“That was pretty clear on everyone’s faces.”Lexie’s knees weren’t feeling so steady.She sat and pushed her Diet Coke away.The last thing she needed right now was more fizz.
Cam slid out the empty chair for Blaire.
She eyed him speculatively but sat too.
“You shouldn’t have come here on your own,” Lexie scolded.
“Roxie said that too.She made me stay within ten feet of her at all times, but I wasn’t going to leave until I saw you.”Blaire glanced at Cam again.“I didn’t know where you were.”
Uncomfortable with the examination, Lexie hooked her hair behind her ear.Was the change between them that obvious?Were their pheromones screaming to the world that they’d had sex?
“Would you like something to drink, Blaire?”Cam asked.
She pointed at Lexie’s drink.“One of those?”
“I’ll get it for you.”Pushing back his chair, he left the two of them to talk in private.
Blaire watched him go, the furrow over her brow deepening.“Have you been with him?”
“Yes.”Andyes.Heat rushed up Lexie’s neck, but she doubted her sister intended the double-entendre of the question.She cleared her throat and was happy for the dim lighting in the bar.
Blaire pinned her with a look.“Since when are you two close?”
Lexie fought not to squirm.“He’s not that bad.”
“The hatchet man?”
Lexie grabbed a peanut and cracked it in half.It hadn’t been that long ago that she and Blaire had coined him that, but it had been a while since she’d seen that side of him…until just moments ago.Why hadn’t he told her what he’d planned to do?
Because he was as protective as he was decisive.
“He’s been good to me, Blaire.Really good.”
Blaire wasn’t convinced.She looked over her shoulder and nibbled at her lower lip.“Are you sure?He was on the phone all afternoon with Daddy.”
Pieces of the peanut shell dropped onto the table.Cam had talked with Julian?Today?After what had happened?
As if feeling her gaze upon him, Cam turned.The moment their eyes connected, heat ran through her.Heat and uncertainty.She was attracted to him.She’dsleptwith him, but both her sisters were right.He’d made his move on her rather quickly.
His brow crinkled, and she looked away.Seeing Roxie’s pile of peanut shells, she carefully brushed hers into the mix.
As steady as her hands were, Lexie’s mind was spinning.Cunning, ruthless, unemotional… She’d heard about his reputation before she’d even met him and, in the three months he’d been trying to clean up Underhill Associates, he’d lived up to every word.Just a few days ago, she’d barely been able to bring herself to talk to him.He’d been too intimidating.Forceful.Yet once her world had started tilting out of control, he’d been the only one she could hold on to.
She shot another peek at him.He was still watching her with that intense stare she’d felt for months.For some reason, the tension in her chest eased.
Hewascunning, ruthless and unemotional—when it came to business, and business was pretty much his life.People hired him to be that way.He was used to making tough decisions without consulting anyone.She might not agree with his tactics, but she had to admit he got results.
“You’ve only seen the business side of him, Blaire.He’s different away from work.”
Strong, protective and caring.Those words defined him just as well, and he was nobody’s toady.His allegiance wasn’t to her adoptive father, not that she could see.He’d been hired to fix their company’s problems, not the family’s dysfunction.And he had the ability to separate the two.
She was learning that she couldn’t.
Blaire kept nibbling at her lip.“Well, I’ve got to admit, he is hot.”
Lexie’s chin snapped around so fast, her neck protested.
Her sister cocked her head as she watched Cam at the bar.“Especially in those jeans.”
