Her smirk jarred Jacinta’s nerves. What had Holly seen? As her irritation simmered, Lex rubbed her back, as if he could sense her annoyance and wanted to soothe it.
“We had a good time,” he said smoothly.
“So I heard.” Holly pushed the bangs out of her bold eyes. “You know, I also heard you and Jacinta were an item a while back.”
Lex didn’t blink an eyelid as he replied, “We were, yes, and now we are again. Is that what you wanted to know?”
Holly shrugged. “Hey, whatever floats your boat. I never realized you were that committed to recycling, Lex.”
“And I never knew my personal life was so fascinating to you.”
Holly stuck her chin in the air. “I don’t care, but you’ve heard that old saying—fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...”
He leaned toward Jacinta and murmured, “As you can see, Holly doesn’t believe in pulling her punches.”
Holly’s face tightened. “Neither do you, cousin.”
“Must be a family failing,” Jacinta chipped in, uneasily aware of the antagonism pulsating out of his cousin. Were all the Rochesters this intense?
“Oh, absolutely. Things are always fiercely discussed in our family.” Holly eyed Jacinta with growing speculation. “You haven’t met my brother Kirk, have you?”
“No, I’ve only met you and your father tonight.”
“Well, he’ll be at Nana’s birthday party next weekend.” Holly paused, darting a calculating look at Lex. “You are bringing Jacinta to Nana’s shindig, aren’t you? Nana would never forgive you if you didn’t.”
“Of course Jacinta’s coming to the party.” He gave Jacinta a blank stare. “Aren’t you, hon?”
Her mind worked furiously as she tried to figure out what he expected her to say. “Yes, I can’t wait,” she eventually replied. “I’m just—I’m still working out what to wear.”
“I’m sure Lex wouldn’t mind if you gave his credit card a workout,” Holly purred. “After all, he wouldn’t want you to feel out of place.”
Jacinta blinked at the catty remark but, after a moment’s reflection, realized that most of Holly’s prickliness was directed at Lex, not her.
“Don’t worry about Jacinta,” Lex said. “She looks like dynamite whatever she wears.” He laid his arm loosely around her waist and gave her a squeeze. “She’s got the figure to carry off anything.”
She started to blush before she remembered he was only saying that for the benefit of his cousin.
Holly folded her arms across her meager chest and directed her frown at Lex. “Have you read my report on the Marsden project yet?”
“Sure. It all seems reasonable,” Lex said evenly.
His cousin narrowed her eyes. “Yeah? It’s going to cost you a lot of extra money to fulfill my recommendations.”
“Yes, well, you have to spend money to make money.”
Looking taken aback, Holly darted a glance at Jacinta. “Wow, you must be packing some serious girl power there. Usually he’d be grilling me over every last detail. I’ll go while he’s still being a pussycat.”
She gave them a brisk nod before moving off. As soon as she was gone, Jacinta pointedly raised her eyebrows at Lex. “Your nana’s birthday party. When were you planning on dropping that bomb?”
“I was going to tell you, it just slipped my mind.” He slanted his eyes at her. “It’s a weekend party at my nana’s place up in Napa Valley. She’s turning ninety. Three hundred guests are invited. Alex Connelly is going to sing for her.”
The mention of the world-famous crooner made her do a double take. “The Alex Connelly? He’s coming all the way from wherever just to sing at your grandmother’s party?”
“She loves his singing.” He shrugged, as if hiring an international singing superstar was an everyday occurrence. “And we can afford it.”
The Rochesters could afford anything. Meanwhile, it hadn’t been too long ago that she and Kevin had existed on ramen noodles. Then her brain backtracked a few seconds. “Wait a minute. Did you say ‘weekend party’?”
“Yeah. We go up on Saturday morning—won’t take us long in the helicopter. Other relatives will be arriving as well on Saturday. It’s family only that day. Sunday is the main event, a garden party, and then we return home on Monday.”
“So I’d have to take that day off, then.”
“A half day, at least. Is that a problem?”
There’d be no problem taking time off work. That wasn’t the reason for her shortened breathing. She glanced around them, but there was too much chatter in the gallery for them to be overheard.
She dropped her voice. “Would we have to share a bedroom?”
His eyelids lowered, hiding the expression in his eyes. “Yeah. So?”
“I’m not sharing a bedroom with you.” She hated how jittery she sounded. Hated what the idea of sharing a bedroom with Lex was doing to her—sending her blood spiraling, her imagination freewheeling.
“My grandmother has a big place, but there’ll be a whole crowd of relatives spending Saturday night, so there won’t be any spare rooms. And besides, no one would ever believe we’re a couple if we don’t share a room.”
“We could stay somewhere else, a hotel nearby.”
“Nana would feel insulted.”
The trapped feeling intensified. She tried to step back, but the crowd behind hemmed her in. “I—I can’t come, then. You don’t need me at this party, do you?”
Lex scrutinized her for a few moments, then, hooking his hand around her elbow, he pushed a way clear for them through the throngs. They left the gallery and descended the stone steps before he spoke.
“I do need you,” he said earnestly. “Apart from establishing our relationship as genuine, I have another reason. I’ve organized a family meeting for Monday morning. My grandmother has trouble traveling to San Francisco, so since we’ll all be gathered in Napa, I thought it would be a good opportunity to discuss some business. You can help me. By spending time with my relatives, you might get some idea of who’s responsible. The trouble is, I’m too close to everything. I don’t have the proper perspective, but you might pick up things I wouldn’t.”
Everything he said made sense, but it wasn’t logic that had her insides knotted in panic. She was still vulnerable to Lex’s sensuality; just look at how she’d crumbled at his touch at Carl’s party. Spending an entire weekend with him would test her resistance to the hilt. On the other hand, if she had a chance to find out who the mole was, then she’d be a fool not to take it, because then she’d fulfill her part of the bargain, she’d be done with Lex forever, and Kevin would at long last get a job. Wasn’t that worth the risk?
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t have to look so grumpy,” Lex said as they began to walk back to the car. “It’s not all bad news. You’ll be giving my credit card a workout, remember?”
“I can buy my own clothes, thanks very much.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t want you to spend too much on my account. You’re my girlfriend. Why wouldn’t I want to splurge on you to look good for my nana’s birthday party?”
“Fine.” She exhaled softly. “What kind of clothes will I need?”
“Designer ones.”
“That won’t come cheap. I might give you a heart attack when you see your credit card bill.”
“You can try.” He looked her up and down as though calculating her measurements. “We’ll go on a shopping spree this week.”
“We?”
“Yes. Isn’t that the sign of a devoted boyfriend, schlepping from one boutique to the next, giving you helpful fashion advice?”
“Are you sure you can spare the time from your busy schedule?”
“For you, always.” His teeth gleamed in a mocking smile. “Besides, if you show up at my office, it’ll reinforce the girlfriend impression, plus you’ll have a chance to look at the other security logs you requested. Come over Tuesday at lunchtime. I’ll clear my schedule for the afternoon.”
She nodded and rubbed her upper arms in an effort to get rid of a weird goose bumpy feeling. Lex was going shopping with her, and he was taking her to meet his grandmother and the rest of his family. Things he’d never done when they were together. Things he was only doing now because he wasn’t her boyfriend. She had to remember that.
Chapter Six
Tuesday afternoon, Jacinta arrived at Lex’s office. There were two desks in his reception area, one for each of his personal assistants. At the desk closest to Lex’s door sat a middle-aged woman, her plain, unadorned features matching her matronly gray suit.
“Hi, Nancy,” Jacinta said, feeling as always that using the woman’s first name was being too forward. According to Lex, Nancy Bird had been with the company for longer than anyone could remember. “Uh, nice to see you again.”
The assistant eyed Jacinta over her steel-rimmed spectacles, her lips stretching into a polite smile. “Hello, Ms. Greene.”