Deep in You (Phoenix #1) (14 page)

“Save it, Lily. You used me.”

“Xander, I wasn’t going to write the story.”

“Why don’t I believe you? My family is off limits. Period. Why do reporters always have to poke around people’s families? What is the matter with you? And… were you taking pictures in my home gym yesterday?”

She flushed crimson. She was guilty. Why had I dismissed what I’d seen so easily? “Why did you come here today?”

“You’ve got balls to be questioning me, Lily.”

She folded her arms, fire flickering in her eyes. Damn, she was hot when angry. Too bad she was also a manipulative bitch. This was a waste of time.

I’d give her one chance to resolve this. But it would be in the privacy of my house.
Not
in full view of countless tabloid employees.

With a snarl of frustration, I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to my car, flinging open the passenger door. “Get in the car, Lily.”

“I have to get back to work.”

“Then why the fuck did you come down here?”

She stared at me, defiant. I could hear the blood pounding in my head. This was it. She could come with me and we could sort this shit, or she could choose the job she wasn’t sure she wanted in the first place. Was it unfair of me? Absolutely, but at that moment I didn’t give a shit.

She slowly approached me and lifted her hand, cupping my cheek. I glared at her, furious, my fists clenched at my sides. She stroked my face, her fingers skimmed over the outer shell of my ear. I leaned my face into her hand and exhaled heavily. “Get in the damn car, Lily.”

“Listen, I wasn’t going to write the story. I mean… I
was
going to write it, back before we’d met. I swear, Xander, I didn’t know you when I started down this path. And then we met and you were so… I don’t know. Hot. Mysterious. The sex was incredible, for sure. And there was all that stuff with the guy from the club, and you helped me. I know we didn’t really do anything other than have sex together, but you sort of got under my skin. I care about what you think. I didn’t have the heart to go public with what I’d found. But I was stuck, Amara was going to write an article about the guy you punched Saturday night, and I told her I was already covering that in
my story.
I was trying to protect you from her.”

I said nothing, just stared into her brown eyes.

“I’m not going to lie. This article could help my career… Your past is, well, exciting. Now it has our personal spin on it, and how often does the reporter get an inside scoop like this? But…” She bit her lip. “I couldn’t do that to you, to us.”

“Lily. Car. Now.” I pointed.

“No, Xander. I have to go back to work. Can we talk later?”

What?

Something she had just said stuck out to me. What did she mean, she didn’t know me when she started writing the article? “When we met in the club, you didn’t recognize me.”

“I
did
recognize you,” she whispered. “I’d been… researching your story the entire week before. I couldn’t believe my good luck when you walked in, when you approached me. I’d never been so flattered in my entire life. You actually noticed
me
.”

I stared at her in silence, my blood boiling. She had played dumb. She knew who I was all along. She really had played me.

“Please, Xander, tell me why you came here. I know it wasn’t to bring me flowers. You could have gotten those delivered if that’s all it was.”

I sighed. “Not that it matters now, but I was trying to help you.”

“Help me? How?”

“I wanted you to be able to show those assholes that you didn’t need them. That you had…”

Her face lit up. “Xander Phoenix! You came to help me make my ex jealous?”

I cleared my throat. “Not exactly. Something like that, I guess. I just didn’t want you feeling sad and embarrassed. Now, will you
please
get in the car?”

“No. I’m supposed to be working.”

“They think you’re writing an exposé on us. Call up there and tell them you’re working on your article.”

“That could work, except I’m not really writing one. They’ll notice.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I knew I shouldn’t try to force her to leave. It was the middle of the work day. Despite that, she had fucked up. She had delved into my personal life on false pretenses and, most damning, had never even told me. She had lied to me.

Would I have been okay with it had she been upfront? Maybe. I had done interviews before. Had she left my family out of it, she would have had a better shot. Besides, she was just a reporter for some irrelevant rag. Her article would probably appear alongside one claiming Michael Phelps was from Mars, had green skin, and wore a human suit to blend in.

I grabbed her and pulled her close, kissing her, forcing my tongue into her mouth. I poured all my feelings of fury, passion, and confusion into that kiss, trying to put everything on display. This was it. If she wouldn’t come with me, we were done. No compromise. I released her and backed away, trying to catch my breath. I waited in silence for her decision.

We stared at each other like a couple of fools. What was she thinking? Fuck this. Time was up. Pay or play time. I opened my mouth, but she cut me off with a wave of her hand. She drew herself up to her full height.

“Goodbye, Xander. Thanks for everything. I had a great time this weekend.” She held out her hand for me to shake.

What?
She was the one who had fucked up, yet she was giving me the brush-off? And offering me nothing but a handshake. Rage coursed through my body, and it was all I could do to maintain my outward calm.

“Lily. The pleasure was mine.” Ignoring her hand, I got into the car. I glanced back at her as I punched the bright red button for the ignition, but she was already walking back into her building.

Goodbye, Lily.
Pain lanced through my heart, replacing the fury. None of that was how I’d expected this to go.

Chapter Twelve

“No, no, no! What the hell is the matter with you, Phoenix?” Sam’s voice echoed in the expanse of my gym. It had been four long weeks. I tried to throw myself into my gymnastics, preparing for a major qualifying event coming up next week right here in Orlando, but my heart wasn’t in it… and Sam knew it.

“Sorry, Sam.” My voice was lackluster, strained. Sam ran his hands through his hair.

“Where did your focus go? Tell me you aren’t still mooning over that girl. It’s been a
month!
Let it fucking go already. Your positioning is sloppy. Your landings are terrible. You’re not even going to be a contender for the next Olympics if you don’t snap out of this shit.”

He was right and I knew it. Gymnastics was my first love… but all I could focus on were soft curves and crimson lips. They haunted my memory. The image of Lily, her hand held out for me to shake in farewell.

The ultimate cold shoulder.

She’d invaded my dreams as well, as recently as last night. It started out the same as always: the reporter with auburn hair and green eyes. She stood naked before me, unashamed and stunning. As I reached for her, though, her irises darkened to brown. Her body and face thinned out and her hair lightened to dirty blonde. Lily glared up at me, then turned and walked away. I had dreamed of her walking away from me countless times since that horrible Monday. I was bone-tired. Was it any wonder I couldn’t focus?

“Alexander!”

Shit. I realized Sam had been talking this whole time. My mind had wandered.
“What?”
I snapped.

“What the fuck is your problem?”

I shrugged.

“You’ve been a mess since your drug scare. You’ve lost your edge, man. What the hell am I here for?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re
not
fine.”

“Leave it, Sam.”

“Tell me what the hell your problem is and I’ll consider it.”

“I said fucking leave it,” I snarled.

“There we go. There is some of the fire we’ve been lacking. It’s
her
, isn’t it? That woman that got drugged. She messed you up big time.”

“Leave her out of this.”

“What I don’t understand is how she got under your skin. What was so special about her? You’ve been with countless others and never thought twice about them.”

A fair question.
The fight went out of me, and I slumped onto the mat. “She was the first one I sort of cared about, and she was the first to tell me no. To turn her back on me.”

“Dude, you sound like a chick. Snap out of it and get your shit together. Now.”

“Don’t you think I want to?”

“Let’s call it for tonight. God knows we’re not doing any good here. Relax and get your act together.
Then
, we’ll try this again. Also,
no
booze. No women. I’m not kidding. You’re screwed up enough and you have a qualifier.”

I nodded. Sam grabbed his stuff and left me in the silence of my house. I contemplated what to do. Sam said no booze or women, but already I was considering how
both
of those things might improve my general outlook. It was Saturday, but too early to hit a club. I needed to clear my head. I could go for a run, but the Orlando humidity was stifling. I picked up my cell and checked my weather app. Not too bad. I’d try it. I laced up my running shoes and headed out.

My feet pounded the pavement, and I let my mind wander as I hit my stride. This was a great idea, no focus required. I just had to pay enough attention to not get hit by a car. After that dismal practice session, my thoughts inevitably turned to Lily.

That bitch had tricked me into giving a shit about her when she had been playing me the entire time. Despite all that, I still had some insane desire to clear the air between us. I’d nearly called her so many times, but my own stubbornness had stopped me. I knew I didn’t like feeling like this. I didn’t love her, but I definitely felt something for her. Was it just lust? The only way to find out would be to try to continue our relationship. Only problem was I couldn’t control her. It drove me insane. I had tried; I told her to get in the car and she’d refused.

Had she just been jerking me around for her article? I hadn’t seen one, but I hadn’t really looked, either. No one paid any attention to tabloid articles, so why should I care? Furthermore, what was with me and reporters lately? Newspaper reporters, tabloid reporters… they were all bad news. I should steer clear.

I neared a bar and grill with outdoor seating, and I slowed to a stop.

A balding man with wire-rimmed glasses and a bad comb-over sat with a young woman. They both looked so familiar. I doubled over to catch my breath, sneakily looking closer.

Holy shit.
Mr. Retirement Fund… and Amara.

Did she know who he was, or was this a chance encounter? Did he know she was a tabloid reporter? Was she setting him up? Was he planning to attack her? I turned my back, dropping down to tie my shoes, trying to listen in.

“… it wouldn’t be so hard to get to her if you hadn’t screwed it up in the first place,” Amara hissed, her tone accusatory. They were a fair distance away, and the street noises made it difficult to hear them. I strained my ears, still crouched on the ground, all pretext of tying my shoes gone. “I paid you good money to take Lily away and get those pictures of her. Now how am I going to guarantee I get the promotion?” That last word was almost an unintelligible shriek.

I couldn’t believe it. It sounded like Lily getting drugged wasn’t a random incident; it had been orchestrated by her friend. Over a job. I was shocked that anyone could stoop that low. I straightened up to my full height and opened the gate separating the covered seating area from the passersby.

“Amara.” I bit out her name and nodded to her, my arms crossed. “Who’s your friend?”

“Xander!” she gushed. “Isn’t this a pleasant surprise? This is my business associate, Carl Franco. Carl, Xander Phoenix. Please, won’t you join us?”

“This isn’t a social visit. I heard what you two were talking about.”

Amara’s face contorted in rage, while Franco’s already pale complexion lightened further. “And what do you
think
you heard, exactly?”

My hands clenched into fists. I had to keep my cool. She would not provoke me. She didn’t want to dance with me, not here, not in public. I raised my voice. “I heard you say that you paid this m–”

“Keep your voice down!” Franco jumped to his feet and lunged around the table as though he were going to run. I was faster. His shirt clenched tight in my fist, I jerked him toward me and punched him. Pain, sharp and hot, raced through my hand as I felt his nose give way, submitting to the force of my blow. His body went slack. He fell hard to the ground, knocking a metal chair aside.

The noise of the other guests died away, leaving a bubble of silence only broken by the road noise nearby. Amara pulled out her smartphone, the screen flashing to life. I held out a hand to stop her.

“Don’t even think about it. Either of you. Just so you know, I have full toxicology reports on both Lily and myself. We have witnesses. I know what you did. You, Franco, are in deep shit. My advice? Get the fuck out of here.”