Page 36 of Untethered Heart
“I beg your pardon, this is Gucci.” I tug on the hem of my suit jacket before wiping the snark off my face and returning my focus to Lex. “Anyway, I was coming over to talk to my client. I thought I should formally introduce myself.” I extend my hand for her to take, which she does with hesitation, pinning her bottom lip withher teeth, and I have to restrain the growl that wants to break free.
“Hi, Lex. I’m Caleb Heart.”
When her palm rests against mine, it’s like an inferno, and I crave the burn. I shake her hand, and when I pull away, I let my fingers brush along the anchor tattoo at her wrist and trail the entire length of her palm.
“Could I steal you away for a moment?” I ask.
I can see Isabelle’s face blanching at my suggestion. There’s no doubt in my mind she’s figured out that Lex is the same woman I’ve been obsessing over. The same woman she’s been encouraging me to pursue romantically, exclusively. In a manner completely out of character for me. And she’s freaking the fuck out.
I place a palm against Lex’s lower back when she moves over to me, guiding her to a private hallway off the main floor of the room. As discreetly as I can manage, my eyes survey our other guests to make sure the attention doesn’t follow us. The second we’re out of sight, I grab onto her hand, whipping her around to face me and crowding her against the wall. I give in for just a moment and inhale that coconut scent that bleeds from her pores before stepping back and remembering why I’m here.
“So, you’re the sister.” Confusion blankets her face. “Dylan speaks very highly of you, but he’s never mentioned your name. I must have missed it when I read the contract.”
“I never told you my last name,” she says in her soft voice.
“It doesn’t matter. The amount that you have consumed my thoughts lately, I’m surprised my pathetic brain didn’t latch onto any culmination of L E X it found.” My candid words cause her to gasp, and I desperately wish I were making her gasp for any other reason.
“It would have said Alexis on the contract.” Her whispered words paired with the closeness of her heated body cause my eyes to shudder closed, a defeated groan crawling up my throat.I feel like a man possessed when my hands shoot up, landing on the wall beside her, and caging her in.
“Alexis.” I taste the word on my tongue, then force myself to draw in a deep breath, and then another one. “And did you know that it was my company funding your expansion?”
She looks surprised by the question, disbelieving even, as she shakes her head, and it offers a shred of reassurance.
I need to get my head straight around this woman. I have savoured her skin, drowned in her pleasure, and risen from the ashes of her cries.
I’m no stranger to a one-night stand. Physical connections void of emotion are my speciality. But the strength it takes me to force myself to unhook my talons from this woman makes my skin crawl. My body wants to reject the distance, but my head is demanding we hold steady. It wants to keep business and pleasure in two separate boxes, never letting the two collide. This is uncharted waters right now. I feel dizzy. The only thing in life I’ve never questioned is how I run my business.
Everything I’ve worked for at Heart Assets is to make my grandparents proud. I can’t just dive straight into these feelings I’ve been experiencing over Lex, they’re too unknown. As tempting as she is, I take a fortifying step back, hardening my features. Constructing a wall around my heart, until I’m sure of all this.
“I think it’s best we don’t let anyone else know about our previous meetings.” The way her face falls makes me want to snatch the words back.
She nods, disappointment revealing itself for a split second before she lifts her chin and rolls her shoulders back. “I agree. This is my dream, my brother’s dream, and one night doesn’t change that. I’m sure a businessman like yourself would agree.”
Of course I do. It’s exactly the reason I’m convincing myself to throw up these walls. I hate that we’re alike in that way. We’d be so good together. But this is for the best, for now at least.I think.
“Everything okay here, Alexis?” My eyes cut to James Huxley, where he stands at the end of the hall, observing us with a calculated eye. Why the fuck is he calling her Alexis?
“Yes, Mr Huxley.” Lex relaxes her stance and takes a step away from me while James wanders further into the hallway, stopping beside us.
“You’re not making my staff uncomfortable, are you, Heart?” I do a double-take at his words. Staff? I look at Lex, hoping she’ll fill in the blanks.
“Not at all, Mr Huxley. Mr Heart was just congratulating me on the business plan I put together for Jed’s. He’s looking forward to seeing our brand grow together.”
James looks down at Lex with a pleasing smile I wouldn’t normally associate with him.
“Yes, I’ve been speaking with your brother tonight. I had no idea you found a backer so soon after we spoke.” He turns his head to me, the smile turning to a taunt. “Makes me think I may have missed a good opportunity.”
The light-hearted chuckle I try to push out sounds more like a strained cough, which James sees right through. “How is it you two seem to know each other?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Alexis has worked for me for years. She just recently stepped up as an assistant manager at Gen’s club.”
Ahh, so that’s where she is when she’s not at Gage’s bar. She’s at Hallucinogens.
“I think I’ll go find my brother. Excuse me.” Lex scampers away, leaving James and me to watch as she rejoins the group.
“She’s a rare one,” he says as we both watch her disappear into the crowd.
“How would you know?” I can’t help the territorial tone of my question, and it makes the bastard chuckle.
