Page 28 of The Dom

But everything else was looking up, and I was sure that they’d get used to it.

The best thing about today, however, was the fact that it was sunny and warm. Considering it was still the first week of April, that was practically a miracle, and I intended to thoroughly enjoy my walk back to the Manhattan Records building after my lunch.

As I came inside, I waved at the temp manning the reception desk and got a smile back. Today was Wayne Ray’s second day, but I was pretty sure he still felt intimidated by the sheer scope of his duties. Not that he let anyone see it. When I’d first walked over and introduced myself yesterday, I’d learned that I’d gone to school with his sister, Sandra. She and I had been more friendly than friends, but she’d been the one who’d helped me keep up with my classes the times I’d missed to take care of my mother. The very least I could do was help her brother.

And right now, it looked like he needed all the help he could get. An absolutely massive man, close to six and a half feet tall with broad shoulders, was walking toward the desk from where one of the security guards loomed, guarding access to the elevators.

As I got closer, I heard the stranger confirm my guess about what was going on. “Your guard over there said I need to talk to you if I want to get any farther than this lobby.”

“Um, yes, sir,” Wayne said, his fingers twisting together as he stared up at a man far larger and more intimidating than him. “Do you have an appointment with someone in the building?”

“I’m here to see Nathanial Lexington. Manhattan Records.”

I stepped up next to the stranger, and he glanced down at me. Unruly strawberry blond hair and light blue eyes…and some familiar features. A suspicion nibbled at the back of my mind.

“I work there,” I said. “Maybe I can help you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wayne breathe a sigh of relief. I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t have wanted to tell someone who looked like this guy that he couldn’t see Nate without an appointment.

“Hi.”

The guy smiled, and I knew who he was before he said it.

“I’m Joshua Lexington, Nate’s brother.” He held out his hand, and I shook it.

“I’m Ashlee Webb, Nate’s girlfriend.”

His eyes widened, but I wasn’t offended. Besides the fact that I didn’t look like the women Nate usually dated, I’d already suspected he hadn’t told them about me. The only way any of them would’ve recognized me would’ve been if they’d seen pictures of Nate and me, and even then, I wouldn’t have been mentioned as a girlfriend.

“You work for him too?”

The question was polite enough, but there was no mistaking the disdain in his eyes. He thought what everyone else thought: I’d slept my way into a job. Or maybe he thought that Nate had seduced an employee, which still didn’t exactly paint the most flattering portrait of either of us. In fact, I was fairly certain that his estimation of me had dropped the moment the word ‘girlfriend’ had come out of my mouth.

“Not exactly.” I was now even more grateful than before that Nate had changed things around for my job. “I’m technically a freelance contractor who works for the A&R department. Stu Hancock is my boss, not Nate.”

“I suppose that’s something.” Joshua sounded more like he was talking to himself than to me.

“You said you wanted to see your brother?” I had a feeling this wasn’t a conversation to be had in such a public place.

“I do,” Joshua agreed, giving me that charming smile again, the one that looked so much like his brother’s. “But I don’t have an appointment.”

I gestured for him to move with me away from the desk, not quite to the elevators but closer to them than the door. “I can take you up if you like. Technically, we’re supposed to schedule guests, but there’s generally some leniency about that. Since you’re the boss’s brother, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

Joshua tilted his head, a strange expression settling on his face. “Has Nate ever talked about his family? Told you about us. About me?”

I answered honestly, “He said there was a falling out between you and him, and that you moved away. He told me that you were back in New York and that you wanted the family to get together.”

And that was the extent of my knowledge. I supposed some people might think that people who were at the boyfriend / girlfriend stage would know a little more about their significant other’s life, but Nate and I weren’t going to define our relationship by what other people expected.

At least, that was the plan.

Joshua laughed, the sound bitter and harsh. “That’s not exactly the whole story.” He scratched the back of his head. “You know what, coming here was a mistake. If Nate wants to reach out, he knows how to find me.”

With those cryptic statements, Joshua turned and walked away. I glanced at Wayne, who mouthed thank you, and I managed a smile in return. My encounter with Joshua hadn’t ruined my day, but it had cast a bit of a shadow over it.

I needed to talk to Nate.

Nineteen

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