tossed the typed summary in front of Jackson to read while he went on to recite the facts by memory. “Alexis Baylor’s parents died when she was ten, and her uncle, being the only family she had, raised her. Martin Baylor never married and devoted his time to his company, Gametek, which never took off while he was alive. From all accounts, Alexis was a quiet, shy girl and followed in her uncle’s line of work. She attended San Diego State University, majored in Computer Science, and graduated at the top of her class. She went straight to work for her uncle designing basic computer games. When he died three years ago, she inherited the company.”
Jackson dragged a hand over his clean shaven jaw. “How convenient,” he drawled.
Mike shrugged off his comment. “Alexis was Martin’s only family, too, so there really was no one else to take over the business. She didn’t inherit much in the way of wealth, considering the company was near bankruptcy. From what I learned from other sources she’s been working on Zantoid for the past four years, but hadn’t been able to market the software because it was lacking a specific proprietary code to make the game run smoother, faster, and make the graphics more vibrant and real.”
“My proprietary code,” Jackson interjected through gritted teeth.
“Yes,” Mike admitted with a pained half-smile. “There’s no denying that the code is yours, or that she’s reaping the benefits of your technology. She’s received hundreds of thousands of orders for the software since announcing its release.”
Jackson’s gut twisted with aggravation. Exhaling a taut breath, he waved a hand in the air between them, as if the gesture alone could dismiss that disturbing news just as easily. “Go on with your report,” he said, desperately needing to grasp onto something concrete about the woman he could use to his advantage. “What do you know about Alexis’s personal life?”
Reclining in his chair in a deceptively lazy stretch, Mike folded his hands over his stomach and rested one sneakered foot over the opposite knee. “She actually goes by the name of Alex. She just turned twenty-eight and has never been married. She dates occasionally, but hasn’t had a steady boyfriend in the past five years. Though Dennis Merrick, the man she promoted to vice president of the company after her uncle’s death, seems very fond of her.”
The woman hadn’t had a steady boyfriend in the past five years? Jackson frowned, wondering why, and latched onto the most plausible explanation. “Is there something going on between her and her VP?”
Mike shook his head. “No. From what I could find out, he’s been with the company for over ten years and was her uncle’s right-hand man so it was a logical promotion to VP. She seems to depend on him for support and decision making and while he appears to be a good friend she spends occasional time with outside of the office, the interest is very one-sided.”
Nothing to exploit there, Jackson thought in growing dissatisfaction.
“She’s very plain and unassuming,” Mike continued with his findings. “She spends her days at the office, goes out to a nearby deli for lunch, usually alone and with a book. She reads romantic suspense, in case you’re wondering,” he added with a grin. “She orders the same thing every day, a chicken salad sandwich, a side compote of fresh fruit and an iced tea with two lemons. She works at the office until nine or ten at night, and when she leaves for the evening she heads straight home to her two-bedroom condo in San Diego. Always alone.”
Jackson winced at the woman’s dull and boring social life. Mike’s profile of Alexis didn’t even come close to matching the vixen-like vision he’d conjured in his mind. “Are we talking about the same woman here?”
Mike laughed, but his humor quickly faded away. “I don’t know what to tell you, Jackson. If the woman has an unscrupulous side, immoral habits or condemning fetishes, she hides them well. Her two biggest indulgences in the week that I had her under surveillance were a box of Amaretto truffles, and a few silky, lacy underthings she bought for herself at a lingerie boutique. Other than that, the woman is as straight as an arrow.”
Jackson snorted at that, remembering how he’d totally and completely misjudged his fiancée, too. How easily she’d deceived him with outward appearances and practiced affection. On the surface she’d presented the facade of a devoted and loving woman who catered to his every need and made him believe they were matched physically as well as intellectually. The kind of lifetime mate he could trust and build a life with. And then he’d discovered the deeper, scheming motivations she’d had for wanting to marry him. It had been a very nasty, public breakup four years ago, one that had made him keep women at arm’s length ever since.
Looking back on the relationship, Jackson now realized he’d played right into Lindsay’s ploy. He’d wanted to believe she’d share in the kind of emotional intimacy and trust that had always been missing from his life, things he’d secretly desired for years but had come to accept he’d never have. His own mother had never provided emotional nurturing and unconditional love, then had completely abandoned him when he’d been a teenager. She’d traipsed back into his life years later when he’d become a successful businessman, pretending love and adoration and begging forgiveness. The little boy in him wanted so badly to believe that she’d changed that he’d allowed her back into his life, until it became painfully apparent that she, too, was only interested in his money. He was merely another person in a long line of fools she’d used for her own purposes.
He wasn’t one to hold onto grudges, yet every time he tried to let go of the past and let down his guard enough to trust someone and build a relationship, he was blindsided by ulterior motives and betrayal. It was safer, easier and less painful not to allow another woman that close.
Jackson rubbed his thumb along his chin, trying to ignore the churning in his belly those memories evoked. “What does Alexis look like?” he asked, tossing aside the thoughts of those two self-centered women for the current one wreaking havoc with his life.
“I was wondering when you were going to ask that question.” A slow grin eased up the corners of Mike’s mouth. “She’s certainly nothing spectacular or anything like the sophisticated beauties you’re used to dealing with. Definitely not the kind of woman who’d turn your head twice if you passed her on the street. Her features are pretty, but plain, and while she wears loose, unfitted clothing it’s fairly obvious that she has real womanly curves beneath all that camouflage.”
Leaning forward, Mike rifled through the contents of his briefcase and pulled out a manila envelope. From that, he withdrew an 8x10 glossy photograph and held the snapshot across the desk for Jackson to take. “I used my zoom lens to get a close-up of her for you. There are other shots in the envelope you can look through later.”
Jackson examined the candid picture through critical eyes. The photograph had been taken as she was leaving her office building midday, accompanied by a thirty-something, brown-haired man with wire-rimmed glasses. First, Jackson focused on Alexis. As Mike had divulged, her looks and appearance were plain and unassuming and nothing remotely close to what Jackson had imagined. Minimal makeup enhanced her features and her glossy black hair was pulled back into one of those French braids. She wore an untucked, loose navy blue blouse that hinted at generous breasts but didn’t fully display them, and a flowing patterned skirt that swirled around her legs and ankles.
Despite the unflattering clothing, he couldn’t stop himself from envisioning the satiny, lacy under-things she might be wearing beneath the practical, unflattering outfit. He imagined warm, soft skin against cool silk, and a flush of unexpected heat infused him. Annoyed with his response, he immediately shook those unbidden thoughts right out of his head.
Sophisticated and extraordinarily beautiful, she wasn’t. But he didn’t doubt Alexis’s intelligence. She was laughing at something the other man must have said, and her eyes, a pale but sparkling shade of blue, seemed to say “I’m at the top of the world“.
Of course she was sitting pretty…she was in the position to make millions from all his hard work.
“Who is the guy with her?” Jackson asked curiously.
“That’s