New Beginnings (12 page)

“I look forward to it.” I smiled weakly at him. The thought of having him all to myself for the weekend might get me through the next forty-eight hours without him.

Once we were done eating, Xavier tucked me in front of the fireplace while he cleaned up from dinner. How much longer was I going to be able to keep this pregnancy to myself? Since Tom and Renatta were going to be joining us for the Christmas holiday, maybe I should tell him this weekend when it’s just the two of us. If he’s going to be in Vancouver too I won’t have to worry about trying to avoid alcohol. I hope after he finds out that he’s not upset with me for keeping it a secret like this. I just want to make it special.

“Hey, why do you look so deep in thought?” he asked curiously.

“I was just thinking about how this will be our first real separation.”

He curled up next to me. “I’m sorry, baby. Stop thinking about it tonight.” He lifted my hair and started planting feather soft kisses along my neck. “I’m sure I can figure out some way to distract you,” he said softly against my skin.

“I’m sure you can,” I said breathlessly.

Grabbing my face in his hands, he crushed his lips to mine, thrusting his tongue into my mouth hungrily. He guided me down onto the couch as he leveled his body over mine. He made sure that my only thoughts for the rest of the night were focused solely on him.

Tuesday morning, Xavier woke me so I could share a shower and have breakfast with him before he left. I was grateful for the extra time with him since I wouldn’t be seeing him until Thursday night. The thought of having to go that long without him depressed me. I tried not to let that fact dampen the time I had with him, but my emotions were all over the place. I silently blamed the pregnancy.

While I waited for him to gather his things, I wandered over to the Christmas tree. Our new Waterford heart ornament immediately caught my eye. Suddenly, two strong arms wrapped around me from behind. One warm hand spread out over my abdomen and pulled me tight against him. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to rest on his chest.

“You’re killing me, Ella,” he whispered in my ear. “Please don’t look so sad, baby. You know I’ll hurry back as soon as I can.”

“I’m not hiding my disappointment very well.” I sighed heavily. “I’m sorry. I know you will. Take care of business and then we’ll have the weekend.” I softly caressed his hand that was spread out on my abdomen. “Thank you for getting me up this morning so we could have this time together.”

He gently turned me around and cupped my face in his soft, warm hands. “I needed that time. Memories of how your body arches beneath my touch. The little sounds you make when you get really excited. Those wonderful moments spent with you will carry me through the next two days,” he said softly.

I blushed furiously at the images his words invoked. His thumbs ran over my heated cheeks. Those glorious, blue eyes were locked onto mine. That musky, manly smell that was Xavier filled my nose. I snaked my hands under his jacket and wrapped them around his back. He sealed his mouth over mine. The warmth of his hands left my face so he could run them down to my lower back. He pressed me tight against him. I ran my nails over his back, and was rewarded with that sexy rumble from his chest that I loved so much.

“Excuse me, Mr. Hart?” Stewart’s voice broke through my euphoric haze.

Xavier’s face slowly pulled away, but his arms remained locked around me. Embarrassed at being caught by Stewart, I tried to step away from Xavier but he held me fast.

“We need to go, sir.”

“Thank you, Stewart.” Xavier turned back to me. “I’m sorry, sweetness. I’ll call you as soon as I land.” He grabbed my face and kissed me chastely. “I miss you already.”

All I could do was nod at him. Placing my hands over his as he held my face and mouthed, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said softly. Another chaste kiss and he was gone.

I plopped down onto the couch feeling desolate. The weight of his absence pressed down on me making it difficult to breath. Fighting tears, I dropped my face into my hands. Xavier’s scent clung to them, which only caused the tears to silently flow down my face. What the hell was wrong with me? My hormones were wrecking havoc with my emotions.

Suddenly, the couch dipped next to me. A feminine hand gently rubbed my shoulder. “Is everything all right, Ella?” Bev softly asked.

Embarrassed by my ridiculous reaction to Xavier’s departure, I swiped at my cheeks. “Yes. Everything is fine, Bev,” I said hoarsely. I tried to clear my throat. “I should get ready to leave for work. I don’t want to keep Renatta waiting.” I went to stand up and swayed when a wave of dizziness hit.

“Ella?” Bev grabbed my arm and guided me back down to the couch. “This isn’t just about Xavier leaving. I know this is none of my business, but are you feeling all right? You look pale and completely dra …” Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened. She just figured out I was pregnant. It was all over her face.

I paused for a moment. “Bev, the answer to that look on your face is yes. I’m pregnant.” I gave her a small smile.

Her eyes welled up with happy tears. “Congratulations, Ella.” She wrapped her arms gently around me. “I’m so happy for you two.”

“I haven’t told Xavier yet.” She pulled away quickly and frowned. “I just had it confirmed by the doctor yesterday. I have a surprise in mind for telling him. I’m going to do it this weekend, Friday to be exact. The only other person who knows is Renatta.”

“It’s probably best that you waited anyway. Otherwise, I fear Xavier never would have left for his business trip today. He’s going to be thrilled. Have no fear. Your secret is safe with me. When are you due?”

“July 27th.”

“So close to both your birthdays. You’ll let me know if there is anything in particular you are craving or if there is anything special you need? I’ll gladly make a special trip to the store for you,” she said, winking at me.

“Thank you, Bev.” I gave her a hug. “I really should be going.”

By the time I got to Equinox, Renatta was pacing on the sidewalk. Her frown morphed into a smile as soon as she saw me.

“Where have you been?” she asked as she climbed in.

“I’m sorry. Xavier lingered a little longer then he should have this morning,” I said sadly.

“Shit. I’m sorry, El. I forgot he was leaving,” she said apologetically. “Are you okay?”

“No. My damn emotions are all over the place. Bev figured it out. I only confirmed what she already knew.”

“You told her? You’re not worried about her telling Xavier?” she asked incredulously.

“No. Bev won’t say anything. Besides, Xavier gets back Thursday night and we leave Friday morning for the weekend. I decided to tell him Friday night. I can’t keep avoiding wine with dinner without him getting too suspicious.”

Renatta nodded in silent agreement.

While we were at our first location, Xavier called. “Hey, hotness.” I tried to sound upbeat, which was easier to do than I expected based on the huge smile that broke out on my face at the sight of his name on the screen of my phone.

He chuckled. “Hey, sweetness.”

“How was your flight?”

“The flight was good. The landing a bit bumpy, but that happens sometimes with water.”

“With water?” I asked suspiciously.

“Yes. We have to take a floatplane from Lake Union to Vancouver.”

“A floatplane?” I asked puzzled.

“You know, one of those planes that takes off from and lands on water. The flight is only an hour.”

I sucked my breath in as I pictured a dangerous little prop plane. “A little prop plane?”

“Yes, a little prop plane. They are perfectly safe, Ella. Don’t get stressed out. I’ve got to run, baby. My ride is here. I love you,” he said sincerely.

“I love you, too.” Within seconds, the line went dead. I dived into work in hopes that it would keep me from becoming another emotional mess.

In the late afternoon, Renatta asked if it would be all right if she spent the night with me. Apparently, Tom was in Spokane covering the bridal festival, and, like me, she wasn’t looking forward to going home to an empty house. Since I’ve spent so little time with her since moving out to Seattle, I quickly agreed. A girl’s night was just what I needed to keep from thinking too much about Xavier.

I called Bev and gave her the night off since we planned on picking up a pizza on the way home. Before we could even order it, Devlin was calling Renatta to see what she had planned for this evening. His girlfriend was currently on her way to Portland for an overnight trip with some girlfriends. “Sure,” I said. “Let’s make it a party.”

By the time we pulled into the condo garage, Devlin was already parked in Xavier’s spot just as I had instructed him to do. He stepped out of the car with a big smile on his face and held up two six packs of beer.

Renatta snorted. “Ella won’t be drinking any of that,” she said in a derisive tone as she pointed to the beer. Devlin gave her a puzzled look. Before I could even stop her, she blurted, “She’s pregnant.” I rolled my eyes at her and launched into the details surrounding my pregnancy as Devlin peppered me with questions.

Once we got upstairs, I showed both Renatta and Devlin to their rooms. Devlin joked saying he was going to need a GPS to find his way around the astronomical condo. I smacked him teasingly on the shoulder as we made our way back out to the living room.

Renatta had the pizza, some paper plates, and one of the six packs out on the table. I turned the TV on and handed the remote to Devlin while I grabbed water from the kitchen.

Renatta and I quickly discovered that Devlin was an avid fan of chick flicks. This was made evident by his excitement when he stumbled across the beginning of Sleepless in Seattle on one of the cable channels. It was his ability to recite most of the lines that had both us gaping at him. Renatta joked and said she was never going to let him live this down.

Despite my pleas to slow down on the beer, Renatta ended up getting quite tipsy. Thankfully, Devlin was around to help her off to bed.

“She’s going to regret that in the morning,” he joked, as he made his way back out to the living room.

I moved up onto the couch. “Oh, I don’t know. She usually bounces back pretty quick. Thanks for taking care of her.”

“Not a problem. Glad I was here to help. How long have you two known each other?” he asked. He curled up on the couch next to me. His close proximity made me a little uneasy. Devlin himself was also tipsy. Between the two of them, they managed to kill both six packs.

“About fourteen years. She’s five years older than me. In a lot of ways she’s like the sister I never had.”

“I get that. She’s always had a maternal feel to me or maybe it’s because of our age difference. But she also seems … protective at times.”

I laughed. “That’s Renatta.”

He looked down at me with a small smile. “You have a great laugh and a beautiful smile. I hope Xavier manages to extract both from you frequently.”

“He does,” I assured him. I stifled a yawn.

“I’m keeping you awake,” he said softly.

I reached over and grabbed the pizza box and the used paper plates and got up to take them into the kitchen. Devlin turned the TV off and followed. “Can I help with anything?” he asked kindly.

“No, thanks. I’ll take the pizza box out tomorrow. Leave the bottles. Bev will take care of them in the morning.” I pointed to the empty beer bottles on the counter.

“Bev?” he asked quizzically.

“Oh, Xavier’s housekeeper and cook. Well, she’s really more like part of the family then an employee of his.” We started to head down the hall towards the bedrooms.

As we approached the room he was staying in, he gently grabbed my arm. “Thank you for letting me crash your little party, Ella.” There was something serious about the look on his face that set me on edge.

“Don’t mention it, Devlin. Good night.”

Before I could turn to walk away, he grabbed my upper arms and mashed his mouth to mine. I clamped my mouth closed and pushed on his chest. Within seconds, he let go of me and stepped back. I wiped at my mouth with the back of my hand. He stood frozen with his eyes wide and his mouth gaping.

“I’m so sorry, Ella. You remind me so much of Donna. I’ve been drinking and I … I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to …” He looked contrite as he stumbled over his words.

I frowned at him. “Don’t ever do that again. There’s only one man for me and you’re not him,” I said in warning.

“I know. I’m sorry,” he pleaded.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “My ex-husband had an affair that lasted for years. Cheating isn’t something that I tolerate. At all,” I said angrily.

“I’m so sorry, Ella. I swear it’ll never happen again. I don’t know what came over me.” He had his hands up as if surrendering as he stepped back another step.

“I won’t mention this to anyone. Ever. Good night, Devlin,” I said stiffly.

“Good night, Ella,” he murmured. I turned and quickly stomped down the hall.

As soon as I got into my bedroom, I shut and locked the door behind me. What the hell? I made my way into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Xavier said not too long ago that he thought Devlin was attracted to me and I didn’t believe him. Then again, Devlin did say that I reminded him of his girlfriend plus he had been drinking. That’s no excuse though. I can’t mention this to Xavier or he will freak.