"You've never interviewed me." He approached the opening of the kitchen.
"Good observation," she grumbled, dropping noodles in a boiling pot of water.
"Why? You write the reviews but get no interviews?" Xander liked the way her small hands worked in the kitchen. He leaned against the doorframe and watched. She was very domestic and he'd never seen any other female except his mother cook.
"I-I um…I-I interview," she stammered.
"Just not me," he said with a raise of his eyebrow. She was jumpy. This topic seemed to make her nervous. Like a girl with a serious crush. Interesting.
"No, I never got around to it." She glanced at him from under lowered lashes.
"Well…I'll give you one here if you'd like." Xander grinned.
She blushed. It was cute. "Okay, why are you in Alaska?"
"Misunderstanding on my part with movie casting." The bitterness rose up again.
Her thin eyebrows peaked into a frown. "Where is your cell phone?"
"Probably a couple of miles up the road covered in snow." He winced at how childish he’d been.
Shalaine reached up and took two wine glasses out of the cupboard. "Okay, are you going to make anything other than romance films?"
Xander swore if he didn't know any better, he'd think Rich had set this up. "Not sure. Can I interview you now?" He was ready to turn the pressure on her. She nodded and gave him an unsure glance. "Why are you in Alaska?" he asked, crossing his arms and waiting.
"I was supposed to have a Christmas getaway with my now ex-boyfriend. He broke up with me yesterday. So I came here to get over him and his cheating ways." She gave him a heartbroken smile he'd seen all too often on the women he'd dumped then ran into months later. There was a distinct face of a woman done wrong. She snatched a wine bottle from the counter and ripped off the foil top before pulling a bottle opener out of a drawer. Her movements became a bit jerky and he had no doubt about the rage she must've been feeling. He didn't know much about her, but a part of him wanted to. "How long were you two together?"
"Three years." She poured them both a healthy amount of wine.
Xander decided to put his feelings aside and make her feel a bit better about the breakup the only way he knew how. "He didn't deserve you then. You're strong and you will succeed in all you do. One day he will want you back and then you will have the upper hand and you will have another that you love."
She looked at him incredulously over the rim of her glass. "Did you just quote Forever in Love?"
Xander hung his head in shame. "You know that one, huh?"
She took a small sip and he watched her sigh after she swallowed. She fixed those brown eyes on him. "I'm a movie reviewer. I know movies," she retorted, draining the noodles in the sink, her wine forgotten for the moment.
Xander remembered she'd been the one to review all his movies, putting a lot of heat and damn-near-sexual tendencies in print about him. "All my movies, huh?" He crossed his muscular arms over his chest and gave her a knowing smile. Her words on paper screamed she wanted him and her small actions backed that theory, but it was obvious her nerves got in the way. He would break that soon; she'd be calling his name in ecstasy before the night was over.
"Some." She cleared her throat, went to the stove, and removed the oven-baked meatballs sizzling on the cooking sheet.
"Ah, just some of my movies? 'Xander Christian, modeled and sculpted from a different mold than any other male celebrity. An exotic god on the screen, his work is his own masterpiece and he turns the movie into a canvas and paints his brilliant colors for all to see'. I think that was close to the original article."
She blushed and turned with two plates of spaghetti and meatballs. At seeing the food, Xander's stomach growled. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had homemade spaghetti. He took the offered plate and watched Shalaine fidget.
"I may have been a bit over the top with the articles." She sat at the two-seating table in the corner and forked up a bite to eat. This was becoming a bit more intimate than he wanted, but he shrugged it off and sat across from her. Like an unplanned date, she'd cooked for him. It wasn't a fancy restaurant where plates were a hundred dollars a pop and there was little charming to be done. This was private, not what he was used too, and he liked it.
As they ate in silence, she tried not to look at him, but he kept his eyes on her. She would glance at him and look away quickly. Children games. In the business, he'd seen it a lot. Most X. Christian fans flushed and giggled around him. A few were reserved, pretending not to care if he were interested. Then there were the wildcats, the ones who just wanted to skip dinners and dates and hit the bed, hoping to impress him that way.
Shalaine Harper was nervous, but Xander figured she was more concerned about what he would think of her. She wasn't trying to impress him like the other women did. She was probably the type that wanted to be known as a woman who held herself together and here he'd held her back from her private breakdown.
Not with him here. He was Xander Christian, nicknamed the guru of romance. He could help Shalaine see a smidgen of romance even if it wasn't permanent. Xander hoped he could help take her mind off the ex-boyfriend who’d left her alone on the holiday meant to be spent with loved ones. After all the great reviews she wrote about him, it was the least he could do.
FIVE
Shalaine was starting to get a bit freaked out from Xander's staring. He was making her so edgy she couldn't finish eating. She set her fork down and started to get up, but he rose before she could and smiled at her as he retreated into the living room with his plate. He knew he was making her nervous, which gave him a certain power trip, no doubt. Where is he going to sleep? She hadn't even thought of it. Chewing on the corner of her lip, she pondered the couch. He would take it. She had to stay firm in this. She couldn't be like the other women in Mr. Christian's life, the ones who drop their panties on the first night. No matter how tempting it was.
Ten minutes later, she pushed away her plate just as Xander came in the kitchen and rinsed off his dinnerware. His body was more impressive in person. Shalaine watched his back muscles stretch and flex through the black dress shirt. How many times did she fantasize about her tongue working over those muscles, adding each curve and slope to memory? A hundred, a thousand, too many to be considered healthy for any woman.
He turned the water off and she focused back on her plate and took a nervous sip of wine. He turned and looked at her while drying his hands on a towel. The motion was so erotic it sent little pulses down her arms and legs, right to the space between her thighs. Simple small things were so engaging with him.
"That was great. Thank you, Shalaine." God, her name spilled from his lips like a melody of sin. She usually told people to call her Shay, but Xander's delectable voice saying her name put her in a blissful state. "I've been driving all day, so I'm pretty tired. I'll, um, sleep on the couch." He seemed unsure; perhaps he expected her to share the bed with him. As tempting as it was, she didn't need to go there. Trouble lay that way.
"There might be extra blankets somewhere."
He nodded and went in search of the blankets.
By the time Shalaine finished cleaning and came out of the kitchen, she was pretty tired too. The wind still roared outside, but she had faith that this little cottage could withstand the storm. Xander had been arranging his sheets on the long couch, but he glanced at her as she began walking to the private room.
Shalaine froze, recalling the rose petals on the bed. She frowned and swallowed hard, glaring at the door. She couldn't muster the strength to throw them away, but she sure as hell didn't want them on the bed either. They'd been spread with Nathan and her in mind, for a long-overdue sexual night. Shalaine took a deep breath but heard the sound of a plastic trash bag being flung open behind her. Xander walked past her, small bag in hand.
"I'll get them," he said, striding into the room. It didn't take him but a few minutes to come back out tying the bag closed.
&nbs
p; "I don't know why I can't…I mean, they're just petals."
He glanced at the bag. "It was their meaning that got you, not what they are." He looked as if he were going to say something else, suggest something, but he turned and gave her a panty-wetting smile. "Good night, Shalaine."
"Goodnight." She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. There wasn't a lock on the door to keep Xander out. She wondered if that was something she even wanted. A part of her doubted she'd have enough sense to turn Xander away should he tiptoe into her room..
Shalaine lay in the bed, listening to the blizzard blowing outside. The window pane rattled with each gust and she nuzzled herself deeper into the mattress. Alaska was feeling cold, unpredictable, and wild, just like her relationship had been with Nathan. Plus she had a steamy hunk of celebrity male in the room next to hers that was stuck in this cabin with her for a few days at least. Tia would tell her that it was time to move on and move up. However, sleeping with Xander might dig the hole of self-pity deeper instead of helping the situation. Instead of giving in to her desires, she turned her back to the door and closed her eyes. Just because you have Mr. Christian alone doesn't mean you have to be like every other crazed fan and sleep with him. Or did it?
****
The next morning, the roaring blizzard that woke her up twice in the night was over. Shalaine glanced out the window to see snow had covered everything as far as she could see. Yup, they appeared to be snowed in. Somehow there was a delighted pep in her step as she moved toward the bedroom door. She was snowed in with a hot celebrity. What could be better than that?
Shalaine padded into the living room on wobbly legs, caffeine the only breakfast on her mind. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a pile of man-flesh on the couch. She got a good look at Xander on the couch, a real good look. Shalaine swung back into her bedroom biting her fisted hand to stop the squeal of exhilaration.
After a few calming breaths, she told herself to be an adult and get a grip. She walked back out, her gaze gravitating toward the positive thing in the living room. Xander had come undone in his sheets. His honey-toned nude body lay out in the open. His face looked so peaceful, slightly tilted back with the angle he was laying. One arm and leg hung off the couch and it was the sexiest natural pose she'd seen of him. It would be burned in her mind forever. His thick cock was more than tempting her to stroke it as it lay cradled against his body. My phone. She grabbed it and held it up to take a forbidden picture, being careful not to get any incriminating face shots that could get on the net. She snapped the sexy picture from the neck down and typed, Look what stranger the blizzard blew in, before sending it to Tia. Shalaine smiled as it sent successfully. Good, they still had a phone signal in case of an emergency.
"My photo shoots aren't free, you know," he said with a humorous tone. Shalaine jerked at his words; he scared her so bad she dropped the phone between him and the couch. He stretched, drawing her eyes to the tempting male V-lines that welcomed her to ogle his privates again. Her mouth watered and her face flamed to see that he was smiling wantonly at her. Was he meaning to tease her on purpose or was he just that comfortable with his body?
When Tia's reply came with a few chirps, Xander grabbed the phone and opened it to read what her boss had to say. In a mad attempt at saving further embarrassment, Shalaine tried to take her phone from Xander's hand, but he moved it just out of reach. He read the message out loud. "This gives a new meaning to ‘it's raining men’."
He smiled up at Shalaine and as he typed, he spoke his reply out loud for her to hear, "What do you think I should do with him?" He pressed send and waited for a response. Shalaine was beyond five shades of red. If she knew her boss, Tia's answer would be vulgar and more humiliating if Xander read it.
Shalaine's phone chimed in less than a few seconds and Xander read the message to himself first, and laughed. He stood and did a half-assed job of keeping the thin sheet wrapped around his waist. "I'm gonna take a shower." He handed Shalaine the phone. "She has good advice." He gave one of his million-dollar smiles, kissed her cheek, and then headed for the shower. The image of that man's body with water slapping his skin would make her frame of mind worse. Her fingers brushed the spot on her cheek where his lips had touched. She groaned. The next few days would be tough on her willpower.
Shalaine read Tia's message. Why are you even asking? Does the term “snow blow” mean anything to you?
Shalaine couldn't help but laugh. A sinful part of her brain made her want to indulge in feeling Xander's cock in her mouth.
SIX
Xander took a shower that ended with him jacking off. He imagined Shalaine's pert lips sucking him and then kissing him, just like the fucking text message suggested. She'd take all of him deep and moan, vibrating the tip of his shaft. He would spill on her tongue and see the euphoric visual of her taking his seed. God, he wasn't going to last here without touching her somewhere, fucking her, tasting her. He stepped out the shower with a new agenda; he was going out there and he was going to make her crave him. She'd be begging for him by sundown and that's where he wanted her, on her knees, peering up with a glint in her eyes, and his dick in her mouth.
After shaving and doing the usual prep work, as if readying for the next set, he considered himself good to go. He walked out the bathroom to see his challenge sitting at the table, photo album in front of her, dividing up pictures. Her hair was up off her neck and the soft brown skin begged to be touched, bitten, even suckled. Shalaine had made coffee; its soft aroma filled the cottage, almost warming his bones. Xander walked into the kitchen and poured a mug while trying to fight off images of Shalaine's legs spread wide for him.
“Last I heard, you and Naomi Jaspers were a hot item," Shalaine shouted from the cozy living room. Xander tilted his head in thought. Was she fishing to know so she wouldn't feel bad if they slept together or was this a sneaky interview? He had to be careful about what he said, or else it would be used against him in her next article.
"That's right, were, past tense. It was never serious."
"For who?" she asked.
Xander walked to the doorway and leaned against it while he eyed Shalaine stacking a wad of photos together. The fire had burned something and it wasn’t wood. Was she burning photos? No doubt pictures of her ex and her.
He took a sip of the sweetened coffee before answering, "For both of us, really. In the limelight it's hard to be the most desired man and woman in Hollywood and try to keep an exclusive relationship. Both parties have to want it. Neither one of us did. I'm not the type of guy that believes in love, never felt that thing that people talk about."
"It's a bit sad, don't you think? You making all these romance movies about love and you've never been in love." She turned her body to face him.
"You don't have to be in love to know romance. Granted, the deep things that I portray on camera are about love, but it's not realistic. That love doesn't exist; well, maybe back in the forties, but in this day in age, everyone is always in love with someone else or just marrying for the obvious reasons. Money, pregnancy, security, or even lust. The love may be there, but it's not strong enough to keep them together." That was the harsh reality Xander believed in, but it wasn't the conversation he wanted to be having. He wanted Shalaine naked and for her to forget about all this love nonsense that had broken her heart to begin with. "I mean, take your situation for example. Your ex cheated. You shouldn't even believe in love."
Shalaine chewed on the corner of her bottom lip. "Love exists in everyone. It's like a lock and key; only certain ones go together. Once they connect, the door is always open. I guess that's what I keep telling myself about this whole thing with my ex. He and I weren't the same pair. So that's why I believe if someone is in love with someone else, they found their lock or key."
"So that justifies adultery?" Xander asked before taking a sip of warm coffee.
"No, I think if the people are truly meant to be together, they should be responsible and l
et their significant other go on about their lives. I'm glad Nathan told me, because if we married and we weren't a matching pair, I'd hate to miss my key for him. For all I know, the other woman could be his lock." She smiled, but it was a little hurt. There was no way he planned to screw her when she was talking about infinite lock and keys. Perhaps being the rebound guy might not be the best angle. At this moment, Shalaine just needed a friend. Friend he could do. It would suck because Xander Christian usually screwed all his chick friends before placing them in the friend category and a small vibe in his heart didn't want to place Shalaine in a category. That thought bothered him too.
"Shalaine, why did you and Nathan break up? Did he give you a reason why he cheated?"
She was silent for a long moment but finally spoke, "He said I wasn't there and that our relationship had been based on phone chats and vacations. I can't say that I blame him. I was always away."
"So you believe that him cheating on you is what you deserve for working?"
"No, I think he should have broken up with me, but I love my job too much. There were plenty of times I could have let someone else go on the interview sites to those faraway places."
Xander shifted under her gaze. "But those are your experiences with your work."
"Still, maybe there was more I could have done." She shrugged.
"Hey…" Xander moved toward her and lifted her chin. The way she looked at him struck him in a place that no other person had. She looked at him with respect, trust, and a hint of lust. A swarm of emotions chipped away his sense of pride. He'd never felt that with anyone before. "If you tried to make it work around your schedule and it didn't work, then screw him. I don't really know you, but you seem like a good person, Shalaine. He wasn't willing to fight for you. I'm sure there were a few times he could've joined you on those exotic locations. It's what I would've done." Her hand touched his and the look in her eyes shifted to something that scared him. Xander cleared his throat and leaned back, trying to fight the growing attachment to her.
The Christmas Key Page 3