His eyes glitter in the dim room as he holds his hand out, his voice deep and scratchy. “I think you’d better show me.”
I swallow and hand it to him, climbing back onto the bed and kneeling beside him. “The last text I got should be it. There’ve been three so far. I don’t know who is sending them, but it’s obvious they are trying to get me to poke around in my mom’s past.”
I blink, realizing my eyes have become wet with unshed tears. “I don’t know if I want to know what they are trying to tell me.”
Xander scans the messages, his tongue in his cheek.
“Do you know who that is? Do you recognize the number?”
A mask slides down over his features, and I can’t read him at all when he says, “I don’t.”
“Oh.” My face falls and my head drops as I stare at my hands in my lap. I mumble, “I thought maybe it was Aria’s number.”
“It’s not.”
His short answers are kind of freaking me out. I blow out a hard breath and climb off the bed. “I need water. Is it okay if I run back down to the kitchen?”
He glances up from the phone at me. “Yeah, go ahead.”
I yank on his athletic pants, folding the top down, and pull my top over my head. I hurry out of his room and down to the kitchen, hoping I can find my way back to his room with the water.
As I enter the kitchen, it’s dark, so I fumble on the wall for a light switch, finding the one that turns on the under-cabinet lighting. It provides a dim light, enough for me to see by, for sure.
I suck in a startled breath when I realize I’m not alone. “Oh my gosh.” I put a hand to my chest. “I, uh—” I glance down at myself in Xander’s pants and my shirt. I’m absolutely free-boobing it. I cringe at my crappy luck. I never dreamed I’d run into anyone down here.
The big man sitting at the counter glances up from his glass. His voice is gruff and whiskey-soaked. “Hey. Are you a friend of Xander’s?” He swirls the drink around the bottom of the glass, looking me over, one brow raised.
Shit. I’m guessing this is Xander’s stepdad, who is supposed to be out of town. This is not exactly how I wanted to meet the man. “Um. Yes. I’m Scarlett.” I gesture toward the fridge. “I was just going to get a bottle of water, if that’s okay.”
“Certainly. Help yourself.” His icy blue eyes, which are by far his most noticeable feature in the shadowy room, roam over me, and I become decidedly uncomfortable. “I’m Sebastian Coventry.”
I can’t recall at this point if I’ve heard the name since moving to town. And, obviously, Xander has his dad’s last name. “It’s nice to meet you.” My stomach lurches and my movements are jerky as I awkwardly cross the room and fetch a couple bottles of water. Turning back around, I hold them in front of my chest. “I’m just going to get back to Xander now. It was—uh, nice to meet you.”
“Definitely. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.”
I give him a small smile and dart down the hallway. When I get back up to Xander’s room, I breathe a sigh of relief.
Xander’s lying in the middle of his big bed, eyes shut. Not knowing what the protocol is when climbing into bed with a naked man, I quickly strip again and slide under the covers with him.
My mind races for a few seconds until finally I can’t hold it in. “I met your stepdad downstairs.”
Xander’s left eye winks open. “You met Sebastian?”
“Yes. I thought you said he wasn’t home.”
“He’s not supposed to be.” He sits up, and runs a hand through his hair. As he looks down at me, guilt creeps into his expression. “Get up.”
He slips out of the bed, yanks on his joggers and tosses my clothes toward me. “You need to leave now. I need my space.”
My brain goes fuzzy at the same time my heart slams down into my stomach. “What? I don’t understand.” My hands raise to cover my bare breasts with the clothes he’s just thrown at me.
Xander grits his teeth. “What Aria said to you in the bathroom the other day was true. Everything I’ve done was to get into your pants. And now that I have …” He shrugs and sends a menacing smile my way.
My lips part, and I shake my head, unable to believe what he’s saying.
His gaze slides over my body, giving me chills. “Look, you’re a great fuck, Red, but that’s all this was to me. Get the fuck out.”