When I left later on that night, finally pulling myself from his warm body and strong arms, he handed me a card with his cell phone number on it.

Question was, would I ever actually use it? Tempting as it was, I didn’t know how we would be able to work around my profession and the way we’d met. There were some things I wasn’t sure anyone could get past. And one day I feared he would resent me if I continued to whore myself out to men for money.

Not to mention the fact that there was no way in hell I would ever let another one of the girls touch him if he were my man. Sharing was not my thing.

Plus there was the very real attraction I still had for Xavier. Something I was pushing to the back of mind and hoping it stayed there. But right then, I had to be honest with myself.

Being with Marx had been… nice.

Being with Xavier had been… extraordinary.

Whenever I envisioned the life I wanted for myself, I always saw a home on the lake with Sophie running around in the yard, throwing rocks in the water. Maybe a little brother or sister chasing after her.

And even further, I always saw a large bed, and a strong man wrapped around me, moving inside me, telling me how much he loved me. And unfortunately for me, the man my mind’s eye conjured up these days was Xavier.

When the man began to transform into him, I wasn’t sure. How to make it stop, I was equally perplexed on.

Maybe going out with Marx would help solve that particular problem, I mused.

A knock on the door had me taking off my pink rubber gloves and tossing them into the sink.

On my way out of the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Short blue cotton shorts that were just shy of being indecent, white ribbed tank top showing a good amount of cleavage, no makeup and my hair piled on my head.

Good thing it probably isn’t the queen, I thought wryly.

Two men stood at the threshold when I opened the door. Both had gray pants and gray and white striped shirts with a moving company logo on the pocket.

“Can I help you?” I asked with a cocked head.

“We’re here to load up your stuff for the move,” the older of the two said, his eyes looking over the paperwork on his clipboard. The younger gentleman was busy running his beady eyes over my body. You’d think I’d be used to men leering at me, but right then I felt like clearing my throat and telling him, Eyes up here, buddy. Or punching him in the throat. It was a tossup.

“I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong address,” I told the first gentleman.

“You Aurora James?” He looked up from the clipboard with a raised brow.

“Yes.”

“Got orders here to pack your apartment up,” he informed me.

“Um…” I mumbled, unsure how to handle him. I had no plans for moving. Would I like to move? Sure. No one in their right mind would want to live in this dump. I had even considered finding a new place but decided the low rent made for an easier time to save up money.

“We’ll be back tomorrow for the actual move,” he continued. “My name is George, and this here is Scotty. Mind if we come in and get started? We have strict instructions to be done today.”

“I do mind, actually. There’s been some kind of mix-up because, well, I’m not moving.”

“Look, miss. It says right here that you are. See?” He thrust the clipboard in my hand and I looked down at the work order clipped to it. My eyes scanned my name and address, landing on the address my stuff was to be taken to. Lakeshore Drive? What the hell?

I flipped the page and scanned the next document, looking for some sort of clue as to what the hell was going on, stopping short when a familiar name and number caught my attention.

Of course. Why else would he have called me Aurora?

Deep inside, though I tried to ignore it, I secretly loved that it was becoming second nature to think of myself as Aurora, while at the same time I hated the fact that Xavier’s order of forgetting Alyssa was becoming all too real. I could see how the two women were melding together into one.

“Why don’t you come in and have a seat for a moment?” I suggested, stepping back from the doorway to give them access to the living room. “I have a quick phone call to make.”

Leaving the two sitting on my couch, I stomped down the hall to my bedroom and slammed the door shut behind me. My fingers stabbed the screen in anger as I dialed the number.

After a few rings, voicemail picked up. I cursed and tried again only to come up with the same result.

Deciding on the next best thing, I dialed again and waited.

“Yeah.” The burly voice answered the phone on the second ring.

“Where is he, Ghost?” I bit out into the phone.

“Why do you want to know?” he lobbed back, knowing full well who would have me rankled this way.

“Because I have two movers in my house ready to pack up my belongings and take them to my new residence on Lakeshore Drive. That’s why,” I shouted into the phone.

“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath.

“That about sums it up.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” The phone disconnected and I threw it onto my bed even though I really just wanted to throw it at Xavier’s head.

An hour later, poor George looked like he was going to be sick watching the minutes tick by on his watch. I guess he took his orders seriously.

Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t about to let them pack up my belongings.

So, there he and Scotty sat, watching television and waiting. Considering Xavier was the only one who George would listen to about the change in plans, they had no choice.

While they waited, I alternately paced the room and stared at my phone. Neither Ghost nor Xavier had bothered texting me or calling me back, and now both their phones were going to voicemail. Their casualness in this situation was pissing me off something fierce.

George jumped a mile when the front door flew open and Sophie burst through it with Ruth on her tail.

“Mommy,” she cried in delight, throwing herself in my arms.

“How was your sleepover, sweetie?” I asked her in between smacking kisses on her cheeks that had her giggling.

“We had popcorn and watched Aladdin!”

“You did? That sounds like so much fun.”

“What’s going on here?” Ruth asked, eyeing the two men on the couch speculatively.

“Just a small misunderstanding,” I lied.

“Do you want me to stay?” she offered, obviously not trusting the men.

“No. It’ll be fine,” I assured her and rose from my crouch, setting Sophie on the floor. I moved to the door and opened it for her. “Thank you for watching her last night.”

“It was my pleasure,” Ruth said right before she stopped dead in her tracks and stared out the door with wide eyes.

I looked around the door to see what had her looking so freaked out and was met with the sight of Xavier’s way too good-looking face. Rather than his customary suit, his long, thick legs were encased in faded jeans and his biceps bulged against his short-sleeved green Henley shirt. My stomach dipped at the evidence that a casually dressed Xavier was just as deadly as a formally dressed Xavier.

Bastard. He could have at least grown a mole or, I don’t know, gotten plastic surgery to make himself look ugly since the last time I had seen him. It would have been the polite thing for him to do.

“Aurora,” he greeted me coolly even though his eyes blazed with hunger as he took in my attire. Only when he was done mentally undressing me did he shoulder his way past us into the apartment.

“Aurora?” Ruth asked in confusion at the same time I said in a scathing tone.

“Xavier.”

He stopped in the middle of the room like he owned the place, his face blank and his arms crossed on his chest.