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He turns me and tips me slightly, making me laugh, before bringing me back up tight to his body.
“You need to have more fun, Amelia.”
“I do.”
“Tell me what you do for work?”
I grimace because the answer at the moment makes me sound like a spoilt brat. “I’m an equity research analyst, but my degree is in physics. Although I don’t work at the moment.”
“I see. Brains and beauty. You really are the whole package.”
I snort a laugh. “Not really. I’m currently unemployed.”
“By choice or by circumstance?”
I purse my lips as I consider how much I’ll tell this man, but then figure he doesn’t need my money as he makes enough of his own. “Choice. I was living in London until a few months ago but I quit my job for reasons I won’t go in to but I’m lucky I don’t need to work.”
“So, what’s next for Amelia Stone?”
I giggle. “You make it sound like a poster for an adventure movie.”
“Now that’s a movie I want a part in.”
He twirls me again and I laugh, feeling free as I tip my head back and, as I do, I catch the furious gaze of my best friend watching me from the second-floor balcony. My humor dies in my throat and I drop my head, the smile disappearing from my face. God, why do I feel like I’m cheating on him in some way when he made it very clear that we’ll never have a future as anything more than friends.
Xander follows my gaze, instantly zeroing in on my inner turmoil and I watch his eyes narrow before coming back to mine.
“Something going on between you and Beck I should be aware of?”
I shake my head and bury my face against his chest, and this man I barely know holds me tighter, wrapping his arms around me and making me feel safe and wanted. Tears prick my eyes and I hate that one look from Beck is all it takes to make me want something that I know will never be all over again. I lift my head from his shirt and offer him a tentative smile, but he doesn’t rush me or look at me with anything other than understanding.
“Beck is my best friend. Has been since I was seven years old. He can be a bit over-protective.”
“Does he know you’re in love with him?”
My immediate reaction is to lie and deny it, but something about this man makes me want to always be honest with him. He’s shown me nothing but kindness tonight and he’s the first person I’ve felt even a slither of desire for since my last disaster of a relationship in London, apart from Beck, but I’m trying really hard to forget that.
“No, he has no idea. It wouldn’t matter anyway, because he only sees me as a friend and I’d never risk us that way.”
“I see.”
I’m not sure he does. “I like you, Xander, and that’s why I’m being honest.”
He lifts his hand and runs his fingers through my hair until he’s cupping my neck. His hold tightens and he tips my head back, controlling my movements with his big hands. The gentle pressure is like a live wire directly to my clit. My breath hitches from my chest as he forces me to look at him.
“I like you too, Amelia.”
Then he dips his head and captures my lips in a kiss that makes the world recede around me. It’s light at first, barely a caress, but as I open for him, he deepens it, a growl rumbling up from his chest where my hand is resting. It’s like he has a direct line to every nerve in my body. His tongue strokes out and flicks mine, enticing me, and I moan as I lean closer, allowing him to take as I taste the mint on him combined with something unique that is purely him.
He lifts his head and I see the battle going on beneath the façade he’s showing the world. A hurricane is brewing, and I see the naked hunger in his eyes before they drop to my lips, and he lifts his thumb to rub the lipstick he has smudged.
Before he has a chance to voice whatever is on his mind, the music stops and Audrey’s voice comes over the microphone. Xander keeps his arm around me as he turns us to face the stage, a possessive hand on my hip as if he’s claiming me and I look but he’s not looking at me. In this moment, his eyes are looking up to the balcony with a challenge in them that makes me shiver.
I follow his gaze and gasp as I see Beck looking at us, but not with the anger of before. Now it is pure heat in his eyes, and it’s not just aimed at Xander. It encompasses me too.
3: Xander
I pullmy gaze from Beck and concentrate on the stage, where the first lot is being auctioned off. I don’t know what prompted me to openly challenge him in the way I did, but what I do know is that the kiss with Amelia knocked me sideways in a way I didn’t expect. I’d noticed her the first night we met. She stood out like a beacon of light on the darkest night, but I’d been so wrapped up in dealing with my sister, I hadn’t acted on it.
