Page 42 of Fight for Me
It was a freeing and powerful feeling.
She found his music library, opened it and scrolled through an artist list that was more eclectic than she’d expected. But finally, near the bottom, Lexie found something that made her stop. Hiding in plain sight beneath a collection of Van Halen’s greatest hits was her favorite album of Vivaldi concertos, the same ones she often played when she needed to decompress.
“Someone who knows you play classical music when you’re stressed and would keep your favorite tracks on his phone, just in case you ever need them.”
If she hadn’t been waiting for it, Lexie would have missed the sharp inhale from over her shoulder that told her Jake knew what she was looking at and why.
The trio on stage finished, and polite applause broke out as the musicians rose to their feet.
“Thank you,” she managed, handing Jake’s phone back to him. She chanced a glance up into his face. The stage lights reflected in his eyes as he looked directly at her like she was the only person in the room, and a feeling of enormous relief warmed her from the inside out.
“Maybe you’re not looking in the right places.”
As if he’d read her mind, Lexie felt Jake’s knuckles brush hesitantly along the back of her arm in silent confirmation, and the hope in his eyes was almost overwhelming. She had to remind herself to breathe.
With a sharp squeal of the microphone, Chancellor Carmike reclaimed the podium and began to announce the winners of the annual donor awards, and Jake yanked his attention back to the stage. Lexie cleared her throat and shifted on her heels, her body flush with adrenaline.
“I need water,” she mumbled, not sure if Jake could hear, before carefully stepping away from his tripod and blazing a trail toward the rear catering door. Safely in the hall, she leaned against the wall and filled her lungs with cool air, desperatelytrying to clear her head. Whatever this was with Jake didn’t feel like just a crush anymore. It didn’t feel like he’d given up after all. It felt like—
“Would you like to explain what’s going on?”
An unexpected voice made Lexie jump, and her eyes flew open to find Colt looming over her, the lines of his face sharp and angry.
“Where did you come from?” she blurted, taken completely by surprise.
“About three tables away from where you’ve been embarrassing yourself for the last half hour,” he said, his voice almost a snarl as he glared down at her. Even in her heels, he was still half a foot taller, and he was using every inch to his advantage. “I got stuck in traffic, which apparently gave you permission to act like a dog in heat.”
Shock and anger flooded Lexie’s system, and the sound of her hand against his cheek was as much a surprise to her as it was to him. The smack echoed off the slick tile of the empty hallway, and Colt’s face quickly cycled through a series of reactions, starting with disbelief and ending in purple-tinged outrage. She didn’t have time to process what she’d done before his hand was on her, gripping her upper arm with a crushing force.
“Let go!” she demanded, trying to yank her arm from his hold, but Colt ignored her efforts entirely, steering them both down the hall with single-minded focus. “Let go, or I’ll scream,” she heard herself say, though it was like listening to someone else—someone with more courage than she usually possessed.
Colt stopped suddenly, letting her stumble.
“You do, and you’ll regret it. I promise you that,” he hissed, his teeth clenched tight. The look in his eyes made Lexie’s blood run cold. He’d been angry with her plenty of times before, but never quite like this.
Another yank on her arm made her yelp, but she clamped her lips together and focused on keeping her feet underneath her as he kept going, all but dragging her behind him. She knew she should scream anyway. She should make sure everyone in the banquet hall could hear her. But then somebody would come, and he’d make it look like this was somehow her fault. He’d humiliate her in front of her boss, in front of the chancellor, in front of Jake...
Her bravado leached away as she realized what Jake would think if he saw her like this. Jake, who seemed to think so much of her, who seemed to care. He’d see how damaged she really was.
“Do you have”—Colt tested the handle of a closed door and found it locked—“any idea”—he turned a corner and rattled the knob of a second room, cursing when it wouldn’t budge—“how much trouble you are?”
The third door finally opened, and he exhaled sharply, shoving Lexie inside ahead of him. She caught herself against the edge of a conference table and turned quickly, scrambling past several rolling chairs in an effort to put distance between them.
“I’m working. This is my job,” she said, trying to find the confidence she’d felt earlier, but instead, she heard the waver in her voice as she backed away.
“Really? Fooling around in dark corners is part of your job? I think you’d probably earn more if you gave some old geezer a lap dance.”
Lexie’s mouth fell open. “I was hardly—”
“Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to watchmy girlfriendrub up against some guy not twenty feet away and disgrace herself in front of a hundred people?”
And just like that, something inside Lexie snapped.
“Excuse me?” she shouted, no longer bothering to keep her voice down. “What about the way you undress women with youreyes, slipping tips into their blouses like you don’t think I can see you? What about the underwear in your car, Colt? Who do those belong to?”
There was a crash as he shoved a chair out of his way, sending it toppling.
“How dare you go through my car!” he raged, rounding the head of the long conference table and advancing on her.
