Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“You can delete her number.”
I raised my eyebrows. I had a feeling they would make a permanent home high on my forehead if I kept working for Xavier. “Why did you let me write it down if you don’t want to meet her again?”
“I don’t fuck a girl twice. Well, I do fuck them more than once, but I don’t meet them twice.” He flashed that infuriating grin as he sauntered closer, every muscle flexing, every inch of him painfully perfect. It was a good thing I liked his character a little less with every infuriating word out of his mouth.
My lip curled. “Why don’t you tell them? Why the show of letting me write down her number, Xavier?”
“Because it gets them to leave. They always think they could be the one to make me want to stay.” He chuckled. “Idiots.”
He leaned against the counter again. “So what about my cappuccino?”
I really wished he would put clothes on. The briefs were awfully distracting. I supposed I should have expected that with Xavier’s ginormous frame, the rest of him would be sized to proportion, but good Lord. I turned toward the espresso unit and put a mug under the nozzles. Xavier was watching me with obvious amusement. “I can’t remember the last time I have seen such a ferocious blush. Your face is the color of the lobster in my favorite seafood restaurant. I doubt it can get any redder.”
I was going to throw the mug right at his head. Of course, he ate lobster. Rolex, Maserati, lobster, penthouse with a view of the harbor bridge. Xavier not only flouted his conquests for the public, he also flouted his wealth.
“And I have never seen such a shameless act of exhibitionism in all my life. You knew I would come over to wake you, and still you did this.”
“Then you haven’t seen much yet,” he said dryly, followed by the lip twitch. I blinked at him, reminding myself of the current state of my bank account and the wondrous number I’d seen in my contract.
“You haven’t ground the espresso beans yet.”
I shot him a glare as I opened the container beside the espresso unit, which held the beans. Problem was I wasn’t sure how to operate the grinder. Xavier startled me when he stepped up beside me, towering over me, and took the container from me. “Pay close attention.”
Stifling a remark, I forced my attention toward Xavier’s hand, which worked the espresso unit easily. His woodsy manly scent wafted into my nose and occasionally his arm brushed mine. I couldn’t bring myself to step away though, even when my eyes kept straying toward the display of muscles right at eye level.
A few minutes later, Xavier presented two perfectly brewed cappuccinos with a beautiful milk foam crown to me. Of course I hadn’t paid the slightest bit of attention to the creation of the coffee specialty. “Enjoy,” he said. “I hope you remember everything.”
“Thanks.” I took it, surprised at how flawless the milk foam looked, and took a sip from the hot beverage. It tasted perfect, like a concoction straight from a barista. I had no hope that I would create something that tasty soon. “Perhaps you should make us both cappuccinos every morning,” I suggested with a grin over my mug.
Xavier’s mouth twitched. “If you pay me as well for it as I pay you.”
“Touché.” I took another sip, suddenly caught by the surrealism of the situation. I was standing in the kitchen with a half-naked Xavier—The Beast—Stevens, having cappuccino. I drew my eyes to my watch. “You should get dressed. We need to head out for your training in about fifteen minutes.”
Xavier set down his mug and raised his arms over his head for a stretch, which made my heart skip a beat. He smiled lazily when he lowered them back to his sides, then shoved away from the counter. “I was wrong, by the way,” he threw over his shoulder at me. “Your face could get redder.”
If I thought having Xavier walk around me in nothing but briefs was distracting, watching him do a beach workout was a new level of insanity. Xavier and I chose a less crowded part of Manly Beach for the recording. I found the name oddly appropriate and wondered if Xavier had chosen it on purpose to shake me up further. It seemed to amuse him greatly to make me blush, which happened a lot. My fair complexion was as much at fault as my lack of experience being around half-naked men.
I had chosen comfy shorts and a tank top for the occasion. The moment my toes dipped into the warm sand, I was in paradise, and forgot that this was actually work. The ocean rolled lazily toward the beach, white and frothy, begging for a swim. But I didn’t have a bathing suit with me, and even if I did, there was no way I was going to parade my less-than-perfect body around someone like Xavier.