Page 11 of Here Comes Trouble
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.
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 zero.
‘Welcome to my humble abode,’ Xander said giving her a generous smile as he came to a stop in front of her.
He seemed relaxed, insouciant even, as if he was anticipating a pleasant, gentle evening of good food and lively conversation.
Relief filtered through her at the thought that this dinner might not be quite as awkward as she’d anticipated. She just needed to 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.
He slowly dropped his gaze to her mouth again 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.
Oh, lordy.
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 between her thighs at the thought and her face flamed with heat. Good grief, what was wrong with her?
Jess hurriedly picked up a Bellini and took a sip, grateful for the distraction from Xander’s overwhelming presence.
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 undersides of her knees were sweating.
Ugh, how unattractive.
‘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.’
