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He looks puzzled more than anything else. And the one thing he doesn’t do is laugh, which makes me feel a little better straight away.
“My goodness, what’s happened?” he asks, cupping my face in his hands and smudging it even more as he wipes away my tears with his thumbs.
“I was just trying to make myself look nice…for you,” I sniff.
“Oh, Chloe,” he says huskily, pulling me close and wrapping me in his huge arms.
Making me aware at the last moment that he’s changed into a new suit of his own, and my messed up face is leaving make-up all down his front.
But he doesn’t care about that.
Once I point it out to him, he waves off the idea. “I’ve got another jacket, Chloe. But what on earth put it into your head that you need makeup to look pretty?” he asks, sounding disappointed only because I’d even think about changing what I look like naturally.
I shrug because I really don’t know.
“I just thought –,” I start, but the tears start again, so Xander puts an end to it all.
“I like you just the way you are, Chloe,” he murmurs in my ear, leaning down to squeeze me tight and kiss my neck.
“You don’t need make-up. You look beautiful just the way you are already,” he says, almost telling me off.
“Now, why don’t we get you cleaned up and go grab some dinner, huh?” he suggests, not even flinching when he sees my face again, but I recoil in new horror once I see the extra mess I’ve made of the already bad facial situation in a mirror as we pass it.
Xander changes his suit jacket, a tuxedo of all things, and helps me find some makeup remover in the massive cabinets in the bathroom.
He even helps me around my eye area, ordering me to stay still while he wipes everything off.
Once he’s satisfied I’m done and hands me a towel to dry my face after I wash it, he pecks my lips and asks if I feel better.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, feeling stupider than I think I ever have.
I feel like a little kid again until he holds my face, moving his body up against mine.
“Much better,” he growls and kisses me hard.
Deep.
The kind of kiss that makes me forget I even had a problem in the first place. It’s just another thing he does, that magic spell that is Xander Alexander.
The chiming of our suite’s door makes him slow and then groan before he lets me go, eyeing me up and down before he makes his way to the door.
He looks more than satisfied that I’m back to my old self again.
If only he knew how messed up my old self really was. I’m never going back to that.
Not ever.
Not wanting to eavesdrop, I busy myself with my hair, which feels a lot safer than my make-up skills.
But I can’t help hearing Xander’s voice rising before I have to see what all the fuss is about.
“…We’ll be down for dinner in a moment, and you can tell Mr. Condor I’ll call him later.” He’s growling to a bellhop who’s holding a silver tray with an even shiner silver dome on top.
I know from experience and the tension on the man’s face that it’s the boss calling again. Condor.
It’s hard to imagine Xander really taking orders from anyone, which just proves it.
“But Sir… If I tell him that… I got kids, Sir. I need this job,” the bellhop gulps. And he only turns on his heels after Xander gives him his word he won’t lose his job over it before he closes the door.
“What was that all about?” I ask but quickly let Xander know it’s not really any of my business.
“But it is your business,” he smiles, taking my hand in his.
“I’ve had just about enough of that old bastard calling me at all hours, wanting to know this or have me do that. It’s time for a change in my life, Chloe. And you’re that change. Can you feel it?” he asks.
His eyes are more intense than usual, wider too, as he smiles equally wide and takes a deep breath in as if any problems a guy like him might have are well and truly behind him.
But I do know what he means, and I do feel it too.
I hug him without a word, and we stay like that for a long time until I hear his stomach growling, echoing through my own body and reminding me of the last time I ate.
“Hungry?” he asks me.
As if he needs to ask.
“Starving,” I reply instantly.
“They do an excellent steak, I hear. Let’s go find out. But save some room for dessert,” he adds with a different kind of smile as he holds the door open for me.
The smile that plays on my desires and sends a flood of heat straight to my already soaked love spot.
