Lizzy Ford (19 page)

“Come on. Time to go home,” Jessi said. She didn’t know why these women were so pliant when Xander was done with them. The girl yesterday offered no resistance. They were dazed when they left, smiling, happy, glowing. As if they’d had the best night of their lives.

Jessi was miserable. She took enough pain meds to numb a horse, but her arm still hurt, and her head was woolly from the drugs.

The woman rolled out of bed, unconcerned with being naked in front of a stranger. Jessi turned away and waited for her to dress. When the rustling behind her stopped, she led the woman out of the apartment and locked the door behind her. Jessi peered through the peephole. As with the girl yesterday, this one stood in the middle of the hallway, lost. Finally, she started in one direction.

What did Xander
do
to these women? Why was she immune to the effect he clearly had on every other woman he ran across?

Jessi shook her head and went upstairs. The coffee was finished. She poured it into the polished silver pot that reminded her of the fancy pots she’d seen once at an upscale hotel. The tray was too much for her hurt arm, which could support no weight. Frustrated, she took him a mug of steaming coffee. Without waiting for him to acknowledge her, she leaned over him and plopped it down, unconcerned with spilling it, before returning to the kitchen for the pot.

After three trips, he had everything he needed. He wore only judo pants again this morning, his relaxed body reminding her too much of what it felt like to lie beneath him the day before. The washboard abs were flat, even when he was seated. His thick shoulders were wider than the back of the chair he sat in. She realized she was openly ogling him despite being pissed. She turned to leave.

“You couldn’t use the tray and make one trip?” he asked.

Jessi didn’t want to guess why he sounded pissed by the fact she made three trips instead of one.

“Good morning, Xander,” she replied and stalked into the apartment. “I cleaned out your bedroom.”

“Ingrid didn’t tell you your job is to line up women for me?”

“No.”

“I almost had to settle for a rerun.”

“Rough life, sleeping with the same girl twice,” she said as calmly as she could. “I won’t line up women for you, Xander.”

“Tuesday’s still open.” He was entertained. Her temper was shorter, the result of not sleeping and the pain of her arm.

“How …”
Temper, Jessi
. She wasn’t going to let him get to her today, not when she needed to find that necklace. “…thoughtful. I’ll make your bed and straighten up.”

He said nothing. More importantly, he didn’t move. Jessi went to his bedroom and made the bed with speed bred from routine then began feeling around the strange darkness for drawers. He wasn’t wearing the necklace, which meant it was somewhere in his room. She went through the nightstands, drawers and closets then ducked out to make sure he was still drinking coffee on the porch.

The jogging blonde had his attention. Jessi rolled her eyes.

“Whatever you’re after, it’s not in my room,” he said.

She almost asked how he knew if he didn’t know what she sought but stopped herself. He was messing with her again. He couldn’t possibly know what she sought. Could he?

“You need more coffee?” she asked instead.

“Yep.”

Jessi went to the porch and automatically reached over him with her dominant hand. She caught sight of the marks and swelling and pulled her hand back quickly, but not fast enough. Xander caught her wrist.

She hissed at the pain. He released her.

“Another new one,” he said.

Jessi said nothing and reached across with her left arm to take the coffee. She grunted as she hefted it.

“It’s full.”

“You’re avoiding me.”

“After yesterday, do you have to wonder why?” she asked in disbelief.

“I let you slap me, didn’t I?” he retorted. “Go get a mug.”

“Xander  …” She sighed. “Fine.”

He was going to play games with her until she confronted him. Jessi went to the kitchen and got herself a mug then returned to the porch and sat down in the chair with its back to the blonde on the beach. She poured herself coffee and doctored it up then sat back.

“Happy?” she challenged, meeting his gaze. Her arm was hurting so bad, she was relieved to sit. She was almost nauseous again. “We’re going to play a new game. This one is called boundaries. As in, when I say the word
boundary
, you stop whatever it is you’re doing or about to do and leave me alone.”

He smiled. Xander’s muscular body drew her gaze. He’d tamed his dark hair this morning and tied it back, his unwavering, red-hued eyes on her. She sipped her coffee without looking away. His teeth behind the full lips were normal today, which made her think she’d been wrong about the fangs she saw yesterday. If not for the scars on her neck and those of the woman she escorted out this morning …

“What happened to your arm?” he asked.

“Not your concern.”

“If you can’t carry my coffee, it is.”

“It was obviously no obstacle, considering you’ve got your coffee and your bed is empty.”

“Gerry’s the kind who gets his ass kicked by girls, and I know I didn’t do that,” he said, considering her. “Jealous boyfriend?”

“Jealous of what?” She raised an eyebrow. “Of you biting me?”

“Something tells me your sex life is pretty vanilla.”

She flushed. “Boundary.”

“Alright.”

Surprised he backed down, Jessi would’ve relaxed, if her body wasn’t on edge.  

“It wasn’t a boyfriend, jealous or otherwise,” she answered. “We should start another game called,
let’s tell my babysitter what I erased from the calendar
.”

“Request denied. You already got to make up one new rule.” Xander snorted. He gave her the half-smile that she took as warning he was just getting started. Not about to get caught up in his games, Jessi rose with her coffee and started into the apartment. Xander held out an arm to block her path.

“What?” she grated.

“Tell me what happened to your arm.”

“It’s none of your damn business!”

“You saying that makes me want to know more.”

“No.”

He reached for her arm. She twisted away, in enough pain as it was. The spark of interest lit in his eyes again. She almost groaned and tried to move away. Xander rose, snatching the flailing coffee mug with one hand while gripping her around the waist with his other. He hauled her against his body, her back pressed to his chest. Desire sharpened her senses, which did her no good with the pain radiating down her arm. His chin rested on her head as he placed the mug on the table.

“Xander, you really need to learn limits! One day someone is going to sue you for sure!” she objected, pushing at the arm locked around her body with her good hand.

“It won’t be you.”

“You totally don’t know that.”

“You came back. You want something. You won’t risk losing it to sue me,” he said and reached for her injured arm.

“Don’t!” she barked, tensing.

He ignored her and wrapped his hand around hers. The sight of his thick, roped arm next to hers reminded her of their difference in sizes. Even swollen, her arm was small and feminine compared to his. His pressure was firm enough to keep her still. Trapped against his strong form, she wasn’t certain if she felt gratified that someone so sexy was holding her or terrified to be stuck in the arms of a vampire. She was vulnerable to him and to Jonny. She didn’t like it at all, yet her body was already starting to burn for Xander.

“Please don’t,” she said, the touch enough to cause tears of pain. “I feel sick.”

“The more you fight, the longer I hold you.”

She stopped straining and rested her head against his chest. Strange tingling ran down her arm. She braced herself, expecting pain when it reached her injury. Instead, the opposite happened. As she watched, the bruises and swelling faded. Pain retreated with it, until her arm felt normal again.

“How…” she started, staring at her arm. “Boundary!”

“A little late.” Xander released her and stepped away so suddenly, she wobbled. He sat down in his chair and propped his legs up with nonchalance, as if he hadn’t performed the impossible and healed her.

Jessi moved her fingers and hands, testing her arm. It was completely fixed. She peered at the areas where there was bruising. Not a trace of the damage Jonny did remained. More vexing than the inexplicable medical miracle was the creature that did it. Nothing about Xander was remotely … nice. He toyed with her since she arrived and unapologetically played the part of the egotistical, chauvinistic pig he was.

She met his gaze, and they stared at each other quietly for a long moment.

It wasn’t possible there was a
decent
side to him. She sensed some deep sadness when he mentioned his mother. Someone accustomed to taking what he wanted didn’t just help someone like her. He should view the temp onboard for a week as disposable, like the women he slept with.

He lifted his chin towards the beach. Curious, she turned. As if sensing her doubt about how much of a jerk he was, he slapped her hard on the ass once more.

“I
cannot
believe I fell for that!” she exclaimed, facing him. “Slapping a stranger’s ass is not a compliment, especially when that stranger is a woman. Now, are you going to tell your babysitter what’s on the schedule for today or not?”

“Not.”

The phone in her pocket vibrated. She pulled it free to see Gerry had texted. Xander snatched the phone.

“
Good morning, cutie! Had a great time yesterday. Good luck with the asshole
.
See you tonight
.” He read aloud.

She grabbed the phone back.

“Bet he couldn’t heal your arm,” Xander said with irritation.

Jessi studied him briefly, sensing his mood darken, as it had yesterday when she mentioned dating Gerry.

“Now who’s the jealous boyfriend?” She laughed, entertained at her own joke. “That’s it, isn’t it? You want me, because you can’t have me.”

“I
can’t
have you?” he echoed.

“We’re going out tonight,” she added. “Me and Gerry. Hope that doesn’t conflict with your schedule.” She pretended to consider. “Oh. Right. There is no schedule. So I’m free to meet Gerry for lunch, too, if I want.”

“Do it, and I fire you.”

She couldn’t help her smile. He really was pissed at her. For the first time since they met, she almost had the upper hand. Jessi debated answering then stalked into the apartment, ignoring him. The tiny victory felt
good
, almost as good as the knowledge that the sexy beast every woman on the planet drooled over wanted
her.

It was a game to him, she knew. If she slept with him, he’d be done with her like he was every other woman. After the past few days, she’d take her tiny victory. Her eyes returned to her cured arm. Xander was beyond mysterious. She was afraid to know more about what exactly he was.

She had the opportunity to search his room again, only it was impossible to find anything with the dark. The moment she stepped foot in his room again, he spoke again.

“It’s not in there.”

She wanted to scream. How could he know for certain what she sought? Was this another of his games? Did he have some sort of camera installed?

She searched the hallway with her eyes and saw nothing. Of course, she wasn’t able to tell what he had in the bedroom.

“Laurencio sent me a mock up of the cover pic last night,” Xander called. “I saved it as the background on the iPad. You should check it out.”

She rolled her eyes, uninterested in having such a blatant reminder of Toni’s perfect body. No doubt Xander appreciated the half-nude woman on his iPad, but Jessi didn’t. Determined to swap it out for a picture of a horse or something bland, Jessi poured herself another cup of coffee and snatched the iPad, settling on the couch within view of the porch. She turned on the device and waited, uttering a cry of dismay when she saw the background.

It wasn’t Toni on the cover. It was
her.
Jessi stared at the picture, a chill working through her. The cover was partially complete, with a few areas marked along one side and the bottom as being reserved for additional stories. The picture itself rendered her speechless.

It was
hot.
Or would be, if it was someone else pinned beneath the beefy vampire.

“They can’t print this!” she protested finally.

“It’s sexy.”

“It’s horrible!”

“Laurencio says it’s getting good feedback online.”

“It’s
online
?” she exclaimed. “I didn’t… how the hell …” She almost threw the iPad. “Don’t they need my permission to do that?”

“You signed a release form.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Pretty sure you did,
April
.” He glanced over his shoulder at her.

Jessi closed her mouth.

“It goes to print next week,” he added, clearly pleased.

“Can you fix this?” she demanded. She rose and strode to the entrance of the porch.

“Fix it?” he echoed.

“Tell him not to print it.”

“Yes, but I won’t.”

“You
bit
me, Xander! I don’t want that moment immortalized, the only thing the world ever knows about me, that some sadistic man-whore with rabies bit me on the beach.”

“I don’t have rabies.” He laughed. Sensing she was only encouraging him not to do what she wanted, she sought some other reason.

“It’s a horrible pic of me,” she added. “I look … like some teenager after she’s been kissed for the first time.”

“You’re the envy of every woman who watches my show.” He reached back to grab the iPad and clicked the picture open. “I posted it on my site after he sent it last night and checked the forums this morning.”

“You posted it on your site? I shouldn’t have come back today.” She rubbed her face.

“No one knows your name. They’re calling you Girl X.”

“Xander, it’s a humiliating picture!”

“Why?”

“
Look
at it. It’s way too…” Her gaze lingered on it, and her face felt even hotter.