Trust in Advertising (71 page)

The two of them had big plans for the modest office that was White Advertising and were excited to get started.

“When are we going back to San Francisco?” Lexi tugged on his arm, pleading. “I have to see this baby and squeeze those little cheeks!”

“Julian and I are leaving on Friday,” Christina bragged.

“I just want to hold him, kiss him, and smell him.” Lexi sighed.

Vincent crowded Lexi with his large body, trying to seem intimidating.

“Should I be jealous?”

Not to be outdone by Vincent’s games, she crooked her finger and cal ed him even closer. His eyes were captivated by her plump painted lips as she whispered

“Don’t worry. I have a whole different list of things I want to do to you.”

Shocked at seeing Christina so over the moon with baby-induced joy, Julian panicked. “Oh great, you’ve unleashed the obsession. I can hear their ovaries screaming now.”

Christina gave him a swat. “You know the baby obsession isn’t all that bad.

We should probably practice, a lot, before we actually try and do something big like that, don’t ya think?” The purr of her voice made Julian grin and start bobbing his head in agreement.

“Yeah, that’s true. Gotta practice for the big game. I like your thinking, wifey.”

“Well, I’m bummed. I probably won’t get to see baby Hunter for a month with my schedule,” Lexi complained

With a low chuckle, Vincent reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of plane tickets, waving them in front of her face. “How about going out there this week?”

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“Get out!” Her face glowed. “But you just flew all the way across country.”

“I told you, I missed you.” He kissed her lips gently. “And I wanted to see you.”

“But I have to work.”

“Work can wait. Family is more important.”

Lexi gazed at him in wonder. Sometimes she had to pinch herself to believe her life was real. The last eighteen months had been difficult, full of change and growth, but in many ways they’d been the best of her life. Vincent’s hand reached out, his fingers interlacing with hers under the table, their own private moment to share. His touch still made her stomach flip, his intense gaze made her cheeks flush without fail, and no man could set her body on fire with one wicked grin like Vincent could.

The tiny voice in the back of her head had questioned her cross country decision daily, but she knew it was the right thing. It was her chance to see what she could do. She couldn’t be Vincent’s assistant forever, she had to be something more, and in San Francisco, that was what people knew her as. She needed time and space to become more than that in everyone’s eyes.

Elizabeth and Vincent had been so supportive. Vincent answered every stupid question that popped into her brain no matter what time of day or night.

Elizabeth made the transfer of her work seamless, and she made sure Lexi knew that if this didn’t work out, she was always welcome to come back to Hunter.

Work was exciting from day one, meeting people, getting to know the area.

The client contacts she had made in San Francisco began to pan out quickly, and her business was up and running. When she decided to take night classes it was a big decision, but she was never happier. The one thing that broke her heart was not being with Vincent.

Their long distance relationship lasted two months, and then late one night there was knock on her door.

Lexi had been up late, working on the Garaday Restaurant project when she
heard the pounding on her door. At first she thought it was coming from across the
hall, but the second time, it was unmistakable. She set her laptop on the coffee table
and tiptoed over to the peep hole on her door to see who it could possibly be at this
hour. Who she saw standing out there took her breath away.

She hastily fumbled with the locks and threw open the door. “Vincent!” she
gasped, reaching out and touching him to make sure he was real. “What are you
doing here?”

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“I can’t do this anymore.” He seemed nervous as he came in and placed his
suitcase on the floor before sitting down at the kitchen counter.

Lexi offered him a beer from the refrigerator and waited for him to continue.

He took a deep breath and started talking very softly while he anxiously picked
at the label on the bottle. “I miss you. I know you wanted some time and space, but
I don’t think I can stay away from you anymore.” His eyes peeked up at hers, trying
to gauge her reaction to what he was saying.

The funny thing was that Lexi had been missing him too, terribly. Without
a word, she reached over on the counter to a blue envelope that was addressed to
Vincent.

In the letter Lexi confessed that she was miserable and how much she missed him.

She told Vincent she needed him in her life and asked if he would consider moving to
New York so they could be together. While he read the letter, Lexi held her breath.

He looked up and flashed Lexi a smile. “So …”

Lexi shrugged. “I was just thinking.” She bit her lower lip as she paused and
then said in a rush, “… that it would be nice if you were, you know … here … all
the time.” Vincent stood up and walked around the counter, backing Lexi up against
the wall of the kitchen. In a sudden burst of insecurity, she began rambling. “But
I know you can’t leave San Francisco, you’re too busy and your family is there. Just
forget it. It was my pathet—”

She never had a chance to finish her sentence because the next thing she knew,
Vincent’s strong lips were pressed against hers, taking her breath away. His hands
came up to cradle her face as he continued to ravage her with kisses, his tongue
teasing and tantalizing hers until she couldn’t think of anything but him. All her
apprehension and nerves vanished. It was only her and Vincent.

“I talked to Elizabeth. She’ll transfer my accounts out here. I can fly back for
meetings when necessary, but I need you too. I love you, and if you really want to
do this, I’m ready. I think we would be great business partners.”

“White & Drake Advertising, I like the sound of that … Hunter’s east coast
expansion is complete. It would be my pleasure to work with you again, Mr. Drake.”

Her fingers played with the buttons on the front of his shirt, popping them open one
by one. “Day or night.”

With a sinful grin, Vincent began running his lips down the side of her neck.

“You were saying something earlier about being sad that my side of the bed was
empty. Why don’t we go do something about that?”

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Vincent had packed his things and returned to New York within the week.

Their life together had finally begun.

The business exploded, their professional reputations bringing people to the doors of White & Drake Advertising by the dozens. When Lexi continued her business courses, Vincent picked up the slack at work and encouraged her to follow her dreams. They were true partners in every way.

Lexi felt like she was floating on a cloud for the rest of dinner. Her hand kept reaching out to Vincent, as if somehow checking to see if he was still there.

He had been gone for two weeks in California on business, traveling from San Diego to San Francisco, tying up loose ends and then visiting with his family.

He had invited Lexi to come with him, but she had deadlines that kept her in New York. It was the longest they had been apart since he moved in with her the year before.

As Vincent and Julian argued over the check, Lexi pulled Christina aside.

“Would you be terribly upset if I bailed on the tour of the apartment?”

“Go. Get out of here now, before we both go up in flames.” Christina peered over Lexi’s shoulder. “Where’s that sexy husband of mine?”

Julian and Vincent turned toward them, their less-than-innocent intentions written all over their faces. Their darkened eyes stalked the women, focused and intense, and their confident swaggers hypnotized Lexi and Christina as they came closer.

Vincent reached out and pressed his lips to Lexi’s. “You’re irresistible.” He tickled her side and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her out the door.

Julian held open the door of his car for Christina, tucking her safely inside.

“When you guys get back from your trip, we’ll have you over to the new place.”

Christina’s hand waved out the window as they peeled down the street.

The sun was setting, and the sky had a beautiful orange glow to it as the darkness crept closer and closer. Vincent held Lexi in his arms and he seemed to savor the feel of her. Her face nuzzled against his chest as she clung to the front of his shirt, like she was afraid he might disappear. Lexi knew by now he wasn’t going anywhere. He couldn’t. She was a part of him now; she was his heart.

“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go home.”

There were times, like now, sitting in Vincent’s car holding hands as they braved the crazy New York traffic, that everything seemed so normal, like they had been together forever. Yet those were the times when Lexi was most often 431

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convinced everything in her life was a spectacular dream she might one day wake up from. No one was this lucky, especially not her.

“Crap!” Lexi shouted out of nowhere, ruining their quiet moment. “I can’t go to San Francisco this week. I have that three day seminar for the woman’s leadership conference you made me sign up for. Damn it, I can’t believe I forgot about that.” Her head fell back against the seat in disappointment.

The car rolled into its parking space, and Vincent escorted his now gloomy girlfriend into the elevator and pushed the button for their floor. His silence was driving Lexi crazy.

“You don’t seem very upset that I can’t go to San Francisco.”

“That’s because you’re going to San Francisco.”

“But the meeting,”

“Has been rescheduled.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t just reschedule a leadership conference. It’s three days long, and we paid for it.”

Vincent rolled his eyes. “I don’t care about the money. So, consider it rescheduled.” When Lexi shook her head in disbelief, Vincent nodded toward her purse. “Check your schedule.”

With a very suspicious look, Lexi found her phone as the elevator doors opened. Vincent took her by the arm and led her down the hall to their apartment as she played with her BlackBerry and pulled up her calendar for the week.

“Great, something happened.” She tapped the display screed with her nail.

“I think it’s broken or something. Look, it erased all my appointments for the next two … no, two and a half weeks! Oh hell, now I have to get a whole new one.” Lexi leaned against the wall in disappointment, still pecking away at the buttons, hoping to resurrect the missing document.

She only glanced up when a shadow fell over her keyboard. Vincent stood inches away, the heat from his body warming her in all the right places. He came closer, putting his hands on each side of Lexi’s head, trapping her against the wall.

“Will you trust me?”

Words that once would have sent a knife through her heart, now made it sputter to life. Whenever he said those words, it meant he had something wonderful planned for her, something that she would most certainly love because he had kept his word. He spent every day reminding her how much he loved her and how special she was. Instead of reminding her of one dark day, those words 432

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now made her think of all the romantic and thoughtful things he had done since then. In a way, he had rewritten that part of their history.

“Always,” Lexi whispered breathlessly as his lips met hers.

Awkwardly he ushered her through the door, his hand covering her eyes as he prepared to surprise her. When she was completely inside the door, he pulled his hand away and waited anxiously for her reaction.

“Why did you leave your luggage in the middle of the family room?” Lexi asked, slightly annoyed. “Just drag it into the laundry room like you always do.

And why the hell did you take all of this luggage?” She looked at the pile of bags at her feet. “Wait, is that my suitcase?”

Vincent gave her that smile that told Lexi something big was coming. He was notorious for planning a great surprise and then giving her clues about what it could possibly be, but it was always up to Lexi to figure them out. Her stubborn streak kept her from asking for help, so instead, she would stand there, chewing on her bottom lip, occasionally even biting her fingernails as she tried to decipher the clues in front of her.

Vincent nodded his head in answer to her question. “I don’t want to rush your mental exercises, but for this one we are kind of working with a time constraint.”

She waved her hand in his face to quiet him as she continued pondering.

Before long, she jumped up and down. “Let me see those tickets again.”

“They’re in my pants pocket. Why don’t you get them yourself?” There were no words to describe the smug grin on his face as Lexi’s hand slowly snaked around his hip before dipping into his pants pocket. She slipped the papers out and squealed.

“We’re leaving tonight for San Francisco? Are you crazy?” With a single leap she was up in Vincent’s arms, kissing his face. “Don’t answer that. I know you’re crazy, but I love you anyway.”

They stayed locked together, kissing and touching one another, celebrating being together for the first time in weeks. Lexi glanced over her shoulder at the bags and tapped him on the chest so he’d let her go. She slithered down his body, loving the feel of his muscles along the way.