Redesigned (6 page)

“Why?”

Conspiratorial glee washes over her face. “Because no one talks to Reed that way, and you have no idea how much I loved watching you make him squirm.”

Now I’m really confused. Why would Lexi want her boyfriend to squirm? And why would she want
me
to do it? “Look, I’m not sure what—”

“Please.” She clasps her hands and brings them to her chest. “Reed really is nice, once you get to know him.”

I clench my jaw. “I guess I’ll never know since I have no intention of getting to know him.”

“You don’t have to, just hang in there for a month and continue to stand up to him. I’ll stand with you next time and between the two of us, we’ll bring him down a peg or two.”

I squeeze my eyes closed then open them. “Forgive me for asking—because this is really none of my business—but why would you want me to help you bring your boyfriend down a peg or two?”

Shock covers her face, and for a moment, I wonder if I’ve crossed a line, although I’m not quite sure how. Then she breaks into giggles.

Irritation prickles the hair on the back of my neck. “I’m not sure what’s so funny.”

“Reed … my boyfriend….” She shakes her head and takes a breath.

“Are you saying he’s not your boyfriend?”

She gets her laughter under control. “No. He’s my brother.”

“Your brother?” But it all makes sense now. At Scarlett’s party, Reed touched her in a protective way, but there hadn’t been anything that suggested they were a couple. Just me jumping to conclusions. And at the club, Lexi was annoyed that Reed was there. Of course, she would be. Who wants their brother cramping their dating life?

She leans closer and lowers her voice. “Reed is used to getting his way, and he’s used to bossing people around to get it. It will be fun to watch you work him over.”

I’m not sure how Reed became part of the committee that includes his sister, but nothing surprises me when it comes to the chancellor. “Lexi, you seem like a sweet girl.” I take a deep breath.

“But I’m not on the committee to settle some score for you with your brother. I’m there to build my already pathetic resume.”

“Then come back to the committee and do that! And give my brother the opposition he needs.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know.”

An evil glint fills her eyes. “You have to admit you kind of liked it.”

I did. And that’s the problem. I liked every moment of telling him off. It was like the dam burst free, letting loose all the times I’d bit my tongue and buried my irritation and anger over the last few years. I not only liked it, but I’m desperate for more. I’m not sure I can control the Carol Ann begging to come out.

Even more alarming is the way he makes me feel. Even when we’re fighting, an undercurrent of desire flows beneath my skin. My reaction to him is dangerous.

But Lexi’s right. I need this for my resume, and the show is in a month. I can endure anything for a month.

Why do I think I’ll regret those words?

I call Scarlett as I storm across campus to my car. “Why is a math grad student on a fashion show committee with a bunch of business and fashion degree students?”

“Slow down. What are you talking about?’

“Reed is the chairman of the fashion show committee.”

“How did that happen?”

“The chancellor.”

“Oh.”

“Here’s the even weirder part: his girlfriend? She’s really his sister. And she’s on the committee too. How did that happen?”

“I don’t know.”

I hear the distraction in her voice. I know her schedule, and she’s in the math lab, but she knows I wouldn’t call her unless it’s an emergency. While this doesn’t count as a technical emergency, I’m feeling out of control after my encounter with him.

“Perhaps he’s there as an outside mediator.”

“Not with his sister on the committee. At least I can see why she’s there. She’s a sophomore business major. Their family connection breaks down all suggestions of a nonbiased tiebreaker.”

“Huh.”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I called you. You’re working. I’ll just talk to you later.”

“Caroline, wait.” She pauses for a second, and her voice isn’t as muffled. She must have moved out into the hallway. “Do you think you can work with him after what happened Friday night?”

“I don’t know.” I gnaw on a cuticle on my finger, then stop when I realize what I’m doing. I haven’t done that in years, either. “He gets under my skin and irritates the hell out of me. If he’s from Boston, why is he even here at Southern University?”

She sighs. “I don’t know much about him, but I’ve checked into him today after what he did to you. He’s from the east coast. He went to a prestigious school before he started grad school here this semester, but for the life of me, I can’t find out which one, which is really odd. Even more odd is that Southern doesn’t rank up there in the best of the best schools for mathematics degrees. Why would he go to an Ivy League school for his undergrad work then come here for his master’s?”

“So why
is
he here?”

“I don’t know. He keeps to himself, but he seems lonely, so that’s why I invited him to my party.

Honestly, I didn’t expect him to show up. I don’t see him much. He runs the math lab this semester, but our hours usually don’t correspond. Even when he’s here, he doesn’t talk to us much.”

“Because he’s stuck up.”

Scarlett pauses. “People always have a reason for what they do.”

I’m at my car, but I lean my hip against the side door, brushing back the loose hairs that blow into my face. Don’t I know it? I’m not proud of some of the things I’ve done, but there’s always some reason for it, even if it’s misguided. “I like the person I’ve become here at Southern.” I finally say.

“He brings out the old me.” It seems stupid now, that I let him affect me so. And I’m embarrassed I’m admitting this to Scarlett.

“There is no old you and new you, Caroline. There’s only you.”

Leave it to pragmatic Scarlett to say something so rational.

“So what do you want to do?” she asks. “Do you want to quit?”

“I already quit.”

“What?”

I unlock my car door and slide into the driver seat. “He walked in and took over, Scarlett. He came in with an ‘I’m better than you attitude’ and started bossing everyone around, assigning jobs and being hateful.” I grimace. “I may have compared his entrance to a Marxist takeover.”

Scarlett laughs. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I were.”

“So that’s it? You’re just giving up on your dream? You’ve been talking about being on that committee since freshman year after you attended your first show. You’re going to let one guy take that from you?”

I’m so glad I coerced Scarlett to room with me freshman year. I truly don’t know what I would do without her. Our conversation reminds me how much I miss seeing her every day. “No. Lexi convinced me to stay on the committee. She said Reed isn’t used to people standing up to him, and she wants me to stay and help put him in his place.”

“Why would she do that? She doesn’t like him?”

“No, that’s not it. She obviously loves him. I suspect it’s a sibling rivalry thing. But I don’t want to get caught in the middle of it.”

“So don’t. Do your job and ignore him.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Caroline. You think the person you were before is slipping out, but you’ve grown. You’ve changed. She’s in there; she’s just evolved. Give yourself more credit.”

“You weren’t there, Scarlett. You don’t know what I said and did.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad if his own sister witnessed it and asked you to reconsider your resignation.”

“It was bad.”

“Okay. Then consider this a challenge to your personal growth. You’ve faced adversaries and haters in the design department. And you know you’re bound to face it in the real world when you get a job. Creative people tend to get jealous.”

While I’d love to argue with her, she’s right. “Yeah.”

“Good.” I hear the smile in her voice. “I’m proud of you. You can do this, Caroline.
You
are in control of your reactions.”

“Easy for you to say since you don’t work with Reed much.”

“If you like, I can talk to him about you. Convince him you’re not so bad.”

My heart stutters. “Don’t you dare!”

“I’m joking. But I’ll try to get to know him a bit better. Maybe I can give you some insight to help you get along with him.”

“All right. But don’t be too obvious.”

She chuckles. “I’ll be discreet. Now I have to get back in the lab. But call me if you need to talk later, okay?”

“Thanks, Scar.”

I go home and take a nap then grab some dinner and head to the design studio. I haven’t the vaguest clue what to do for my project, but I need to figure it out soon. I’m not surprised to find several students already working on projects. Now that I’ve presented the dress I was working on last week, I have four weeks to come up with ten completed designs, as well as plan the show. I’m feeling the pressure of the looming deadline, but it doesn’t jog any ideas loose as I sit with my sketchbook and pencil. I end up sketching a dozen ideas, but none of them grab my interest. After I spend ten minutes staring out the window, I decide I’m not getting anything accomplished here, but I’m not ready to go home either.

Instead, I head to The Higher Ground, the campus coffee shop. It’s open until eleven and I need to study for my U.S. government test. I order a coffee but resist a muffin and find a table for two in the corner. This isn’t the best place to study. The coffee shop is usually full of socializing students in the evening, not studious ones, but I don’t feel like leaving campus and I hate the library. Thankfully, I’m good at tuning out the rest of the world, a necessary skill learned in a mobile home full of kids my mother babysat at night after her day job. I’m so zoned out that I’m startled when someone plops in the chair in front of me and drops her books on the table.

“Hi.”

I jump in my seat and look up into Lexi Pendergraft’s perky face. I resist a groan. “Hi, yourself.”

“Studying?”

I glance down at the open government book and my laptop. “Yeah.”

“My brother’s not that bad, you know.”

There’s no holding in my groan this time. “I’m sure he’s not.”

She leans forward, her palms flat on the table, and her voice lowers. “He has his reasons for being how he is, but I assure you, once you get to know him, you’ll discover he’s all bark and no bite.”

“No bite?” I scoff. “I find that hard to believe. He seems like he’s used to biting a lot.” The thought of him biting me brings a surprising twist in my stomach.
No, Caroline. You do not want Reed
Pendergraft to bite you
.
Focus
. But my pep talk doesn’t appease the stir of my hormones.

Lexi grimaces. “Okay, he does bite a little, but again, he has his reasons.”

Not helping.

I resist the urge to take a deep breath. “Every time I’ve seen you, Reed was close at hand. How much time do you actually spend with him?”

She looks down, squirming slightly in her seat. “A lot.”

This girl confuses me. She might be a college sophomore, but she seems to have the maturity of a high school girl. Hell, I had more maturity in high school, but then I’m not a good judge. “Lexi, you seem like a nice girl, and while this is none of my business, I feel the need to make a suggestion.” I pause. “How old are you? Nineteen? Twenty?”

She glances up, her eyes wide, and she sits back in her seat, suddenly wary. “Eighteen.”

“Eighteen? Really? Wow.” But it explains a few things.

She lifts a shoulder into a self-conscious shrug. “I graduated early.”

“That’s okay.” I look into her eyes. “The point is that you’re in college now, and perhaps it’s time you cut the apron strings to your brother.” I wonder the wisdom of this since I have to spend the next four weeks working with her, but for some bizarre reason, I feel the need to help her. Maybe it’s because I like her, and I don’t think she should let a jerk like Reed run her life, even if he is her brother.
Especially
since he’s her brother.

Her gaze turns to the window. “I know.” She faces me again, plastering on a forced smile. “I’m sorry to bother you. I’ll let you get back to studying.”

As she starts to get up, I reach across the table and grab her hand. “Lexi, wait.” She seems so young and lost. Some protective instinct I didn’t know I possessed kicks into gear.

She sits back down, wary again, not that I blame her. She and Reed might have some weird
Flowers in the Attic
type thing, but I like her in spite of myself.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I really like you. Let’s forget your brother. We’re going to be working together so let’s get to know each other.” Maybe I can find out more about Reed if I find out about Lexi. They
are
siblings. I feel a bit devious—okay, a lot devious—but I’m curious about Lexi too. It just happens to kill two birds with one stone.

Lexi smiles, but she’s still cautious. “Okay.”

“You said you transferred here. Where did you go to school before?” If I can find out where Lexi went, than maybe I’ll figure out Reed’s school. Why I care is beyond me.

Uncertainty flickers in her eyes. “Out East.”

Strange. That’s the same vague answer Reed gave me. “Which college?”

Flashing a smile, she looks down at my book. “U.S. Government? Isn’t that usually a lower level course?”

She’s dodging my question. My curiosity is piqued, but I let her change the subject. “I know, but I’ve always hated anything to do with government so I kept putting it off until I couldn’t put it off any longer. Not if I want to graduate.” I laugh. “Which I do. So here I am.” I wave to my book.

Her eyes widen again. “You hate government?”