Free Trust in Advertising by Victoria Michaels Page A

the man’s voice.
    Mortified, she spun around to see an incredibly handsome gentleman standing in the doorway and grinning down at her. His shaved head gave him a dangerous air, but his striking features and dimples made her heart beat a little faster, and his warm smile put her at ease.
    “Oh, thank you. I’m so sorry; was I really that loud?” Lexi nervously tucked the file under her arm and played with a piece of lint on her skirt.
    “No, I was on my way in here to drop something off when I heard you … celebrating?” He took a few steps towards her and extended his hand. “I’m Sean, by the way. Sean Adler.”
    “Hello, Mr. Adler. I’m Lexi White. I’m Vincent—I mean, Mr. Drake’s—
    new assistant.”
    “Lexi, nice to meet you, and don’t ever call me Mr. Adler; it’s Sean. A word of advice, if I may? When working for Vincent, don’t let him push you around.
    The guy can smell fear. I know he’s a real prick sometimes, but underneath it all, he’s a softie.”
    Lexi chuckled. “I’ll try and remember that. Thanks.”
    “So, what did he have you searching for?” He pulled the folder from under her arm and laughed when he saw the name on it. “Holy shit, you found it!”
    Sean’s hand flew to his mouth then slid away as he grinned sheepishly. “Sorry about the language. I’m working on it. But wow, Vincent was tearing his hair out looking for this file all last week before he left for vacation. He’s gonna sh—I mean, he’s gonna die when he sees you found it. Well done.” He winked and handed the folder back to her.
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    Victoria Michaels
    Lost it? He had me searching for a lost file? Lexi did her best to hide her annoyance at this bit of information.
    “Quite frankly, I don’t know how he finds anything in this disaster.” Lexi waved her hand at Vincent’s desk.
    “He claims to know where everything is, even in the mess.”
    “Yeah, well, I have proof that isn’t true now, don’t I?” Lexi tapped the folder with her fingers, earning a wide smile from Sean.
    “Please don’t quit. I like you.” Sean tossed his arm over Lexi’s shoulders and smiled. “And if you do quit, come work for me.”
    “I’ll remember that.” Wearing a grin, she shuffled out of Vincent’s office and held out her hand, offering to take whatever it was that Sean wanted to leave for him and keep it safe on her desk so it wouldn’t get lost.
    Sean tossed the manila file folder to her, and said a quick goodbye.
    Lexi plopped down in her chair and began thumbing through the missing file, learning as much as she could about Fox Jewelers, the campaign, the target demographic, and budget expenditures for different markets. When she found the information Vincent had asked for, she picked up her BlackBerry and grinned as she sent off her message.
    Vincent,
    I have the file in my hand. The Boston expenditure was $235,000 and the Chicago expenditure was $452,000, but there is a note about charges that aren’t listed, so I assume it’s higher than that.
    Who do you want that information sent to? That is, as uming I’m not fired.
    Lexi
    Lexi wished she could see his face when he realized she had found the missing file. But then she began second guessing herself, wondering what on Earth had made her be so flippant in her reply. He was her boss, after all.
    When the phone chirped, Lexi cringed but didn’t pick it up, afraid to see his response. When the noise continued, she went into a full-fledged panic—this wasn’t a text message. The phone was actually ringing, and she had to answer it and speak coherently to him.
    Shit, shit, shit. Lexi’s heart pounded like a jackhammer in her chest, and she felt like she might throw up. Calm blue ocean, Lexi, she repeated over and over in her head to try and settle her nerves.
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    Trust in Advertising
    “Hello?” Lexi’s voice quivered as she spoke.
    “You have the file in your hand?” Vincent’s deep, sultry voice took her back ten years, making her stomach