She was about to get a glass of water when she heard someone squeal her name.
“Lexi! Is that really you?”
She turned and found a petite, gorgeous woman with beautiful, long bronze hair standing behind her with a huge smile on her face. “Christina?”
Christina launched at Lexi and wrapped her arms tightly around her. “You look gorgeous! What are you doing here? I was so bummed when I heard you quit the record store.”
Every Monday like clockwork, Christina would come into the vintage record store looking for rare albums, hoping to find a hidden treasure. Lexi helped her find quite a few Beatles albums for her boss, who apparently was a huge collector. Just before Lexi quit, she had found the last one in a small antique shop to complete his collection. Christina had literally jumped up and down in the store when Lexi put it in her hands.
“Thank you. You look amazing too, Tina. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye to you, but you hadn’t been to the store for a few weeks,” Lexi explained. “I decided to try out a new job, see if I could get back into the career I was working on before I got sidetracked.”
Christina nodded her head in understanding. Lexi had shared a surprising amount of information about herself with Christina during her frequent visits to the store.
“So, give me details. Who are you working for?”
“Actually, I’m working for a company called Hunter Advertising. I’m the executive assistant to—”
“Vincent Drake?” Christina interrupted, laughing.
“Yeah, do you know him?”
“I know of him. Remember when I told you that I worked in fashion? Well, I work for a fashion designer. You might have heard of him, Julian Stone.
Vincent has called a few times to try and set up appointments.”
Lexi’s jaw fell open, and then snapped shut. He was one of the people Vincent was most desperate to make contact with, and Lexi had known his assistant all along. “You work for Julian Stone? He’s the one collecting the Beatles albums?”
“Yep, that’s him. Sorry I didn’t mention it before, but it’s not something I walk around broadcasting—that I work for one of the hottest fashion designers— ya know? People tend to act all weird when they find out.”
“I can imagine. So, how long have you worked for him?”
“A little over a year. He’s a great guy, lots of fun.”
“Aw, Christina, you talking about me again?” A platinum blond gentleman who looked more like a surfer than a fashion designer wrapped his arm around Christina’s shoulders and placed a playful kiss on her temple. Lexi noticed the slight blush that rushed into her friend’s cheeks at the gesture.
“Isn’t there someone who wants to schmooze you somewhere in this room, Julian?” Christina halfheartedly tried to shrug away from him, but Julian wouldn’t have it. He held her beside him and continued smiling.
“You know you love me, Tina. Hi there, I’m Julian Stone.” He leaned forward and extended his hand to Lexi.
“Lexi White. It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Stone.”
Julian barked in laughter. “Please call me Julian, only Christina here has to refer to me as Mr. Stone.” She rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the side.
“Lexi works for Vincent Drake over at Hunter Advertising, and she’s the one that found that autographed White Album for you, you big idiot.”
“You’re my album goddess? I love you!” Julian released Christina and threw his arms around Lexi’s neck, pulling her into a hug. “Any chance you know where I can find a Japanese-produced Stones box set?” He released her from his grasp and returned to Christina’s side.
“Off the top of my head, no. Sorry. But I’ll keep my eyes open for you if I hit up any auctions over the next few weeks.”
“That would rock. Thanks, Lexi. So, you work for Drake, huh?”
“Yes, I’ve been there a few weeks now. Do you know Vincent?” Lexi knew very well the two men had never met. Julian Stone was a difficult man to get an appointment with. He had a reputation for being quite elusive, letting very few people into his inner circle.
“Never met the guy, but he’s been asking to meet with me about the new line. What’s he like? He seems kind of like a stiff.” Julian waved over one of the champagne servers and handed a glass to each of the women before taking one for himself.
“Honestly, he is a little stiff, until you get to know him. But he’s very good at what he does, that I can assure you. The campaigns he’s constructed over the last few years have been very successful for his clients.” Lexi tried not to sound like a Hunter Advertising cheerleader, but she also wanted to be honest with Julian and make sure he had all the facts about Vincent. “He’ll be here soon. Maybe I can introduce him to you.” Lexi held her breath and waited for his answer.
Julian stood there and stared at her for a minute as if he was trying to see into her soul and gauge if she was lying to him about her boss or had been working Christina.
“Oh, quit with the stare-down thing. It’s so annoying. Lexi, find me later when Vincent gets here, and I’ll drag his stubborn ass over to meet him.” She turned to Julian and scowled. “And you will be polite, Mister Famous Fashion Designer, and talk to him. If I had to chat with that wretched woman from Parketti, the one with the claws, you can talk to Vincent. Stiff sounds better than trashy to me.”
“Yes, boss,” Julian said sarcastically as he mockingly saluted Christina, then excused himself to go back to making the rounds. “Lexi, awesome meeting you. I was just being a jerk before. Bring Vince by to say hello. I’ll try and get a few drinks in him and see if we can loosen him up that way.”
As he walked away, Christina’s eyes remained glued on Julian until he disappeared into the crowd. When she turned back to Lexi, she realized she was caught and blushed. “Sorry about him. He has this whole macho thing he does, but really he’s a big softie.”
“So are you two dating?” Lexi asked, trying to hide her smile.
“No, yes … oh, hell, I have no idea. All I know is the man makes my knees weak, and when he walks past me, I just want to grab him and kiss him.
That is, when I don’t want to slap him across the face because he’s driving me crazy.”
“Is it really okay to bring Vincent by, or will it annoy him? I have to admit he really wants to meet Julian, but if it’s not the right time, then I’ll explain it to him.”