New Beginnings (15 page)

The only thing I could hear was Xavier’s harsh and angry breathing. I was too scared to look at him for fear of what I would see on his face. We stayed like this for several minutes. Me, sitting on the bed quietly playing with my engagement ring, and Xavier standing close by desperately trying to calm himself.

After several minutes, exhausted from the emotional day, I got up to go into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Strong arms wrapped around me from behind stopping me dead in my tracks. He hauled me up against him so quickly that he forced the air from my lungs in a loud huff. Burying his head in my neck, he took a long, deep breath.

“Am I forgiven?” he whispered.

“Of course you are. You know that,” I whispered back.

“Don’t ever doubt my feelings for you. Ever. When she made a move to touch me it made me physically ill, Ella.”

“I know,” I said.

He spun me around. “Oh? You know?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his quizzical look. “Yes, Mr. Hart. I do. I know because I felt exactly the same way when Devlin mashed his mouth to mine.”

He smirked at me. “Yes, I guess you would know. Hmm, Devlin was right. You are an amazing woman, and you are all mine.” He kissed me with such intensity that it said end of discussion as he hauled me off to bed.

Much to my surprise, I woke the following morning ravenous. I groped along the bed only to find the sheets were cold and empty next to me. How long has he been up? I glanced at the bedside clock. It’s only 7:30 in the morning. I dashed to the bathroom with plans of setting out and finding Xavier as soon as I was done.

There was no need to search for him, though. As soon as I exited the bathroom, his beautiful smiling face holding a breakfast tray greeted me.

“Well, so much for surprising you with breakfast in bed,” he said, looking disappointed.

I quickly ran over and jumped back into the bed. “Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you now, Mr. Hart.”

He chuckled and shook his head as he made his way over to me. Carefully, he set the tray down. There was a plate with a mound of scrambled eggs with cheese and mushrooms, lightly buttered toast, a few strips of perfectly cooked bacon, and what is that? “Xavier, is that potato pancakes?” I asked astounded.

“Yes,” he said hesitantly. “Bev hasn’t made them in a while. They are kind of a pain having to shred the potatoes and onions like that, but they are my favorite. Do you like them?”

“I love them. My mom used to make them all the time when I was little. Thank you,” I said sincerely. Without wasting another minute, I dug right in.

I noted with deep affection that there was also a small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, a cup of my favorite tea, a small vase with a single pink rose, and the newspaper neatly rolled up. I couldn’t help but chuckle. It looked like something right out of the movies.

“What’s so funny?” he asked

“This?” I gestured to the elaborate tray before me. “I was just thinking that it looks like something right out of a movie like … I don’t know … Trading Places.”

He looked at me with mock horror for a moment. “Are you saying I’m Coleman the butler then?”

I burst out laughing so hard I almost knocked the tray over.

“Damn! And here I thought I was more like Winthrope,” he said laughing.

“Ha! And what’s that make me, Louie? Penelope or Ophelia?”

“Hmm, that’s a tough one,” he said, looking deep in thought for a moment. “They both give me a stiffy.”

I looked at him in shock for a moment before we both burst out laughing again.

As soon as we were able to catch our breaths, he urged me to finish eating. “Once you’ve finished your breakfast, I want you to open that paper. But, only after you’ve finished eating,” he warned.

“Okay.” Intrigued by what he was up to, I was eager to be done with breakfast. But I was enjoying the delicious food that was before me so much that I decided to savor it instead. Xavier’s impatience was starting to show, which only encouraged me to continue to savor my breakfast. He kept glancing over at me asking if I was getting full, or was I done yet, or had I had enough. I couldn’t help but snicker. He was desperate for me to see what was in that paper.

When I finally indicated I was done, he swooped in and grabbed the paper before I could even reach for it.

“Hey!” I said indignantly.

He just gave me his beautiful half smile that I loved so much and opened the paper with a flourish. I glanced down and froze at the story directly under the local news heading on the first page. The headline seemed to jump off the page.

Carefully, as if it might break, I placed the paper down on the tray. I knew this was a big deal for him knowing what had transpired with his former fiancé. If their engagement announcement hadn’t of appeared in the paper, Xavier believes her ex-boyfriend wouldn’t have taken her life. He feared I could suffer a similar fate knowing how Stephen had already come after us both with a gun. Granted it was unloaded, unbeknown to us at the time, but what was stopping Stephen from coming back this time with a loaded gun? It’s the major reason why Xavier fought so hard to keep our engagement out of the paper, until it got leaked a few months ago. Since then, I know he knew I worried what people would think if he didn’t acknowledge our engagement. I tried to play it off like I didn’t care, but there was no way I could fool the man who knew me better than I knew myself.

I looked up at him and my heart swelled in my chest. Concern crinkled the skin around his beautiful, blue eyes while he sat and watched me waiting for my reaction.

“Thank you,” I said gratefully, my voice breaking embarrassingly.

“You’re welcome, sweetness, but know that I did not do it for you entirely.” I raised my eyebrows at him. “Yes, I know you were concerned over what people were going to think if I didn’t acknowledge our engagement, but that’s not why I did it,” he stated, looking at me intensely. “I did it because it was time that everybody knew you were mine,” he whispered in a voice that had me clenching my thighs together.

Leaning over, he wound his hands in my hair and pulled my face to his, kissing me as if his life depended on it. When he was sure he had me good and worked up, he removed the tray, pulled me out of bed, playfully spanked me on the behind, and sent me toward the bathroom.

“Go! We need to get on the road. We have a good three-hour drive ahead of us,” he said.

“A what?” I exclaimed. “After you got me all worked up? Where are we going?” I whined.

“I told you.” He chuckled at my whining. “It’s a beautiful little Bavarian town my parents used to bring my brother and me to. Trust me. They do Christmas like nobody else. Now go.”

I waited until I heard the bedroom door shut before I dashed into the closet. I found the beautifully wrapped gift and stuffed it in my Coach bag. Today was the day Xavier was going to find out that he was going to be a daddy.

As I’m sure any woman who has been pregnant will tell you, and as was confirmed by my web searches while Xavier was in Vancouver, exhaustion was the number one thing I could expect during the first trimester, and it was kicking in full swing today. Of course, the long stretch of I-90 East that was in front of us didn’t help either especially after having such a hearty breakfast. Before I knew it, warm hands were rubbing my face encouraging me to wake up.

“Hey, sweetness. We’re here,” he said chuckling.

“We’re here?” I asked groggily as I tried to wipe the sleep from my eyes. We were just getting ready to turn down a gravel road through a huge gate made out of timber. It looked like something you would see at a ranch. I sat up in my seat to get a better look after having slouched a bit from sleeping.

As Xavier made his way down the road, I gasped when the enormous house quickly came into view. Well, if you could call it a house. It really looked more like a resort, a resort that was a huge, log cabin and a monster circular drive.

Xavier parked at the front door and came around to open my door. “Come. Let me show you around before I bring the bags in.”

He paused for a moment at the front door. “I didn’t tell you, but this is my brother’s place. He’s letting me use it this weekend. It’s got six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and it’s something like eight thousand square feet. We might need the GPS to navigate our way around.” He laughed nervously.

I gave him a chaste kiss and urged him to open the door. He was worried about my reaction to the opulence of it all, but knowing now that it wasn’t his helped me to relax a bit.

He swung the door open and placed his hand at the small of my back as he guided me in. I gaped at the sight before me. The beautiful hardwood floors, timber ceiling, walls, stairs, and banisters were breathtaking, but with a homey rustic feel. A huge stone fireplace dominated the living room. Like Xavier’s condo, this house was an open floor plan.

He led me further into the house past the huge dining room table that could easily seat ten, the fully equipped professional kitchen, and out onto the back deck. The back of the house backed up to a river. The sounds of the water rushing over the rocks was both relaxing and mesmerizing.

Xavier snaked his arms around me from behind and snuggled his nose into my neck. “I know it’s cold and that it’s recently snowed, but I fully intend on breaking open that hot tub later tonight.” He kissed me behind the ear sending a shiver down my spine. “Come,” he said as he grabbed my hand and dragged me back into the house.

I was going to have to tell him before he cracked open that hot tub. Now that I was pregnant, there was going to be no hot tub for me. I hoped he wasn’t going to be disappointed about that. Shit, what if he got mad? Maybe I’m totally ruining his plans? What if that completely pisses him off?

He stopped just inside the door. Spinning around, he grabbed my face and stared into my eyes intently. “What is it, baby? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said, smiling weakly at him.

He continued to stare into my eyes for another moment. “Come on.” He dragged me upstairs and continued the tour.

The upstairs loft was open and wrapped around the interior of the house. There were two small stone fireplaces with big, comfy chairs in front of them, a small bar, a billiard table, and a table to play cards at.

The rooms off the loft consisted of the bedrooms and bathrooms, a home office, and a small home theater.

Xavier left me in the master bedroom while he went to retrieve the bags. The wood that the huge, king-size bed was made out of matched the wood the beams of the house were made from. A huge stone fireplace dominated one corner. The windows overlooked the river that ran behind the house.

I wandered into the bathroom. A huge Jacuzzi bathtub was in the corner that I smiled widely at. I couldn’t sit in the hot tub, but I could sit in a Jacuzzi bathtub so long as it wasn’t hot. Maybe Xavier will be okay with the compromise.

“You want to try out the tub?” Xavier asked huskily making me jump. “Oh, baby, I’m sorry.” He hugged me closely. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine. Really. I just didn’t hear you.” I kissed him softly on the lips. “And, yes. I would love to try out the tub. Later.” I winked at him and extricated myself from his arms so I could go unpack. He sighed heavily and joined me in the unpacking. “So, where is this town that knows how to do Christmas like no other?”