Andy’s shoulders straightened. She shook her head. “I wouldn’t do that.”
He nodded, sensing the truth in that. “I know, but I have to be careful about these sorts of things.”
He handed her the card and the pen. She took them, looking at the number on the back of the card before sliding it into the tiny pocket in her camera bag.
Xander swallowed. “If you wanted to have a coffee at any time, I can make it happen. We can meet up and talk somewhere private, or in public. It’s up to you. Just call me when you’re ready.”
“You’re all right with being in public?” she asked softly. “You looked like you wanted to be left alone there. Sorry for that, by the way,” she added sheepishly.
If only she knew that he didn’t care. He didn’t care even when, out of the corner of his eye, he could see a few people looking and pointing at him right now. Some people clearly recognized him, or thought they did.
It wasn’t hard to do that with his scars. Usually, time out of the spotlight made it easier for celebrities to go incognito to certain locations.
It had been a while, but the scars on his face were bound to draw attention, even to someone who hadn’t been in the latest multimillion dollar movies over the last couple of years.
“Totally good with being in public. I’m here for the rest of the week, so just let me know when you want to set up a time and place and I’ll make sure to meet you there.”
“You’ve got nothing scheduled?” Her pink lips pulled up at the question. Because of course they did. She knew full well what his schedule used to be like.
He was happy to answer her. “No, nothing at all.”
He saw the brief flicker of uncertainty in her eyes, but it didn’t feel like she looked at him like that because she feared him.
It was something else. Something that felt a little too much like pity.
“What if we met tonight?” she asked.
Xander blinked. “Sure. I have nothing against tonight.”
“But just as…old friends,” she said. “We can get some drinks and talk, but that’s it.”
Xander grinned. “Totally. I can definitely do that.”
He’d thought she would, at the very least, need a few hours to think over his proposal. The fact that she wanted to grab drinks, tonight, in a place where they would either be getting their drinks from their hotel rooms, or in the fun bar settings that were around the resort…
Okay, he needed to calm down. One thing at a time here.
“All right,” Andy nodded. “Just give me an hour or two. I’ll look around at what’s here and call you to meet up with a time by then.”
He would be clutching his phone, waiting for the minute she called, and then going crazy waiting for when it was time to meet her.
“I’ll see you then.”
They both stood there, as if neither was sure who should break eye contact and walk away first.
Xander had to be the one to do that when a young boy, probably no older than ten, walked up to the pair of them. The pen and paper in his hand made it obvious what he wanted.
“Are you Xander Grey?”
Xander smiled down at the kid, wishing his timing had been better, but he did still love his fans. “Yeah, that’s me.”
It was good that his scars weren’t scaring the kid off. In fact, he smiled brightly back up at Xander, lifting his paper and pen.
“Can you sign this?”
“Sure thing. Anyone you want it made out to?”
“I’ll let you get to it,” Andy said. “Watch for my call tonight.”
He didn’t want her to go, but he couldn’t ignore the kid as he babbled off a list of friends. From a short distance, his parents watched, the father a little more starstruck than the mother.
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight,” he said as she smiled, turned, and walked away.
Xander made his living as an actor, but even he couldn’t seem to act out what he wanted to say well enough to not sound terrified.
It was going to be a long wait for her call to come in.
CHAPTER 3
A ndrea stared at her reflection in the mirror, fluffing her hair just a little more, then examined her work.
Was she really doing this? Honestly? Meeting with Xander Grey.
For drinks.
He might have noticed the slip, but she hadn’t, and now that it was in her head, Andrea wasn’t so sure having alcohol with him would be the best of ideas. Not because she was worried about what he might do, but because she was worried about what she might do.
And yeah, maybe she was a little worried about him, too.
Andrea growled at her reflection in the mirror. She scratched her hands through her hair, undoing the fluff work she’d just finished with. Maybe if she went for the whole not caring what she looked like look, that might give the impression she wasn’t as nervous as she really was.
Why did she have to get her nails done before coming here? Andrea looked down at her cuticles, wishing they were a bit sloppier.
He’d called her Andy.
He was the only one who ever called her Andy and, when he’d said it, her stomach did a little flip. Just thinking about it was enough to make her heart quiver, and it was kind of pathetic.
She looked at the clock. Okay, she was already five minutes late. She’d called earlier and they’d set up a time at one of the bars in the resort, and now she was stalling.
Andy triple checked her bag just in case she was missing something. She wasn’t. She was just wasting time at this point because she was too nervous to get her ass moving.
Her phone was fully charged with enough memory on it to record the interview in case her camera was dead, which it wasn’t, and she had two small notepads with five black pens, two red pens, two pencils, and a white eraser.
Andrea sucked back a deep breath and then she left her room.
Her phone buzzed on the elevator ride down to the bar. She didn’t need to check to know it was Xander, wondering where she was.
When she got out of the elevator, there seemed to be a huge sea of tourists all around her, getting ready to head out to dinner. She probably should have left earlier. On time would have been sufficient.
She made it to the bar without tripping over her heels, that was good news at least, but then it was just a matter of searching over the many heads of people who were standing around, sitting, dancing, drinking, and eating.
Shit. Andrea moved to pull out her phone, but stopped at the sound of Xander’s voice.
“Andy!”
She looked up and around, trying to determine the source.
“Over here!”
She spotted him just then, waving his hand to catch her attention.
Andrea sighed, moving through the crowd of people. She smiled as she made it to him. He stood by the bar, and was guarding an extra stool for her. “I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said above the noise, reaching out for him without thinking, out of sheer habit, but it was too late to pull back!
She settled for an awkward hug. Better that than to nearly kiss him.
Like she’d almost done.
Xander held her, and it felt so much better than she would have thought to be touched by him, to smell the scent of his aftershave. He used the same brand.
She could have held on forever, but he was the first to pull back, clearing his throat. “Have a seat.”
“Thank you.” Andrea pushed herself up into her stool. “We always did get the bar seats.”
“Yeah,” Xander said, a small laugh in his voice as he took his seat then briefly glanced away before he called the bartender to them.
Andrea watched him, letting him order, and not in the least shocked that he still knew her favorite drink. She hadn’t had it in a long time, but it was definitely still a favorite.
Andrea cleared her throat as the bartender handed her the glass. He left them when she and Xander had their drinks, and Andrea almost wished he wouldn’t, because now she had t
o pretend as if this wasn’t completely awkward and strange.
Especially considering why she was here.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting. I got your text,” she said, reaching for her phone again.
“I didn’t send a text.”
Andrea stopped abruptly, looking up at him, and then down at her phone. She brushed her thumb over the screen. The number made her put her phone away.
“Is it all right?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Just my editor.”
“Ah,” Xander smiled. “Probably eager to get the interview, right?”
He didn’t ask it unkindly. She almost wished he wouldn’t go to the trouble of being so polite to her at all. She didn’t feel as if she deserved it.
“Something like that.” Andrea stroked her arm, then decided to suck it up and get this over with. The amazing smell of him be damned, she could do this. “So, you’re getting back into acting.”
Xander apparently took note of the tone in her voice. The business sound of it. “Yeah, well, I figured I’d been out of the spotlight long enough. I was still getting parts offered to me, and I missed the work.”
“That says a lot,” Andrea said. “Usually when an actor stops making movies, it’s hard for the public to keep an interest.”
He shrugged, but at least he was smiling again. “Yeah, well, not everyone comes out as a dragon shifter.”
Andrea swallowed hard. There was so much more to the story than that, but she was too much of a coward to come out and say it. She’d been there. She didn’t need the reminder of what had happened.
Even with the noise in the bar, she heard the buzz of her phone. The same number? She didn’t check.
“Well, a dragon shifter seems extra heroic, especially after what happened. It fit right in with all the parts you were getting.”
“Right,” Xander said, glancing away briefly before bringing his drink to his lips. “Sorry about what happened, by the way.”
“Oh no, it wasn’t your fault.” Andrea quickly shook her head. “I always knew that.”
“I was talking about what happened after.”
That was a severe punch to the gut. “Oh, right,” she said.
The part where, after their breakup, Andrea basically had to quit all of her social media accounts and go offline for a solid year. People didn’t look too kindly on the woman who broke the heart of America’s dragon action hero. Especially after he saved her from a mugging in the dark of night in the alley between the hottest clubs.
“Don’t worry about that, that wasn’t you.”
Xander’s smile said he didn’t really believe her.
And somehow they ended up looking each other in the eyes for what had to be too long of a time.
Even with the scars on his face, he was still the most handsome man she’d ever seen in her life.
Andrea broke their eye contact. She had to. Looking at him stirred up too many feelings she hadn’t dealt with. She left him after what happened, sure, but not because she’d fallen out of love with him.
After so long apart, only to be right in front of him now…she was still in love with him, and he must just think the worst of her…
“You’re not taking notes.”
“Hmm?” Andrea looked back at him, then realized what he’d said. She tensed. “Fuck, right.” She scrambled for her purse, reaching inside for the recorder on her phone, but no, the noise in the bar was too loud. She’d never get a good recording like that.
The paper and pen it was.
Her phone vibrated next to her hand. Frustrated, Andrea grabbed it and looked at the number again.
There was a text with it this time.
Are you getting it done?
Her insides turned to ice.
She stuck the phone back into her purse. She glanced around the bar, searching.
Were they here? Were they watching her right now? She couldn’t tell. There were too many people and none of them looked as if they were watching her.
“Everything all right?”
Andrea swallowed hard. “Uh, yeah, everything’s great. Can we finish this talk back at your room?”
Both of Xander’s brows rose up high. “Yes.”
“Not for that,” Andrea corrected. “Just to talk. Really.”
Xander already got to his feet. “That’s totally fine with me.”
She almost couldn’t believe it. “You’re fine with that? Just with talking?”
“Well, no, obviously,” he said with a grin. “But I’ll take what I can get. It’s too loud here anyway.”
Xander dropped a heavy tip onto the bar, took his jacket, and waited.
Andrea grabbed her purse. She could almost imagine they would be going back to the hotel room they shared, not one that was separate. Thoughts like that were dangerous to have. For one thing, it might lead to something she didn’t know if she could give. For another, she wasn’t here just to get a story, and it was more than clear to her at this point that she could no longer keep it from him.
Not if they were actually watching her.
The men who’d made Xander’s face look like that.
CHAPTER 4
They made it to the private elevator that led to Xander’s floor. Andy seemed shocked that he would have one at first, but then she smiled, shaking her head, as if she should have known better.
He swiped his card and punched in the floor number.
No one would bother them on the way up.
“Xander, I need to tell you something.”
“Me, too,” he growled, and with a ferocity that had slept inside him since the day she’d left, he grabbed her by the shoulders, pressing her against the wall of the elevator, and crushed their mouths together.
Her eyes fell shut instantly, proving she had been thinking the same thing he had as he took her wrists and pulled them above her head.
Her teeth against his bottom lip was a force to be reckoned with, and something he’d desperately missed. God, he never thought he would feel that biting sting against his bottom lip ever again.
He switched her wrists over to just his one hand, allowing him to use his other to cup her breast through that sexy as hell top she wore.
She had no bra beneath it, and under the silky material he could feel her nipple hardening against his palm as he squeezed.
Andy moaned against his mouth, her body shivering, the heat in the elevator increasing to something he could hardly stand.
And it was fucking amazing. Especially when she lifted her leg and curled it around his thigh...
The elevator was quick, and it came to a stop far too soon on Xander's floor.
He pulled his mouth away from Andy's with a gasp as the doors parted for them.
The fire in her eyes was familiar, and it made his loins tight to see that look once more.
This time, Andy took him by his wrists, and as she pulled him out of the elevator, it was clear they were doing this. Didn't need much talk to understand what the body wanted in a situation like this.
"Where's your room?" she asked, her voice hoarse and breathy.
Just the way he liked it.
"It's right there."
There was only one door on this floor, and it was his.
Andy blinked at it, and then smiled, laughing a little under her breath. "Of course you would have your own private floor."
"Would you want it any other way?" he asked, opening the door with his key card, allowing Andy to enter first.
She did, still smiling. "I guess it's been a while. Not used to getting the royal treatment anymore."
"Well, not totally royal," he said, kicking the door shut behind them and sliding the lock into place. "It's not like I got the presidential suite here. This is a downgrade."
As Andy stepped into his room, noted the grand piano and fireplace, she glanced back at him with a brow lifted. "This was a downgrade?"
He shrugged. "There was a leak in the other room. They moved me here."
A
ndy shook her head, chuckling. "Right, of course."
Andy had never been one to be overly impressed with the wealth he brought in from his job. She also hadn't liked to be spoiled too much, but she did handle those times when Xander couldn't resist treating her with grace.
"Does this room of yours happen to have a big bed in it?"
"Through those doors over there," he said, nodding in the direction of his bedroom. "The bar is just right there, and the jacuzzi is on the balcony."
"Right," Andy said. "I'm thinking nice and simple."
"Bed?"
She nodded. "Bed first, and then possibly jacuzzi."
Xander pulled himself out of his shirt, dropping it to the floor. "Sounds good to me."
He walked up to her, to his woman, wondering why in the hell he ever thought it would be a good idea to let her go. He pushed some of her hair off her shoulder, unable to resist letting his hand cup her behind her neck. Her warm skin called to him. The heat shot through his hand, travelling up his arm and settling into his chest where his heart raced.
"God, I thought I was over you," he rasped, leaning down and pulling her up so he could take her sweet lips once more.
Though she was already on heels, Xander could tell when a woman pushed herself up onto her toes to meet him. Not that it made much of a difference in shoes like that, but he enjoyed the effort. Went right to his ego, and increased the rush of pleasure through his heated veins.
Her tongue came out in a teasing lick against his lips, calling to him, making him moan as he opened his mouth, letting her explore inside in a way she hadn't done in years.
Too long. It had been way too damned long.
He fisted his fingers through her hair, gripping tight and never wanting to let her go. Andy released a soft mewling noise. It vibrated against Xander's lips, and the animal inside him, the dragon, which only ever felt like a separate entity when it came to this woman, roared to life inside of him.
As if it had been sleeping since that horrible day of the attack.
He'd almost thought it was dead, but clearly not. Not when it was alive and stronger than ever.
For the first time in years, his dragon scales began to form over his skin, spiking out at his shoulders and elbows, but smoother along his forearms and back.
Tropical Tryst: 25 All New and Exclusive Sexy Reads Page 48