Samson slowly lowered his bulking body onto the porch but kept his ears alert as he watched the man, who continued to glance between Lucy and Samson.
"Ah well my name is Chris, I'm looking for Xanther Anderson" he said.
Lucy frowned and shook her head.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Chris" he answered with a smug smile.
Lucy raised her eye brow and shifted, causing Samson to sit up and begin his growl again. Chris stepped back further and almost fell off the top stair, catching himself he looked a little less sure.
"I'm a reporter" he quietly as he answered her initial question.
Lucy continued to frown and nod her head.
"And who are you looking for again?" she asked.
Chris smiled at her and stepped closer again, feeling like he was getting somewhere.
"Xanther Anderson, from the band Switch Blade Riot" he said shaking his head looking for her to show some sort of recognition.
Lucy frowned and stroked her chin before slowly shaking her head.
"No sorry, I don't know him. Is he famous?" Lucy asked.
Her interest was piqued. Xanther didn't seem to fit the rock star image that she thought of. He looked cool and he was as hot as hell, but he didn't have an air of arrogance about him, he seemed, normal. Well from the five minutes she had spent speaking to him. Chris frowned and nodded his head.
"Are you serious? They are like the hottest rockabilly band in the world at the moment, songs like Hot Rod Baby and Graveyard Dancer? You've not heard of any of these?" Chris asked bewildered.
Lucy shook her head. She didn't listen to modern music; in fact she hardly turned on the radio at all. It wasn't that she didn't like music, she loved it, but she just had recently preferred silence.
"No I haven't" Lucy said with another shake of her head.
"Have you been under a rock?" Chris asked completely shocked.
Lucy shrugged her shoulder and nodded her head.
"Obviously. Well is that all you wanted to know? If I knew this singer?" she asked.
Chris frowned and shook his head.
"He is supposed to have moved somewhere here" Chris said hopefully.
Lucy nodded her head and shrugged again.
"Well he doesn't live here, sorry" she said with a sweet smile.
Chris looked over his shoulder at her neighbour's property which could be just seen through the line of trees that bordered their fence line. He pointed to the house.
"What about there? I noticed a sold sign on the fence, could he have moved in there?" Chris asked.
Lucy looked to where he pointed and shrugged her shoulder before shaking her head.
"I wouldn't think so. I met an old man on the beach this morning who said he had bought that property was going to fix it for his daughter I believe" Lucy lied.
Chris sighed in frustration again as she smiled sweetly at him before he shrugged his shoulders in resignation. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card with his name and a cheesy drawn caricature picture of him on it.
"If you happen to see him, can you please give me a ring? I'll pay you for a tip off" Chris said with a smile.
Lucy smiled sweetly and nodded.
"Well I don't know what he looks like so I won't probably ring even if I happened to run into him, I wouldn't know him." Lucy said as she tried to hand back the card.
Chris held his hands up and shook his head with a smile.
"Oh you will know him" he said with a wink "not many women run into him and not get to know him"
Lucy scrunched up her nose and shook her head as she held her hand up to show her wedding ring.
"I'm sure I can resist" she said smiling as sweetly as she could.
"Shame, you're hot" Chris said.
Like on command Samson began his low throaty growl again, which caused Chris to take on a panic stricken look. Samson stood and slowly stepped closer to the scared man. Chris looked between her and Samson; Lucy shrugged her shoulder and waved at him.
"See you later" she said politely before turning back into the house and shutting the door behind her, leaving the man standing on the doorstep shaking his head.
"For god's sake" Lucy said "the man I meet and think is drop dead gorgeous has to be a freaking rock star"
Lucy ran her hands up through her hair and shook her head, before reaching down to stroke Samson. He looked up at her and gave a little whimper.
"Oh shit I suppose you're hungry aren't you?" she said "Oh who am I kidding, you're always hungry"
Chapter Four
After Lucy had fed Samson and he had devoured his dinner she sat down in her art room to begin on the next piece when there was another knock on the door causing her to jump. Samson leaped to his feet and began his bark and growl. Lucy frowned and stood from her chair, seeing it had just gone ten.
"For fucks sake" Lucy muttered as she went down the hall to the front door.
As she swung the door open she saw Xanther standing with a torch in his hand and a frown on his face. He didn't look so suave and had dirt on his face. She looked him up and down and noticed that he had dust across his white t-shirt and the knees of his jeans were covered with cob webs and dirt.
"Xanther? Are you alright?" she asked.
He nodded and sighed running his hand up through his hair. Samson gave a quick bark before flopping down at Lucy's feet. Xanther looked down and crouched before Samson.
"Hey boy" he said reaching out his hand for Samson to have a sniff.
Samson stood and went flopping his head on Xanther's shoulder.
"Traitor" Lucy muttered under her breath as both Xanther and Samson looked up at her.
Xanther stood and ran his hand over his dirty shirt and attempted to dust the cobwebs from his jeans.
"Do you know if the old neighbour had any problems with the power?" he asked.
Lucy shook her head and moved out of the door way and waved her hand to guide Xanther inside, conscious of her earlier visit with the journalist looking for him. The last thing she wanted was reporters on her doorstep constantly. Xanther followed her inside and into the kitchen where she flicked the kettle on.
"Can I get you a coffee?" she asked.
Xanther smiled and shook his head.
"You don't have anything heavier do you?" he asked with a sly smile.
Lucy smiled and winked, going to the cupboard and pulling out a bottle of scotch and a bottle of tequila, she held them both up waving them in the air.
"Which first?" she asked with a smile.
Xanther grinned leaning back on the stool he had sat himself on, with Samson at his feet. He pointed at the scotch and Lucy grinned pulling out two glasses and topping them with ice. She poured a shot in each and slid Xanther's glass to him on the bench. He lifted the glass in a silent toast before taking the shot in one, wincing as it burnt on its way down and grinning. Lucy waved the bottle at him again and he grinned nodding his head as she poured another shot, this time doing her first shot with him after they clinked glasses.
"Oh yeah that's the spot" he said with a laugh. "Now the electricity?"
Lucy shook her head again and frowned.
"No they never had problems with it, but it has sat empty for almost four years, so it's bound to have issues" Lucy said.
Xanther nodded and ran his hand up through his hair.
"Typical. Oh well I guess I'll just sleep in the dark tonight" he said.
Lucy shook her head.
"You've never lived on the open ocean before have you?" she asked.
Xanther frowned and shook his head.
"Oh. It gets freezing; you won't be able to sleep without heat. Believe me on that one" she said "I've got plenty of room here, and a spare bed you can sleep in. It's at least warm"
Lucy couldn't believe what she was saying. Not only was Xanther a complete stranger, but a man. Even Melinda would draw the line at letting a strange man, no matter how famous, stay in her house. Xanther nodded his head and seemed to ponder her request before shaking his head.
"Thank you Lucy, I really appreciate the offer, but I can't put you out like that" he said.
Lucy shook her head, she didn't want to seem desperate, but she knew how cold it got on the ocean and without heating he would freeze. Plus at that moment she realised just how lonely she truly was. She would really appreciate having a conversation with someone other than Samson for a change.
"It's no problem really. Like I said I have a spare bed here, so you will have privacy" she said.
Xanther frowned and seemed to thinking over her request again before he nodded. He smiled at her.
"Thank you. I'll go home and grab some clean clothes and come back" he said.