A cold shiver ran down her backbone. She looked up at Lex. “It could be her.”
“What do you mean—” He broke off as her meaning dawned on him. “Nancy Bird? You think she’s the one who’s been...?” He stopped again to check if they were attracting attention. Taking her elbow, he shepherded her away from the crowd until they reached a secluded spot. “What makes you think Nancy is the one betraying me?” he asked in a quiet voice heavy with tension.
She swallowed. The scents of rosemary and lavender hung in the summer air. “It’s just the way she spoke to me. She sounded bitter, resentful.”
Lex shook his head. “I can’t understand what she would feel resentful about. She’s the only admin we invited to this party.”
“She said she’s here to take the minutes at your meeting tomorrow.”
“So? She usually takes the minutes of meetings.”
“Doesn’t that give her access to all your private discussions?”
“Yes, but...” His frown deepened before he shook his head again. “But she’s completely trustworthy. She was my father’s assistant for decades. She has nothing to gain by being disloyal. God, she used to give me money out of petty cash to buy candy when I visited my dad’s office. No, I just can’t see her wanting to sabotage the company.”
Doubt surged over Jacinta. She had no real evidence against Nancy, just intuition. She’d only spoken briefly to the woman a handful of times, so clearly she didn’t know her as well as Lex did. Maybe she had misinterpreted Nancy’s attitude.
“I guess she doesn’t have a motive,” she said. “She’d be shooting herself in the foot if she damaged the company.”
“She’s a tough nut, that Nancy. She had to be to survive for so long under my dad.”
“But still, you shouldn’t discount her. She’s had just as much opportunity as any of your family. I’m adding her to my list of suspects. In fact, when I get the chance, I’m going to audit the activity logs from her computer and logins and cross-check that with the dates of your meetings and the leaks.”
Lex still looked dubious. “Okay. But my money’s on Holly.”
“Why?”
“Because she and I never got along, and she’s always been on Kirk’s side. She’d think this was a brilliant plan to show up my incompetence and help Kirk take over. Plus, she wouldn’t waste any time crying if the company got into financial difficulties. Yeah, it’s just the kind of stunt she’d pull.”
Jacinta thought about his spunky, sassy cousin, how she’d spoken up for Kirk, and the obvious warmth between her and her brother. “I agree she has the chutzpah to do this, but I don’t know... I don’t think there’s that much malice in her.”
“So it’s just your feminine intuition telling you that, huh?”
“Oh yes.” She lifted her chin. “And it’s just as reliable as your good ol’ male gut instinct.”
“Huh.” He grinned briefly before sobering up. “Well, I did ask you here to help find the likely suspect, and if I can’t trust my family, then I shouldn’t trust Nancy either.”
Heavens, she didn’t want to make him more distrusting. “You were great on stage with your family all reminiscing about your nana. I’m convinced you could all get along one of these days.”
“You mean when I’ve uncovered the spy. But I wouldn’t count on it. Even if the company is saved, it’ll mean a huge disruption. It’s a lose-lose situation as far as family unity is concerned, but I’ll have to handle it. I’m going to get to the bottom of this and soon.”
Her heart sank. “I understand why you don’t feel you can trust your family.” She hesitated, plucking a leaf off a lavender bush, before deciding to plunge on. “Carl told me what your dad did to you—setting up your own friend to spy on you. That was a terrible breach of trust, but you don’t have to make the same mistakes as he did.”
She stopped, wondering if she’d said too much.
“Carl, huh?” he finally growled. “Christ, that guy’s been shooting his mouth off.”
She blew out a huff of exasperation. “Carl is your friend. He cares about you.” I care about you. She bit back the words just in time.
Lex made an impatient gesture with his hands. “Carl thinks he knows more than he does. My father was testing me, seeing if I was up to the task of leading the company. He didn’t want to leave it to me just because I was his son. I had to prove I was capable. And I did.”
And now? she wanted to demand. What about now, when the company was floundering after years of his father’s mismanagement? Lex didn’t want to share the problem because of some need to protect his father’s reputation, undeserved though it was. Despite everything his father had done to him, Lex was still determined to be the good son.
Jacinta sighed. Last night she’d shared such an incredible physical connection with Lex, but now he seemed too complex for her to ever fully understand. “Okay, obviously I shouldn’t have said anything.”
To her surprise, he shook his head slowly. “No, I’m glad you did. You don’t seem afraid to stand up to me on anything. I kinda like that.”
She pulled a wry face. “Do you? Even when I’m contradicting you?”
“It’s refreshing.” His lips edged up into a slow smile.
Not ten months ago, it wasn’t. She bit back the snarky comment. Ten months ago she thought she’d had him all figured out, but now she knew there were a lot of extenuating circumstances to his behavior.
She curled the lavender leaf around her forefinger. “That makes a change.”
“Speaking of Carl...” He took her hand and unwound the leaf from her fingers. “You still have to make it up to me for feeding him that serenade story he can’t shut up about.”
Her senses, ever alert to him, began to hum at his nearness. “I didn’t promise anything. I said we’d discuss it.”
“We are discussing it.” Holding her hand, he stroked the leaf back and forth across her palm. “I can’t wait until tonight.”
The warm huskiness of his voice started to unwind her senses. “I don’t know—”
“I do. It’s going to be even more fantastic than last night.”
The feel of him playing with her hand threatened to turn her brain to mush, but she managed to get out, “Aren’t you being presumptuous? Just because last night we, uh, we...”
“Had an amazing time?”
She flushed. “It’s not right. We’re not in a relationship. We told each other to go to hell.”
“We’re not cheating on anyone. We’re two consenting adults. I don’t see the problem.”
He drifted his fingertips up her arm, promising her Nirvana. Again. A deep ache started to build between her thighs, and she knew she was in trouble.
“Of course you don’t. No-strings-attached sex. What man would have a problem with that?”
His hands stilled before he slowly released her. “At least I’m honest about it, while you’re so busy running from the truth.”
The smell of lavender bruised her throat as she dragged in a gulp of air. The truth? He wouldn’t want to hear the truth from her—that spending another night in his arms would only make it harder for her to say good-bye to him. And maybe she wasn’t ready to face the truth about her feelings for him either.
“I’m not dodging the truth. I’m just trying to be practical,” she said, feeling anything but practical. “I mean, we both know there’s no future for us.” She paused, the breath trapped in her lungs. Was she waiting—hoping—for him to contradict her? To throw her a crumb of hope?
Something pulsed in the depths of his eyes, a dark spark of emotion gone before she could recognize it. “I’m only talking about tonight, Jacinta. One night.”
She released her breath, feeling foolish for harboring a scrap of hope. Of course Lex was only talking about tonight. Nothing more.
“One night.” Sighing, she forced her head high.
“Is that a yes?” His eyes glimmered again, hotter this time, the desire frank.
One more night with Lex. After last night, how much more damage could it cause? Her body was vibrating, every cell screaming yes. So why not give in, take what pleasure she could, and never mind the consequences?
“One night only. No more after that.”
A smile played over his lips as he reached out to sweep a stray hair from her brow. “I guess I’d better make the most of it, then.”
…
“Lex, want to play?”
Reluctantly Lex came to a halt in the hallway as his cousin Matthew called from the billiard room. “Another time, maybe.”
“Oh, come on. We need a fourth to make two pairs.”
“Sorry, buddy.” Lex was already heading down the hallway. “Not tonight.”
Not tonight when he had just one thing on his mind. Jacinta had already gone upstairs a few minutes ago. After the buzz of the garden party, everyone was winding down and doing their own thing.
He took the stairs two at a time. Upstairs, the corridor was deserted. He pushed open the door to their bedroom, aware that he was already erect, his body humming with the prospect of what was waiting for him.