- -
- 100%
- +
‘H-hello. This place is beautiful,’ she managed to stutter out, cursing the shake in her voice. She was having immense trouble keeping her gaze on his face and not allowing it to drop to the incredible physique of his chest.
‘It’s a friend’s holiday home. Pretty impressive, huh?’
‘Yup. Impressive.’ It seemed she was totally out of intelligent conversation. Not a great start for someone who was supposed to be a wordsmith for a living.
‘I’m heading back up to the villa for tea and cake. Rosa makes the best summer panettone. Come and join me.’ It wasn’t a question and she bristled a little at his bossy tone.
‘I’m not hungry. I had a late lunch.’
He gave her a slow, sexually laden smile that made her stomach swoop alarmingly. ‘Well, I’m hungry.’
The gentle breeze caught her hair and blew it across her suddenly incredibly hot face. Before she could react, he took a step towards her, lifted his hand and slid his long fingers against her cheek, then tucked the rogue curl of hair behind her ear. It was such an intimate thing to do she was utterly lost for words, and, instead of speaking, she found herself staring at his mouth, totally transfixed by the fullness of his lips as they parted slightly, revealing his perfect white teeth. The heat of his almost naked body bled into her skin and she took a deep, calming breath in, only to draw the musky fragrance of his skin into her nostrils, sending her senses spinning out of control.
Every bit of her body felt energised and tingly—the anticipation of what could happen if he just leant forward a couple of inches burning like wildfire in her chest. Was he going to...?
Kiss me.
She wasn’t sure for a second whether she’d said it out loud and she skimmed her gaze up to look into his eyes, hoping desperately it had only been an errant voice in her head.
His gaze flicked between her eyes, the bright aqua of his irises captivating her with their other-worldliness.
What the hell was going on here? A nervy panic rose inside her, causing a wave of jittery heat to rush up her neck. She couldn’t handle this. Not here, in broad daylight, totally unprepared for what might happen if he kept on looking at her like that.
Xander must have sensed her panic because he took a step away from her, giving her the space and air she suddenly craved.
‘You okay, Jess?’ he said, bemused concern clear in his voice.
‘Fine. I’m fine,’ she managed to gasp, forcing a smile onto her face. ‘Just a bit hot in the sun.’ She flapped a hand in front of her face in a pathetic attempt to cool herself down. ‘I have to go and check in to my hotel but I wanted to let you know I’d arrived. I’d like to make a plan for starting the interview so we can get started as soon as possible.’ She kept her voice clipped and businesslike, trying like mad to pull back the professional persona she’d been so keen to promote.
‘How very diligent of you. Well, to be honest, I’m not in the mood for spilling my deepest, darkest secrets right now.’ He took a step closer to her and dipped his head, his gaze capturing hers as something dangerous flashed in his eyes. ‘I’d like to get to know you a bit more intimately first.’
‘I’m not going to sleep with you,’ she blurted out before she could stop herself, her nerves riding roughshod over her common sense.
He laughed out loud, shaking his head in mirth.
Jess just stood there dumbly, flushing hot with embarrassment.
What an idiot she was. Of course he wasn’t talking about sleeping with her. She very clearly wasn’t his type if the media reports of his affairs were anything to go by. From what she’d seen in the press—and at his studio—he was more of a leggy-blonde type of guy.
And that suited her just fine. Absolutely fine. Couldn’t be finer.
‘Don’t worry, I’m taking a break from seducing innocent young journalists, so your virtue is safe with me,’ he joked, his mouth quirked in a playful smile. ‘I am interested in your body, Jess, but only on an artistic level.’
Jess pulled her arms across her chest. ‘You can’t blame me for being wary when you make provocative-sounding statements like that. You do have a reputation for being a bit...’
‘A bit what?’
She paused, searching for the right word. ‘Wild.’
He gave her a bemused grin. ‘I promise to be on my best behaviour,’ he said, making a crossing motion over his heart. ‘And if I slip up you have my permission to lick me into shape.’
Oh, my God, the images he’d just conjured in her mind.
She really needed to get out of here before she totally lost her cool.
‘Come over for dinner tonight at eight,’ he continued, going over to a rock where he’d left his towel and swiping it along his long, lean arms, ‘and we can get better acquainted.’
He flashed her one last beguiling smile before turning and walking away up the path, the bright drops of lake water that still clung to his broad back shimmering in the sunlight.
An overwhelming urge to pack up and go home, where she didn’t have to deal with these weird and disturbing feelings he provoked in her, besieged her. But she wasn’t going to leave. She was determined to keep her job at the magazine, no matter what it took. She was going to brazen it out here and ignore the blatant innuendos he seemed so keen to tease her into a jittery mess with.
He was a player all right, but she wasn’t about to let him play her.
* * *
In total contrast to the villa where Xander was staying, her hotel was the most run-down, sleazy-looking pit Jess had ever had the misfortune to set eyes on. She could have sworn she saw a rat run around the corner of the building as she parked her hire car in the tiny, litter-strewn parking lot. The thought of it made her shudder. She wasn’t good with rodents. Or spiders. Or any type of insect if she was totally honest.
It looked as if they were doing building works on the place, too, judging by the mess of rubble and steel piled haphazardly against the peeling walls of the hotel, but there didn’t seem to be anyone doing any actual work out there. Jess prayed she wasn’t going to be woken up in the early hours by workmen banging the hell out of the wall next to her head.
A disgruntled receptionist with long, lank hair and a sweat-stained blouse checked her in and handed over her key, motioning her to walk through the rather run-down reception to a door on the ground floor, next to what appeared to be a kitchen.
The Ritz it was not.
Her room wasn’t in a much better state than the reception, but at least it had a decent-sized bed and its own en-suite bathroom—even if she did have to turn sideways when in it to get the door closed.
Okay, well, it was all she needed. She was only going to put up with it for two nights. Surely it wouldn’t take longer than that to get enough info to write a decent piece on Xander?
Kicking off her shoes, she flopped down onto the bed, ignoring the unnerving sway of the bed frame, and pulled her mobile out of her back pocket. Time to do some more research on the man himself.
She’d already had a cursory look through the search engines for his name, but not much of any use had come up, mostly gossip pieces about the women he’d dated and the parties he’d made a scene at. In fact he seemed to have been in a constant state of drunken debauchery for an entire year. There were a handful of articles about his last couple of exhibitions as she trawled lower, though, the last of which had been a bit of a critical flop, as Pam had mentioned.
She wondered how his colossal ego had dealt with that. Judging by the press reports on him between now and then, not very well. He’d become belligerent and withdrawn with the press and, instead of producing more work to shut his critics up, he’d thrown himself into partying and womanising instead. In fact he didn’t seem to have produced a single thing since that exhibition.
Interesting.
It was a soothing distraction focusing on work after the nerve-jangling meeting with Xander and her eyelids grew heavy as she relaxed into the soft mattress. Perhaps she could get forty winks in now to power herself up before having dinner with Xander tonight? She wanted to be at her sharpest when she faced him again. She had a sneaking suspicion he was deliberately trying to unsettle her so he could avoid having to answer any of her probing questions.
If he thought it was going to be that easy to get around her he had another think coming.
A loud scuttling sound—which seemed to be emanating from under the bed—made her sit bolt upright in alarm.
What the hell was that?
Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw something dart from under the bed and disappear behind the vanity unit on the other side of the room.
Goosebumps pricked her skin as all the hairs on her body stood up as one in disgust. Ugh! Bugs! Quite possibly cockroaches.
Her spirits sank to the floor. How was she supposed to sleep with large indeterminate creatures running around under her bed?
Taking care not to step on any of the little blighters, she dashed out of the room and back over to the reception and tried to persuade the woman to move her into a different room.
Denied.
It appeared—incredibly—that the hotel was fully booked.
Jess sighed and went back to her room, feeling frustrated and discombobulated. She couldn’t afford to move out of this hovel—her savings wouldn’t stand it—and she wasn’t about to leave, not when the fate of her career was in the balance.
She was just going to have to grit her teeth and suck it up.
THREE
When dinner time rolled around, Jess drove back over to Xander’s villa in an even more agitated state than when she’d left it, which didn’t bode well for a relaxed and fruitful interview with him.
She hadn’t anticipated having to conduct her interview over dinner either. She used to hate eating in front of other people after struggling with an eating disorder for most of her teens. Thankfully things had got a lot better on that front after she’d taken herself off for counselling during her time at university. After talking things through she’d been able to work out a way to deal with the feelings of shame and self-loathing that tipped her into comfort eating when she felt stressed and she hadn’t had a relapse since.
She had a suspicion that eating in front of Xander was going to be a real test of her fortitude, though. He was just so in your face with his off-the-scale charisma and haunting good looks.
Damn him.
Rosa opened the door to her with a smile and showed her through to the huge living room, which was furnished with only a sofa, small drinks table and fireplace. There was an amazing coloured-glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which looked a bit like an exploding bouquet of long-stemmed flowers. Refracted shards of light from it bounced off the walls, giving the room the feel of a disco paused in time. Jess had never experienced anything like it. ‘Xander’s running a little late, but he’ll be with you soon,’ Rosa said, giving Jess a kind smile. ‘Can I get you a drink?’
‘Just some water, please,’ Jess said, determined to remain sharp and focused that evening, which meant no alcohol for her. She didn’t tend to drink much anyway—hating the way alcohol messed with her head—and she had a horrible feeling that just a sniff of the stuff tonight would be a disaster in terms of keeping her cool and collected front in place.
Rosa nodded and gestured to the sofa before leaving her alone in the room.
Jess chose not to sit down, nerves making her too edgy to stay still, and instead wandered around the room. She took a closer look at the beautiful marble fireplace and the amazing glass chandelier, shifting uncomfortably in her six-inch heels as she waited for Xander to materialise. She’d chosen these shoes at the last second thinking the extra height would give her a bit more confidence, but they were already killing her feet, which set her teeth on edge.
She was dragged out of her funk by the sight of Xander finally sauntering into the room, wearing a light blue linen shirt, open at the neck, dark combat trousers and a spellbinding smile on his face.
He really was the perfect specimen of a man.
Even the loose cut of his clothes couldn’t conceal the fact he had a killer body underneath. No doubt those lean muscles were flexing and bunching under his shirt as he moved towards her. It made her mouth water to think of it.
How would he feel if she pressed her hands against his chest?
Hard and soft at the same time.
The tips of her fingers tingled in empathy with her thoughts and there was a disturbing rush of warmth in the depths of her pelvis. She had to practically cross her legs to dull the sensation in order to concentrate.
Not good, Jess. Not good.
How the heck was she going to get through the evening? Already the butterflies that had taken up residence in her stomach were flapping about like wild things, which meant her appetite was at approximately zero on the famished to sated scale.
‘Welcome to my humble abode,’ Xander said, giving her a generous smile as he came to a halt in front of her.
He seemed relaxed, insouciant even, as if he was anticipating a pleasant, gentle evening of good food and lively conversation.
Her blood fired round her veins at the realisation that this dinner might not be quite as awkward as she’d anticipated. She just needed to keep focused and keep him on her side in order to get him to open up and talk about things that would make her article sparkle.
‘Take a seat,’ Xander said, motioning to the huge red velvet-covered sofa in the middle of the room.
‘Okay, thank you.’ Jess sank down gratefully onto the soft cushions, glad to finally take the weight off her feet, and kept on sinking. The innards of the sofa were so soft she found herself nearly doubled in two with her knees up near her chin.
Not exactly ladylike.
‘I’m really pleased you decided to come,’ Xander said, flopping down next to her and almost catapulting her onto his lap. ‘I think we can both get something useful out of our time together.’
He gave her such a loaded smile she could do nothing but stare back at him.
‘Yes, I’m sure we can,’ she finally managed to mumble through lips that seemed to be malfunctioning under the force of his charisma.
He slowly dropped his gaze to her mouth and the intensity of the atmosphere stepped up another notch.
Focus, Jess, focus.
She took in a deep breath. ‘This is a wonderful room,’ she said, trying like mad not to go to pieces as the fresh and delicious citrusy scent of his aftershave hit her nostrils. My, he smelt good. Perhaps she was hungry, after all? Only not for food.
Give it a rest, Jess. You’re here to do a job, keep it professional. And he’s the personification of danger, remember, which is not something you need in your life right now.
Wriggling along the sofa away from him and swivelling her knees into the gap she’d left, she attempted to put a defensive barrier between them, only to watch him reposition himself, mirroring her action so that their knees were almost touching. Her breath caught in her throat at what appeared to be a deliberate move to unsettle her and she had to look away to gather her courage.
She was so out of her comfort zone here.
Rosa arrived with a couple of flutes of strawberry Bellini, Jess’s requested glass of water and a bowl of the most enormous olives Jess had ever seen, which she placed in front of them with a flourish.
‘Dinner will be served in ten minutes,’ she said, giving them both a gracious nod.
‘Thanks, Rosa,’ Xander replied, the deep smooth tone of his voice twisting through Jess’s head like music. No wonder women seemed to throw themselves at him wherever he went—all he had to do was speak and she was a gibbering wreck. Imagine the effect if he decided to talk dirty to her.
A deep, low throb began to pulse in the depths of her pelvis at the thought and her face flamed with heat. Good grief, what was wrong with her self-control? It seemed to have totally abandoned her.
Jess hurriedly picked up a Bellini and took a sip, grateful for the distraction from dealing with Xander’s overwhelming presence for a moment.
So much for her no-drinking rule.
But this was an emergency—she needed something to flatten out her nerves and lull her into a more relaxed state of mind if she was going to get through the evening with her sanity intact.
Turning back, she found he was studying her, a look of concentrated interest on his face. They stared at each other for a moment and Jess’s heart hammered in the pause.
Had it suddenly got hotter? She could swear they’d turned the heat up and were directing it straight at her. She was damp with perspiration under her long-sleeved blouse and even the underside of her knees was sweating.
Umm, attractive.
Thank goodness this wasn’t a real date because he’d have to swim to get close enough to kiss her at this rate.
‘You have the most expressive face I’ve ever seen,’ he murmured, a glint of mischief in his eyes. ‘I’m going to have a lot of fun drawing you.’
Jess cleared her throat and sat up taller in her seat, anxiety at the thought of having to model for him making her body hum with nerves.
‘So how exactly do these things go? Do I just sit around for a couple of hours and you produce some amazing piece of art?’
He smiled. ‘Not exactly. I prefer to hang out with my subjects for a bit until inspiration hits me. It can take a while to come up with the right idea and I like to play around with things for a while before committing paint to canvas. I’ll do some sketches over the next few days and see what works.’
‘The next few days? I wasn’t expecting to be here for that long. I thought we could get this all wrapped up in a day. Two max. In fact I’ve booked a return flight for two days’ time.’
He snorted. ‘A day? If only I could work that fast. No, I usually need at least three or four days of planning. But don’t worry, we can make it fun.’ He gave her a slow wink that made her insides flip.
‘What exactly do you mean by that?’ The question came out sounding curter than she’d intended, so she chased it with an awkward smile.
He snorted, the corner of his mouth twisting up in mirth. ‘Why are you so nervous, Jess?’
‘I’m not nervous,’ she said, the squeak in her voice totally giving her away.
He laughed, the sound rumbling low in his chest. ‘Is my reputation really that bad?’ He leant forward in a conspiratorial manner. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to rip your clothes off and ravish you—unless you ask me really nicely,’ he added with a flirtatious eyebrow raised.
Was he teasing her now? He was. He so was. And she had absolutely no idea how to handle it.
This was exactly why she usually avoided men like him. They rattled her so badly she could barely function.
Mercifully, Rosa returned to call them for dinner then so she didn’t have to scrabble around for an eloquent response to that little zinger.
‘After you.’ Xander gestured towards the other end of the hall.
‘Great,’ Jess said, already on her feet and making a move towards the doorway he’d motioned at, desperately trying not to skid in her shoes on the smooth marble floor. She could feel him behind her, as if he were giving off a pulse of sexual electricity that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention.
Just as they reached the dining-room door her heel caught in a small hole in the marble and she stumbled forward, her arms flailing out at her sides as she tried to regain her balance.
Xander stopped her from falling flat on her face by darting forward and grabbing her arm and pulling her against his body for support.
Taking a hurried step away from the hard wall of his chest, she smoothed down her hair, then her skirt from where it had ridden up her legs, before flashing him a grateful smile. He watched her with an amused eyebrow raised. ‘You okay?’
‘Fine. Thank you.’ She gave him a friendly but controlled nod. ‘I’m not normally that clumsy, honestly.’
Xander laughed. ‘Don’t worry on my account. It’s not often I get to play the knight in shining armour. It’s usually me falling down drunk.’
‘I’m not drunk. I only had a couple of sips...’ she began to argue, horrified he’d think she was that much of a lightweight.
He held up a hand. ‘I’m joking, Jess. Jeez, I’ve never met anyone so bad at taking a joke.’
‘I c-can take a joke with the best of them,’ she stuttered, picking a rogue hair off the sleeve of her blouse before turning to stare him defiantly in the eye.
Xander shook his head and grinned back at her. ‘Do you think you can make it to the table without taking another tumble? I can give you a piggyback if you like.’
‘I’ll be fine, thank you,’ she said. ‘Wouldn’t want to be responsible for putting your back out.’
He laughed. ‘Never gonna happen. I’m as strong as an ox. See?’ He braced his arms in front of him, mimicking the stance of a bodybuilder.
Jess couldn’t help but laugh at him.
‘Yeah, okay, He-Man, but I’ll walk, thanks.’
He smiled back, and waved a hand, encouraging her to step to it. ‘After you.’
The dining room was just as impressive as the living room with an enormous, highly polished dining table sitting pretty in the middle of the room, surrounded by what looked like twenty high-backed chairs.
Another enormous chandelier, this time made from hundreds of pieces of blown glass in the shape of a flock of birds, let out a warm, low light over the room.
‘Wow, the light fixtures here are amazing,’ Jess said, staring at it in wonder.
‘Pretty cool, huh?’ Xander said, stopping next to her to admire it, too. ‘Roberto, who owns this place, made it. He’s sickeningly talented.’
He was standing so close to her she caught another waft of his amazing citrusy scent, which sent an energised prickle right up her spine.
‘How lovely of him to let you use his place,’ she said, taking a careful step into the room, away from him.
‘Yeah, he’s a really generous guy. We worked on a couple of projects together a few years back, before we both started getting successful. He lets friends come and stay here when they need to escape for a bit.’
‘So you’re escaping right now?’ she asked, turning back to look at him.
His expression closed over. ‘I need a bit of space to concentrate on a new exhibition, away from the din of the city.’
‘And away from the temptation of all those parties?’ she said, raising a playful eyebrow, hoping he’d bite and give her a bit of gossipy goodness that she could incorporate into her article.
‘Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure I can find a party round here if I really want to,’ he said, moving his shoulder in a circular motion as if trying to relieve a trapped nerve.
‘Have you hurt your shoulder?’ she asked.
‘Nah, I’m just a bit tense from being bent over drawing today. Why, are you offering to rub it for me?’ He flipped her a provocative grin.
‘You don’t want me giving you a massage—I’m terrible at it,’ she said, smoothing a lock of hair behind her ear, then flipping it back out again so it swung back to join the rest of her bob. She had a horrible urge to hide her face from him. He was so confusing with his ability to flip the conversation from something innocuous into something that made her jitter with barely contained anxiety.
He gave her a questioning frown. ‘I don’t believe it. How can you be terrible at massaging?’
She shrugged. ‘It’s just not something I count as one of my talents.’
‘Hmm.’ He was looking at her with such an intense, searching stare it made her insides twist.
She wasn’t used to dealing with such overt flirtatiousness. The men she’d dated in the past had been attractive guys, but nothing like the unwieldy package of sexual energy that Xander Heaton embodied. He was something else entirely.