Trust in Advertising (7 page)

“Difficult?” Lexi’s heart raced in her chest.
Maybe this was a bad idea. They
couldn’t have filled my position downstairs already, could they?
“How difficult?

Define difficult.”

“You’re the fifth assistant in as many months. How’s that for an explanation?”

Lexi searched Leigh’s eyes for some indication that she was kidding, but found none. Her shoulders hunched over in disappointment and fear. “That’s pretty clear. Thanks.”

I knew it was too good to be true,
Lexi chastised herself for getting her hopes up.

Leigh smiled. “I think you’ll be fine. Just don’t let him get to you. The yelling and grousing is a defense mechanism I think.”

“Yelling?” Lexi squeaked.

“She’s gonna kill me. Never mind, Lexi. Just take some time and get yourself settled. I’ll be back in a few minutes with all the paperwork that I need you to fill out.”

“Okay,” Lexi said as she gnawed on her fingernail, nervously eyeing the office door.

When Leigh left, Lexi threw her back against her chair and let out a huge sigh.
What have you gotten yourself into, Lexi? You could have worked downstairs
for years. Instead, you get moved to a job that you are destined to be fired from in
a month or less.

By the time Leigh returned, Lexi’s head was resting face down on the desktop. “Chin up, you’ll be fine!” She gently swatted Lexi with the stack of papers in her hand. “Grab that pen. I need you to fill these out so I can get you your BlackBerry, corporate credit card, laptop, and flash drives.”

At the word BlackBerry, Lexi’s head snapped up. She found Leigh grinning at her, a shiny onyx colored PDA in her hand. “Get out!”

Laughing, Leigh set it on the desk in front of her with Lexi’s new phone number on a small sticky note. “This is your lifeline. This must be on you twenty-four seven from this day forward, and I encourage you to find a ringtone you like, because that damn thing can ring nonstop on days when we’re getting ready for a big presentation around here.” She slid a stack of forms toward Lexi.

The places she needed to sign or fill out were clearly marked with a red X.

“I’ll give you some time to work on these. I’ll be back.”

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Victoria Michaels

Once Leigh was out of sight, Lexi picked up her new phone and began flipping it over, examining every button. She was so engrossed that she didn’t even notice that Leigh had returned until a large black case landed on her desk with a thud.

“Whoa, what’s in there?” Lexi set the BlackBerry down.

“This,” Leigh tapped the object, “is your laptop. The flash drives are in the pocket. The rule of thumb around here is to back up everything in triplicate.

Leave one copy in the office, one copy at home, and have one on you at all times. Trust me on this.”

“I feel like a kid at Christmas.” Lexi laughed as she stared openly at the growing pile of goodies on her desk. “Not to appear ungrateful, but what’s wrong with the computer on my desk?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it, but you need something to work on when you’re on the go. That’s where this will come in handy.” She pushed the laptop toward Lexi and sat back down in the chair across the desk. Leigh held in a laugh as she watched Lexi gingerly slide the laptop case to the side of her desk and start playing with her BlackBerry again.

“I almost forgot—you’ll get your corporate credit card in a few days.” Leigh laughed when Lexi’s mouth dropped open. “Don’t worry, it has a fairly low limit, and the statements are gone over with a fine tooth comb, so just make sure you save the receipts for anything you’re asked to purchase and submit them every month. And this,” she slid a slip of paper to Lexi across the desk,

“is your new salary.”

With a shaking hand, Lexi took the smal folded paper and cautiously opened it. Her head was still reeling from the cash and prizes that were currently sitting on her desk, and she wasn’t sure she could handle any more surprises.

“Holy cow! Are you sure this is correct?” Lexi pointed at the number, her eyes wide in shock.

Leigh humored her and leaned forward, checked it, then nodded her head.

“It’s correct. Do you have any questions?”

A loud laugh escaped Lexi’s lips. “Only about a million.”

“Well, let’s hear some. I have a few minutes.”

Lexi folded the piece of paper and tucked it in her pocket. Then she laid the BlackBerry down and turned her attention to Leigh. “I’ll start simple. What’s Mr. Hunter’s first name? I should probably have a clue when he calls.”

“Drake.”

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Trust in Advertising

“Drake Hunter,” Lexi murmured to herself as she scooped up the phone and programmed the information into her contact list.

Leigh’s laughter danced through the air. “No, Drake is his last name. Vincent is his first name. Vincent Drake, that’s your boss.”

Lexi’s BlackBerry tumbled from her hand and landed with a loud crack on her desk. “Say that again?” Lexi couldn’t catch her breath.

No, no, no. Impossible, no way, nope, never.

Images of a smiling teenager filled her memory. His dark brown hair falling over his eye, the wicked smirk he would give girls, buckling their knees instantly, and the deep tenor of his laughter. All the memories of high school that Lexi had fought so desperately to bury deep in her subconscious suddenly sprang forward at just the mention of his name, and she was seventeen again. Her pulse raced with both panic and excitement at the possibility. But there was no way it could be him; it had to be a different Vincent Drake.

The man Leigh had described—the angry, furious individual—was not the Vincent Drake Lexi remembered. Back then, he was all smiles and charm, and he used it to get whatever he wanted from teachers, parents, coaches, and girls. She couldn’t imagine him ranting and raving at someone he worked with.

There was no way it was him.

Lexi could feel Leigh watching her closely, probably trying to figure out what exactly was going on in her head as she fumbled nervously with her phone.

“His name is Vincent Drake. Lexi, what’s wrong?”

Lexi began chewing on her fingernail again. “How old is he? Sixtyish?”

What was his father’s name? Maybe it’s his dad, Vincent Drake Sr. It has to be.

“I’m not sure, but he’s probably close to your age. What are you, like twenty-eight?”

Lexi’s stomach flipped as she tried to imagine a more mature Vincent Drake.

The words “sexy” and “charming” immediately popped into her head as her body temperature rose a few degrees.
Act normal, Lexi. She thinks you’re insane. Pull
it together. There’s no way it’s the same Vincent Drake. No way. And this isn’t high
school, anyway.
“Oh, I … I just assumed he would be older. No big deal. I was just surprised.”
Nice cover, Lex.

The rest of the afternoon progressed with Leigh flooding Lexi with so much information that she didn’t have time to freak out over Vincent Drake.

She showed Lexi the computer system, giving her a quick rundown of Vincent’s typical day when he was in the office. Then she printed out his upcoming 39

Victoria Michaels

schedule so Lexi would know it backward and forward before he even walked through the door. Leigh kindly advised her about his pet peeves: tardiness, lack of productivity, and the word “no” were all unacceptable to Vincent Drake.

According to Leigh, if she remembered those things, she would fare much better than her last four counterparts.

Leigh came by Lexi’s desk at quarter to five and opened the door to Vincent’s office. “I need to grab the Keller file off his desk. Do you want to come in and have a look around? You probably should know where everything is in here before he gets back.” She paused at the door. “I warn you, the place is a bit of a disaster. Mr. Drake isn’t known for his organizational skills.”

Lexi’s stomach flipped and her pulse quickened.
I’m going inside Vincent
Drake’s office!
She kept up the calm façade, hiding her inner schoolgirl who threatened to escape, then mentally gave herself a hard slap.
Knock it off Lexi,
you aren’t seventeen anymore. Grow up
. She shook her head, then stepped through the doorway and took in her new surroundings.

Vincent’s ornate desk sat in the middle of the room, buried somewhere underneath a massive pile of papers that covered every inch of the flat surface, piles leaning upon other piles. Pens and pencils were strewn everywhere. How Leigh was supposed to find anything in the chaos was beyond Lexi.

As Leigh searched for the needle in the haystack, Lexi became distracted by a picture that hung on the wall. It was a framed article from San Francisco Magazine featuring Vincent Drake, an up and coming star in the advertising world. Lexi’s heart leaped as she gazed at the photograph, because she would have recognized that incredibly handsome face anywhere.

Completely enthralled, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the image of Vincent. He had the same dark wavy hair, intentionally messy, and the years had changed his features from boyish good looks into mature sex appeal. He exuded confidence and a masculine swagger even in the photograph. He wore a black suit with an emerald tie that made his green eyes stand out. Lexi caught herself staring at the curve of his full lips when Leigh came and stood beside her.

“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’l 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?”

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Trust in Advertising

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!”

41

∙ 5 ∙

Lexi’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.”