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“What do the two of you want?” Jade snapped as soon as Leigh and Lexi stood beside her. “Are you going to dance together? Couldn’t find any men willing to be your partners?” she sneered.

Lexi thanked God and every heavenly creature up above that Jade had conveniently disappeared from the ballroom earlier while she and Vincent shared their dance or there would have been another tantrum of Jade’s to deal with.

“Always such a ray of sunshine, Jade,” Leigh said. “Actually, I was coming over to give you a heads up that Martina was talking about you again, but if you don’t want to hear it …”

Jade’s head snapped around, a murderous glare in her eyes. “What? She’s here? What did she say?”

“She was talking to this other skank. I think I recognized her from the Dolce runway show.” Leigh winked discreetly at Lexi and continued. “She was saying something about you pursuing acting. I think she called you a short, no talent whore, but I might have misheard her.”

“Right, I’m a whore. She’s the one who dropped to her knees and gave the photographer a blow job right on set to get the cover of a men’s magazine. Puh-lease! I’ll show her short when I jam my stiletto up her bony ass. Where was she?”

Without missing a beat, Leigh continued. “She was out front, smoking as usual.”

“I think I’ll go have a little chat with the walking carcinogen.” Jade pointed her perfectly manicured finger toward the large glass door at the back of the room. “I saw a few drunk guys out on the terrace. Maybe a couple of them are blitzed enough to want to dance with you.” Jade smirked, and then stormed off toward the elevators without so much as a second glance at Vincent.

Leigh and Lexi high fived each other and gave Elizabeth a thumbs up.

Meanwhile, Vincent and Francesca continued to spin around the dance floor.

They were the picture of fluid beauty. Francesca waved flirtatiously at Paolo while her dress swirled around her curvy body. At first he seemed annoyed, but he couldn’t stay angry when she never once took her eyes off her beloved husband during her graceful movements.

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When the music ended, Francesca grabbed Vincent’s face and kissed both of his cheeks. She then hooked her arm in his and escorted him over to Paolo, who now stood with his brother Dante, drinking champagne. Paolo kissed his wife, then thrust out his hand to Vincent. The men talked for a moment, and Lexi held her breath, watching facial expressions to get a feel for how the conversation was going. When Dante threw back his head in laughter at something Vincent had said, Lexi knew he had pulled it off.

Like a pro, Vincent didn’t overstay his welcome. He graciously thanked his dance partner and started to walk away when Francesca stopped him and held out her hand. Vincent politely obliged her request and reached into his pocket and slipped his business card into her hand. He again bid the trio goodnight, then headed back toward Elizabeth with a victorious smile. Lexi watched a smiling Paolo take the card from Francesca and tuck it into his wallet.

Lexi was about to run over and congratulate Vincent on a job well done when Jade reappeared and latched onto him with a vengeance. She wrapped her spiderlike limbs around him and tried to coax him onto the dance floor, but Vincent refused. Jade began gesturing wildly, but her voice was surprisingly soft, and Lexi couldn’t hear what she said. When Jade glared over her shoulder and pointed directly at Francesca, then Lexi, it was pretty obvious what they were talking about: her.

Wishing she could disappear, Lexi looped her arm through Leigh’s. “You almost ready to leave?” she asked, praying her friend would say yes.

“Sure, let’s just go say goodbye to everyone and then we can head out. I have an early breakfast date in the morning anyway.”

The women said their goodbyes to the ladies they had been talking to earlier.

Kim had already left, but Erica was still there, furiously texting someone and not at all relaxed like she had been earlier.

“We’re out of here, Erica. Quit working so much. You’re making us feel guilty. We need to do a girl’s lunch someday this week.”

Erica smiled. “That would be great. Let’s shoot for later in the week. The Davey-boy is going to have me on the phone nonstop for the next three days harassing the nice people of San Francisco, and now apparently Italy. It never ends. See you ladies later.”

As they walked away, Lexi grumbled, “Damn it.”

“What?” Leigh asked.

“David got to Paolo too. Vincent isn’t going to be happy about that.”

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Lexi easily found Vincent in the large ballroom. He stood off to the side, talking to a group of people she recognized from the hit list. At his side, Jade was talking the ear off of the television producer in the group. She watched Jade standing beside Vincent, and it became very clear that she enjoyed using his connections to her benefit at every opportunity. She was one of the most selfish and self-centered people Lexi had ever met.

When Jade made eye contact with Lexi across the room, her face turned cold and hard. Rather than give the woman a reason to make another scene, Lexi decided against going over to say goodbye. Instead, she grabbed her phone and texted Vincent.

I’m getting ready to leave. You need anything before I go? Note cards
perhaps?

Lexi watched Vincent slide his phone out of his pocket and peek at her message. His hair fell into his face as he looked down, and his lips curled into a private smile. He lifted his head and scanned the room. Lexi’s heart beat faster as he kept looking, searching for her.

When he finally caught her eye, he gave her a small salute and winked, indicating he was fine. Lexi’s stomach flipped at the gesture, thrilled beyond words that they seemed to be making progress, becoming friends even. It was more than she could have ever hoped for—that this man whom she’d secretly adored all these years, this gruff, short tempered, untrusting man, would let her into his life.

Of course, she wanted to be much more than friends with Vincent, as hopeless as that was. All the feelings she had buried long ago crept to the surface and burrowed their way back into her mind and her heart. She wanted him to hold her in his arms and dance with her, not out of obligation or good manners, but out of desire and love. She wanted to be the one standing beside him as he talked to clients and brokered deals, supporting him, helping him. Jade slid her arms around his waist and kissed his cheek, and Lexi was snapped back to reality.

She was quiet on the ride home, lost deep in her own thoughts. She remembered the flutter of her heart when she danced with Vincent, the way her stomach flipped when he touched her and how right it felt to be there. She recalled his smile when she told him about Julian Stone, the things Elizabeth had said to her about Hunter needing Lexi. The memories played over and over in her head like a movie that she never wanted to forget.

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“You all right?” Leigh asked, glancing over at Lexi in the darkness.

“I’m fine, just thinking.” Lexi leaned her head against the window and watched as the lights of the city flew past her.

“You did a great job tonight. Vincent scored some major points with big clients thanks to you. You guys make a great team.”

Lexi didn’t answer at first. She sensed where Leigh was going to take the conversation and she couldn’t go there, not now. Finally, she took a deep breath and sighed. “He’s my boss, Leigh. I did my job tonight.”

“Right.” Lexi could see the slight curve of Leigh’s lips in the darkness of the car. “Your
boss
looked like a really good dancer.”

“Leigh …” Lexi warned.

“It was an observation, nothing more.”

Lexi sighed again, hoping Leigh would drop it.

Leigh tried to leave it at that, but eventually broke. “You’ve gotta give me something, Lexi. I’m dying over here. There’s something there whether you want to admit it or not. I could see it.”

Before she knew what she was doing, Lexi blurted out her secret. “I went to high school with him and had a crush on him for two years, and he didn’t even know my name. Anna had to tell him who I was that day she brought Madison by the office.” She buried her face in her hands in humiliation. Anything that Leigh thought she saw was nothing more than Lexi projecting her puppy-dog-like admiration onto Vincent. She must have seemed like a fool mooning over the boss while he danced with her as a favor to a five-year-old.

To her credit, Leigh didn’t launch into a million questions like Lexi feared she would. She finished the drive back to Lexi’s place in silence. When she pulled up to the curb, she put her hand on Lexi’s shoulder.

“So, how was it to finally dance with him?” Leigh asked softly.

Lexi’s eyes filled with tears as she smiled back at her friend. “Perfect.”

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∙ 12 ∙

You danced with him?” Hope badgered far too early the next morning.

Lexi took a sip of the coffee Hope had slid across the table to her. “Yes, we danced. His five-year-old niece asked him to dance with me, no big deal. He was being polite.” Lexi grabbed a blueberry muffin out of the small, white sack from the local bakery. Hope had used it to bribe Lexi into opening the door for her.

“M-hmm.” Hope rolled her eyes in disbelief at her friend. “Polite, sure.”

“Do I need to remind you he has a girlfriend? Or that she’s a flipping supermodel, Hope?”

“Supermodel, my butt. From what you’ve told me, she’s a raging bitch, straight up. Forget her. I want the dirt. How close together did you two stand when you danced? Did his hand creep down to your tush at all? Did he give it a little squeeze?” Hope leaned over and pinched Lexi playfully.

Lexi gave Hope the evil eye. “Okay,
that
was more sexual than anything Vincent tried while we were dancing. He was the perfect gentleman. Now do you believe me that it was no big deal?”

“Get up.” Hope yanked Lexi out of her chair and flipped on the radio.

She held her arms out to Lexi and commanded, “Show me how you danced.”

“Hope, seriously, I think you need a date. Call Sean. He’d love to dance with you or be pinched if you’re feeling frisky. I just want to eat my muffin, and then I need to shower. I have a ton of work to do.” Lexi tried to walk Victoria Michaels

away, but Hope clamped her hand around Lexi’s wrist and dragged her back, sweeping her up into her arms and pressing their bodies together.

“Did he hold you like this?” Hope asked as she slowly dipped her head toward Lexi and lightly dragged her lips along Lexi’s throat.

“No, if he had I’d be in the hospital with a massive skull fracture because I would have dropped like a stone on that dance floor. Besides, he isn’t as aggres-sive as you, Hope.”

“Fine, I’ll be you, and you can be the docile gentleman.” Hope crooked her eyebrow at Lexi, letting her know she had no intention of backing down.

“Humor me. I spent the evening drinking wine, watching
Steel Magnolias
, and staring at the picture you sent me. I am a pathetic, horny woman, so let me live vicariously through you and your close encounter with the hunky kind.”

Lexi placed her hand over Hope’s lips silencing her as soon as she knew which way the conversation was heading. “Do not go there, Hope. He’s my boss, with a girlfriend.”

“But you like him,” Hope mumbled behind Lexi’s fingers.

“
Liked
him. A lifetime ago.”

Hope wiggled her tongue along Lexi’s fingers, making her friend yank her hand away in disgust.

“We’re friends, Hope, and that’s more than I ever thought I’d have with him. So, can I just be happy with that rather than have you plant seeds in my head that’ll only lead to more schoolgirl mooning? Been there done that, and it sucked.” Lexi wiped her hand back and forth on her pajama pants to dry it.

“But what if—”

“There’s no if. He’s my boss. The end.” Lexi walked back to the table and took a big sip of coffee. “I’m not wasting years of my life pining after Vincent Drake again.”

Hope wrapped her arms around Lexi’s shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

“Honey, I don’t want you to waste a second of your life. You’ve already missed out on so much. But let’s be honest—your experience with men is … well, limited.

I’m not saying the guy’s in love with you or that you’re going to get married, settle down, and have throngs of children al from one dance, but answer me this, how did it feel when he held you?” Lexi glared at her friend. “Really, Lexi. Did it feel awkward or uncomfortable, like he was invading your personal space and all you could think about was getting away from him? Did he smell bad, have an 144

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unsightly mole or excessive nose hair?” A small grin spread across her face as Lexi shyly shook her head no. “So how did it feel to be in the arms of Vincent Drake?”

Lexi bit her lip and thought about it for a second. “Comfortable?” she offered as her best explanation.

“Comfortable is good. Like you belonged there.” Hope snickered when Lexi’s mouth fell open. “You can’t fight chemistry, Lexi. It’s a natural thing between a man and a woman, an attraction, if you will. You can’t fight nature.”