switch had its roots in the fraud. She had to know.
At the same time, she couldn’t make mistakes. If Xavier’s brother had spearheaded or approved the fraud, she had to find proof. Of course, it could have started with Xavier’s reign, which added to the complexity of the investigation. It was a wrinkle she hadn’t seen coming but adhering to Xavier’s directive to be “invisible” wasn’t going to reveal even a tiny slice of what she needed to uncover.
Xavier’s gaze skittered over hers again and she had the distinct impression he didn’t quite know what to do with her. Good. An off-kilter man spilled secrets he meant to keep close to the vest. She relaxed a smidgen. This undercover business couldn’t be too hard. Or, rather, she couldn’t allow it to be. This story was too important to the people LBC should be serving instead of cheating. The story was too important to her career.
“Here’s what I want, Ms. Dixon.” His low voice snaked through her and she tried really hard not to react, but she didn’t have his ability to be stone-faced. Neither did he miss her reaction, absorbing it with a long, slow pause laden with things unsaid. “I want you to ensure LBC operates smoothly enough that I can focus on fundraising. Outside of that, I don’t care what you do.”
She blinked. “Sure you do. You’re in charge. Everything flows uphill, right?”
That was the core of an investigative reporter’s philosophy, the one they taught in Digging for Facts 101. Follow the money. The guy in the corner office was always the place to start because he made all the decisions. If anything illegal was going on, it usually went all the way to the top.
Of course, this situation had the added layer of the guy at the top not being the normal guy. All at once, she hoped Xavier would be in the clear and she’d instead be taking down his brother. Which would be a shame, because she’d genuinely liked Val.
She couldn’t let her personal feelings compromise the investigation, as they had in her last story. She couldn’t afford to like anyone in this situation.
“Indeed it does,” Xavier finally said.
His gaze still hadn’t left hers, and if she hadn’t known better, she’d have thought he might be fighting some of the same attraction she was. Surely he had his pick of women. He wasn’t trying to be sexy as a come-on; it was just a natural part of who he was and she didn’t for a second think he’d turned it on specifically for her.
“Great, then we’re on the same page. You’re in charge and I’m here to execute your orders. What would you like me to do first?”
“Explain why it seems like you’re flirting with me.”
Laurel’s lungs seized and she choked on a breath. Tears leaked from her eyes as she coughed, and if she was really lucky, mascara streaks were even now forming below her lashes.
“What?” she asked when she recovered. “I’m not flirting with you.”
If anything, he was the one exuding all the come-hither vibes. At times, it was so strong, she was barely hanging on by the fingernails.
His implacable expression didn’t change. “Good. It would be a bad idea to get involved.”
Oh, well, that was a telling statement. Not “You’re not my type.” Not “You’ve mistaken me for a heterosexual.” Bad idea to get involved. That meant he felt all the sizzle, too.
Interesting.
How much closer could she get to Xavier LeBlanc and would that benefit her story? Or simply benefit her? The man knew his way around an orgasm—she could tell. And while this exposé lay at the pinnacle of her personal goals, she couldn’t help but want to investigate her reaction to Xavier as a man.
She had a core-deep desire to know things, and at this moment, Xavier topped the list.
“A bad, bad idea,” she repeated and crossed her fingers behind her back. “I solemnly swear that I will refrain from all double entendres, loaded statements and anything that could be construed as flirting while you and I are working so closely together.”
“I didn’t say we’d be working closely together,” he corrected, and all at once she wondered what it would take to get him well and truly rattled to the point of revealing something unintended.
If she hoped to dig up enough dirt for an exposé, she’d have to figure it out. Everyone had their tipping point and people had spilled secrets to her in the past, often before realizing it. Usually that happened after she’d gained a measure of their trust, though.
How ethical was it to seduce it out of someone? She’d never tried that particular method before and there was no way to deny the idea excited her. Which meant it really was a bad idea. But still viable. She needed more information before fully committing.
“Oh, come on. We just hashed that out. You’re in charge, I’m here to do exactly what you say but not sexually and we’re both going to ignore the chemistry. Where, exactly, did I lose you, Mr. LeBlanc?”
At that, he actually laughed, and the heavy, rich sound did flippy things to her insides. His deep blue eyes speared her and she got all caught up in him in a very nonprofessional way. Yeah, there might not be a whole lot of choice in the matter and she might not be the one doing the seducing. It was delicious to contemplate, either way.
“I’m not lost. Just...reassessing,” he said.
“That sounds promising. Why don’t you share your vision with me, at least, and we’ll take it from there?”
“Vision for what?”
He’d leaned into the space between them and she was having a hard time concentrating. Xavier had a very potent presence that had latched onto her skin in a wholly disturbing way. “For, um, LBC. As a charity. What’s the vision? Mission statement? That kind of thing.”
“Feed people,” he stated bluntly. “What more is there?”
“A lot. At the shelter, our goal was to give women back some control in their lives. Provide them with choices. The shelter part was just one of the mechanisms we employed.”
That had been satisfying work, even as a means to an end as she put herself through college. Sure, she’d had to fudge the dates a little on her résumé and leave off the last few years of employment so no one knew she’d worked for a news channel—which had subsequently fired her. But her drive to help people through knowledge hadn’t changed. She still believed in the value of nonprofit organizations, particularly those that served people at the poverty line.
That’s why it was so important to expose the fraud here. The money funneling through this organization should go to the people who came through the doors in need, not toward lining someone’s pocket because they saw an easy way to skim profits.
Xavier’s face turned to granite, which was his default more often than not. “You seem to forget I’m just filling in. This is not my normal world.”
All at once, the information she craved had nothing to do with LBC and everything to do with Xavier LeBlanc himself. He was such a fascinating puzzle who gave very little away. She wanted to unlock him in the worst way. “But your brother mentioned that your mother started this charity fifteen years ago. Surely you’ve been involved to some degree.”
