The Taming of Xander Sterne(16)

                Samantha was magnificent when she was angry. Her red hair, even though it was confined in a band at her crown, seemed to bristle and shimmer with electricity, her eyes glowed a deep amethyst, and her cheeks were flushed.

                Her nipples were also tight against the fitted white shirt she was wearing.

                Not that Xander was stupid enough to say any of that out loud; in his experience, and contrary to what a lot of other men believed, most women did not appreciate being told they looked magnificent when they were angry. Not surprising, when it sounded so damned patronising.

                ‘I’m fine with the present arrangement,’ he rasped dismissively, knowing his love for Darius and Andy gave him no real choice in the matter. But that didn’t mean he had to like it!

                Samantha blinked, her expression uncertain now. ‘You are?’

                ‘Do you consider any of my requests to be unreasonable? And they are requests, Samantha, not rules. If there is a problem, then tell me so now, so that we can discuss it.’

                ‘I— Well— No.’ She looked disconcerted. ‘But obviously Daisy is a child and—’

                ‘It will be fine,’ Xander bit out impatiently as he stood up from the table, his hand resting on the back of his chair for balance. ‘Have you been divorced long?’ he asked, the sharp shift in conversation catching Samantha off guard.

                ‘Three years,’ Samantha answered woodenly, her gaze no longer meeting his.

                ‘Bad divorce?’

                ‘Is there such a thing as a good one?’

                ‘Probably not.’ Nevertheless, Xander couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied with her answer. Again.

                All of the answers Samantha had given him so far, concerning her marriage and divorce, had been ambiguous, to say the least.

                Darius had been right when he accused Xander of having become too self-centred in the weeks since his accident, deliberately so, after what had preceded that accident.

                No matter how much Xander might wish it were otherwise, the arrival of Samantha and Daisy in his apartment now seemed to have made it impossible for him to continue to maintain that aloofness.

                In fact, since their arrival earlier this evening Xander had felt a burning and increasing curiosity to learn all and everything there was to know about the woman who was to share his apartment for the next two weeks.

                As much, it seemed, as Samantha was determined not to tell him.

                Just what was she hiding?

                ‘Have you and Miranda known each other long?’ Xander decided to try a different approach to find out what he really wanted to know.

                Samantha frowned slightly before answering him cautiously.

                ‘Andy and I met six months ago, when Daisy started taking ballet lessons.’

                He nodded. ‘When I talked to Andy earlier in the week she spoke very highly of you.’ He wasn’t about to admit how protective his almost sister-in-law had been about Samantha and her young daughter. To the point where Andy had warned him to keep his hands to himself where her friend was concerned!

                Xander had found the warning amusing at the time; after all, he couldn’t even stand on his own two feet without the assistance of his crutches at the moment, so he was hardly likely to be making a move on the woman.