"I still hate it," she said.
"That's the moment you realized you were mine," he said in satisfaction.
"I'm not - nor will I ever be - yours," she corrected him firmly.
"That's not what the pic says."
"What a nightmare," she mumbled. "At least the kids will love it."
"Forgot about those."
She laughed. "Not so interested in me now, are you, Romeo? They watch your show. They'll definitely like this pic, though I intend to keep it - and you - away from them."
There was a long pause. She waited for him to catapult her out of his lap and fire her after the reminder, happy to have baited him for the second time.
"Makes sense," he said.
"What makes sense?"
"Leverage. I knew someone had something on you, or you wouldn't have showed up this morning," he reasoned. "I assume whoever it is was the one who broke your arm. Probably when you tried to quit."
She tensed. "It wasn't broken."
"Yeah, it was."
Just that fast, he'd turned the tables on her once more. Her victory was gone. Xander placed the iPad on the table. Jessi tried to sit up, but he held her in place by wrapping his other arm around her shoulders.
"Relax. You aren't going anywhere," he said. "Should I guess what you're after?"
"No," she said then rushed on. "I'm not after anything. Got two kids, need a job. It's that easy."
"Someone who can break your arm with one hand isn't someone you'll likely disappoint," he continued.
"Xander, I don't want to play games with you. Can we stop here, get back on schedule and just forget about the photo shoot?" she asked in what she hoped was a level tone. "It's like going to the doctor's office. It'll be over soon, so let's just get through this."
"Perfectly reasonable," he said.
"Okay, good. Now, let me up."
"Except that you're here to take something of mine. I don't know what, but I'm pretty sure I don't want you walking off with my shit at the end of the week."
"You're assuming the worst of me."
"I know human nature."
What did she say? He was right.
"Book signing in an hour," he said.
"You wrote a book?"
"Ingrid did and put my name on it," Xander said.
"You are what's wrong with society today," she grumbled. "You contribute nothing, yet the whole world revolves around you."
"This coming from a would-be thief."
"At least I'm doing it for a good cause, instead of being motivated to fill my bed with a new lover every night," she retorted.
"Life is about choice," he replied. "You always have one. When you think you don't, you're overlooking something."