He stopped so abruptly, she nearly ran into him.When he looked over his shoulder at her, she realized how close she’d really gotten.His brown eyes were always dark.With his temper, they’d turned black.The intensity in that gaze should have pushed her back to a safer distance, but a whiff of his aftershave surprisingly made her want to draw closer.
“You don’t know what this is about?”
Lexie’s lips tightened.She hated admitting she didn’t have the inside track.She had to work overtime just to stay on top of things.Somehow, though, this one had gotten away from her.She gave a quick shake of her head.
“Did you see the morning paper?”
She’d barely had time to run through the shower and get dressed.
“Alexandra!”The command came from the hallway, and it pricked her as well as a needle to the behind.
She jerked up straight, but her hands turned slippery.She felt the stack of proposals in her arms shift and hurried to adjust it, only the plastic covers were slick.With her fumbling, they slithered against each other and right onto the floor.
Behind them, the conference room fell silent.
Heat crawled up into Lexie’s face.She hated being in the limelight, especially when it came to her family.It was inevitable that she’d be singled out, but this was more so than usual.Embarrassed by the mess, she knelt to clean it up.Hidden from the attention, she tried to find her center.
Suddenly, Rowe was right beside her.His shoulder brushed against hers as he picked up proposals from underneath the nearest chair.Energy sparked again, making goose bumps rise on her arms, yet when he spoke, his voice was quiet.“They found out about the billboard.It’s on the front page of theCobalt News.”
She looked at him in confusion.“What are you talking about?”
“I’m assuming this has some kind of marketing spin…or it’s the idea you wanted to tell me about last night.Just explain how it all connects with UAI, and I’ll support you.”
He might as well have been speaking Greek.“I don’t understand.”
The door squeaked open, and Blaire poked her head through.“Lexie…”
“We’re coming,” Rowe said.“Tell everyone to meet in my office.”
He stood and cupped her elbow to help her up.Out of ingrained habit, Lexie took a deep breath and braced herself.
She found him watching her like a bug under a microscope.The way his dark gaze raked over her face made her feel exposed.Naked.She couldn’t hold it, so she concentrated on the proposals in his hand.When she reached out again, he handed them to her.She spotted another behind the potted plant beside the door, but she knew her father wouldn’t wait much longer.
Patience had never been one of his virtues.
She followed Rowe down the hallway into his office.Her family waited for her, their displeasure even more apparent away from the crowd.
Her father stood behind the desk, pacing its short length.His face was red—too red—and he didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands.He blustered when he got upset.Yelled and stewed, then calmed down just as quickly.With one glance, though, she saw that he was more than upset.It was as if all the blood in his fingers had been pumped to his head.
His blue gaze settled on her the moment the door closed behind her.“I want an explanation, young lady.”
He hadn’t yelled, but she drew back anyway.“For what?”
“For what?” He banged a clenched fist down on the desk, and every one of her brothers and sisters jumped.“For embarrassing our company.Sullying the family name.Degrading yourself.Where do you want me to start?”
Lexie felt like Alice down the rabbit’s hole, but everyone else seemed to know what was going on.Her brothers were looking at her just as fiercely as her father, although Lowery had more shock on his face.Tara appeared to be enjoying Lexie’s discomfort, but Blaire was worrying a divot in the carpeting with her heel.
Lexie summoned her calm.“Cam says this has something to do with billboard advertising we did?”
“Wedid?”her father snapped.He gestured jerkily at Landers, who tossed the morning newspaper onto the desk.It slid unopened towards her, coming to a stop at a cockeyed angle.“That’s all you, my dear.”
Lexie scanned the paper, but the headline on the front page only confused her more…something about a billboard along the interstate causing controversy.She turned the paper so she could read it better.They hadn’t done any billboard advertising for over a year, and the longest their ads remained on display was usually sixty days.To her knowledge, all of Underhill’s ads had been papered over long ago.She looked at the grainy, black-and-white photograph.It didn’t even come close to their branding.It was—
Her.
She blinked and looked again.
It washer.
