Deep in You (Phoenix #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Sam.”
    “You’d better. I’m pulling a lot of strings to get this taken care of today. Pleasure meeting you, Lily.” Sam inclined his head to her, then headed out.
    “I should be going, too,” said Lily.
    “I don’t think it’s a good idea. You heard the man. You should stay until we hear back.” My words didn’t match my convictions. I wanted her to go. To hell with what Sam thought. The sight of her was an annoyance I wanted removed. I didn’t sign on for any of this. I had just wanted to fuck her and be done with it. I needed her to leave, but knew she had to stay. I couldn’t have her getting into trouble or talking to people before I knew what we were dealing with.
    I again considered contacting my lawyer, but I trusted Sam. He’d contact him if he felt it was necessary. Dragging in lawyers only made you look like you had something to hide.
    “What happened to your ankle?” The question came out of nowhere, surprising me.
    “What?”
    “Your ankle is wrapped. I noticed this morning.”
    “I wrap both when I work out.”
    “That’s not an answer.”
    I quirked my eyebrow at her. “Bad landing before I left for the club last night. Just a strained muscle, nothing serious.”
    She nodded. I was surprised that she had noticed. Neither of us had been very observant yesterday, and today there were plenty of distractions.
    “What’s going to happen next, Xander?”
    “Well, Sam will call us back and tell us what it was. Then we’ll research what to do about it. Don’t worry.”
    “If I stay, will you show me one of your routines? I could use the distraction.”
    What? No. I’m not a trained monkey performing tricks.
    “We’ll see,” I answered.
    Perhaps it would be a fun diversion to give her a private show.
    Wait. What the hell was I thinking? I was not an adolescent, needing to show off to some girl in hopes she’d go out with me. I was Xander fucking Phoenix. I needed to get my shit together. If I gave her what she wanted, it would be because it was a diversion, like she’d said. Nothing more.
    We sat down together on the couch. I turned to face her and brought my right leg up between us. Slowly I unwrapped the bandage around my ankle.
    The skin underneath displayed a nasty green bruise. Gingerly I rotated my foot. It wasn’t too bad; I’d done worse to myself. The appearance was the worst of it. A glance at Lily found her staring at me with a look of horror on her face.
    “Hey…” My words forced Lily to look me in the eyes. I smiled reassuringly at her. “What’s wrong?”
    “That looks horrible, Xander.”
    “Just a bruise. It doesn’t even hurt that much. I’ve had worse.”
    She swallowed hard and nodded a little, then tucked her feet beneath her. I rewrapped my ankle and watched her for a bit.
    “So you have me at a bit of a loss, Lily Campbell. I know your name. I know you have stunning brown eyes and, based on the condition of my back, are quite a tiger in bed. I know you like fruity martinis and you don’t like being bored by losers in clubs. I think that’s about it. You know quite a bit more about me.”
    “You also know that I recently broke up with my ex.”
    I sighed. “Yes, I suppose I do remember you saying that.”
    “Why’d you react that way? Would you rather we were still together?”
    To be honest, I didn’t give a shit who she was with. I knew that wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear, though.
    “No,” I said. “I think my feelings on that are quite clear. I was just hoping you’d tell me a little more about yourself. What makes you tick?”
    She stared at me, fear written all over her face. I was becoming more confused by the moment.
    “I’m a journalist,” she whispered, turning away from me. She twisted her hands nervously in her lap, and her complexion turned ashen.
    My brow furrowed. Had she written something bad about me in the past? Why did she look so freaked out? “Are you okay? Are you going to be sick?”
    She squeezed her eyes