“You can’t even call me Father anymore?”he said gruffly.
Her hand tightened around the doorknob.Long-established reflexes had her wanting to say “of course, Fath—” but she couldn’t even get past the endearment in her head.Not yet.“Cam’s not here,” she tried instead.
“I’m not here to see Rowe.I’m here to see mydaughter.”Julian raked a hand through his shock of blond hair.His elbow bumped against the vase beside him, and the artificial flowers rustled noisily.He shot it a look that quieted it, yet his chin was still turned from her when he muttered, “If she’ll see me.”
Manners had Lexie stepping back and opening the door.“Please, come in.”
As polite as they both were being, nerves suddenly assailed her.She’d never anticipated that he’d come here, to her.She wasn’t prepared for this.She had no idea what to say to him or what he expected out of her.She stuffed her hands in her pockets only to remember she was wearing jeans.
Julian hated jeans.
Her father’s walk was stiff as he entered the penthouse, and she felt wooden too.They stepped around each other as if a magnet held them apart, and she frowned.Magnets only repulsed when like was held against like.
Julian moved farther into the room, casting an observant eye over its size, the furnishings and the décor.He nodded as if giving his approval and walked down into the living room.“So, you and Rowe?”
The question hung in the air, demanding an answer even though he already had one.
“Yes.”Their relationship was no secret.
Again, her father nodded.He walked over to take in the view and stared down at the river.“I approve of him.He’s an obstinate fellow, but smart.Loyal.”
Lexie clenched her hands together behind her back.As close as she and Cam were getting, she couldn’t forget who he worked with every day, whose office he went to without fail or which project kept him up late at night.Julian had his loyalty by contract.
She hoped she had it by heart.
“You’ve moved in here with him?”
Again, the question was redundant, something to fill the uncomfortable silence.“Yes.”
“Do you have any plans on moving back to the guesthouse?Maybe after he’s gone?”
The question stung, like so many darts she’d taken over the years, but Lexie had to admit she didn’t know what the future held.She didn’t know what would happen when Cam finished the reorganization.They’d both avoided the subject like the plague.“I’m thinking of finding an apartment in the city.”
She hadn’t been thinking that at all, but the moment she said it, she realized it was a good back-up plan.It was time she ventured out on her own, spent some time finding her own two feet.
With Cam or not.
Julian frowned as he evaluated a painting on the wall.“Your mother won’t be happy about that, but I suppose she’ll enjoy redecorating the place.”
Lexie cocked her foot.Of course Anne Marie would, but how didhefeel?He’d made a point of showing up here with no invitation or warning, yet he’d said nothing.He was so full of guards and shields, bluster and arrogance, she couldn’t read him.
“Why are you here, Julian?”she asked point-blank.
“Julian,” he spat.His suit jacket pushed back as he settled his hands on his hips and turned to face her.“I want things to go back to the way they were.”
There it was, his hurt and her corresponding guilt.Only this time she wasn’t going to acquiesce.“They can’t go back.”
“Why not?”
She watched him carefully.Coming here had to have been difficult for him, swallowing his pride this way.It was his way of reaching out to her, she knew.So why was he standing all the way on the other side of the room?The distance had always been there between them, physical and emotional.If they were so alike, why couldn’t they communicate?Why had she never been able to live up to his expectations?“It just can’t.”
His blue eyes hardened.He didn’t like being told no.Stubbornness had gotten him to his place in the world today.
“Well, at least come back to work.”His hands were still on his hips, and his cheeks were starting to redden.“You know this isn’t a good time for you to be away.Underhill is going through challenges.We need you there.”
Lexie sucked in a surprised breath and dropped her foot back to the floor.She’d been waiting for that for so long, some sort of acknowledgment of her contributions.
“You’re steady.You’re our glue.The company needs your influence.”
