Chapter One #3
She tried to tug her hand free, but he wouldn’t let her.
Holding firm, he started towards the hallway.
He grabbed his jacket off the chair, and she glanced over her shoulder, feeling helpless as her proposal got farther and farther from view.
Her eyes stung as he inexorably led her out of her own office.
Was this a preview of what was to come? He hit the overhead lights as they passed out the door.
It was only then that she realized how truly dark it was outside.
Dark and still. All the other offices on the floor stood silent as they made their way down the muted hallway.
In an effort to save money, all office lighting was automatically turned off each night and had to be operated manually.
Workers powered down their computers and printers every day when they left, and it made the building eerily quiet.
Eerie and foreboding. Like a ghost town.
Immune to it all, Cam led her through the bleakness, his palm sealed against hers. With each rippling step, she felt his strength and the indecipherable power he held inside. For a coldhearted bastard, his touch was much too warm. Much too personal.
They finally made it to the elevator bay, and he jabbed the down button.
They stood waiting, staring everywhere but at each other.
Unfortunately, the stainless-steel doors acted like mirrors.
Every direction Lexie looked, she saw the reflection of them together—and it was striking.
Her mouth went dry. They were both dark and lean, young and sexual.
With their hands laced and their bodies close, the mirror took them as a couple.
It was an impossible picture, an insane combination.
The hatchet man with a willing sacrifice.
But she wasn’t willing. Not even to save her family’s company. Why did she have to be the offering? What had she done wrong?
She tried deep breaths to calm herself, but they didn’t work. He seemed overwhelming this close up. Strong, enigmatic and ominous. One more time, she tried to retrieve her hand. One more time, he only squeezed tighter.
“I’m sorry I upset you,” he said. “I didn’t mean to.”
She stared straight ahead, begging for the elevator to arrive.
“I never meant you were different because you’re adopted. You’re different because you’re… Well, you’re you.”
She adjusted her purse on her shoulder. The strap of her shoe was twisted, and the hole in her chest felt like it was gaping.
She’d overreacted, she knew. She was a grown woman, but it was still a sore subject for her.
She usually hid it better. It was embarrassing that he knew how she felt, but he’d just come at her so strong, surprising her with his plans.
“They don’t let you forget, do they?” he said.
Her throat tightened.
“Has it always been this way?”
Looking away, she nodded.
Mercifully, the bell dinged and the doors parted. If she’d thought that was better, though, she was mistaken. Inside the elevator, the space was even smaller. And he became even quieter.
“At least think about it. New opportunities. Fresh challenges. All the obstacles you constantly come up against would be moved out of the way.”
And replaced with new ones. There were always obstacles.
They’d been put in front of her her entire life.
She took a deep, unsteady breath. She was committed to Underhill Associates.
There was no way she could quit. She had to stay and fight, work even harder.
It was what she did. “Can you hold off on anything until I present tomorrow? Please?”
She looked at him then and, for the first time, noticed the lines of stress around his eyes. The set of his jaw was stubborn—or was it resigned? Either way, he appeared as tired as she felt. From the inside out.
“Is this about that idea sitting on your desk?” he asked.
“Yes.” She stared right back into those deep brown eyes of his and did the unthinkable—she clutched his hand back. “Let me try something. I have some ideas that could be profitable.”
He glanced down to where they touched. “This better be one hell of a marketing campaign.”
“It’s more than a marketing campaign, or I think it is. Please? Cam?”
His gaze locked with hers.
Lexie licked her lips. “Let’s go back up to my office and go through it right now. I’ll show it to you, and you can make the decision.”
“I thought you didn’t trust me.”
Her courage drained right out her feet. He watched her closely, but there was nowhere to hide. How could she have forgotten how hard he was? How inflexible? Hadn’t he just gone at her weaknesses? Probed at them without mercy? Could she really ask him for a reprieve?
She had to.
“Please. For my employees?”
He turned towards her then, trapping her in the corner. “Ask me to do it for you.”
Her breath hitched.
“For me?” she whispered.
His chest rose and fell. “For you,” he said gruffly. His gaze swept over her face one more time, stalling on her lips. “But I’ll wait until tomorrow morning to see what you’ve got.”
He stepped back, and the tightness in her chest relaxed, but only slightly.
The doors opened then onto the dark, deserted parking garage, yet neither of them moved.
The night was heavy. Muggy. It pressed down on them, and Lexie felt the weight build right back up on her shoulders.
So much responsibility had just been dropped on her. Was it too much?
Cam looked down at her, tough and world-weary. He rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand gently, but then he let go. “Just promise me you’ll be prepared.”
Without his touch, she felt weirdly bereft. Adrift. “For what?”
“For things to go from bad to worse.”
She clutched her purse, still needing something to hang on to. “Are you always so optimistic?”
“Pragmatic.”
Unfortunately, she was too. And in her experience, bad to worse was usually the way things went.