Undercover in the CEO's Bed(11)

The woman had never been less than civil to her, but now Jacinta wondered if there was a hint of skepticism in the assistant’s manner. More than anyone else she would be aware of Lex’s movements, would know if he suddenly started acting out of character. Maybe she wasn’t completely convinced of Jacinta and Lex’s sudden reconciliation.

“I’m here to see Lex,” Jacinta said in a voice that felt unnecessarily loud.

“Of course,” the woman replied blandly. “Go right in. He’s expecting you.”

Jacinta pushed through the door to Lex’s office.

“I don’t think Nancy completely buys that we’re back together,” she said as Lex rose from his desk. “She seemed a bit stiff.”

“Don’t mind her. She’s only peeved because I’ve canceled so many appointments today and caused her a lot of reshuffling.” He walked around his desk toward her. “Did you get the flowers I sent you?”

“Yes, thank you.” She flushed. The four dozen long-stemmed roses had caused a stir at the office. “You made quite a statement with those roses. Everyone at work wanted to know who’d sent them. I’ve told some of my other friends about you, and they’re all kinda surprised we’re back together.”

“Tell them I’m taking you to Rawlins tonight. I managed to wrangle a table.”

Rawlins was an upscale restaurant more famous for its clientele than its food. “Rawlins? Why there?”

“To show everyone I’m serious, especially your friends.”

Jacinta sighed. She hated lying to them, but this was her choice, so she’d have to put up with the pretense. Oh yes, what a hardship it was receiving beautiful roses and going to dinner with a handsome man!

“Should I go through the logs now or after the shopping?” she asked.

“Let’s do it now.” He gestured toward his high-backed leather chair. “Do you want to take my seat?”

She sat down, unsettled by the familiarity of his office and the residual warmth in the chair left from Lex’s body. She peered at the desk. This was where she’d ended up naked with Lex on top of her on more than one occasion after hours. If she wasn’t mistaken, that was the very stapler that had left a dent in her ass. She cut off the memories before she forgot why she was there.

“Are you sure no one’s going to barge in unexpectedly? It would look a bit strange for me to be sitting here behind your desk.”

Lex sat in a visitor’s chair. “With Nancy standing guard outside, no one’s going to come in without plenty of warning. She’s a great sentry.”

Jacinta logged on, still mulling over Nancy. “So she’s on your side?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Of course. Nancy was my father’s assistant for more than twenty-five years. She’s devoted to the company.”

“And to you?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘devoted,’ but she’s completely loyal.” He gave her a sharp stare. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason except it’s good to know you can count on someone.” She examined the screen, but even as she analyzed the stats in front of her, part of her was still preoccupied with the people in Lex’s life. “I can’t help noticing the underlying tensions between you and your uncle and Holly, the people you should be able to trust. I know you think it’s none of my business, but it would help me to know the reason behind it. Is it money, ambition, bad blood, what?”

Instead of answering, he picked up his ballpoint pen and began to spin it in his fingers until she thought he was going to ignore her question, but finally he said, “With Holly it’s a pretty straightforward case. She’s always been ambivalent about the family wealth. She claims being a Rochester has screwed up a lot of her relationships. In college, she joined a protest group that wanted to halt one of our projects, a project my father had put me in charge of. She and her friends broke into the site, wrecked a lot of expensive equipment, then chained themselves to some heavy machinery. She flaunted her Rochester connection to the media, wanted to cause me maximum embarrassment. Well, I didn’t negotiate with her. I called in the police, got them all charged, and insisted she pay all costs.”

Jacinta stared at him. “That was a little heavy-handed, don’t you think?”

He spun the pen faster, his chin jutting out. “She abused her privileges, thought I’d treat her differently because she was family. She was wrong. In the end she still traded on her name and landed a job here. She’s one of our environmental officers, which means she’s constantly finding ways to needle me.”

She recalled Holly’s prickly attitude at the art exhibition, the way she’d squared her jaw exactly as Lex was doing now. “She hasn’t totally forgiven you.”

“I’ll say,” he grunted. “Although she’s good at her job, I’ll give her that.”

Jacinta tapped a few commands into the computer, scanned the results, then said, “And your uncle? What’s his story?”

Leaning back in his chair, Lex balanced the pen between his two forefingers. “That goes back a little further. He was supposed to run the company together with my father, but basically he was no match for my dad. He was sidelined, outmaneuvered, and eventually pushed out of any meaningful role. As a concession, he was made a vice president of branding and later he got the foundation.”

“Wow, that sounds so ruthless.”

“That was my dad—ruthless, charming, arrogant.” He paused, his expression brooding. His memories of his father didn’t seem to be happy ones.

A sudden shiver ran down Jacinta’s back. Not once had Lex ever discussed his father with her, even though Philip Rochester had died not long ago and Lex had taken over his job. On the bookcase beside the desk were several framed photos, but they were all of Lex with his friends, none that seemed like family pictures except one that showed Lex with a white-haired, sweet-faced woman who could only be his grandmother.

“Ralph doesn’t have a head for business anyway,” Lex continued. “He was always more interested in the arts.”

“And he resents you because of what your father did to him?”

He tossed the pen up and grabbed it in his fist. “No, he resents me because after I became CEO, I found out he’d been blowing his budget for years and my father had been covering for him all this time. He assumed I’d do the same thing. He assumed wrong.” Lex’s knuckles whitened around the pen. “I insisted he stick to his budget. He thinks I’m just a soulless bean counter.”

His taut face made her stretch her hand out toward him. Just in time, she realized what she was doing and let her hand sink to the desk. “Well,” she began tentatively, “perhaps your dad felt guilty about ousting his brother, and that was his way of making amends.”

“I guess that’s one way of looking at it.” He lifted his head. “I never thought of that. My dad was never known for his softness, especially not toward any family members.”

“Was he hard on you?” The question tumbled from her lips before she could think. She hesitated, his narrowing eyes making her uncomfortable. “I mean, when you were growing up.”

“He wanted me to succeed, not just do well but exceed all expectations. Sometimes, it was difficult to please him.” He folded his arms on the desk, nodding toward the computer. “Found anything there?”

She pulled her focus back to the screen. “Nothing to report.”

“Then it’s time to hit the stores.” He stood and moved away to retrieve his jacket from the coat stand.

How quickly he’d cut off all discussion about his dad. Clearly he wasn’t going to confide his issues to her, but at least he’d told her about his problems with Holly and his uncle Ralph.

She logged off his computer, picked up her purse, and followed him out of the office. Just outside the elevators, they ran into Carl.

“Going out for a nice long lunch date?” he said, grinning.

“I’m saving that for tonight,” Lex said. “Got a table booked at Rawlins.”

Carl whistled. “Rawlins. Brooke will be green with envy.”

Lex ran his hand lightly down Jacinta’s back. “Right now I’m taking Jacy shopping for something to wear to my grandmother’s party.”

A tremor snaked down Jacinta’s spine. Not just because of his intimate touch, but because of what he’d called her. Jacy. His special nickname for her. No one else called her that.

“Oh yes, Nana Alice’s party,” Carl said. “I’m really looking forward to that.”

“Carl and Brooke are coming to the party,” Lex explained to Jacinta.

She nodded, still flustered as the elevator arrived and they stepped in.

Carl called after them. “Jacinta, this is the first time I’ve seen Lex give up an afternoon at the office to go shopping with a woman. You’ve really turned him around.” He gave them the thumbs-up.

The doors slid shut. They stood alone in the elevator as it sped downward. Lex kept his gaze on the panel of lights.

“Well?” Jacinta said when it was obvious Lex wasn’t going to talk. “I can’t believe you’re letting Carl tease you like that.”