Texas Magic

by Jean Brashear

  “Do Nikos, Lexie. Look, Nikos—” Ariana pointed at the surface of the sketchpad, which Lexie was holding in a death grip.

  “May I?” he asked, curiosity overcoming discomfort at having walked into a cozy scene where he felt like the outsider.

  “I—I guess.” With obvious reluctance, she surrendered the pad.

  On it was a quick sketch of Mrs. Garcia that caught her perfectly, that somehow captured her motherly nature as well as her innate pride and strength.

  He glanced at Lexie. “This is very good.”

  “Look at the one before it—I can’t believe what she can do in only a few minutes.” Ariana’s shiny dark hair swung as she reached forward to flip the page.

  Beside him, Dominic could feel Lexie’s presence as though he stood next to a fire. With only half his attention, he tried to focus on the page flipping forward.

  He frowned. “Astonishing.” Ariana was there on the sheet, in two poses. One revealed the wounded creature he’d been trying to protect—

  The other was the Ariana who was with them now, nothing short of a miracle. Laughter sparked in her eyes, her face relaxed in pleasure. Lexie had captured the young woman he’d lost hope of retrieving.

  He turned to glance at Lexie, only to find her green eyes fixed on him, a blush staining her cheeks, hiding the freckles he’d kissed, one by one, on that star-filled night.

  For a moment, it was as though time stopped, as did his breath. Longing flooded him—and white-hot desire. He gripped the sketchpad so tightly he heard the paper crinkle.

  “Draw Nikos, Lexie,” Ariana begged. “Please, Nikos, it will only take a minute.”

  Dominic ripped his gaze away from Lexie, tearing away the tender skin of memories that haunted him still. “Ariana—” But then he looked at his sister, at the glow on her face, and knew that he’d do anything to keep it there.

  He turned back to Lexie, carefully closing a mask over his feelings. “Perhaps you do not have time, but if you can spare it, I would like to do this for Ariana.”

  Surprise flickered in those green eyes that dogged his nights. “I—I suppose, if you have the time…”

  “What must I do?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing. Just…stand there.”

  Lexie chewed on her lip as she thought about having him model for her sometime. Remembered what she’d tried so hard to forget: the hard angles and planes of his muscular body. The image of her pirate. More than once, she’d picked up the sketchpad to record that very image, hoping to exorcise it from her brain.

  She didn’t answer him. Instead, she concentrated on her pencil and simply drew.

  “May I?” Ariana moved to her shoulder and gasped. Mrs. Garcia moved to Lexie’s other side. “Madre de Dios!”

  Lexie glanced up at Dominic again, only to be caught in his gaze, a stare so hot and hungry, she felt faint. The pencil point broke beneath the pressure of her clenched fingers. She jerked her gaze from his and all but threw the sketchpad down. “Excuse me, please. I’ll be outside when you’re ready.”

  And she fled.

  Dominic itched to go after her, but the two women were staring at him as though he were a monster.

  “What’s wrong?” Ariana asked. “Nikos, why is it you frighten Lexie so?”

  He had no answers, not for Ariana, not for himself. “I will be outside.”

  “Wait—” Ariana grabbed the sketchpad and turned it in his direction.

  A pirate rose from the page, bold and powerful and deadly dangerous. It was him, all right, the features correct to an astonishing degree—

  But it was not a Dominic Santorini anyone had ever seen.

  Correction. Anyone but one luscious tomboy.

  “Is that how she sees you, Nikos?” Ariana smiled. “A pirate.” She turned to Mrs. Garcia, her grin widening. “A swashbuckler, our Dominic. I like it.”

  Unaccustomed heat flared in his cheeks. “Nonsense. She makes a living from her imagination.”

  The two women traded looks of disbelief.

  He exhaled in disgust. “Think what you wish. I am late for a meeting.” Then he fled outside in search of Lexie, though for one of the few times in his life, he had no idea what to say.

  He found her in earnest discussion with a workman. She appeared prepared to stay glued to the man’s side for the duration.

  “Excuse me,” he addressed the man. “I am Dominic Santorini.” He held out a hand.

  “Tom Dorman. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Santorini. Amazing place you got here.”

  “I like it.” But he stared at Lexie as he said it, and knew he lied. He’d trade it all for a dome, a valley, and no responsibilities. “Please excuse us, Tom. Ms. Grayson and I were scheduled to meet and I’m afraid my time is short.”

  “No problem. Got plenty of work to do.” The man moved away.

  Lexie stood perfectly still, quivering like a doe in the sights of a rifle.

  She was so small, so delicate. He forgot that because her personality was so big, so expansive.

  Around everyone else, at least. And for one special day, she’d been that way around him.

  Damn, how he wanted to forget everything else in his life—but that wasn’t remotely possible. Still, he wanted to remind her that they hadn’t always had all of this separating them.

  “How is Rosebud?”

  She startled. “Rosebud?”

  “Your cat. Small, gray, noisy?” he reminded her.

  She looked at him for a moment, and he would have sold his soul to read her mind, to separate the mélange of emotions chasing over her expressive face.

  Then as suddenly as they’d come, she locked them away, became Ms. Grayson.

  “I’m sorry. I’m juggling two jobs today. If you don’t mind—” She turned away and gestured. “The Chamber of Doom will begin over here.” With quick steps, she put distance between them.

  He didn’t want to talk about the damned gala. He wanted to grab her, to shake Ms. Grayson loose. To kiss Lexie.

  “Did Bradley give you the updated designs I sent yesterday?” she asked.

  Bradley. His friend’s face rose before him, filled with concern. She knows more about Lightning Quest than anyone outside this organization. Nonsense. Lexie couldn’t be the inside source.

  But Bradley had warned him once before, with Celia. Dominic had ignored him, had let the matter drift too long, not wanting to believe his lover could be his betrayer.

  And then it had been too late. Poseidon had been damaged, and Dominic had had to fight hard to save the people who trusted him from losing their jobs.

  He thought about Bob Carlyle the security guard, about Mrs. Murray, about Wally the janitor. He thought about how he’d never suspected Ariana’s mother until it had been too late to save his inheritance.

  No matter how sound his judgment was in business, how skilled his instincts, his track record with matters of the heart was deeply flawed. He couldn’t afford to be wrong again.

  So he simply followed Lexie and resigned himself. “Yes, I read the plans. Show me where the Chamber will be.”

  That night, Dominic walked up the auditorium steps, wishing he were anywhere but at the Starlight Ball, no matter how important the charity. He’d already paid his money and agreed to escort a date who was only a business contact. He felt anything but sociable.

  But even so, the surroundings made him take notice. The entrance fed into a tunnel of sorts, a glistening blue-black swirl with enough lighting at floor level to see one’s steps, but otherwise giving the sense that one had entered some sort of almost-liquid night. Soft, ethereal music cast an otherworldly spell on the journey. The tunnel curved, and at the end, the faint glow of light beckoned.

  “Who did this?” his date murmured. “This benefit has never been executed with such imagination.”

  Dominic remembered Lexie’s eagerness to leave to finish another job. He remembered a dome ceiling filled with clouds and tiny stars.

  Then they reached the end, where da
rkness led them into an explosion of starlight.

  And he smiled. He’d bet money this was Lexie’s work.

  The woman beside him gasped. “This is stunning.”

  It was. The design work was fantastic. Looking at preliminary drawings or pictures of her finished work hadn’t done any of it justice.

  The Starlight Ball was being held in a star field. Except for the earth beneath their feet, they could have been floating in space, surrounded by a silken net of deepest ink blue, punctuated by the icy white of millions of stars.

  “Incredible.” His date shook her head. “Whoever designed this is a genius.” She looked up at Dominic. “He should be doing your gala.”

  She is, Dominic wanted to say. And she is incredible. In so many ways. He glanced around, wondering if she were still here.

  “Dominic, I’ll be right back. I need to speak to that man over there about a deal we’re doing.”

  He was only too happy to oblige. “You go ahead. I will get us drinks.”

  He headed for one of the bars dotting the room and smiled as he neared. Each bar was an asteroid, seeming to float above the floor.

  Lexie was amazing. She had a gift for whimsy, for seeing things others missed. He’d been wondering again if he’d made a mistake, insisting on keeping her on the Poseidon gala, but tonight answered that question, for once and for all. His desire to keep her near, given Bradley’s suspicions, might be less than logical, but there was no question that she could do the work they needed. Lightning Quest needed her, even if Dominic Santorini couldn’t afford to.

  He turned, drinks in hand, and headed back, stopping several times to greet fellow executives, trying not to scan the room obviously, but wondering if Lexie were here. Trying not to wish she were.

  And then he saw her.

  Lexie was still out of breath after a near-fall from a ladder while rescuing a cluster of stars that had come unhinged. Climbing a ladder in heels wasn’t the smartest move she’d ever made, but it was her design, after all. She didn’t want to be out front, anyway. Behind the scenes was fine with her, but as the charity’s executive director had pointed out, she could make valuable contacts here by mingling.

  She hated mingling. Not with ordinary people, of course. She loved that. But these weren’t ordinary people, these were fat cats who could afford ten-thousand-dollar-a-person tickets. None of these people drove old pickups or lived in geodesic domes. Lexie Grayson was out of her league.

  She squeezed her hands in quick fists, then forced herself to shake off the nerves, draw in a deep breath. Then she slipped between the panels of the draping and entered a world where she didn’t belong.

  And she couldn’t help smiling.

  It really did look pretty terrific, if she said so herself.

  “You did a stunning job.” The deep voice of her dreams spoke.

  Lexie whirled and brushed one of the glasses Dominic held in his hand.

  “I am sorry. I frightened you.” He held out one glass. “You look out of breath.”

  She ran one hand through her hair, the nerves she’d battled off returning and bringing reinforcements. “I—I just got off a ladder,” she babbled. “A cluster of stars was in the wrong place.”

  One dark eyebrow rose. He glanced upward. “One cluster? You could tell that?”

  “The creator of any heaven should know where all her stars are at any given time.”

  That slashing pirate’s grin sent her pulse skipping. “A good caretaker as well as a gifted creator, I see.” He lifted his glass and gently clinked it to hers. “If I had doubts about the fate of Lightning Quest in your hands, tonight would dispense with them. To A. Grayson, designer extraordinaire.”

  He took a sip, but she didn’t. “Have you had doubts?”

  Shadows returned to his midnight eyes, and she was sorry she’d asked. “Never mind.” She glanced around them, desperate for a distraction. “Where is your date?”

  The eyebrow rose again. “You are so certain I have one?”

  She might as well quit pretending. “I might not have known you at first, but I’ve done some reading since then. There are pictures of you everywhere, if only I’d ever taken the time to read the papers or magazines. And you’re usually accompanied by some gorgeous, sophisticated woman.”

  “If you had known who I was, would you have stopped to help?”

  She didn’t want to have this discussion. Remembering that night edged too closely to things she couldn’t bear to consider, questions she didn’t dare ask. Her dearest friend was now faced with the impossible task of tackling Goliath, when he didn’t even have David’s slingshot. The man who stood before her was Goliath, not Nikos. She had to keep that in mind.

  Dominic studied her. Her hair was down, not in its usual ponytail or clasp, a tumble of bright auburn silk his fingers itched to touch. Clad in a slender drape of deep purple from neck to toes, a dainty gold chain circling her hips, she was a knockout. Too easily, he could remember the skin beneath that gown, feel her breasts in his hands, feel the heat of her around him. She was a breathtaking mystery, a woman of many faces.

  He pushed at her silence. He had to know. “Will we ever discuss that night?”

  Haunted green eyes looked up at him, terror and guilt mingling, and he realized he would never be ready to know that it had all been a ruse, that she had felt nothing of what he had.

  “It was a mistake,” she whispered. “I can’t—I don’t want to talk about it.” Her gaze pleaded with him. “Let’s just forget it, Nikos—Mr. Santorini. I’m your employee, and I have a very big job to complete in a very short time. I need to focus my full attention to do justice to your gala, to give Lightning Quest the launch you want.”

  “Lexie—” He moved a step closer, needing to pull her close, to taste her again, to remind her of magic so explosive that she couldn’t possibly believe he’d ever forget it.

  Then tears spilled over her lashes, stopping him in his tracks.

  “Please,” she whispered. “Please—I have to go.” She thrust her wineglass in his hand and escaped, quickly lost in the crowd.

  Dominic shoved the glasses at a passing waiter and prepared to charge into the crowd after her, ready to throw bodies aside to get to her, to make her listen, to make her see—

  What? The voice inside him queried. What is it that she needs to see? That he had a company in trouble, a sister in need, an old enemy who was jeopardizing them both?

  I need to focus, she’d said. On more than the gala? On her efforts to dig out information? To help his enemy hurt him?

  No. The man who’d been in her magic kingdom cried out that the Lexie he’d made love to could do no such thing.

  But the man who had a company to save shook his head, cleared his eyes of the fog of desire, of longing too strong to trust. He’d seen the nerves, felt her unease. He couldn’t dispel the sense that there was something going on with her, something more than this job, more than that night.

  It would be irresponsible to ignore that simply because every cell in his body ached for a woman who might not exist. He needed to focus, too. Every moment around her, his concentration suffered, yet she drew him like a moth to flame.

  Somehow he had to resolve this without taking a foolish risk. He had to be sure that his desire to believe her the tomboy he wanted back so desperately was not overruling his instincts, his vaunted logic.

  Dominic Santorini had taken many risks in his life, but never had he wanted to take one more than now. This risk impacted more than himself, however, so he had to approach it with caution. He needed to know Lexie better, needed to peer inside her many faces.

  He would invite her to the company picnic day after tomorrow. He would watch her closely, observe her interactions with his staff, see if there was a single slip, a sign that she knew anyone too well.

  And if inviting her meant that he might also spend more time with her himself, give them a chance to become more at ease around one another—

  He would not
complain.

  Chapter Six

  Lexie glanced again at the map Mrs. Murray had given her when she’d conveyed Dominic’s invitation to the company picnic. Mrs. Murray had made it clear that attendance was not considered optional, however.

  Command performance was more like it.

  She didn’t want to go. Didn’t want to see him again—no, correction. She wanted to see Nikos, wanted to find her way back to that night. It was Dominic Santorini she didn’t want to see. He was too big, too powerful, too rich, too…there. So strong a presence all the air in the room vanished when he was near.

  And he confused her. She shouldn’t have felt the shivers from the mere brush of fingers when he handed her that wineglass. She should be able to keep it straight in her head that he’d stolen Max’s work. All right, maybe he hadn’t stolen it himself, but if she’d learned one thing from spending time at Poseidon, it was that there was nothing too small to escape Dominic’s attention. Everyone from the janitor up could detail personal encounters they’d had with the man at the top—and not just him giving orders.

  The sense of teamwork at Poseidon was remarkable—everyone at whatever level had a sense of shared mission, had a stake in the company’s success. He’d set up a child care center that was both warm and stimulating, had even created an adult daycare for those with aging parents. Both were right on the premises, along with a state of the art fitness center and a cafeteria with food as good as anything she’d ever had.

  So somehow he knew—had to know—about Max’s code, yet his manner with her did not smack of one iota of guilt.

  And now he wanted to discuss that night?

  Lexie shook her head violently. She would never be ready to have that discussion. She had let herself get carried away on a foolish fancy, and she had paid.

  Now all that could be done was to pick up the pieces and learn from her mistakes, go on with as much grace as possible given that Dominic Santorini had seen her lose her mind in his arms.

  Lexie looked up too late to catch her turn. Shaking her head, she glanced about for a place to turn around.