Xander’s calendar was full for the week. She flipped through his schedule, overwhelmed before it even began. Ingrid referenced documents she emailed the woman who was supposed to be here, documents Jessi had no access to.
She successfully navigated through her first obstacle: turning away the woman who was supposed to be here. Second obstacle: surviving her first full day in an unfamiliar job working for someone with the uncanny knowledge that she was there for nefarious reasons.
The work cell rang, and she picked it up, answering instinctively.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Ingrid, this is Toni.” The woman’s voice was high-pitched and nasally.
“Ingrid’s on vacation. This is –“
“Great, well we’ll be about half an hour early. Is that okay with Xander?”
Jessi glanced towards his bedroom, not about to knock on his door to see if he was ready.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” she answered.
“Great. We’ll see you soon.” Toni hung up.
Jessi eyed the phone, realizing there were five voice messages already this morning, along with a few texts.
She listened to the voicemails first and was soon laughing so hard, she was in tears. All were from women who sounded desperate just to talk to the strange man who owned this condo.
Xander’s gaze settled on her as he emerged from the direction of his room. He was dressed in jeans and a casual button-down shirt that was snug across his shoulders and chest and loose over his abdomen. His hair was tied back. She didn’t think it was possible for him to look sexier in clothing, but he somehow managed to.
“What?” he asked warily.
Jessi wiped her eyes and set the phone down. She shook her head, grinning. Too aware of his scrutiny, she cleared her throat and pretended to read the iPad. Another laugh bubbled up.
Xander hadn’t moved. She felt like she was at the zoo, standing in front of the cage of a hungry lion.
“Toni will be early,” she said to fill the tense silence. “I take it you don’t listen to the messages women leave on your assistant’s phone.”
“No.”
“Yeah, well, they’re pretty funny.”
Under the intensity of his glare, nothing was humorous. She scratched the back of her head nervously.
“How do you want me to handle phone calls like that?” she asked.
“I don’t do reruns, so as long as you don’t invite them over, I don’t care.”
“Reruns?”
“Sleep with the same girl twice.” He smiled.
“Are you serious?”
“Very.”
Definitely not laughing at that. She kept her mouth closed this time with some difficulty and looked away.
“How much did Ingrid say I was paying you?”
“Not enough,” she replied. To her surprise, he laughed. “I can’t believe people leave those kinds of messages on your phone or that Ingrid has to deal with three hundred and sixty four horny women a year calling you to beg for a second night of sex.”
“It’s probably closer to five hundred. I have a healthy libido.”
“Whatever.” Her face was getting warmer. “There’s something wrong with them and …” you. She stopped herself before saying it out loud.
“Did you stop to think there might be something wrong with you?” he returned. “If every woman I meet is like that, except for you?”
“No,” she replied. “I’m the only normal person I know.”
“Trust me. You’re not normal.”
For a few seconds, he almost seemed approachable. Tapping the iPad screen to keep it from falling asleep, she flipped through to her rules.
“Okay, rule number seven,” she said. “Review Xander’s day with him. You ready for that?”
He didn’t answer. When she glanced up, he was gone. She peered out of the kitchen and saw he’d gone back to the porch, apparently done talking to her. Jessi followed him onto the balcony.
“So we need to review your day,” she began again. “Ten o’clock interview.”
“Right.”
“Two o’clock …” she drifted off, trying to click the calendar note open unsuccessfully. She propped it on the railing and tried to manipulate the box, wondering if dropping it messed up something.
Xander reached around her unceremoniously and snatched it.
“Not doing that,” he said.
As she watched, he deleted whatever it was then moved onto his evening schedule and deleted everything there, too.
“Did you just delete all your events today?” she asked. “Wait, not my to-do list!” She tried to grab it. He held it out of her reach. “What’re you doing?”
“I am going to make you sweat,” he replied calmly.
“You want to make my life miserable?” Jessi rubbed her cheeks, already stressed out and biting her tongue to keep from snapping at him. Her temper was legendary in her household.
“Think of it as a stress test. We’ll see how long it takes you to snap.”
“You’re acting like my seventeen-year-old.”
He looked up at her. “Seventeen? You can’t be over twenty five.”
“I am. And yes, seventeen.” She snatched the iPad. The last thing she needed was to be fired, before she had what she came for. Jonny warned her that this guy wasn’t normal, she reminded herself.
His faint smile was far from promising. If anything, it rattled her. Somehow, he knew too much about her purpose there. What was he planning?
“I’ll text Ingrid about your schedule,” she said.
“A word to the wise: She’s expecting to hear from April, not Jessi.”
Jessi’s heart leapt, but she forced herself not to react. “Are you ready for your interview at least?”
“Yeah.”
She shook her head and left him on the porch. He had to be waiting for the blonde to come by again. Which was good for her. As long as he stayed distracted, she could try to find where he kept the necklace. He was wearing it now, but he had to take it off sometime. If she knew where he kept it, she could swoop in and snatch it the first time he wasn’t wearing it. Finding it and turning it over was a small price to pay to get out of the bind she was in.
With another glance towards the porch, Jessi started down the hallway. She stood in the doorway to his room for a long moment, trying to figure out how the hell he knew so much about her. A seed of a thought that emerged yesterday returned stronger.
If Jonny was some sort of freaky vampire and wasn’t willing to face Xander to get the necklace, did that mean Xander was some sort of … creature, too? If so, what? He claimed to be a vampire, but it made no sense. He was nothing like Jonny. He was more assured, stronger. He sometimes almost seemed approachable, though the intensity around him hadn’t eased from the moment she set foot in the door. She didn’t feel threatened around Xander like she had around Jonny.
Instinctively, she made the bed, as she did every morning for her cousins.
“My door is always open to willing women,” his voice jarred her.
“I’m making your bed, not getting into it.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t want you out of my sight,” he said dryly. He was leaning against the doorframe, arms folded and gaze suspicious.
“Sweet little ole me?” she asked, blinking at him coyly. “I’m harmless, especially to someone as big as you.” The guy Jonny sent was half Xander’s size and left a handprint on her arm. She wasn’t going to imagine what someone with Xander’s strength could do.
“You are far from harmless,” he replied. “I don’t hurt women. I just fuck ‘em.”
“A true gentleman.” She grabbed and fluffed a pillow to hide her grimace.
“Whatever it is you’re after, I’ll make you a deal for it.”
“I’m not after anything.”
“When you’re ready to talk, let me know.”
She cursed him silently. It was some sort of trick to get her to slip up. She wasn’t falling for it, though. He was s
erious about her remaining in his sight. She glanced over her shoulder to see his eyes traveling over her body. Rattled and thrilled, she moved to the other side of the bed to reach the pillows there instead of stretching.
“What do you do?” she asked. “You’re built like a wrestler or football player or something.”
“You don’t watch TV.”
“No. I’ve got two jobs.”
“Read the tabloids next time you go to the store. You’ll figure it out,” he said. “Single mom. Two kids.”
She glared at him.
“Just admit I’m right, and I’ll move on,” he said with a chuckle.
“Fine. Yes. Was I right about you being the product of a single mom?”
There was a pause. “Yes. My father kicked us out soon after I was born. She died when I was ten.” The quietness with which he spoke made Jessi feel bad for asking. “My upbringing after that can be called interesting.”
Jessi paused, not expecting a response. The private man who hadn’t even named his cat didn’t seem like someone comfortable with sharing. He didn’t seem affected by the words, as if whatever wound the events caused was completely gone. She felt the need to say something though, knowing how much pain her cousins went through when they lost their parents.
He was studying her, his air relaxed for once. She gazed back, uncertain why the moment touched her on a level she didn’t think was possible with a stranger. She cleared her throat, then said,
“My, uh, kids lost their parents in a car accident a few years ago. I’m their legal guardian. No one else in the family would take them in.”
As soon as the words were out, she was furious with herself for revealing something personal. She’d meant to give him some sort of bland sympathy like people gave her kids. You turned out okay or something to acknowledge the issue without personalizing it. She hated that kind of insincerity, but if ever she wanted to deliver it, it was now.
“You’re wasting the best years of your life for them.”
“What an awful thing to say!” she exclaimed. “They’re my family.”
“When was the last time you got laid?”
“Who asks a question like that of a complete stranger?”
“I can’t read your mind, and you’re the only woman who has been in my bedroom who I haven’t fucked. It makes sense to me,” he explained, a small smile on his face.
Calm. Calm. Calm. Losing her temper wasn’t going to get her anywhere, especially now that she knew he was trying to provoke her.
“More than a year?”
She ignored him.
“I’m going to guess closer to multiple years. Three?”
“It’s none of your damn business!” she muttered.
“Four. At least.”
She all but threw the last of the pillows into place.
“You can stay tomorrow night,” he offered. His gaze swept over her body.
“Absolutely not,” she said firmly. “Definitely not interested in …” you. He was the sexiest man she’d ever seen. The way he looked at her made her whole body feel warm. “… whatever. Just here for the job. Do you even know the names of these girls?”
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs-.”
“I get the point!”
He was assessing her again, amused by her anger. Jessi tried not to look away, unwilling to back down. Too much was riding on that necklace for her to give any sign she was there for any other reason.
The doorbell rang, saving her. She squeezed by him, desperate to leave the tension of the bedroom.
“You’re a shitty liar,” he said as she hurried down the hallway.
“You’re an asshole!”
He laughed.
Temper, Jessi! she berated herself, aware of what happened if she pissed him off.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the door, ready for a distraction after the intense interaction with Xander. She peered through the peephole to make sure it wasn’t the woman she’d barely gotten rid of earlier. Four people stood outside the door: a leggy brunette, a photographer armed with a huge camera and two others. She opened the door.
“Ingrid? I’m Toni,” the sexy brunette posing outside the door said.
“I’m Jessi.”
“Great. This is my photographer Laurencio and assistant Gerry. That’s … Laurencio’s assistant,” Toni said. “Where is he? Is he ready?” She was already pushing her way in.
“As ready as he’ll ever be,” Jessi answered.
Toni walked into the apartment like it was a catwalk, pausing every few feet to primp and pose. Jessi watched her, blown away by the perfect beauty and her small entourage. Her assistant, Gerry, looked like a college athlete with a huge, bright grin, blond hair and friendly hazel eyes. Laurencio was dark and brooding, his camera bag over one shoulder while the camera was out and ready. His assistant was slender and handsome, the only other besides Gerry to smile.
Jessi closed the door behind them. The four who looked ready for a modeling shoot. Toni flicked her hair over her shoulder.
“Let me … find him. Go ahead and make yourselves at home down here,” Jessi said, indicating the formal living room.
She skirted the group, feeling underdressed and frumpy in her faded wrap, jersey-knit dress. She wore it because she was too upset to wash out the pile of jeans when she got home last night. Self-conscious, she went to the bedroom, where Xander was. Before she could order him downstairs as she intended, he spoke.
“You’ve got small fingers. Put this on.” He held out a black cord with a red gem.
Chapter Six
Did he know somehow why she was there? Is that why he dangled it before her? Jessi almost cursed. She entered the dark, sensual bedroom once again and accepted the necklace with the rough, round red ruby at its center.
“Interesting,” Xander said. “You’re still standing.”
“What?”
“You don’t notice anything strange about it?”
She turned it over in her hands. Black metalwork held the gem in place. In the dim light of his bedroom, she was able to make out a small symbol on the metal: a moon in two separate phases, full and crescent. The ruby glowed faintly, as if there was a light at its center.
“No, it’s beautiful,” she murmured, managing to hide her frustration at holding what she came for. “Family heirloom?”
“Something like that.”
She rolled her eyes at the vague answer then stretched up on her tiptoes to wrap the chain around his neck. He was tall enough that the movement caused her body to rest against his, however briefly. He steadied her with his hands on her hips. She almost dropped the necklace at his touch. The heat of his large hands burned through her thin dress, and warmth bloomed within her. He smelled like the room: dark, smoky and slightly sweet.
Definitely five years since any man touched her.
Jessi fumbled with the lobster clasp on the black cord necklace, completely shaken by his size and heat.
“Today would be nice.” Xander’s low voice, with its naturally husky edge, made her flush. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re enjoying this.”
She focused hard on the clasp, her senses filling with him. “I assure you I’m not. I have the feeling you can do this yourself.”
“Yeah.” He pulled her closer, until her hips rested against his.
“You are a piece of work!” Her breath caught at the direct contact of their bodies and the effect it had on hers.
“Does it bother you?”
“You want me to say yes, don’t you?”
By his smile, he did.
“Done,” she mumbled and stepped away quickly. “Your court awaits you.”
“After you.”
“No, really. You go.” She was too rattled to deal with anyone. She needed five minutes to herself to cool down. Maybe a cold shower or two.
“You’re not leaving my sight.”
Frazzled, she went. He slapped her on her ass as she passed him, infuriat
ing her.
“You know that’s sexual harassment?” she snapped. “If you want me to quit, keep it up.”
“You won’t quit.” His reply was far calmer than she felt.
He was right, but she wasn’t about to admit it. The man who didn’t seem to know what to do with her yesterday was toying with her today. She didn’t like it at all, not when there was so much at stake. She needed to grab that necklace and leave. Fast.
He trailed her down the stairs and into the formal living area. Toni’s face lit up, and she thrust out her chest in a way that made Jessi want to laugh in embarrassment on the oblivious model’s behalf. Jessi stepped aside to let Xander deal with the gorgeous woman, hoping Toni made him as uncomfortable as he did her upstairs.
Within seconds, the woman was hanging off of Xander’s arm, throwing herself at him.
“I knew you were big, but I didn’t know you were this big,” she said with a sugared laugh.
Jessi rolled her eyes. Xander caught the movement. She turned away fast.
“Laurencio, start taking pics,” Toni ordered. “You care to pose with me, Xander? Maybe that oh-so-sexy vampire thing you do with your assistant at the end of every show?”
This guy has his own show? Jessi made a mental note to look up who exactly Xander was. She didn’t dare turn around, not certain she’d be able to witness Toni throwing herself at Xander without laughing at him. The awkward silence behind her was soon filled by the clicking of Laurencio’s camera.
“Ingrid, I’m Gerry,” the hazel-eyed man said, holding out his hand.
“I’m Jessi. Ingrid is on vacation,” she said. She was at once lost in his bright smile. “Do you all want coffee or anything?”
“I’d love some. In fact, I’ll help you. Toni’s got her hands full,” he said in a lowered voice and winked.
Jessi led him up the stairs to the kitchen, not caring what Xander said about staying where he could see her. She soon heard Toni’s high-pitched laugh as the woman started the interview with Xander. His low, quiet responses were the opposite of Toni’s annoying whinny.
“How can you stand that?” Jessi asked Gerry.
“She pays well and has connections.” He pulled open the refrigerator and retrieved the creamer.
“At least you’re honest about it.”
Lizzy Ford Page 10
