Page 25 of Xander

I was more than okay. I felt more vibrant and animated than I had in years, and I couldn’t help but credit Xander for it. It was as if I had been sleeping for the years he was gone, and he had revived me from the unwanted hibernation.

“I’ll have to take you dancing then,” he said, guiding me into the passenger seat before sliding behind the wheel. “I know a place back in Canada. It’s like a time warp. Neon lights, jukeboxes, and beer under five bucks.”

“Ha.” I laughed, my head feeling fuzzy. “You couldn’t keep up with my moves.”

The corner of his mouth crooked up. “I’m a good dancer. My mother made sure of that.”

He started the engine, and after a short drive that felt like mere seconds, the house loomed before us—large and imposing. Suddenly, I dreaded the beautiful estate that had become my solitary confinement where sunshine couldn’t reach me.

Xander cut the engine but didn’t get out of the car. “Did you have fun today?”

I was nodding even before he had finished speaking. He had no idea what today meant to me.

Xander unclipped my seat belt when I didn’t move. His hand brushed against my dress in the process and lingered there momentarily. Heat suffused my face in a heavy wash. I looked away from him, plucking at my sleeve.

“You deserve someone who isn’t going to keep you on the shelf like some dusty trophy,” he said softly.

I forced a smile, bypassing the connotation. “It’s not like that—whoa, what are you doing?”

One second, he was sitting there. The next, he was leaning in, like he was going to—to kiss me?

What the hell?

Xander was halfway across the center console, his face nearly touching mine. I let out a panicked breath, groping desperately behind me until I found the door handle and spilled out. A cold breeze ruffled the back of my linen dress, giving me goosebumps.

“Um—thank you… for lunch,” I spoke rapidly beneath the panic. “I-I’ll see you later.” I shut the door.

Oh, God. How did this afternoon flip from a fun outing to an inferno within seconds?

I nearly cringed when I heard Xander exiting the car and dogging my steps. I rushed up the stairs toward the main entrance of the mansion.

“Jordan.” The way he said my name was low, caressing. He blocked the front door with his body and held up both hands. “Stop. I just want to talk.”

I shook my head. “Have you lost your mind? Y-you tried to kiss me.”

He didn’t deny it. “Yes.”

How could he sound so casual? I might be slightly intoxicated, but not enough to call him out for crossing a line.

“How dare you?” I sputtered. “I’m your father’s wife⁠—”

“Don’t,” he hissed. The warning in his voice told me he was at the end of his rope. “Don’t say it. I can’t stand it when you refer to yourself as that.”

His father’s wife?

I tried to push past him, but he stood between me and the door like a human barricade.

“Did you know I hated you before I even met you?” he asked.

I tensed.

So, his grand plan was to humiliate me? He thought I was a gold digger, and now he’d returned to prove he was right. Today was the first good day I’d had in years, and it had been a complete farce.

“That’s your excuse? You still hate me after all these years, and you want to, what, set me up to see if I’d betray your father?”

He scoffed. “Far from it.”

“Then what?”