Xander filled his coffee mug and sat down in his home office with a frown. He leaned back on his leather chair, trying to control his bear and the need to go looking for his mate. He doubted Josie would appreciate being stalked while still trying to make up her mind about him.
What in the hell had come over him to say that? A week together nonstop was going to be pure torture. He wanted to kick his own ass for the self-imposed agony. All those days with his mate so close. Well, he’d have to convince her he was the right man for her before he died of blue balls. He had to. There was no way he’d be able to refrain from taking his mate and fucking her senseless ten times a day.
Fucking great. He hadn’t been thinking with anything other than his dick. Then again, his bear was roaring “mine” in his head repeatedly. He’d been lucky he hadn’t taken her on the table and witnesses be damned. He found his mate and he wasn’t letting her go, no matter what he had to do.
His ringing phone startled him out of his stupor. Shit, just what he needed. Keir.
“Keir, you’re not going to believe this,” Xander said in lieu of a greeting as he answered the phone.
Keir groaned. “Was it that bad?”
“Just the opposite. She’s my mate. My hired mate is in actuality my mate. Can you believe that?” He sure as hell still couldn’t.
“Seriously?” Keir said, surprise evident in his voice. “What are the chances of that happening? So tell me about her. Wait, why are you on the phone with me if you found your mate. Go claim her and fill me in later.”
“It’s not that simple. You know how humans are. They don’t get the whole ‘you’re mine’ thing. They need more than that.” And he planned to give it to her. His highest priority now was getting to know her and allowing her the chance to see him as a real mate, not just some guy hiring her to fake being his girlfriend.
“Does anything ever go easy? What’s your plan?” Keir sighed.
“I improvised and convinced her we needed to be together twenty-four seven for the next week to convince my grandmother we’re mates. She agreed after a small bit of persuasion.” All he could hope for now was that his charm and personality kept her going through with the agreement. That and her clear desire for him. There was the fact she’d been paid for the job. She didn’t seem like the type of person to flake out.
“Seriously? She bought that?” Keir laughed. “No offense, but you aren’t that good a liar, so why did she agree?”
Xander had a feeling her needs had taken over her ability to say no. He’d seen the open desire in her eyes. All he needed was for her to give him the green light and he’d prove to her they could be fucking amazing together. “She did take off to the bathroom shortly after, I half expected her to run. She must have done some thinking in my benefit because she came back and agreed. She’s at her apartment getting some things together and coming to my place after.”
“She’s coming to your place … Is that wise?” Keir asked hesitantly.
Hell, yes! The closer he had her, the easier it would be to convince her she was truly his. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You’re mates, I get that, but your house isn’t exactly family oriented, if you know what I mean. It’s like a bachelor pad on steroids. She might be a tad overwhelmed and run. Plus, if she finds out how much you’re worth, she might freak even worse. Women either fuck you, hoping to get a piece of your money, or they run in intimidation.”
He thought about the number of times women had thrown themselves at him for his money. Then about the times they’d decided he was an immature teenager with raging hormones. Neither way looked good. “Shit, I didn’t think of that. What do I do?”
“How in the hell would I know?” Keir roared with a laugh. “I just fuck them and leave them. You’re the one who wanted a mate.”
Xander growled in frustration, “After this is settled and she is mine, remember this, it will be your turn soon enough. And I’m going to sit back and laugh. Watching your mate make you suffer will be the highlight of my year.”
“I’m just going to hire my own if I need one. And trust me, they’re not likely to send me Ms. Perfect Mate.” Keir laughed.
It was Xander’s turn to laugh. He had a feeling Keir was going to be falling sooner rather than later. “Eventually you’ll meet the one. And she’ll turn you upside down with frustration.”
“You keep thinking that, buttercup. I’m not cut out for the mate life. Eat, sleep, and screw—that’s about as much as I need out of life.” Keir sighed. “Okay, fine, why don’t you call her and give her a heads-up. Just put her at ease so she doesn’t freak when she sees it all.”
“Good idea. I’ll do that. By the way, when you do meet your mate, I’m going to laugh my ass off as you flounder and try to change years of womanizing ways in the span of minutes.”
Xander hung up with his friend’s curses ringing in his ear. His instinct told him that Josie wasn’t a gold-digging whore. Even his bear rumbled in disagreement. She was more likely the type to hate him for having money. He pulled out the paper he wrote her information on from the mate service and called. Two, three, four rings and the voicemail picked up.
“Hey, it’s Xander. I just wanted to give you a heads-up before you showed up and freaked out on me. My place isn’t … I’m not sure how to put this, so I’m just going to say it and hope you don’t get the wrong impression. I’ve lived here since college. I haven’t redecorated since then, so you could say it’s in a classic college frat boy décor.” His animal pushed for control. A clear indicator that he felt Xander was fucking things up.
“I swear next week I’m having it all ripped out and redone to fit my lifestyle. I just didn’t think about it and I don’t want you to get the wrong impression.” He mentally groaned as he tried to figure out what else to say without sounding like a complete and utter loser. “So, anyway. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up, leaned back in his chair, and groaned. Fucking awesome.
He decided to get out of his home office and look over his home with the eyes of a stranger coming in for the first time. He wanted to make the best impression possible. He blanched. He saw what she would and knew it was a lost cause. Josie would take one glance, flee in terror, and probably take out a restraining order on him at the same time.
How could he have been so fucking stupid? Fifteen years he had lived in this place, and it still looked like a playboy den. His phone rang again, startling him out of his thoughts. He groaned when he saw it was his grandmother.
“To what do I owe this great pleasure?” he asked with real enthusiasm. He loved his grandmother, even if she did drive him crazy.
“Can it, boy.” She laughed. “That charm won’t work on me, and you know it. Is this a bad time? I was calling to give you the details of when I’ll be in town.”
By the time he got his grandmother off the phone, he knew it was too late. There was nothing to be done but face the music and hope for the best. The doorbell rang. Shit, she was already there. He hesitated with another quick glance around before gathering his courage and opening the door.
* * *
She could see the headlines in tomorrow’s paper: “Woman Killed Playing the Role of Fake Girlfriend. No Sex was Involved. That’s Right. None. Not Even a Little.” What was she thinking agreeing to this? A quick look around at the rapidly emptying cabinets and she mentally fortified herself to do what was necessary for Nick and to keep the promise she had made.
“It won’t be so bad. Think of it as a minivacation. Except you still have to work, and pretend to be in love with a stranger. Lust is easy and close enough.” Well, it was official, she had lost her damn mind. It was bad when she resorted to talking to herself aloud in her empty apartment.
She missed having Nick around. The quiet unnerved her and made her jump at the slightest sound. Tonight’s incident notwithstanding, she was tired of being on guard all the time. Maybe a few days away would get whoever was playing pranks on her to back off.
Between the hang-up phone calls, the trash left outside her door, and the messages on her car window, it was getting harder and harder to hide it from Nick and her neighbors. If only she caught someone doing it, then she’d give that lowlife a piece of her mind. But as it was, she was clueless.
If the jackass would just say something, or give some clue as to why he was doing this, it would help. Even the notes on her car were only crude drawings of a stick person with red puddles around her and the word BITCH in bold block letters. Clearly whoever was playing the pranks wasn’t very artistic, but he got his point across.
She had toyed with calling the police, but felt stupid. There weren’t any direct threats, nothing had been damaged, and no one had seen anything. For all she knew, it was some bored kid playing a prank. It was better to believe that than thinking someone was out to hurt her in this weird childish way.
Josie quickly finished packing her bag. Now that it was time to go, she was nervous and, if she was truthful, excited too. She had never met a man who captured all her senses as he did.
She was lucky she kept her old cell phones after she upgraded and had been able to switch SIM cards and get it working again. Now she could communicate with Nick if she needed to.
The ringing of her phone startled her a few minutes later. Unfortunately, she had a tendency to put her phone down and forget where she left it. Thankfully, the ringer was on and she was able to hear it down the hall. She found the phone in a kitchen cabinet. She hadn’t even remembered opening that one.
It was a good thing she agreed to this. She was in desperate need of money. She dialed her voicemail and played the message on speaker. Oh, boy. Xander’s sexy tones filled her apartment. How could only the sound of his voice make her tingle? His words worried her, though. Just what was she going to see when she got to his place?
“Come on, girl. You can do this. Put on your big-girl panties and do what you have to do.” Josie continued the pep talk as she carried her bag to her car. She took care of her older model because it was the only one she had. She half wanted to run back to the safety her little place offered, but common sense won out again. Nick was her priority.
Once she had this money she’d be able to provide better for him. She just had to keep that in mind, and she would get through this, hopefully without embarrassing herself with Mr. Tall, Sexy, and Lickable.
The drive wasn’t long enough to completely convince herself this was a good idea. She circled the building a few times before she found a spot and, with reluctance, parked. The minutes ticked by. Her hands shook on the steering wheel. This went against everything she stood for, but Xander wasn’t putting pressure on her. He needed her and she was going to do a job. It’s a job. Just a job.
Then why did it scare her to go up to his place so much? Maybe because she lusted for the man like she hadn’t for anyone before. The fact that he seemed to be interested in her as well made this harder. Her heart flipped. She didn’t do sex without commitment. Not that he was asking her to. For cripes sakes, he wasn’t asking her to do anything but the job he hired her for.
She knew why she was scared. The longer she spoke to Xander, the more her emotions got that electrical charge as if she was feeling more than lust. That was dangerous. She didn’t normally believe in love at first sight, but these feelings weren’t normal. It had to stay lust, or this whole operation was in danger. She stared up at the building and her new home for the next few days. A tap on the window startled her and she jumped and let out a yell.
Josie quickly rolled the window down and peered at the stranger standing there in a security uniform.
“Miss, are you okay? You’ve been sitting here for about fifteen minutes. You look so worried I couldn’t help but check on you.” He motioned to his badge and the security patrol car parked behind her own vehicle. “I’m the security guard for the place, and I just wanted to check in before I moved along on my patrol.”
“I’m sorry, yes, I’m okay. I got lost in thought and didn’t realize how much time had passed. I’m here to stay with a friend for a few days.” Keeping the tremble from her voice was not an easy task. Talk about needing to get her shit together.
“As long as you’re sure, I’ll be on my way. Have a good night.” The guard walked back to his car, and Josie felt her face flame in embarrassment. It was now or never. She climbed out of the car, grabbed her bag, and started walking to her next adventure with the prime morsel that was her employer. Yes, that’s what she had to keep in mind: she wasn’t a paid escort, and she wouldn’t sleep with him for money. No matter how enticing he was.
Xander opened the door with a hesitant smile, and she was hard-pressed not to drop to her knees and worship at his feet. Yes, he was that gorgeous. It was that tall, broad shoulder size combined with those eyes that spoke of pure sin. And that tempting smile. Oh, let’s not forget his beard. She had never wanted to lick a man’s face like she did at that moment.
“Hi.” Xander smiled sheepishly. He stepped back and made room for her to enter his apartment. Josie came to an abrupt halt. What the hell? She saw the living room for the first time. No wonder he was worried. Was that a blush on his chiseled features?
A pool table, a dartboard, a bar that took up one whole wall, a giant-screen TV mounted on the wall with tons of gaming consoles below it. The centerpiece, a massive black leather couch that looked more like a bed that would hold six people on it. That thing was a monster.
The walls were a deep shade of red that made the room darker. “Can I turn on a light?” Josie asked. Nerves made her reach for the switches on the wall next to her. Xander reached out to stop her, but it was too late. The light switch flipped on, and the room came to life with mood lighting, soft romantic music, and the fireplace turned on. She gaped at Xander in fascinated horror and amusement. Holy crap. She was in the Playboy Mansion!
He cleared his throat. “I don’t even know what to say.”
Josie nodded and moved into the room farther. She took two steps and then burst into hysterical laughter. “Do you really have a disco ball lamp on that end table?”
“It doesn’t work anymore,” Xander replied with an almost defensive tone.
“But you have one. That’s what counts.” Josie moved on, taking in all the fascinating details of Xander’s life, even if it was a holdover from his college days.
“Why don’t we head over to the spare room so you can get settled in?” Xander motioned for her to follow him down a short hallway. “This is the main bathroom, towels and anything you need are in the closet here,” he said, pointing to a small door beside where they stood. “And this will be your room. It’s safe.” He met her gaze. “The door has a lock. Everything was replaced once my roommate moved out years ago. I’m the next door down if you need anything. Feel free to make yourself at home. The kitchen is stocked too.” He gave her a soul-deep stare. “That’s your space. I won’t go in there … unless you ask me to.”
Josie nodded in appreciation that he’d known she was concerned. His taking time to explain she was safe in her room meant more than he knew. “Thank you. I would love to get cleaned up and settled in. It’s somewhat late and a lot has happened. Is it okay if we call it a night?”
“Of course. Do you have to work tomorrow?” Xander leaned against the doorway waiting for her response. His eyes darted around the room.
She bit her lip and wanted to ask if there was a blow-up doll that would pop down from the ceiling but decided against it. “Yes, till five. What about you?”
He shoved his hands into his pockets, stretching the material of his slacks across his hips. Oh, damn. “Same. I’ll meet you here and we can talk and get to know each other. I’ll leave you a key on the counter in case I don’t see you in the morning.”
“I broke my phone earlier, when I used it to hit that guy. I have an old one that still works but sometimes freezes up.”
Xander frowned, clenched his jaw, and a brightness lit in his eyes. The bear. She’d heard enough about them to know their animals made themselves known in the eyes first. “I understand. I’m sorry about that. You should never have been in harm’s way.”
She nodded. “It’s not your fault.”
“Have a good night, Josie.” His churned-gravel voice warmed her to the core.
“Good night,” Josie replied softly, watching him stroll away. She took her sweet time staring after him before she finally shut the door and slumped against it. When had her life become this weird, and exhilarating? Her heart pounded hard. Seeing Xander so insecure and embarrassed made the butterflies in her stomach take flight and dance in a flutter of excitement. It was going to be a long night. Thank heavens she brought her best friend for the past year, her rabbit vibrator.