Page 18 of Fight for Me
Andy only chuckled. “Lexie is a lucky girl,” he said with a smirk.
Jake’s eyes went wide. “How do you even know that’s who I’m asking?” he asked, his eyes darting toward the door in case the girl in question magically materialized.
“Everyone knows. You don’t fall out of your chair for just anybody,” Andy said, and Jake groaned again.
Exactly how obvious had he been?
He left the studio and crossed the hall to the main office suite, pausing with his hand on the door.
“Would you like to go outwith me sometime?” he repeated, grudgingly admitting it did sound better. With one final exhale, he pulled open the door and smiled at Ms. Patterson, who sat at the front desk.
“Is Lexie still here?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.
The secretary nodded and pointed her pen toward an open area where the interns worked, and he thanked her without stopping. The clacking of computer keys grew louder as he approached where Lexie sat hidden behind her own partition.
“Hey,” he said, rounding the corner into her cubicle.
She startled slightly and looked up at him, her eyes wide.
“Oh, hi,” she said as she brushed a lock of hair out of her face. She seemed nervous, and not in a good way. It was more like... dread.
Jake felt his brows pull together.
“You alright back here? I meant to stop in earlier and see how your article was going, but I got busy,” he said, waiting for her body language to change. “The new magazine spreads are pretty good, if I do say so myself.”
But Lexie didn’t seem to relax, no matter how long he talked. Not knowing what else to do, Jake plowed ahead.
“So, I really enjoyed hanging out last night. I was wondering... Well, I wanted to ask if you might—”
“Where’s my girl?”
An unfamiliar voice came from the far side of the room, and Lexie jumped to her feet, nearly knocking her keyboard to the floor.
“Colt! What are you doing here?” she blurted, obviously surprised to see the tall young man who was striding into the room as if he owned the place. Jake stepped back as she pushed roughly past him.
“What? Can’t a man surprise his girl at work?” The newcomer wrapped one arm possessively around Lexie’s waist, and Jake’s stomach dropped when the guy’s mouth crashed down onto Lexie’s without hesitation.
So . . . not her brother, then.
Good manners told him to look away, but he couldn’t seem to do it. He took in every detail: the way Lexie stood stiffly, the way she seemed to pull away first, the way her eyes flicked straight to his when she opened them.
“So, this is work, huh?” the guy asked as he looked around the room. He kept one arm around Lexie, as if he thought she’d run away—and, honestly, she looked like she might. His gaze drifted until it landed on Jake, who could almost feel ice water wash over him.
“Hey, man, how’s it going? I’m Colton Derricks with Derricks Pharmaceuticals,” he said, crossing the room with Lexie in tow.
Jake could feel the anxiety radiating from her. Colt, it seemed, could not.
“Colt, this is Jake Tanner. He’s one of our photographers,” Lexie supplied, looking quickly from Colt to Jake and then back.
“Nice to meet you,” Jake said, and he reached out to shake the hand that was offered. Colt seemed to make it a point to grip harder than necessary, and Jake worked to keep his expression neutral. He could have been Lexie’s cousin and a guy like this would still march in and pee on everything in sight. There was no point giving him more ammunition.
Definitely not who he would have imagined for her.
That’s because he’s not you, you idiot.
“You as well,” Colt said, still holding on. “Though I wish I could say I’d heard all about you.”
“Jake takes the photos for my stories,” Lexie said, jumping in. She smoothed her hand down the sleeve of Colt’s dress shirt, as if soothing a child.
