Lizzy Ford by Damian Eternal) Xander's Chance (#1

the inside out. She concentrated on the shirt.
     

     
    Xander saw the signs then, the red on her face and the slight tremble of her hands. She was telling the truth; she was anxious. But that did nothing to explain to him how an oblivious Natural who was able to block his mind power just happened to end up in his home.
    He didn’t believe in coincidences or chance. Jonny had to have sent this girl here for a reason. Except, for the first time in his existence, Xander wasn’t able to read the mind of the only person who knew why. He couldn’t even sense her, until he was close enough to touch her. She was invisible to his magic.
    This is a fucking nightmare.
    He felt like he’d been hit by a hurricane. After randomly crossing paths with someone whose mind he couldn’t penetrate, he’d suddenly found her in his house. She didn’t melt when their bodies brushed, and she appeared completely immune – or ignorant – of the affect he normally had on women.
    Ingrid claimed to hire an ugly, old assistant, but the woman concerned more about the stain on his shirt than being around a vampire was enchanting, with long, loose blonde curls, olive-tinted skin and feathery eyelashes that set off striking gray eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, her body unlike those of the models he normally took to bed. She was shorter, for one, toned and shapely, with round hips and large breasts, and a tucked waist. Her features were even and firm, her lips plump and glimmering with sparkly gloss. She was dressed much more normally than Ingrid in dark jeans and a simple, fitted blue t-shirt with bright coral nail polish.
    He wasn’t able to read her mind, but she didn’t look like someone there to betray him. She had kids, somewhat of a liability to someone out to hurt him, because he took mercy on no one. There was an unguarded sweetness to her and her nervous chatter. She was definitely not like Ingrid or the women he preferred. Most were rotten to the core, jaded or desperate, because that’s the way he liked them.
    “You’re about to fire me, aren’t you?” she asked as he continued to glare at her silently.
    “I probably should.”
    A shadow crossed her face, before she averted her eyes. Any way he looked at the situation, she didn’t belong here. Which meant – whatever her intentions were – she was a new kind of challenge, and Xander found himself intrigued. Maybe this is what he needed, especially after the disconcerting talk with Eden the prior day.
    “Fall colors,” she said in the tense silence. “I’d change your décor to fall colors. Maroons, browns. Something warmer and more intimate.”
    “That’s your impression of me? Warm and intimate? Like Santa Clause or some shit?”
    “Definitely not Santa Clause,” she said with a laugh. “But otherwise, yeah. You seem to have depth, but this place is like a hospital. I can’t stand all the right angles in here, by the way. There’s no room to breathe.”
    Xander glanced around. The perfect alignment of the interior of his condo was born of his desire to control his surroundings. It was instinctive after so many years. He knew he did it; he wanted it that way. The world outside his temporary home was constantly changing; here, he was almost at ease.
    No depth. She was right. He wanted challenge everywhere but here. It explained why he was so unsettled with this woman; she was intruding in his orderly place of refuge.
    She’d make a great tool to use against any enemies he wanted to spy on, he admitted. They’d be unable to sense her, until she was within striking range. Did Jonny figure that out and plan to use her against him? If so, what was the Black God after?
    “Do you prefer dark brown or dark gray?” she asked absently.
    “Black. Why?”
    “I’m trying to have a conversation.”
    “What color I like has no bearing on anything,” he said then tilted his head to the side. “Which do you prefer?”
    “Of the two: Brown. Like chocolate. It goes with just