“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.
Chapter Two
Of all the days to be late…
Lexie stuffed her purse into her desk drawer and swept up the marketing report and her stack of proposals.The Mountain Dew and her granola bar still cluttered her desk, but she ignored them.She looked at her watch and winced.If there was one thing her father deplored, it was tardiness.
Cutting out into the hallway, she hurried towards the main conference room.As bare and empty as the office had felt last night, today it was too bright and lively.She never showed up this late.Oversleeping just wasn’t something she let herself do, yet Rowe had thrown off her routine last night.Her wince drifted into a scowl.
Bad to worse was right…
She didn’t like being blindsided, and the man had come at her from every angle—mentally, emotionally and physically.Their confrontation had left her rudderless, which was a condition she wasnotused to.It had made her even more anxious for today, and she’d stayed up late trying to go over everything one last time from memory.Somehow, she’d fallen asleep without setting her alarm.
Self-consciously, she swept a hand over her hair.It had been an irresponsible slip.
Giving herself a mental shake, she stood up straighter and focused on the double doors at the end of the hallway.It didn’t matter what had happened last night or this morning, she was here now and shewasprepared.Her fingers curled around her bound proposals.
Gathering her confidence, she reached for the ornate brass handle and let herself into the back of the room.
