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.’The dining room was just as impressive as the living room with an enormous, highly polished dining table sitting pretty in the middle of the room, surrounded by what looked like twenty high-backed chairs.Another enormous chandelier, this time made from hundreds of pieces of blown glass in the shape of a flock of birds, let out a warm, low light over the room.‘Wow, the light fixtures here are amazing,’ Jess said, staring at it in wonder.‘Pretty cool, huh?’ Xander said, stopping next to her to admire it, too.‘Roberto, who owns this place, made it.He’s sickeningly talented.’He was standing so close to her she caught another waft of his amazing citrusy scent, which sent an energised prickle right up her spine.‘How lovely of him to let you use his place,’ she said, taking a careful step into the room, away from him.‘Yeah, he’s a really generous guy.We worked on a couple of projects together a few years back, before we both started getting successful.He lets friends come and stay here when they need to escape for a bit.’‘So you’re escaping right now?’ she asked, turning back to look at him.His expression closed over.‘I need a bit of space to concentrate on a new exhibition, away from the din of the city.’‘And away from the temptation of all those parties?’ she said, raising a playful eyebrow, hoping he’d bite and give her a bit of gossipy goodness that she could incorporate into her article.‘Oh, I don’t know.I’m sure I can find a party round here if I really want to,’ he said, moving his shoulder in a circular motion as if trying to relieve a trapped nerve.‘Have you hurt your shoulder?’ she asked.‘Nah, I’m just a bit tense from being bent over drawing today.Why, are you offering to rub it for me?’ He flipped her a provocative grin.‘You don’t want me giving you a massage—I’m terrible at it,’ she said, smoothing a lock of hair behind her ear, then flipping it back out again so it swung back to join the rest of her bob.She had a horrible urge to hide her face from him.He was so confusing with his ability to flip the conversation from something innocuous into something that made her jitter with barely contained anxiety.He gave her a questioning frown.‘I don’t believe it.How can you be terrible at massaging?’She shrugged.‘It’s just not something I count as one of my talents.’‘Hmm.’ He was looking at her with such an intense, searching stare it made her insides twist.She wasn’t used to dealing with such overt flirtatiousness.The men she’d dated in the past had been attractive guys, but nothing like the unwieldy package of sexual energy that Xander Heaton embodied.He was something else entirely.Walking past her, he pulled out a chair from the table and gestured for her to sit down.She nodded her thanks and perched herself on the edge of the leather-upholstered chair, folding her hands on the tabletop and kicking off her shoes so she could flex her aching feet under the table.She watched as he pulled out the seat opposite and dropped into it with a sigh.‘I’m curious.Why don’t you give interviews any more?’ she said, hoping that if she just kept firing random questions at him he’d eventually give her some straight answers.He leant back in his chair and smoothed the front of his shirt down with long, tanned fingers.Jess watched the movement, fascinated by the simple beauty of his hands, noting how his fingernails were dark-rimmed with ingrained paint.There was something lovely about how his hands reflected exactly who he was.A warm and tingly feeling wound through her belly—and lower—as her thoughts slid towards what sort of mischief he could get up to if he put those amazing hands of his on her body.She really needed to stop thinking about him like this; it wasn’t conducive to getting the best out of the interview if all she could think about was how damn sexy he was.‘I’ve had some bad experiences with the press twisting things I’ve said.They take things out of context and make me sound like an idiot.’ He leant forward in his chair.‘And I prefer to keep my private life just that—private,’ he said, giving her a knowing smile and stretching out his legs under the table, his calf brushing gently against hers.‘But I’m sure I can trust you to give me a fair write-up, Jess, especially as I have the power to make you look bad, too.You don’t want your bad-hair day hanging on someone’s wall for ever, do you?’Her breath seemed to be coming out in shorter gasps than normal, which was making her light-headed.Sucking in a deep, calming slug of air, she carefully moved her leg away from his and attempted to centre herself before responding.‘You wouldn’t do that.’ The shake in her voice made it clear she totally believed he would.He laughed.‘Of course not.I’m only joking.I promise to be true to your character.’She nodded slowly.‘So what happened last year to kill your muse?’ she asked casually, glancing up at him through her lashes in the hope he’d answer without thinking.He gave her such a what the hell are you talking about? look she shrank back into her seat in disgrace.Okay, so it wasn’t the most professional way to conduct the interview, but then again she had nothing to lose throwing out provocative questions.In fact, if she was going to get something juicy enough to satisfy Pamela she was going to have to push the boat right out and straight into enemy waters.Xander must have thought he’d reacted a bit too strongly because he flicked her a smile and manipulated his body into a more relaxed posture.‘My muse isn’t dead, just resting.I had a few years where I worked pretty intensively and I needed a break.’‘So taking a break had nothing to do with the reviews you had of your last exhibition, then?’His expression darkened and he leant forward in his chair.‘You really think I care about the opinions of a few talentless hacks? I have zero respect for people who don’t have the ability to produce their own art so spend their time and energy trashing other people’s work instead.They’re a waste of space and not something I’m willing to talk about again, so you can cross that one off your list of probing questions for Xander.’ The cold resentment in his voice made her shiver.Okay, lesson learned, she wasn’t going to be able to rush this.Probably best to keep the conversation bland for now and build up to the more probing questions.After all, if he wanted more time to sketch her she could afford to take things slowly and build his trust in her before slipping him the leading questions.* * *Xander relaxed back into his chair and attempted to shake off the unsettling avalanche of anxiety that Jess’s questions had buried him in [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.’The dining room was just as impressive as the living room with an enormous, highly polished dining table sitting pretty in the middle of the room, surrounded by what looked like twenty high-backed chairs.Another enormous chandelier, this time made from hundreds of pieces of blown glass in the shape of a flock of birds, let out a warm, low light over the room.‘Wow, the light fixtures here are amazing,’ Jess said, staring at it in wonder.‘Pretty cool, huh?’ Xander said, stopping next to her to admire it, too.‘Roberto, who owns this place, made it.He’s sickeningly talented.’He was standing so close to her she caught another waft of his amazing citrusy scent, which sent an energised prickle right up her spine.‘How lovely of him to let you use his place,’ she said, taking a careful step into the room, away from him.‘Yeah, he’s a really generous guy.We worked on a couple of projects together a few years back, before we both started getting successful.He lets friends come and stay here when they need to escape for a bit.’‘So you’re escaping right now?’ she asked, turning back to look at him.His expression closed over.‘I need a bit of space to concentrate on a new exhibition, away from the din of the city.’‘And away from the temptation of all those parties?’ she said, raising a playful eyebrow, hoping he’d bite and give her a bit of gossipy goodness that she could incorporate into her article.‘Oh, I don’t know.I’m sure I can find a party round here if I really want to,’ he said, moving his shoulder in a circular motion as if trying to relieve a trapped nerve.‘Have you hurt your shoulder?’ she asked.‘Nah, I’m just a bit tense from being bent over drawing today.Why, are you offering to rub it for me?’ He flipped her a provocative grin.‘You don’t want me giving you a massage—I’m terrible at it,’ she said, smoothing a lock of hair behind her ear, then flipping it back out again so it swung back to join the rest of her bob.She had a horrible urge to hide her face from him.He was so confusing with his ability to flip the conversation from something innocuous into something that made her jitter with barely contained anxiety.He gave her a questioning frown.‘I don’t believe it.How can you be terrible at massaging?’She shrugged.‘It’s just not something I count as one of my talents.’‘Hmm.’ He was looking at her with such an intense, searching stare it made her insides twist.She wasn’t used to dealing with such overt flirtatiousness.The men she’d dated in the past had been attractive guys, but nothing like the unwieldy package of sexual energy that Xander Heaton embodied.He was something else entirely.Walking past her, he pulled out a chair from the table and gestured for her to sit down.She nodded her thanks and perched herself on the edge of the leather-upholstered chair, folding her hands on the tabletop and kicking off her shoes so she could flex her aching feet under the table.She watched as he pulled out the seat opposite and dropped into it with a sigh.‘I’m curious.Why don’t you give interviews any more?’ she said, hoping that if she just kept firing random questions at him he’d eventually give her some straight answers.He leant back in his chair and smoothed the front of his shirt down with long, tanned fingers.Jess watched the movement, fascinated by the simple beauty of his hands, noting how his fingernails were dark-rimmed with ingrained paint.There was something lovely about how his hands reflected exactly who he was.A warm and tingly feeling wound through her belly—and lower—as her thoughts slid towards what sort of mischief he could get up to if he put those amazing hands of his on her body.She really needed to stop thinking about him like this; it wasn’t conducive to getting the best out of the interview if all she could think about was how damn sexy he was.‘I’ve had some bad experiences with the press twisting things I’ve said.They take things out of context and make me sound like an idiot.’ He leant forward in his chair.‘And I prefer to keep my private life just that—private,’ he said, giving her a knowing smile and stretching out his legs under the table, his calf brushing gently against hers.‘But I’m sure I can trust you to give me a fair write-up, Jess, especially as I have the power to make you look bad, too.You don’t want your bad-hair day hanging on someone’s wall for ever, do you?’Her breath seemed to be coming out in shorter gasps than normal, which was making her light-headed.Sucking in a deep, calming slug of air, she carefully moved her leg away from his and attempted to centre herself before responding.‘You wouldn’t do that.’ The shake in her voice made it clear she totally believed he would.He laughed.‘Of course not.I’m only joking.I promise to be true to your character.’She nodded slowly.‘So what happened last year to kill your muse?’ she asked casually, glancing up at him through her lashes in the hope he’d answer without thinking.He gave her such a what the hell are you talking about? look she shrank back into her seat in disgrace.Okay, so it wasn’t the most professional way to conduct the interview, but then again she had nothing to lose throwing out provocative questions.In fact, if she was going to get something juicy enough to satisfy Pamela she was going to have to push the boat right out and straight into enemy waters.Xander must have thought he’d reacted a bit too strongly because he flicked her a smile and manipulated his body into a more relaxed posture.‘My muse isn’t dead, just resting.I had a few years where I worked pretty intensively and I needed a break.’‘So taking a break had nothing to do with the reviews you had of your last exhibition, then?’His expression darkened and he leant forward in his chair.‘You really think I care about the opinions of a few talentless hacks? I have zero respect for people who don’t have the ability to produce their own art so spend their time and energy trashing other people’s work instead.They’re a waste of space and not something I’m willing to talk about again, so you can cross that one off your list of probing questions for Xander.’ The cold resentment in his voice made her shiver.Okay, lesson learned, she wasn’t going to be able to rush this.Probably best to keep the conversation bland for now and build up to the more probing questions.After all, if he wanted more time to sketch her she could afford to take things slowly and build his trust in her before slipping him the leading questions.* * *Xander relaxed back into his chair and attempted to shake off the unsettling avalanche of anxiety that Jess’s questions had buried him in [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]