Page 92 of Wildflower
I let out a small laugh at the sight of him, and he twitches.
Fuck.
Okay, I really need to get a move on. What’s the worst that can happen?
I step past the dog and down the stairs. The house creaks the whole way down, and I curse along with it. As fast as I can, I shove my feet into my damp leather shoes, and I hear the animal panting as he flounders down the stairs.
Instinctively, I look up, and meet the dog’s eyes. It’s as if he takes it as an invitation, and before I can think another thought, he tumbles down the last steps, making a bloody racket.
I get a leg-full of saliva, trying to keep him at bay while opening the door.
“Stay here, Beanie,” I say, hoping he’ll listen. “Staaaay.”
“Who’s there?” a male voice sounds from upstairs. Shit.
The dog turns towards the voice, and I pop out the doorand close it behind me without the little rascal following me. I drag a hand through my hair and stride down the path.
Just as I close the wrought-iron gate behind me, there’s the sound of the front door opening.
“Hey,” the same voice says, and I turn to face a man in his boxers and a white t-shirt. He has the same eyes as Rey and ruffled hair, the same dark brown as hers. Xander. I’m expecting to get an earful and square my shoulders. The adrenaline is already rushing.
“Mark Becker, I was afraid it’d be you,” he says after a beat.
How the fuck? Am I that recognisable? I grit my teeth, not wanting to put my foot in it.
“I overheard way more than a big brother should when I came home last night.” He winces, and I don’t even want to imagine what I’d do to someone if I heard them having sex with any of my sisters. But Xander doesn’t seemangry. He’s more … worried?
He pinches the bridge of his nose and curses to himself. “I hoped those thousand-pound shoes belonged to a different rich Mark, but here you are.”
I rub my chin, not sure what the hell I’m supposed to say. Sorry you heard your sister coming, screaming my name?
“Say something,” he says, and my eyes snap back to him.
“Pardon me?”
“Are you just like the other guy then? Preying on the interns?”
“Hey, it’s not like that,” I say, squaring my shoulders again. “We met before she started. And she’s a grown woman.”
Xander lets out a frustrated groan and rubs the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. He mutters under his breath. “Never going to be able to unhear that.”
“I have to go,” I say, not sure why he’s still just standing there. What does he expect me to do?
“Don’t play her, Mark Becker, do you hear me?”
I don’t intend to, but the adrenaline is rushing, and he’s pissing me off with his insinuations.
“Are you done?”
“For now. But I don’t trust for a second that you’re not just the same predator as your old friend, and I hope to fuck you’ll prove me wrong.”
I nod curtly and take the few steps to my Aston covered in fresh morning dew. Once I’m out of sight, I let out the breath I was holding and lean on my car. Xander’s words echo in my head.
The same predator as your old friend…
All of this is new to me. These feelings I have for Rey. I’m not a predator, and I know that, that’s never how I’ve approached women. But I know everyone will have the same idea as her brother.
That I’m just like Damian.
