Lizzy Ford (21 page)

“Nobody cares how I feel!”

“I care. I’m right here.” Jessi sighed. “I’ve been telling you for months he was a jackass. I think this is for the best. You can find a guy who treats you right. I mean, he thought you were overweight, and you’re clearly gorgeous, Ashley. You deserve someone who appreciates you for who you are. Right?”

“Yeah.” Ashley was quiet, sniffling, before she continued. “I guess he always was a little -“

The phone was snatched out of Jessi’s hand. She whirled to see Xander place it to his ear and listen curiously.

“Give it back!” she mouthed the words and stretched for it. He twisted to keep her from reaching it. “Xander, I barely talked her out of crisis mode!”

“So you dumped him,” Xander asked then listened. “Xander. Jessi is my personal assistant.” Another pause. “Yes, from the exploding soufflé show.” Pause. “He dumped you?”

Jessi covered her mouth, willing him not to say anything stupid to her delicate cousin.

“I disagree,” he said. “Your cousin is considering dating a man she’d have to defend in a dark alley. You don’t want that. You want someone who knows what he wants in a woman, knows how to please her and who appreciates your body. Love isn’t a factor at your age or really at all, if you stop to think about how it’s nothing more than a form of socially acceptable codependence.”

“Xander, stop!” Jessi pushed at him to get to the phone. He wrapped his free arm around her, pulling her to his side and effectively pinning her there. She slumped against his strong frame, trapped.

“We’re at a book signing. I’ll text you the address.” Pause. “Whenever. We’ll be here all day.” Pause. “Alright.” He hung up and texted her quickly, typing with his thumb. “She’ll be down later. Funny how you didn’t tell them you worked for me, knowing they’re fans.”

She grabbed the phone and pulled away, furious at him.

“Xander, don’t do that!” Jessi said. “My cousin is sensitive. Someone like you would destroy what little self-esteem she does have. You are the epitome of what she shouldn’t be exposed to. Besides, I don’t want you dragging her into this!”

“Into what?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Too late, she realized what she said. Flustered, she didn’t know how to respond.

He winked and returned to his counter. The woman who fainted had been moved out of the way.

Jessi texted Ashley not to come, suspecting it was too late. Every woman who ever saw Xander wanted him. An unstable teen girl? There was no way Ashley wasn’t coming down here after school. Unless they were gone by then.

A look at the line made her think she was going to be there all night.

At least Jonny can’t break my arm again.
Frustrated, Jessi sat and stared into space, trying to come up with a plan.

When she ducked out for lunch at noon, the line showed no signs of decreasing in size. She ate a chicken salad in relative peace at the mall’s food court. A text made her phone ding as she finished eating.

Large espresso. Black.

She tossed her salad and stood in line to get him his coffee then walked across the parking lot to the Barnes and Noble. The clerk guarding the entrance recognized her and let her in, earning her the resentful looks of quite a few women. Jessi retreated behind the counter, placed the coffee in front of him and sat behind him.

She found herself admiring his body and forced her attention on reading one of the books she’d picked up during a trip to stretch her legs earlier. She read until she started to doze. Her phone buzzed, and she glanced down.

They won’t let me in,
Ashley’s text was accompanied by half a dozen frowny faces. Jessi roused herself and checked the time. It was almost five; they’d been at the store for seven hours!

She rose and saw there was no end to the line.

“Grabbing dinner,” she said to Xander. “More coffee?”

“Yep.”

“How late do you plan on staying?” she asked.

“I can go all night, darlin’.”

“Boundary.”

He didn’t look up from the book he was signing but smiled.

She grunted and left the booth, pausing to text Gerry to let him know she was still working. She wasn’t going to make their five thirty dinner date.

No worries!
His reply was fast.
I get how these celebrities are.

Disappointed he wasn’t concerned, Jessi left the bookstore. Slender, dark-haired Ashley was standing outside, waiting. She brightened as Jessi appeared.

“Let’s grab some food,” Jessi said.

“I don’t get to meet him?” Ashley asked, disappointed.

“Trust me, he’s an ass,” Jessi said.

“But he’s so hot.”

“Looks without personality equates to-“

“I know!” Ashley rolled her eyes. “
Please
, Jessi, can we meet him first? I’ve had the worst day ever!”

“I don’t want you meeting him at all,” Jessi said. “Come on.” She ignored Ashley’s protests and led her cousin away from the bookstore.

“Why didn’t you tell me you worked for him?” Ashley whined. “You know how much we love that show!”

“It’s a temporary gig,” Jessi said. “He’s a nightmare to work for.”

“But –“

“We’ll have dinner and you’re going home.”

“Jessi!”

The teen continued to argue as to why she should meet Xander while Jessi neatly countered every argument. She wasn’t about to give Xander any
leverage
into her life, especially since she was planning on robbing him. The last thing she needed was for him to show up at her doorstep right behind Jonny.

The thought made her chest clench so tight, she almost stopped walking.

“Do you think he’s a real vampire?” Ashley asked as they reached the food court.

“There’s no such thing,” Jessi lied. “He’s insane, by the way.”

Ashley sighed.

They ate dinner at the busy food court. Jessi stopped to grab Xander’s coffee then walked with Ashley out of the mall an hour after they arrived. It was late fall, and the sun was already going down. They kept to one side of the busy parking lot.

“You seriously won’t let me meet him?” Ashley tried again.

“Nope.”

“But he said –“

“Jessi.” The low voice made Jessi turn.

The two thugs a few feet behind them were dressed in dark clothes and muscular. They weren’t normal criminals; this much she was able to tell by their appearances. They were too well-dressed, and their eyes glowed with something unnatural, like Jonny’s and those of the thugs he stationed outside her apartment.

“You have the wrong person,” she said and pushed Ashley towards the road. “Sorry.” She turned and almost ran into the third member.

“No. You’re the right one.”

“Um, okay. I’ll be happy to stay and chat,” Jessi said with a deep breath. “Will you let my friend here leave?” Her instincts were clamoring. She glanced at Ashley, whose eyes were wide.

The three were silent, though the one she faced appeared to be considering. He nodded at last.

“Go to the car, Ashley,” Jessi told her cousin.

Ashley looked ready to refuse, but Jessi pushed her with a stern glare. Ashley relented, fearful gaze on the three guys as she moved away. Jessi watched her cousin walk away then break into a run as she crossed the street and headed towards the bookstore.

“What’s this about?” she asked, turning her attention to the three. Nervous energy fluttered through her. “Did Jonny send you?”

“He said to remind you that you were supposed to call him about a schedule today.”

“Oh. Damn. Yeah, I forgot,” she said. “I can tell him now.”
Shit!
She hadn’t figured out anything about Xander’s schedule.

The three drew closer. She shifted, ready to run if she had the chance.

Their leader eyed a family of five walking across the aisle towards their car. He motioned for her to follow them. Dread sinking into her stomach, Jessi obeyed, the other thugs trailing her. He walked them down the mall a short distance. Her step slowed as she saw their destination: a poorly lit loading area around the corner from the Macy’s. One of them pushed her to keep her from dragging her feet too much.

Jessi crossed her arms, sensing they wanted more than a date and time from her. No matter what happened to her, at least Ashley was safe. She hoped her cousin had the sense to go straight home.

The leader stopped and faced her, his buddies closing in behind her. Suddenly, Jessi wondered if
she
was going to make it home.

Chapter Nine

“You can just take him the date, right?” she asked uncertainly. “Can this little meeting wait?”

One of the goons behind her grabbed her. She saw a knife in his other hand and tried to pull away. She was pushed into the wall.

““We’re here to deliver the daily penalty,” the leader said, smiling. “Date first.”

“Thursday night,” she blurted out.

“Okay, good.” He pulled out a knife. “The boss also wanted us to remind you that time is running out.”

“I have until the end of the week!”

“Face or body?” the guy holding her against the wall asked.

The question made her freeze. Maybe Jonny was in the neighborhood last night already, because he was coming to her apartment to break her arm. Bruises to broken bones to being sliced up ... nothing would be left of her at the end of the week.

She tested the grip of the guy who held her pinned to the wall.

“You don’t have to do this,” she whispered. “I forgot. That’s all. I’m sure Jonny understands.”

“We’ll let you off easy. Body,” the leader decided.

Jessi panicked as the guy holding her whipped out a knife. She kicked him and wrenched away, running. His buddy grabbed her and wrapped one arm around her neck, the cold blade of a knife biting her throat. She went still, heart hammering.

“After that move …” the leader said. “Face.”

Immobilized, Jessi watched the guy she kicked move closer, knife raised. She opened her mouth to scream, but the goon holding her clapped his hand over it. She squeezed her eyes closed, bracing herself for the fire of a knife ripping into her skin.

It didn’t come. The knife at her neck lifted, and she was flung away from him, pushed into the wall. Her eyes flew open. She whirled and stared. In the passage of a few seconds, all three were rendered motionless on the ground.

Processing what happened took her adrenaline-fused mind a long moment. Her eyes went from the men to Xander. He’d silently and quickly disabled all three. Not a drop of blood was visible. Did he kill them? How did someone so large move that fast?

She wiped away a few stray tears, hands quivering. Xander’s muscular frame was tense enough that she saw the veins on his biceps. His wariness scared her as much as the thugs had. The light in his eyes was lethal. She suspected he was dangerous, but right now, she felt the danger radiating off him in a similar charged energy to Jonny’s, except that Xander’s had the same effect as adrenaline on her. Her heart raced. His sex appeal was amplified by the dangerous edge; he was on the verge of snapping.

“Jessi!” Ashley exclaimed, darting around the towering vampire. She flung her arms around Jessi. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Jessi managed, hugging her cousin. “Why didn’t you go home?”

“I couldn’t leave you! I got Xander.”

Jessi glimpsed Xander’s eyes as they flared red. She wasn’t certain a vampire was exactly what she needed right now.

“You hurt?” he asked in a gravelly growl.

“No,” she replied. She continued to avoid his gaze and hugged Ashley tighter, afraid to face the glowering creature. She didn’t know what to say or why the tension between them felt so … charged.

Ashley pulled away, distracting her. “He’s not an asshole,” she said a little too loudly.

“Oh, yes he is,” Jessi said with a laugh that carried a hysterical edge.

“You got a driver’s license?” Xander asked Ashley.

“Yeah,” Ashley said in a dreamy voice that made Jessi want to lecture her. She pried away from Jessi, who didn’t want to let her go.

“My car’s behind the bookstore.” He tossed her the keys. “Pick us up.”

Ashley was as enamored as every other woman. She caught the keys and gazed up at him, lost, until he indicated the bookstore with a nod of his head. Jessi almost begged her cousin not to leave her alone with Xander, whose direct gaze hadn’t left her.

Ashley hurried away, and Jessi hugged herself.

“For once, you’re quiet,” Xander said. He was still bristling with stormy energy. He approached, closing the distance between them with a few slow strides.

She looked up at him at last. She backed away, too aware of the heat of his body and the strength it took to do what he’d done to the three thugs.

Xander stopped and assessed her for a long moment then reached out to her. She shook her head and danced away.

“This isn’t a game, Jessi.”

She wasn’t certain what he meant: the dangerous edge to him or the fact someone sent three goons after her. When Xander moved closer once more, she braced herself but stayed still. His large hands rested on her upper arms, and she flinched. His touch was gentler than she expected.

He drew her into his body. Her hands were clenched in front of her, just in case she had to shove him and run. Her shaky insides grew warm, her heart racing from fear and his nearness. She found herself leaning into him, soothed by his size and the heat of the skin of his chest against her cheek. She nestled her face between the rough edges of the leather vest. His masculine scent calmed her. Jessi breathed him in deeply. She dropped the hands acting as a barrier between them, wanting to feel the comfort he offered, and rested her hands against his chest.

Xander stood with her for a long moment, patient as she acclimated to him. She let herself feel the comfort of his strength.

He lifted her chin. “Are you okay?”

For the first time since meeting him, his voice was soft. Jessi wasn’t certain how to respond. Despite her suspicion there was more to him, she didn’t want to see that part of him that made her feel bad for what she intended to do! He’d saved her tonight from Jonny’s goons. It was bad enough that she alone knew they were there to remind her to screw him over.