Trust in Advertising (35 page)

“Give me the phone.”

“Are you sure? She’s got fangs, this one.”

“It’s the talons you have to watch out for with her.” Lexi grabbed the phone from Christina and took a deep breath. “Jade.”

“Who the hell is this?” she snapped.

“It’s Lexi.”

“Why am I talking to you? And what the hell are you doing at Julian Stone’s studio?”

“Jade, we only have a few minutes. Would you like to tell me what you’re doing, calling a client and offering your services while you throw Vincent’s name around? Do you know how this will look to Julian if he knows you called right before the presentation? Or after?” Lexi was shaking she was so mad. “Vincent worked his tail off for this.”

“Don’t you dare tell me about Vincent, you little witch! I think I know Vincent better than you ever will. Put Stone’s assistant back on the phone,”

Jade screeched.

“No. He and Vincent—” Lexi took a calming breath when Jade interrupted.

“Screw you!”

“Listen, Vincent doesn’t need this headache.”

“Stop saying his name!”

“Jade, calm down, you might break a nail.”

“Calm down? Oh, I’m calm. I’l be even calmer when Vincent final y fires you.”

“If he fires me over this, then so be it. But I’m not going to let you ruin this presentation for him.” Christina gave Lexi a high five of encouragement.

“Look at you. Protecting Vincent, how sweet. What do you think he needs protecting from? Me? Or better yet, do you think he needs
anything
from you?”

“He’s quite capable of taking care of himself.”

A light bulb must have suddenly gone off in Jade’s twisted head. “You like him. Why didn’t I see this before? You have a crush on him! Silly girl. Vincent’s a powerful man with influential, cultured friends. He would
never
want a simple girl like you on his arm. You don’t fit in with him or his life. Quit dreaming,”

Jade cackled into the phone.

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“This conversation is over, Jade. You’re irrational and obviously missed a dose of your happy pills, so I’m going to let whatever you were ranting about slide this time. But if you ever talk to me like that again, I’m not going to bite my tongue, and I’ll let you know exactly what I think of you.”

“How dare you!”

“No, how dare
you
. How dare you talk to me that way. How dare you try and use your relationship with Vincent to get yourself a job even if it means ruining his chance at a campaign. You’re just plain cruel.” Christina jumped up and down with glee at Lexi’s tirade while Jade was stunned into silence. Lexi seized the opening to drive the final stake through her dead, shriveled heart.

“Now, go smile pretty for the camera or whatever it is you do.” She dropped her voice lower until it was almost a purr. “And don’t worry. I’ll take
good
care of Vincent while you’re gone.”

As the receiver slammed down, Christina lunged at Lexi and hugged her tight. “That was awesome! Remind me not to piss you off.”

Lexi sank into the nearest chair and clasped her hands together so that Christina wouldn’t see how badly she was shaking. She may have won that one, small battle with Jade, but in doing so, she had just started a war of epic proportions. And it was a war she stood no chance of winning.

“That was such a bad idea,” Lexi said as she tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling.

“What was a bad idea?” Vincent asked as he strolled through the door, Julian and his two friends right behind him.

Lexi gave Christina a warning look to keep her mouth shut about what had just happened. She wanted Vincent to get through the presentation before he found out about Jade’s asinine behavior. “Not eating something before I came here. I was a little light headed, but I’m much better now.”

Vincent came over with a concerned expression and stood beside her chair.

“You sure you’re okay? You do look a little pale.” He stroked slowly along her arm, making every place he touched tingle.

“I’m good.” Lexi stood up so Vincent wouldn’t notice the blush that suddenly rushed into her cheeks.

“Vincent, Lexi, can I get you anything before I leave? Water, coffee, juice?”

Christina interrupted as Julian, Sal, and Peter took their seats at the far end of the enormous glass conference table, their hands immediately digging into the bowl of candy that sat there.

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Lexi shook her head no while Vincent offered a quick “No thanks.” He went to the front of the room and stood where the PowerPoint presentation was being projected onto the wall.

“Have a good meeting.” Christina winked at Vincent and made her way to the door.

“Tina, you wanna stay?” Julian asked, motioning to the chair beside him.

“No, I’ve got some work to do. I’ll hold your calls so you aren’t interrupted.”

She cast a sly glance to Lexi, who smiled in appreciation and passed out presentation packets to the men.

Lexi held her breath as the men flipped through the pages, waiting for some sort of reaction. When she saw Julian’s head bob up and down, she cast an encouraging smile to Vincent, who also watched the men, no doubt taking note of each subtle body movement. Julian and Sal huddled together for a second, pointing back and forth on one another’s papers, but their facial expressions were impossible to read.

Julian set his papers down on the table and leaned back in his chair, his fingers locked behind his head. Casually he said, “All right, Vince, impress me.”

Vincent’s presentation was pure magic. He spoke with confidence and personality. Julian and his entourage sat quietly as Vincent gave the presentation, never taking their eyes off of him. They occasionally leaned forward in their chairs, most often to get a better view when Vincent went over the artwork for the print ads. Julian brought up a concern about getting the licenses to use the covers, and Vincent quickly extinguished it when he proudly shared that he had already taken care of the licensure and permissions for any albums used in this presentation. Peter, who had been very quiet up until then, murmured his approval.

Lexi was amazed with the presentation and was certain she had a goofy, adoring grin on her face the entire time. Vincent was so personable and charming that she couldn’t take her eyes off him. It was as if he was speaking directly to each individual in the room. The few times his eyes sought her out and lingered, Lexi’s blood raced through her veins. She would give him an encouraging smile, letting him know he was on the right track. The gorgeous smile that resulted on his face each time made Lexi’s stomach flip with excitement.

As the presentation wrapped up, Julian remained eerily quiet. He looked repeatedly from Vincent to the papers in front of him, saying nothing. Finally, he glanced over at Peter, and then spoke. “I don’t like it.”

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Vincent remained stoic at the front of the room, not letting Julian see any visible reaction to his words. Lexi’s heart sank, but she took Vincent’s lead and remained expressionless.

“What are you concerned about?” Vincent asked.

“I think people are going to find the old and new mix lame. Right now, it’s all about being hot or a trendsetter,” Sal offered, Julian’s head nodding in agreement.

“I disagree,” Vincent said, his voice firm and unwavering. “There are so many people who know nothing about fashion. They buy a head-to-toe look from a design house and think that just because they are decked out in a label, they are fashion forward, when really, they all look cookie cutter.”

Lexi held her breath as Julian shifted in his seat. “I get what you’re trying to do, Vince. But I’m the designer. I made the clothes. I decided which pieces went together to make the looks. No offense, but what do you know about designing a line? And in essence, that’s what you’ve done, redesigned my entire line.”

“The pieces in your collection are incredibly strong, each one being able to stand on its own and make a statement.” Vincent glanced again at Lexi for reassurance that he was on the right track.

“I agree,” Lexi chimed in. “I’m certain when you designed the line originally, a number of these pieces were put together differently in the planning stages.

Then as things began to take shape, you saw that this top worked better with this pair of pants, or this shirt paired with this jacket was better. You’re known for the versatility of your line, and the pieces mix beautifully within your label and outside of it.”

Vincent jumped back into the conversation. “That’s what we want to showcase, the way your line has a timeless, classic edge to it. So many designers are trend motivated, but you aren’t. Your line is a new take on a classic, and by encouraging people to pair it with what they already have and love, it makes it far more marketable to a wider cross section of the population.”

Lexi and Vincent held their breath as Julian silently sat in his chair, digesting all that had been thrown at him. The two exchanged a silent dialogue, Vincent shrugging, indicating his uncertainty, Lexi nodding, letting him know that she believed in him.

Julian pushed the presentation papers away from him and toward the center of the table. “Well, this meeting is over.” He stood up, Sal and Peter following suit, and moved toward the door. He peeked over his shoulder and added with 211

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a grin, “I like your backbone, Vince, and I love the idea. I just wanted to see how vigorously you would defend it. I’m sold. Let’s celebrate Hunter getting the account with a quick game of two-on-two. The suit better not slow you down, Drake.”

Lexi knew Vincent couldn’t visibly cheer to celebrate the win. He had to keep his composure no matter how badly he wanted to pump his fist into the air. So instead, he reached out to the one person with whom he wouldn’t have to use words to communicate, the one person who knew how much this meant to him, and squeezed her hand with all his might. The firm squeeze he got back from Lexi’s trembling hand made him smile. She had been just as nervous as he was, and yet she followed his lead, kept her cool, and defended their idea magnificently. They were a great team.

An hour later, after the most argued game of two-on-two in history, Lexi and Vincent were finally ready to leave Julian’s place. “I’ll call you next week, Christina,” Lexi called over her shoulder as they walked out of the studio.

As Vincent slid beside her in the Lotus, Lexi couldn’t keep still. “Are we clear?” she asked when they were half a block down the road.

“Yep.”

“We did it!” Lexi screamed in the car, feet pounding on the floor in celebration. Vincent joined in her excitement and high fived her repeatedly. “Oh my God, I almost passed out when he said he didn’t like it, but then you went into our motivation and I knew we had him. I know this probably sounds lame, but I’m so proud of you, Vincent. You really were amazing in there.” When she stopped talking, she realized that her hands were wrapped around his arm, her smiling face within inches of his in the cramped space of the car. Still giddy, she gave his arm an excited shake, then sat back in her seat and let it all sink in.

Julian Stone had liked their campaign enough to hire them on the spot.

Vincent reached over and laced his fingers with hers. The two sat there in a very comfortable silence, each reliving the high points of the day in their head.

When Vincent began rubbing gentle circles along Lexi’s hand, she turned her head toward him and smiled.

“I’m glad we’re friends after all these years,” Lexi said softly.

Vincent reached out and cupped her cheek, his eyes full of tenderness as he spoke. “My life is better with you in it.”

Lexi let his overwhelmingly kind words sink in. She adored him, there was no point in pretending she didn’t, and at this moment she didn’t even care 212

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that her heart would eventually get trampled. She was so happy, she decided to seize the moment and celebrate their victory. “Can I ask you a huge favor?”

She turned the full power of her brown eyes on him, her long lashes fluttering like a butterfly’s wings.

“Anything,” he said, sounding as if there was no way he would be able to refuse her today.

She poked at the roof of the car. “Take the top down for me?”

A wide grin spread across his face. “Seriously? I assumed it was a standard girl thing that you all hate convertibles—it messes with the hair and everything.

At least that’s what Jade always says.” He reached over and pressed the button that sent the gears churning to retract the top of the car.

As it disappeared, Lexi felt the pleasant heat of the sunshine beating down on her skin. “In case you haven’t noticed, Jade and I are pretty much polar opposites. We’re nothing alike.” Lexi rolled her window down, put on her sunglasses and shook her head, letting the wind rush through her long hair as Vincent sped down the road.

“I’ve noticed.”

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The drive to Anna’s house was exactly what Lexi and Vincent needed to wind down from the excitement of the Stone presentation. The beautiful scenery and the ability to simply be without need for conversation were refreshing. On more than one occasion, Vincent peeked over at Lexi and simply watched her hair swirl in the breeze. The soft and silky strands brushed against him as the wind caught hold of them, and once Vincent even reached out and twirled a stray lock between his fingers before setting it free again.

Lexi’s smile was wide as Vincent pointed things out to her along the coast, like a pod of dolphins swimming just offshore or a spectacular sailboat skipping over the waves. The scenery was picturesque and the company sublime.

Instead of stopping, they enjoyed each other’s company for as long as they could, taking a leisurely drive up the coast before doubling back toward Anna’s house in time for Madison’s tea party. Lexi asked Vincent to stop at a little shop along the way so she could get a gift for Madison, because she refused to arrive empty handed.

For Lexi, the entire afternoon was like a dream. She felt like pinching herself every few minutes just to make sure it was real—from the presentation to getting the account to the wonderful drive with Vincent. She couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day. The speed of the car, the whipping wind, and the smell of the ocean all accentuated the wild day they had just experienced together. Vincent’s company somehow had a strangely calming effect on her. By the time the car Trust in Advertising