Trust in Advertising (54 page)

“Oh, Lexi, I’m sorry,” Vincent said as he quickly swam to the edge of the pool, pulling himself out and trying not to laugh. “I swear I didn’t mean to get you wet.”

Lexi opened her eyes and found a bare-chested Vincent standing before her, dripping and glistening with water. She seemed to temporarily loose her ability to speak, but shook her head from side to side, bringing herself out of her daze.

“No worries, it’s a pool party. People get wet.” She craned her neck around his body. “Go, Madison’s waiting for you.”

Vincent squatted down beside her chair and put his hand on her bare thigh.

“I really am sorry.”

Lexi flipped her sunglasses up so he could see her eyes and know she was being sincere. “I know. Really, it’s fine. I’m not going to melt. Go swim.”

“Thanks. You really are the best.” He gave her leg a squeeze and turned to face the pool.

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Madison bounced up and down in the water, describing what kind of jump she wanted him to do. Just as Vincent leaned toward the pool to hear Madison better, Lexi gave him a big shove in the back and sent him flying into the pool with a splash.

When he surfaced, Sean was howling. “Nice scream, Vince.”

“That was a perfect belly flop, Uncle Vincent,” Madison offered, giggling as he wiped the water from his face.

Lexi stood at the edge of the pool, grinning proudly. “I didn’t know you could fly.”

In one massive lunge, Vincent flung himself at the edge of the pool and grabbed her ankle, holding her in place. “You wanna fly too, Lexi?” He grinned and gave a sharp tug on her foot. Lexi leaned dangerously far over the water, but regained her balance at the last second.

“Vincent Drake, you let her go this instant.” Elizabeth’s voice cut through the laughter.

“But, Mom, she pushed me.”

“Vincent, you will not fling one of our guests into the pool. Let her go.”

“Yeah, Vincent, let me go.” Lexi playfully wiggled her ankle in circles trying to escape. “Your mom said so.”

“This isn’t fair,” Vincent grumbled as he let go. Lexi couldn’t resist sticking her tongue out at him. When he pulled his hand back to splash her, she screamed and ran back toward Elizabeth’s chair and hid.

“Don’t you dare, or your company car will be mine, young man.”

Vincent and Madison finished up their time in the pool and climbed into a pair of chairs and dried off in the sun. Anna, Hope, and Lexi began setting out the food as Sean and Erik pulled it off the grill.

“Vincent, you better have sunscreen on or you’ll be the poster boy for skin cancer,” Jade’s voice screeched from the doorway. She had finally ended her phone call and decided to join the rest of them. She wore a long sleeved swim cover up, an oversized hat, and large sunglasses to prevent a single ray of sun from touching her skin.

“He’s a grown man. I think he can handle this himself,” Anna snarled, in no mood for Jade and her dramatics.

“Ten minutes worth of ultraviolet exposure ages your skin a year. You might not care about how he looks, but I do.”

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“You little—” Hope grabbed Anna by the arm and held her in place. When Anna regained her composure she smiled. “You’re absolutely right, Jade. Lexi, would you be a dear and go rub some lotion on my brother? I wouldn’t want him to burn.”

“I’d love to,” Lexi grabbed the sunscreen and glanced over at Vincent.

“Think I should get his chest too?”

“Absolutely.” Anna grinned as Jade’s teeth clamped shut.

“Lucky for you,” Lexi said a moment later as she placed the lotion back on the table, never breaking eye contact with Jade, “I have more class than that.”

“Here, Jade, go graze on some salad. There’s a nice shady spot way over there.” Hope pointed to the opposite side of the pool.

“Want a wiener, Jadey?” Sean asked, suggestively dangling a hot dog from the end of a pair of tongs as Jade walked past.

As the thick stick of beef bobbed in her face, Jade snarled. “Keep your wieners to yourself.”

“Let me know if you change your mind, Jadey. I’ll save this big juicy one just for you.”

Vincent wandered over to talk to Jade, but she waved him away and pulled out a magazine and began flipping through the pages with a scowl on her face.

Vincent rolled his eyes and grabbed a plate of food. Lexi tossed him a cold beer to go along with it.

“Thanks.” He leaned back against the rail beside her and began eating.

“No problem,” Lexi said softly. “So, why are you even here? I thought you two were heading out of town for the weekend.”

He shook his head. “We were ready to leave, but the flight was delayed.

Jade had a tantrum at the airport, and then there was no point in going. So, we came over here instead. I’m glad we did.” He nudged her with his leg and smiled.

A beautiful smile spread across her face. “I’m glad you’re here too.” As they stood together in comfortable silence, a camera clicked and Lexi’s head whipped around to find Erik, grinning from across the deck. “Does he always do that?”

“Snap covert pictures at family functions? Yeah. You’ll get used to it after a while.” Vincent held up two fingers behind Lexi’s head and gave her bunny ears as Erik snapped his next shot.

Lexi glanced over at Jade and saw her snarling in their direction. “You better go sit with The Mummy. She looks a little testy.”

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Vincent leaned over and whispered in her ear, “She’s always testy,” and then walked away.

The rest of the afternoon went smoothly. Madison took Lexi on a walk through Anna’s garden, pointing out all the vegetables they had planted and which ones she liked and which ones she didn’t. Erik continued lurking, snapping pictures now and then. Vincent and Jade sat in the shade, Vincent reading the newspaper and Jade reapplying her many layers of makeup and perfecting her hair.

Finally, it was time for dessert, and Lexi and Hope went inside to help Anna with the pies she had made.

“Here, can you cut this one and then just put them onto these plates.” Anna handed Lexi a large knife and a serving piece to scoop out the pie. “I made a cherry, an apple, and a blueberry.”

“Are you sure you want me to do this? I tend to be all thumbs on these things.” Lexi cautiously picked up the knife and plunged it into the cherry pie.

“It’s pie, not brain surgery,” Erik teased, his camera at the ready to get a clear shot when Lexi made a fool of herself.

“I want a big piece,” Sean yelled as he strode into the kitchen with a picture perfect Jade and a hungry Vincent following close behind.

Lexi cut the pie and put a generous piece onto a plate for Sean. She grinned triumphantly as she handed it to him, ridiculously proud that it was still in one piece and not on the floor.

“What’s this?” Sean wrinkled his nose at it. “That’s a mouse-sized piece. I need nourishment, woman.”

“Glutton,” Jade hissed from the corner, loud enough for Hope to hear it.

“Why don’t you go forage around the backyard for some sticks or something healthy to munch on, Jade?” Hope glared at her, daring Jade to say another word. When Jade opened her mouth to reply, Hope took a step toward her and she shut it with a squeak and grabbed Vincent’s arm for support. “I’m watching you,” Hope snarled in her direction.

“Here, I’ll get you a man-sized piece.” Hope grabbed the knife from Lexi and quickly cut a huge hunk of pie for Sean. As she tried to balance it on the 329

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tiny serving piece, it flipped up into the air and splattered onto the floor at her feet. Lexi and Hope threw back their heads and laughed. Erik rapidly snapped pictures of the entire incident.

“Oh my, let me get something to clean that up with,” Elizabeth said as she reached for the roll of paper towels.

“I got it, Elizabeth, but thank you. I’m the idiot who dropped it.” Hope blushed and grabbed the towels from her so she could get the mess off of Anna’s floor as soon as possible. “Quit your laughing, Sean, and help me.” She grabbed his arm and dragged him onto the floor.

“Tell me you got a shot of the pie in the air,” Vincent said as he came over to see the pictures Erik had shot. Everyone except Jade stood huddled around his camera for a peek.

“Let me just put them on my laptop,” Erik said as he pulled over his computer and slipped the memory card in. The pictures quickly downloaded and had everyone in stitches again. “I’ll blow this one up for you, Hope.” Erik pointed to one where Hope’s mouth was hanging open in shock as the pie sailed past her.

“Gee thanks.” She rolled her eyes and grabbed a plate of pie that Anna had cut up for them. “Maddie, let’s go eat our pie on the porch!”

“Can I come too?” Sean asked, trailing behind the pair.

“I’m not sharing my pie, Uncle Sean,” Madison teased. When he playfully growled at her, she ran out the door laughing.

Jade’s phone chirped, and she vanished again, leaving Vincent to his pie, which he enjoyed so much he began cutting another.

“Tsk, tsk,” Lexi offered from across the kitchen as she caught him slipping the generous piece of apple pie onto his plate.

“Pie makes me happy.” He shrugged unapologetically.

“Mm-hmm.” Lexi watched him savor every bite while keeping one eye out for Jade. “Chicken,” she whispered at him as he hid the pie when Jade glanced in the window.

“Erik, dear, these pictures are lovely,” Elizabeth said loudly from across the room as she kept flipping through them on his computer.

“I got some good ones of you and Dad by the pool. They’re a little further back, let me show you.” Erik went over to help Elizabeth.

“So, any brilliance on Marradesi?” Vincent asked as he put his empty plate in the sink. “Sean said you went into the office today.”

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“I did, but no. I just feel like we’re missing something, you know? Something right in front of our faces.” Lexi folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the counter, looking at Vincent.

“Do you think we should scrap what we have and just start over?”

“Again?” Lexi asked in surprise. “I don’t think we have enough time to do a floor-to-ceiling revamping of this one. Don’t forget we have Julian’s fashion show coming up. We need to finish his last minute stuff before then.”

Vincent sighed. “You’re right. It’s just so frustrating because I know it’s not there yet.”

Lexi put an encouraging arm around his shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’ll get it. I have faith in you.”

They both seemed to pause and savor the brief physical contact until they were pulled from their spell by Elizabeth’s cheerful squeal. “Do you see it?” She smacked Erik in the arm.

He pointed at the screen. “The carefree smiles, the background figure, one adoring, one furious. I see where you’re going with it.”

“And look, everyday beauty wins out over this.” Elizabeth flicked her finger at the screen and was giddy as she waved Vincent and Lexi over. When they were standing behind her, she moved her hand and unveiled the picture.

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 wel 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 331

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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.