Lizzy Ford (13 page)

For the first time since meeting her, Xander felt like he had the upper hand. Surprisingly, he wasn’t satisfied by it. She was there to fuck him over, and he was no closer to knowing when and how. Or why.

Jessi was shaken by the interaction. Was it that obvious? What was he going to do about it, now that he knew? Tell the police? Fire her? She drew a few deep breaths. It was like dealing with the teens: she had to pretend like he wasn’t getting to her.

It was bad enough that Jonny was threatening some kind of penalty. She wasn’t sure she’d keep sane, if she considered
all
the bad things that might happen. Last night’s penalty hadn’t been that bad. Bruises and a threat. She could handle that every night.

She went to the iPad and tried to focus on reading her rules. Her mind kept drifting between Xander and the marks on her arm from one of Jonny’s goons. He was waiting for her when she got home last night, standing outside her apartment door. Jonny sent another note, this one detailing the activities of Ashley’s day down to the license plate number of the friend Ashley ditched school to meet.

Jessi said nothing to the cousins and only took the note after the goon at her door hurt her arm. That was after half a day of work. What was going to happen tonight when she went home?

If Jonny wouldn’t find out, she’d send the kids to her parents. Jessi was starting to feel … trapped. Like she did in the orderly condo.

A calendar reminder popped up.

“Your guests will arrive soon,” she called to Xander. “Should you get dressed?” She smiled as the words left her mouth. It was like talking to the kids.

She looked towards the porch and jumped. He was standing a few feet from her, outside the kitchen. She met his strange red gaze. It was hard to keep her eyes from drifting downward, to the body that was nothing but muscle under taut bronze skin. He moved silently and with smoothness and purpose. Thick shoulders and arms, chiseled chest and abs. The kind of body that was strong enough to hold and protect her from the freaky dream she’d stumbled into this week. The judo pants rode low enough on his hips to tease her imagination of what lay just a couple inches below the seam. Dangerously sexy, his shoulder length dark hair tousled and his heavy, clean-cut jaw shaded by several days of growth. His direct gaze left her unsettled once more.

 “So … go put on clothes,” she said, face warm. It was too hard to deal with him when she wanted to stare at his perfect body.

“Stay right there,” he ordered. She rolled her eyes at him.

For a moment, he didn’t move. She returned her attention to the iPad. Only then did he turn and retreat down the hallway.

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. S
he 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 serious 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.