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Xander rarely used this formal dining room, and he hadn’t enjoyed eating dinner on his own in here this evening either. So much so that he was going to instruct Samantha to serve his meals in the kitchen in future. But he couldn’t help notice her discomfort at his mention of needing her help later tonight.
He wasn’t exactly looking forward to the awkwardness of that experience himself, but for a few seconds Samantha had looked positively horrified at the reminder of it, before she quickly masked the emotion. An emotion that was still evident in the flush in her cheeks, and the trembling hands she had attempted to hide from him by thrusting them quickly behind her back.
Proving she wasn’t quite as cool and composed as she wished to appear...
‘I’m starting to get a crick in my neck from looking up at you,’ he bit out impatiently.
‘I’m not tall enough for you to get a crick in your neck.’ She eyed him sceptically.
She had a point; even with Xander seated at the table their eyes were almost on the same level.
‘Look, Samantha, I really am trying to refrain from actually ordering you to sit down,’ he rasped testily.
‘Why?’
‘Because you obviously took exception to it a few minutes ago,’ he bit out irritably.
Once again Xander watched the emotions flickering across Samantha’s delicately thin face, seeing reluctance, and then irritation, as good sense obviously won out, and she pulled out the chair opposite him before lowering herself down to perch uncomfortably on its edge.
She raised her chin. ‘I believe you wanted to discuss the rules for the time Daisy and I are staying here?’
That had been what Xander wanted to discuss with her, but now it came to it he felt like a complete and utter heel for having even mentioned the subject. It had seemed to upset Samantha earlier, and even more so now, although he had no idea why.
Admittedly, he hadn’t been in the best of moods after falling over earlier but he had accepted Daisy’s apology, hadn’t he?
He hadn’t heard so much as a peep out of the little girl for the last three hours or so. In fact, it had been so quiet he wouldn’t even have known there was a child staying in his apartment.
Which was exactly what he had wished for earlier this evening, wasn’t it?
His mouth thinned. ‘I’m sure you’ll agree there have to be some rules for the three of us living here together?’
‘Which we should perhaps have discussed in more detail before I accepted the job,’ she said with a grimace.
‘No doubt,’ he conceded impatiently.
Samantha nodded stiffly. ‘The first one of those rules is no running in the hallways, I believe?’
Xander searched that pale face for either sarcasm or humour, but she gazed back at him without emotion. As if Samantha had heard all of this before, in another time and another place.
‘My requests are really only a matter of common sense,’ he snapped his irritation. ‘For your own and Daisy’s sake, as much as for my own.’
‘Oh?’ Samantha raised one auburn brow.
‘Yes, I— Look, I’m not used to having children around me, okay?’ Xander ran an exasperated hand through his hair. ‘I wouldn’t want to—I wouldn’t want—’ He wouldn’t want to what? Explode in temper at that timid little girl?
Would he do that to her? Could he do that? Was that monster he had discovered inside him capable of doing something so horrible to a five-year-old girl?
Xander no longer knew the answer to that question; that was the problem!
His mouth firmed. ‘No running in the hallways, no screaming or shouting, no loud television programmes—especially in the mornings. And, as I’ve already said, no entering my bedroom suite, and definitely no touching any of the artwork.’
None of which applied to her, Sam acknowledged wearily, but was all aimed specifically at her daughter.
She certainly wasn’t prone to screaming and shouting, or watching loud television programmes at any time of the day or night. Nor did she have any intention of entering Xander’s bedroom suite, other than those occasions when she had to help him in or out of the shower, or to dress. Nor was there any reason for her to touch any of his no doubt priceless artwork. Why would she need to? He had a cleaning service that came in twice a week to vacuum and dust and do the laundry.
All of his rules were for the benefit of her daughter.
They were very similar to the rules that Malcolm had laid down for Daisy’s behaviour. Except he had gone even further once Daisy began to walk and talk, and stated that he didn’t so much as want to see or hear her. At least Xander hadn’t gone that far.
Sam stood up and began to walk towards the kitchen. ‘That all seems perfectly clear.’
‘Samantha!’
She halted abruptly but didn’t turn, swallowing as she realised her throat felt clogged with emotion. With tears. For having brought her daughter into yet another household where Daisy could perhaps be seen this time, but was certainly never to be heard.
Somehow she had expected more of Xander Sterne.
Oh, she had known before she met him, from reading newspaper articles about him over the years, that he was an arrogant playboy, who played as hard as he worked. She had also been aware, when she’d met him on Wednesday, that he obviously resented needing her help while his brother was away and she had been prepared to deal with that.
But she wasn’t sure she could deal with having to subdue her daughter’s enthusiasm for life just to make him happy.
She was no longer interested in making any man happy. Which was the main reason Sam hadn’t so much as dated once these past three years; she had vowed never to put her daughter in a situation like the one she had suffered with Malcolm for the first two years of her life.
Once again Sam reminded herself that beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Perhaps not, but she didn’t have to let another arrogant man dictate his terms to her, either.
She wanted this job—the money was too good for her not to want it—but there was only so much she was willing to put up with in order to keep it.
Sam turned sharply on her heel, an angry flush in her cheeks as she glared across the dining room at Xander Sterne. ‘I heard what you said, Mr Sterne, and I’ll do my best to see that you aren’t unnecessarily inconvenienced by having Daisy here. But I won’t go any further than that.’ She met his gaze challengingly now. ‘If you aren’t happy with that, then perhaps you should say so now and Daisy and I can leave tomorrow morning so that other arrangements can be made for you?’
Samantha was magnificent when she was angry. Her red hair, even though it was confined in a band at her crown, seemed to bristle and shimmer with electricity, her eyes glowed a deep amethyst, and her cheeks were flushed.
Her nipples were also tight against the fitted white shirt she was wearing.
Not that Xander was stupid enough to say any of that out loud; in his experience, and contrary to what a lot of other men believed, most women did not appreciate being told they looked magnificent when they were angry. Not surprising, when it sounded so damned patronising.
‘I’m fine with the present arrangement,’ he rasped dismissively, knowing his love for Darius and Andy gave him no real choice in the matter. But that didn’t mean he had to like it!
Samantha blinked, her expression uncertain now. ‘You are?’
‘Do you consider any of my requests to be unreasonable? And they are requests, Samantha, not rules. If there is a problem, then tell me so now, so that we can discuss it.’
‘I— Well— No.’ She looked disconcerted. ‘But obviously Daisy is a child and—’
‘It will be fine,’ Xander bit out impatiently as he stood up from the table, his hand resting on the back of his chair for balance. ‘Have you been divorced long?’ he asked, the sharp shift in conversation catching Samantha off guard.
‘Three years,’ Samantha answered woodenly, her gaze no longer meeting his.
‘Bad divorce?’
‘Is there such a thing as a good one?’
‘Probably not.’ Nevertheless, Xander couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied with her answer. Again.
All of the answers Samantha had given him so far, concerning her marriage and divorce, had been ambiguous, to say the least.
Darius had been right when he accused Xander of having become too self-centred in the weeks since his accident, deliberately so, after what had preceded that accident.
No matter how much Xander might wish it were otherwise, the arrival of Samantha and Daisy in his apartment now seemed to have made it impossible for him to continue to maintain that aloofness.
In fact, since their arrival earlier this evening Xander had felt a burning and increasing curiosity to learn all and everything there was to know about the woman who was to share his apartment for the next two weeks.
As much, it seemed, as Samantha was determined not to tell him.
Just what was she hiding?
‘Have you and Miranda known each other long?’ Xander decided to try a different approach to find out what he really wanted to know.
Samantha frowned slightly before answering him cautiously.
‘Andy and I met six months ago, when Daisy started taking ballet lessons.’
He nodded. ‘When I talked to Andy earlier in the week she spoke very highly of you.’ He wasn’t about to admit how protective his almost sister-in-law had been about Samantha and her young daughter. To the point where Andy had warned him to keep his hands to himself where her friend was concerned!
Xander had found the warning amusing at the time; after all, he couldn’t even stand on his own two feet without the assistance of his crutches at the moment, so he was hardly likely to be making a move on the woman.
After spending just a few hours in Samantha’s company, however, he found himself definitely regretting that lack of mobility.
‘That’s very kind of her.’ Samantha smiled. ‘Andy’s very easy to get along with.’
Xander nodded. ‘I bet Daisy is good at ballet too?’
Her smile became openly affectionate. ‘She loves it.’
‘And does Daisy spend much time with her father?’
Sam drew in a sharp breath as she realised that Xander had been lulling her into a false sense of security these past few minutes, and that he had now decided to pounce. No wonder he and his brother were so successful in business; most people would know, from a single meeting, to be cautious where the brooding Darius was concerned, but they would feel less of a need with the supposedly easy-going Xander.
But perhaps she was being unfair, and Xander hadn’t had this hard edge to him before his car accident six weeks ago?
No, he’d still have had the edge, Sam decided ruefully, he just chose to hide it behind that easy-going charm. A charm he was making no effort to maintain in front of her. And why should he? She was here to work, not be charmed into his bed as so many other women had been.
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Daisy will be spending all of her time here with me for the next two weeks when she isn’t at school.’
‘That didn’t exactly answer my question.’
Sam maintained that steady eye contact. ‘I thought it did.’
His mouth firmed. ‘Is your husband away?’
‘Ex-husband,’ Sam corrected. ‘And I have no idea whether he’s away or not. Now if you will excuse me?’ she added briskly as she gathered up the used dessert bowl. ‘I still have to tidy up in the kitchen.’
‘It can wait.’
‘I’m tired, Mr Sterne, and would like to relax for a while before bedtime,’ she stated firmly.
Xander only just managed to bite back his frustration with the way Samantha continued to avoid or refused to answer any of his questions about her marriage or her ex-husband. Deepening the mystery she was fast becoming to him.
Because there was something very intriguing about the way she clammed up every time Xander so much as mentioned her ex. And the fact that she had no idea whether or not he was even in the country, let alone when he would be seeing his daughter again, was decidedly odd.
When did the man see his daughter?
More importantly, what had the other man done to Samantha to cause those shadows in her eyes every time the subject of him was so much as mentioned?
CHAPTER FOUR
‘ARE YOU GOING to stand in the doorway all night or do you actually intend to come into the room, where you might actually be of some use in helping me?’ Xander Sterne rasped impatiently from where he sat on the side of the huge four-poster bed that dominated his bedroom.
Sam had taken one look at Xander and frozen where she stood, her heart pounding in her chest and her pulse racing.
But she wasn’t drooling.
At least, she hoped she wasn’t.
Surely any woman could be forgiven for finding herself momentarily unable to move or speak after being confronted with an almost naked Xander Sterne?
Almost, because he had a small towel secured about his waist that only just covered his—well, it just about covered his modesty.
Not that he had any reason to feel in the least modest from where Sam was standing.
And looking.
She was captivated by the sight of his completely bare, tanned chest and wide, muscled shoulders. His chest was covered in a fine dusting of golden hair, a six-pack rippling at his abdomen.
Sam’s fascinated gaze shifted lower as he stood up, drawn to the long lean length of his bare and muscled legs, the temporary cast he wore in the day having been removed in preparation for his shower, and revealing the reddened scars from his operations six weeks ago.
Even his feet were attractive: long and elegant. Very long and elegant, Sam acknowledged slightly breathlessly, her gaze moving higher as she recalled reading somewhere that the length and size of a man’s foot was in direct proportion to his—
‘Samantha!’
She gave a guilty start as she reluctantly dragged her gaze away from the concealing towel to look up into Xander Sterne’s handsome but obviously impatiently irritated face.
‘Sorry.’ She moved briskly into the bedroom and approached where he now stood beside the bed, her cheeks feeling warm with embarrassment as she realised she was behaving like a starstruck teenager.
Come to think of it, Xander wouldn’t look out of place in any action movie, his perfect form blazoned across the big screen.
‘Samantha...!’ Xander now sounded exasperated rather than just annoyed by her obvious distraction.
‘I can’t continue standing unaided for too much longer, Samantha,’ he reminded harshly.
No, of course he couldn’t.
Just because Xander was the most glorious male specimen she had ever seen, on or off the big screen, that was no reason to keep ogling him as if he had the starring role in her favourite sexual fantasy.
‘I’ll go and turn on the shower,’ Sam told him as she put an instant stop to those thoughts, her gaze shifting sharply away from continuing to look at all that breathtaking manhood as she walked towards the bathroom, needing a few minutes alone in order to pull herself together.
Which didn’t mean her thoughts didn’t continue to churn as she distractedly opened the smoked-glass door to the shower that ran the length of one wall of the bathroom, her gaze becoming unfocused as she drifted off into thought again after she had turned on the water and stood waiting for the temperature to adjust.
Responding so viscerally to her boss’s nakedness was something Sam hadn’t expected! Especially with a man who was even more wealthy and powerful than her ex-husband. She hadn’t so much as looked at another man since leaving Malcolm, let alone reacted so physically to one! Her breasts felt uncomfortably tingly, her nipples highly sensitive.
Sexual arousal.
For Xander Sterne, of all people.
And because she had never in her life been this close to such a gorgeous—and very naked—man before tonight; Malcolm had never looked so blatantly, predatorily male, not even when the two of them had first met. Malcolm never could have the physique and looks of Xander, not in a million years of working out at the gym three times a week.
No doubt Xander had been using his gym here in the apartment these past few weeks in order to maintain that upper-body physique.
As for his lower body...
No doubt he usually maintained that by carousing all evening and having sex all night! Although he certainly wouldn’t have been able to indulge in the sex part of that since his accident.
At least, Sam presumed that he hadn’t?
Which reminded her that she had one rule of her own, regarding his own behaviour, while she and Daisy were staying here, that she still needed to discuss with him.
‘Samantha?’
Sam gave a sharp intake of breath, having been so lost in thought that she hadn’t even noticed that Xander had entered the bathroom behind her.
She was so startled by his presence she spun quickly round to face him, not having realised he was standing quite so close to her, and succeeded in doing exactly as Daisy had earlier, accidentally knocking his elbow with the hand she had raised defensively.
Unfortunately, with the same result!
‘Not again,’ Xander had time to mutter disbelievingly as he felt himself falling sideways towards the hard marble floor of the bathroom.
Oh, yes, a concussion was definitely just what he needed to finish off this already disastrous day.
Except it didn’t happen.
Somehow—and Xander had no idea how she managed it—Samantha moved quickly enough to lodge her shoulder underneath his armpit. At least arresting his fall, even if they did both still stagger as his weight once again proved too much for her, before they were able to drop down onto the marble ledge running along the length of the bathroom wall opposite the shower.
‘You know,’ Xander snapped as he righted himself on the marble seat, ‘I’m not sure if you and Daisy aren’t determined to break my other leg—or worse!’
It certainly must look as if they were, Sam acknowledged with a guilty wince, shifting uncomfortably as she realised she was still tucked cosily beneath Xander’s arm. Her hand, having fallen onto the firmness of his abdomen, was lying dangerously close to the top of the towel, her cheek resting against the warmth of his bared chest.
A chest that felt wonderfully solid, his skin smelling of the cologne he must have put on that morning, and a heat that spoke purely of earthy male.
It was a delicious and arousing combination.
And Sam didn’t want to be aroused by this man any more than she already was. Wouldn’t allow herself to be attracted to another man who believed his wealth and power gave him the right to ride roughshod over everyone else.
She jerked into a sitting position before scrambling inelegantly to her feet and moving sharply away from him. ‘You startled me, creeping up on me like that!’
He eyed her exasperatedly. ‘I should have guessed it was somehow going to be my fault. I’ll try announcing my presence next time, shall I?’
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