Lexie (13 page)

Landers shook his head, but his perfectly cut hair fell right back into place. “The bastard shut me down, but then had the balls to ask if Lexie was seeing anyone. Can you believe it?”

Cam clenched the edge of the desk. Bastard was right. There was no way in hell that preppy college boy was getting within a hundred feet of her.

“Where is she, anyway?” her brother demanded.

“She didn’t come home last night,” Julian said from his spot by the window.

Finally, the question Cam had been waiting for since he’d stepped into the room. He didn’t like how long it had taken for these two to wonder about her whereabouts and her safety. “She won’t be in today,” he said flatly.

That, at last, took Julian’s attention away from what was happening outside. “She called in?”

“I took the message.”

Her father nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, well, I’m sure she’s working on getting that billboard removed. Once she puts her mind to something, it gets done.”

Didn’t he mean once she was tarred and feathered and ordered to do it? Cam’s temper spiked. He shouldn’t have come in, not for this.

“What was she thinking?” Landers asked for the thousandth time. “Did she need some extra cash? Hell, I would have floated her a loan before letting her do something like that.”

She hadn’t done
anything
. Besides, who was this lazy punk to be telling his older, smarter sister what to do?

Cam pushed away from the desk and went to pour himself a glass of water. He’d promised Lexie he wouldn’t say anything, but damn it was tough not defending her. “Did you need me here for something in particular, Julian? Because I spent enough time on this subject yesterday.”

Underhill drummed his knuckles against the window. He seemed to be doing that a lot these days, just watching the activity twelve stories down. People came and went. Cars passed by and traffic lights flashed. The older man didn’t see much of it.

“Dad?” Landers said.

Julian blinked and looked at his son. “Go back to Caine and offer him a ten percent discount. See if he bites.”

Landers rolled his eyes. “Ten percent discount, all because Lexie decided to try to be sexy.”

Try? Cam nearly coughed up his water.

Enough was enough. He turned on his heel and was in the hotshot’s face in three steps flat. “If you’d gotten that deal contracted on paper instead of heading to the clubhouse after the ninth hole, we wouldn’t have to be renegotiating at all.”

Red dotted the younger man’s cheekbones, and fury flared in his eyes.

“Landers, go make that call.” Julian wandered over to his desk, but his blue eyes were steely again.

It took five long seconds before his son backed down. “Yes, sir.”

Cam watched every step the kid took until the door closed behind him. “You’ve still got teamwork issues, Julian.”

“I know,” the CEO sighed. He sat down heavily in his chair. “What can I say? He’s like I was at that age, a fiery go-getter.”

Yeah, a go-getter. That’s what the jackass was.

Cam straightened his tie. As far as issues went, Landers Underhill wasn’t even a blip on his radar screen. If he kept going after Lexie, though, he was fast going to become an active target.

Cam turned his gaze back on Julian. As always, accounting spreadsheets filled the CEO’s desk and, as usual, Julian had marked them up with his red pen. There seemed to be more blood on the paper than normal, though. The man looked downright gruff—nothing close to the meltdown he’d had with Lexie, but uptight.

“What did you really call me down here for, Underhill?”

Julian tossed his red pen onto the desk with a
thwap
. “I got a phone call this morning from Teach Me, Incorporated.”

Finally
. Cam had been putting enough feelers out there. “We discussed this.”

“I know, but their timing stinks, coming out of the woodwork just when this scandal is hitting. It’s lowball business, and I don’t like it.”

What scandal? The Underhills liked to give off the picture of pious propriety, but that billboard was simply a picture of a pretty girl. With a lot of cleavage. Who happened to look like their daughter.

Cam shoved his hands into his pockets. “We’ve given the turnaround three months, but it’s not happening. Children’s games aren’t the hot ticket right now, especially those in the educational category.”

“I know, I know. Everyone wants computers and bells and whistles. If it isn’t flashing, they won’t buy it.”

“That’s part of the problem.” The other was that Underhill had hit the electronic and computer game market too late.

“The other is kids’ attention spans these days,” Julian said, jabbing a finger into the air. “They play with something for a few days and then
pff
, it’s gone. Parents are tired of spending good money on something that’s tossed aside.”

It was a lot more complicated than that, but whatever the reason was, Underhill Associates was falling by the wayside. They might have been top dog in the industry twenty years ago, but there were other, more innovative, more aggressive competitors out there these days. Like Teach Me. Cam didn’t get it. He and Julian had specifically restructured UAI’s debt to make the company more attractive to a big player like that. Julian should be thrilled he’d gotten that call.

Yet Underhill was scowling so fiercely, jowls appeared on the sides of his face. “What’s the bottom line, Rowe?”

As if they hadn’t been over this again and again. Cam planted himself in front of the man’s desk and made sure he had his attention. “Do something to excite your investors or start considering a buyout.”

The scowl became even darker, and Underhill pushed himself to his feet. He stalked back to his spot by the window. He didn’t seem to be watching the people down at street level so much as measuring how far he was above them. “This has always been a family company. I don’t want that to change. My plan has always been to pass the business down to the kids.”

“You just might have to give up that dream.”

“It’s not a dream, damn it.” Underhill’s fist landed solidly against the floor-to-ceiling glass. “I will not have outsiders poking around, thinking my company is vulnerable.”

“You are vulnerable, Julian. You wouldn’t have brought me in if you weren’t.” Cam pointed at the spreadsheets. “You’ve seen the numbers. If you tie your family to this company, it’s going to take them down with it.”

“Not if we turn it around.” Underhill turned on his heel, and his blue eyes were icy. “I’m paying you good money, Rowe. I expected to see better results than this.”

“You asked for the options, and I just gave them to you.” The only one left was bankruptcy.

“Well, find another.”

Cam’s eyes narrowed. It was the same tone the man had taken with Lexie yesterday, and he didn’t like it any more now than he had then.

“Fine,” he growled as he headed for the door. Underhill wanted another way? He’d find another way.

He walked out of the office and past Underhill’s secretary. The hallway was dotted with people, most of them gossiping about Lexie and not doing their work. One look at his face changed that. The crowd dispersed, but he took a shortcut through the main conference room anyway.

Power plays didn’t sit well with him. Never had, never would.

He flexed his fingers, feeling them itching to curl into fists. He’d lost his first job when he’d decked the sixteen-year-old grocery store manager who’d treated him that way. He’d jammed two knuckles and forfeited his last paycheck in the process, but he’d learned a lot.

There was always some unethical, manipulative bastard who liked to lord it over the quiet, hardworking types. The only way to deal with them was to beat them at their own game, outwit them and out-mean them. Then move on to the next.

The philosophy had served him well. By the time he’d hit college, his mother hadn’t had to worry about the electricity bill or the heat or the water. He’d had them covered, as well as having built a nice nest egg for something of his own—business school.

When he left a job, he always moved on to something better. He’d detoured in the case of Underhill Associates, but never again.

Never again.

He was about to exit out the other side of the conference room when he noticed something on the floor behind the potted plant. It piqued his temper all over again. Even the cleaning crew was slacking. He bent down to pick up the folder when he realized he’d seen it before.

It was Lexie’s proposal, the one she hadn’t had a chance to pitch.

He swept his fingers along the clear plastic cover, folding it back from where it had creased. He remembered how possessive she’d been about this thing—and how excited. Opening the document, he started to read. He was on page five before he felt his thighs burning. He was still in a crouch.

Standing slowly, he considered what he held in his hands. Opening the other conference room door, he headed down the far hallway and into his office suite. He was reading again as he passed his administrative assistant.

“Hold my calls. I don’t want any interruptions.”

Chapter Eight

The hatchet man was waiting for her when she got home. Fatigue and uneasiness settled over Lexie when she recognized the black SUV parked in front of her house. Twilight had long since given way to a warm summer night, yet the big vehicle seemed to soak up whatever light remained around it. She slowed as she made her way up the private road. Underhill Manor and its grounds were gated from unwanted guests, yet somebody had let him in—or given him the gate code. He didn’t normally come to the family house to do business, but things were obviously changing. She pulled into the little turnaround drive and saw him sitting on her front steps, looking patient yet observant.

Like a wolf watching careless prey come too close.

Heartbeat speeding up, she shifted into park and braced herself. She was too tired to deal with the man. Any time he came near, electricity seemed to spark and sputter. It left her feeling drained by the time he walked away, and the day had been long already.

Yet in some ways, not long enough. She missed Roxie, even though she’d just left her.

Pushing away the unfamiliar separation anxiety, Lexie killed the engine. She could still feel Cam watching her as the dome light shone down upon her. It made her feel as if her innermost secrets were being exposed, and she leaned over to grab her things. She hesitated when she saw the carryall with her proposals on the passenger seat. She’d forgotten about them until Roxie had found them when they’d gone to get their DNA tests. Looking at them now, Lexie couldn’t believe how the idea had consumed her for the past month. It seemed like such an inconsequential thing after the day she’d had.

Still, something deep inside her didn’t want Rowe to see them. Leaving them where they were, she grabbed her purse and got out of her car. The dome light turned off, but the headlights took longer. They bathed her in artificial light as she circled the car to approach her enemy.

If that’s what he was to her anymore.

Her cheeks warmed. She’d let him get too close during her walk on the wild side. Way too close.

He watched her silently. The little black dress she’d borrowed from her sister had looked simple and comfortable on the hanger, but she hadn’t realized how the soft material would cling to her curves or how low the scooped neckline would sit on her breasts.

Rowe saw it all in one quick sweep. “You’re getting home late.”

“What are you doing here, Cam?”

“Waiting for you. You didn’t call.”

“Neither did you.”

The timer on her headlights went off and they dimmed, leaving the two of them alone in the dark. The moon was at a low crescent stage, and its bluish light was more tactile than illuminating. It only hinted at lushness in the foreground or danger in the shadows.

Lexie’s heart began beating double time. Was he here to tell her that she didn’t have time to figure out what her next move would be? That the family had decided she needed to leave the company immediately?

Or was he going to kiss her again?

He rose from his seated position to stand on the steps in front of her, a hard, dark presence she could feel more than see. The air stirred, and she felt his fingertips brush over her cheek. “Are you feeling better?”

Heat washed through her, and she stepped back, nodding.

“You look better.”

The main house wasn’t that far away, but a bend in the road and the crest of the hill hid the gatehouse from view. It had been designed that way to give guests their privacy and to leave the view from the main house’s veranda uncluttered. Lexie had always liked that about her little cottage. It gave her the independence she wanted but kept her close to the family she craved.

Tonight, though, everyone seemed too far away. With the moon just peeking at them, they could have been the only two people in the world. Her fingers curled around her keys.

“Why don’t you come inside?” she found herself saying.

She didn’t know which was worse, standing alone with him outside in the dark or in the well-lit privacy of her home, but she wanted to know what had happened at the office. Worry had been niggling at her all day. She couldn’t forget how quickly he’d left when her father had called. Had the billboard story blown up? Had her marketing team suffered any setbacks due to her…situation? Most importantly, had he told anyone about Roxie?