Mrs. Dee standing right beside her with two glasses of wine in her hand. She offered one to Lexi.

“You look spectacular, dear.” Mrs. Dee smiled warmly.

“Thank you.” Lexi blushed. “What are you doing lurking in the corner?”

Mrs. Dee sighed. “I need a few minutes to myself. There are quite a few people here, and a person can only make small talk for so long before they want 113

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to scream. Besides, I saw you standing here by yourself and figured I’d come keep you company.”

“You weren’t kidding about there being a lot of people here.”