Xander's Chance

His faint smile was far from promising. If anything, it rattled her. Somehow, he knew too much about her purpose there. What was he planning?

"I'll text Ingrid about your schedule," she said.

"A word to the wise: She's expecting to hear from April, not Jessi."

Jessi's heart leapt, but she forced herself not to react. "Are you ready for your interview at least?"

"Yeah."

She shook her head and left him on the porch. He had to be waiting for the blonde to come by again. Which was good for her. As long as he stayed distracted, she could try to find where he kept the necklace. He was wearing it now, but he had to take it off sometime. If she knew where he kept it, she could swoop in and snatch it the first time he wasn't wearing it. Finding it and turning it over was a small price to pay to get out of the bind she was in.

With another glance towards the porch, Jessi started down the hallway. She stood in the doorway to his room for a long moment, trying to figure out how the hell he knew so much about her. A seed of a thought that emerged yesterday returned stronger.

If Jonny was some sort of freaky vampire and wasn't willing to face Xander to get the necklace, did that mean Xander was some sort of … creature, too? If so, what? He claimed to be a vampire, but it made no sense. He was nothing like Jonny. He was more assured, stronger. He sometimes almost seemed approachable, though the intensity around him hadn't eased from the moment she set foot in the door. She didn't feel threatened around Xander like she had around Jonny.

Instinctively, she made the bed, as she did every morning for her cousins.

"My door is always open to willing women," his voice jarred her.

"I'm making your bed, not getting into it."

"You'll forgive me if I don't want you out of my sight," he said dryly. He was leaning against the doorframe, arms folded and gaze suspicious.

"Sweet little ole me?" she asked, blinking at him coyly. "I'm harmless, especially to someone as big as you." The guy Jonny sent was half Xander's size and left a handprint on her arm. She wasn't going to imagine what someone with Xander's strength could do.

"You are far from harmless," he replied. "I don't hurt women. I just fuck 'em."

"A true gentleman." She grabbed and fluffed a pillow to hide her grimace.

"Whatever it is you're after, I'll make you a deal for it."

"I'm not after anything."