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“Vincent.” Elizabeth grinned as she turned and saw her son for the first time.

“There you are. Look how handsome you are tonight.” She glanced over at Jade.

“Good evening, Jade. My, is that a new tattoo? How … lovely.” Elizabeth pointed at the black symbol that was peeking out of one of the cut outs in her dress.

“It’s a Tahitian symbol.” Jade proudly thrust her hip toward Robert so he could take a gander.

“Ten bucks says it’s the Tahitian symbol for slut,” Hope mumbled to Lexi and Anna.

Snickering, Lexi stepped away, needing to put some distance between herself and Jade before she said something she’d regret. She didn’t get more than a few steps before she ran into someone. “Oh, I’m sor—” Her apologetic tone immediately turned snippy when she saw who it was. “Oh, Vincent. It’s you.

Please excuse me.” She turned to walk away, but he took a hold of her elbow and refused to let her move from his side.

“Lexi, I—I just wanted to say—” He released her arm and raked his hand through his hair, struggling to find the words. “You look beautiful tonight.”

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“Thank you.” Lexi instinctively smoothed out the front of her dress. “You look nice too.”

“Thanks. Listen, Lexi, I wanted to talk to you abou—”

“Hey!” A voice suddenly called from the crowd. “Mr. Drake! Vincent, can we get a picture of the two of you?”

“Would you mind?” Vincent asked, tentatively reaching out for her hand.

Not wanting to make a scene, Lexi acquiesced and slipped her hand into his, relishing the warmth of his palm and the strength with which he held onto her. They took their spot before the crowd, and as the cameras were about to start snapping, Jade slithered over.

“Baby, there you are,” she crooned and stepped into the picture, uninvited.

Blubs flashed as Jade struck her latest outrageous pose on one side of Vincent, sandwiching him between herself and Lexi.

“Who are you wearing?” one of the people in the crowd shouted out.

“A new designer, Fredrique.” Jade gave them a slow spin. Her arms were thrust up over her head to show off the fabric equivalent of Swiss cheese.

“Like Fredrick’s of Hollywood?” someone yelled out, causing the crowd to erupt into laughter. The cameras flashed even more when Jade’s face showed her fury. “Jade, step aside. We want a few of just Vincent and Alexandra.”

The photographers’ hands frantically waved her away. “Alexandra, who are you wearing?”

“Julian Stone. His private collection.” The shutters on the photographers’

cameras clicked with insane speed, and each of them made sure to capture a shot of Lexi in one of Julian’s rare pieces of women’s clothing. All eyes were on Lexi as she stood there, the center of attention. Livid, Jade released Vincent from her grasp and sulked off into the background, seething as she watched her boyfriend wrap his arm around Lexi, who snuggled against his chest.

The crowd suddenly began screaming and pointing at the other end of the red carpet, excited into a near frenzy. As the crowd parted, two figures emerged—Julian Stone and Christina.

“Julian!” The crowd screamed and begged, photographers elbowing one another out of the way to get a picture of the man of the evening. “Julian, Christina, over here!”

Dressed in black jeans, a crisp white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket, Julian made his way over to Vincent and clapped him on the shoulder. Christina, dressed in a black gown with stunning fringe detail and fuchsia highlighting, 351

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came over and pulled Lexi into her arms, the two laughing, unaware of the media explosion going on around them.

“Julian! Julian!” the crowd screamed.

With a cheeky smile, he wrapped his arm around Christina and snuggled close to her. “Come on, you two, I need a picture with the brilliant design team that’s going to help everyone in America know my name. Grab your girl, Vincent.” Christina winked at Lexi, then turned a brilliant smile toward the blast of flashbulbs as they popped like endless fireworks in the night sky.

“Vincent, get closer to her,” one of them shouted, so Vincent closed the small distance between himself and Lexi.

“Sorry,” Lexi said through her smile as her hand accidentally slipped inside his suit jacket. When she tried to pull it away, Vincent held her arm in place and smiled.

“I don’t mind at all.” It was then that he felt her trembling. “Are you all right?”

“This is just slightly terrifying,” Lexi said through her smile.

“I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.” He caressed her back and pulled her more tightly against his side.

“Thanks, Vincent,” she whispered, nuzzling against him.

“Lexi, Christina, give them a kiss,” the photographers called out repeatedly.

Christina shrugged, then planted her lips on Julian’s cheek.

Lexi stared at Vincent for a long while, debating what she should do. Then she stood up on her toes. “Sorry again,” she whispered just before she pressed her lips gently against his cheek. He wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her feet off the ground. She gave a surprised squeak, then threw her head back and laughed. More flashbulbs popped.

The two men held the ladies in a variety of positions for the paparazzi, giving them the best shots they could. Christina whispered something in Julian’s ear, and like that, the photo session was over. “Thank you, guys, but I need to get these two in their seats so I can start the show. See you when it’s over.” Julian waved and thanked the photographers quickly, then clapped Vincent on the shoulder and grinned. “Those should be all over the internet in ten minutes and on the cover of every magazine by morning.”

With Jade nowhere to be found, Vincent caught up with Lexi and offered her his elbow. “May I?” he asked.

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Her eyes peeked up at him from under her think, black eyelashes. “I’d love to.” She slipped her arm through his, her fingers wrapping around his bicep and suddenly feeling an overwhelming sense of … home.

The two walked arm in arm into the building, the paparazzi still documenting their every step until the door closed behind them. Now, it was time for the show to begin.

“That was brilliant!” Sean exclaimed as he ran into Vincent.

The show had been stunning, a huge success based on the chatter going on in the room around them. Reporters jotted notes and made frantic phone calls to meet their deadlines. A swarm of people surrounded Julian, trying to get a word with him and offer their congratulations. The crowd was growing by the second. Pouting because she wasn’t the center of attention, Jade scurried off to talk with some of her modeling friends.

“I think that went very well. The music was the perfect complement to the designs. I’m so proud of the two of you!” Elizabeth beamed and pulled Vincent and Lexi into her arms. “What a huge success.”

“Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity, Elizabeth. And Vincent, how do I even begin to thank you?” Lexi felt like her smile was going to be permanently welded to her face.

What a difference a few weeks made. Six months ago, she had moved to San Francisco with nothing but a few items jammed into random boxes and the clothes on her back. She was broken, devastated by Harry’s death, and unsure of her decision to move, but she knew it was something she had to do or she’d never leave. And now, a few short months later, she had a life. A very full life with friends, a job, and a future. That was something she never thought she’d say again. She studied the smiling faces around her and saw people she was starting to think of as family.

While she had been lost in her own thoughts, the rest of the group had wandered away, leaving her alone with Vincent. “You don’t need to thank me, Lexi. Every second with you has been my pleasure.” He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips, never breaking eye contact with her. As his warm lips pressed against her hand and lingered, Lexi felt her body flush with a deep-353

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heated desire only Vincent could cause. She knew her cheeks had turned pink when she saw his lips turn up into a sexy smirk. “You aren’t going to slap me again, are you?”

Lexi raised an eyebrow, shocked he would bring up their last kiss like that.

Her lips tingled as she thought back to the feel of his mouth possessing hers and the fire between them as his tongue caressed hers. “No, I’m not going to slap you. You can kiss my hand all you want.” She tried to pull her hand back, but Vincent suddenly tightened his grasp.

“Really?”

She drew her bottom lip between her teeth when she saw his mischievous grin as his lips moved back toward her hand. “Vincent,” she warned, but all rational thought was suddenly lost when his tongue darted out of his mouth and swept lazy circles around her hand, his lips gently sucking on her knuckles.

Fire raced through her blood, and a delicious tickle settled in her stomach with each seductive stroke of his tongue. Her hand slipped from his grasp and hung limply at her side, every nerve ending tingling with excitement.

“Are you going to slap me now?” Vincent asked again as he surveyed her reaction.

She couldn’t stop the devilish smile from creeping onto her face as she watched him panic. “I’m considering it.”

“Listen, Lexi, I need to talk to you abo—”

“Hey, guys! This was incredible. I can’t believe I was here for this. Who premiers their fashion line in San Francisco and gets this kind of industry turnout?” Hope asked, still checking out all the big names in attendance as they walked past.

“Only Julian Stone could pull this off. The guy doesn’t do anything by the book, and people love him for it,” Sean laughed.

“Did you see al those male models?” Hope smiled apologetical y at Sean when his head snapped around. “Those were some mighty fine abs on that catwalk.”

“You do realize that most of them are gay with absolutely no interest in you,” Jade snarled as she strutted back to Vincent’s side, hip checking Lexi out of the way.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all. If they’re stuck working all day with ball-devouring hags like you, I can see how that would turn them off to the entire female population,” Hope remarked.

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Sean’s booming laughter made heads turn. “Leave a winner, Hope.” He took her by the hand, and the two disappeared into the crowd.

“Did you hear that? She can take those saggy breasts and that Elvira hair of hers and shove it—”

Lexi stepped up to Jade and pointed a finger in her face. “Shut it, Jade. Or so help me God, I’ll jam a Twinkie down your throat.”

“I’ve had it with you, White.”

“Lexi, baby! There you are.” Peter strolled over but stopped short when he saw Lexi and Jade ready to scratch each other’s eyes out. “Whoa! Am I interrupting something?”

“Yes.” Lexi, Jade, and Vincent answered all at once.

“Looks like I’m just in the nick of time, then,” he said with a cocky grin on his face as he wrapped his arm around Lexi’s shoulders. “Can I walk you to the after party? It’s just two doors down at Julian’s studio.”

“S-sure, I’d like that.” Lexi gave Jade one last dirty look then smiled apologetically at Vincent.

“Vincent, always a pleasure.” Peter held out his hand to Vincent and the two shook. Then he turned to Jade and gave her a perplexed look. “Oh, I’m sorry, and you are?”

“Jade,” she informed him through clenched teeth

“Just Jade? Like Madonna or Cher, right? Nice meeting you. See you both at the after party?” Vincent gave a curt nod, and Peter smiled. “Excellent.”

When she and Peter were out of earshot, Lexi asked, “Did you really not know who that was?”

Peter laughed. “Who, Jade? Everyone knows who she is. But you seemed a little pissed off at her so I figured I’d rattle her cage, maybe earn a few brownie points in the process so you’d save me a dance tonight.”

Lexi threw back her head and laughed. “You’ll be at the top of my dance card after that little display of brilliance. Let’s go. I could really use a drink.”

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Julian’s studio was the perfect place to host the party. Most of the furniture was moved off the first floor of the warehouse, leaving a huge open space for people to mingle and dance. Out back, off to one side was the basketball court and on the other was a gorgeous outdoor garden for guests to escape to if the noise inside became too much. Drinks flowed, and everyone celebrated Julian’s success.

Jade kept Vincent trapped in the center of a swarm of her twig-like sorority sisters as they chain smoked just outside the veranda doors and pounded shots of tequila like they were water. Lexi felt Vincent’s eyes on her when Peter whirled her around the dance floor, but she refused to make eye contact with him, knowing Jade would be at his side, staking her claim. Instead, she allowed herself to enjoy Peter’s company, even if it was simply to put the screws to Vincent. He deserved it.

After her dance, she excused herself from Peter and searched the room for Hope. An unfortunately familiar face emerged.

“Alexandra White! It’s my lucky day running into you.” David Reid threw his arm around her shoulders, smelling of scotch and sweat.