by Lori Maguire
We did manage to catch the large tail fins of the Humpback whales and even spotted a few dolphins jumping out of the water. We took countless walks along the beach holding hands. Every night we watched the beautiful, colorful sunset from the beach before we retired for the evening. And every night we fell asleep wrapped around each other while listening to the rhythmic sounds of the waves crashing on the beach.
For an entire week, we were living under our own little, perfect bubble with no contact from the outside world. No cell phones, no computers, no television. It was perfect. It was magical. Now that little, perfect bubble of serenity was about to burst as we headed back home to reality. I let out a long sigh as I continued to stare wistfully out the small airplane window.
“Why the long face, sweetness?”
I looked over at Xavier. His brows were creased with concern.
“I hate that we have to leave,” I said sadly.
He made his way over to me with a smirk on his face. Crouching down in front of me, he took my hands in his. “This past week was pure bliss. But I can’t get sad about leaving, because I have the most amazing memories of our time together that I will treasure always. We have our whole lives ahead of us. We’ll be back to make more memories. I promise you that.” He winked at me.
I pulled my hands out of his. Staring into his eyes with the same intensity his bore into mine, I grasped his face. My thumbs caressed his cheekbones lightly. Leaning in, I whispered against his lips, “I love you.”
My mouth hovered there for mere seconds before he let out a sexy little moan and sealed his mouth over mine. Minutes later, we jumped apart at the sound of someone behind us. The captain cleared his throat clearly embarrassed for having disturbed our moment. “We will be ready to leave in about ten minutes, Mr. Hart.”
“Thank you, James.” Xavier kissed me chastely before he sat and buckled himself in.
We were up at five this morning with a scheduled departure time of six a.m. I was unable to stifle the yawn that loudly escaped me. As soon as we were up in the air, Xavier handed me the pillow and blanket once again, encouraging me to get some sleep.
We were about an hour out of Seattle, when Xavier’s booming voice jolted me awake. He was angry and cursed as he slammed his hand down on the small table. His laptop looked in danger of toppling over as the table shook from the force of his fist. Whatever happened it had to be serious to garner such a reaction from him.
He sat in front of his laptop with an angry scowl on his face. I brought my seat into the upright position. Sitting quietly, I patiently waited for him to stop reading whatever it was that upset him so much so he would start talking. I couldn’t even begin to fathom what could have possibly gotten him so upset. After several minutes of silence, I finally spoke. “What is it? What’s happened?” I asked anxiously.
“It seems Patrick had to do a little damage control while we were away,” he said, still staring angrily at his laptop.
I furrowed my brow at him. “I don’t understand.”
He rubbed his hand over his face, and sighed heavily before he looked at me. “The picture of you and Devlin from the restaurant was leaked to the press claiming that the two of you were having an affair.”
I bolted up out of the chair. “What?” I screeched.
“Ella, please sit down and fasten your seatbelt. It would seem Patrick has already handled it. My PR department issued a statement denying it all and confirming our marriage. It seems to have blown over already,” he said reassuringly.
I started to pace in the small isle. “That heinous bitch. If I ever see her again I swear I’m going to …”
“Do nothing,” Xavier said, cutting me off. He grabbed my wrist to stop me in my tracks. Swiveling his chair around, he pulled me down onto his lap. “I don’t know what Carline’s reasoning was behind this, and I don’t really care. Patrick fixed it. Let it go,” he warned.
Shaking my head at him, I narrowed my eyes. “Let it go? She maliciously accused me of having an affair while I’m on my honeymoon, and you expect me to just let it go?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes, I expect you to just let it go. I will have words with her father. You will let me handle this,” he said sternly.
I thought for a moment, but I knew he was right. As much as I didn’t want to, I knew I needed to let him handle this. Dropping my head onto his shoulder, I sighed in defeat. He wrapped his arms around me, and held me close. “Okay. You know her and her parents better than I do. I’ll let you handle this,” I said quietly. “Wait! Did you just say your PR department issued a statement confirming our marriage?” I gaped at him.
He chuckled softly. “It wasn’t a secret that we were engaged, Ella.”
“I know, but …” He was always so careful about exposing our relationship to the press after a jealous, stalking ex gunned down his former fiancé.
“It needed to happen, Ella. I couldn’t have people think that you were out having an affair while we were off on our honeymoon. Patrick did what he thought was best. I would have handled it the same way.”
The announcement that we were approaching SeaTac came over the speakers. I slid off his lap, and settled myself into my seat, quickly fastening my seatbelt.
As we flew into Seattle, I relaxed immediately as my adopted city came into view. Gladly, I welcomed the angry, gray skies and rain after a week of nothing but sunshine. I smiled, surprised at not only just how much I found those gray skies to be so welcoming and pleasing, but by how much I had missed them.
Stewart and Marissa were waiting for us with the familiar black SUV on the tarmac. Xavier took my hand as we made our way down the stairs. I noticed Marissa was giving me what looked like a sympathetic smile, which I thought was odd. Then I felt my phone starting to buzz against my hip in my bag.
Once we got settled in the car, I dug my phone out. At first I smiled when I saw Renatta’s name on my screen, but then I realized I had several missed calls and text messages from her, which was strange. She knew I was on my honeymoon. She had to have known that I was going to turn my phone off.
I opened my text messages and frowned. Every one had to do with the photo that Carline had leaked. It was on every celebrity gossip website known to man, and Renatta was sending me links to all of them. I quickly deleted the messages knowing I had no desire to see what comments people had been making. Is this why Marissa smiled like she did at me? I had a horrible feeling that this hadn’t been laid to rest like Xavier indicated earlier.
I put my phone back in my bag. Trying to relax, I sat back and let out a small sigh. I could feel Xavier’s eyes on me. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I glanced over at him. He was staring at me intently. His brows were scrunched showing his concern. “What?” I snapped. Immediately I regretted my tone. “I’m sorry,” I said before he could speak. “I just had several messages from Renatta. Do you believe she was sending me links to all the gossip sites that featured that photo of Devlin and me?” I rubbed my hand over my forehead. I could feel a headache coming on.
Xavier grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze until I turned my focus on him. “Did you delete them or did you look at them?” he asked me carefully.
“I deleted them. I don’t need to see what people say. It doesn’t matter, right?” I shrugged at him.
“Right. I’m proud of you.” I gave him a puzzled look. “The insecure and emotionally hurt woman I knew a few months ago would have been devastated over this. You seem to be handling it okay, though.” He gave me my favorite half smile.
I gently squeezed his hand back. “What can I say? You make me a better woman.” I winked at him.
Turning away, I focused my attention out the car window. I would still be devastated if I saw people’s comments, but in a way, I just didn’t care. Let them talk. The people who mean the most to me know the truth. Maybe that was easy for me to say, since I didn’t see what people had commented. I knew I might feel differently if I took the
time to look at those sites, but why torture myself? I couldn’t change it.
As soon as we pulled into the parking garage for Millennium Tower, Xavier scooped me up and carried me to the elevator. “What are you doing?” I protested.
“Keeping up with tradition. I’m carrying you over the threshold.”
I shook my head at him and snuggled into his neck. Stewart entered the code that would take the elevator directly to our condo. As I glanced over Xavier’s shoulder, I saw a smile on Marissa’s face, which only widened when she made eye contact with me.
When the elevator slid open, Xavier turned to Stewart. “Just leave the bags here in the hall. I’ll get them later.”
Stewart gave me a knowing smile. “Certainly. Good to have you two home,” Stewart said before he stepped back into the elevator with Marissa.
Xavier turned to head down the hall with me still in his arms. “I think you can put me down now,” I said, kissing the side of his neck. I lingered longer than was necessary as I inhaled his sexy, musky smell.
“No can do. We still have another threshold to cross.” The heated look he was giving me made my insides quiver.
“And what threshold might that be?” I whispered in his ear. Grazing my teeth along his earlobe, I felt a shudder run through him.
He turned toward me and lowered his head. “The bedroom,” he whispered against my lips. Oh, yes! Please!
I ran my fingers through the soft hair at his nape. “Hurry,” I whispered back.
As soon as we crossed over the threshold, he placed me on my feet. We frantically started removing our clothes acting as if we hadn’t been with each other in days. The need to feel my naked flesh pressed tightly against his was almost overwhelming, and I was pretty sure he was feeling the same way.
When we were both stripped bare, I wrapped my hands behind his neck and pulled his mouth down to mine. As our bodies pressed together, I could feel every hard inch of him. He let out a moan as our tongues met and tangled together. The vibration of his moan rumbled against my lips and chest.
Running his hands down my back, he cupped my behind and urged me to wrap my legs around his waist. I gasped, breaking our kiss, when his arousal brushed against the exact spot where I desperately needed him. He held me fast to keep me from pressing down onto him.
“No,” he whispered as he ran kisses down my neck. “We need to take it slow.”
Fighting against his hold, I shook my head. My heart was pounding in my chest. My breaths were quickly turning into pants. The blood pumping through my veins felt like liquid fire. The need to be filled by this man was all consuming. “I need you too much. Please,” I shamelessly begged.
A low growl rumbled through his chest. I smiled to myself knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist my begging. Sure enough, he dropped me down onto the bed and took me without hesitation.
The first month following our honeymoon was a busy one. As promised, Xavier helped Renatta get a storefront location near Pike Place Market for her photography business. She was fast becoming a household name within the wedding and portrait photography circle. I spent a great deal of time at her location helping her edit pictures from the latest wedding she worked or portrait session she had done. She was getting so busy that she even lured Devlin away from CoolPix to join her.
My parents had found, and immediately fell in love with, a beautiful house on Bainbridge Island. It sits on close to four acres that is beautifully landscaped with firs and fruit trees, a rose garden, a Koi pond, and an in-ground pool. The house sat up from the backyard so the large deck had beautiful views of the pool and access to the private beach and dock that juts out into Puget Sound.
The house itself looked like an East Coast lodge, which I think was the main reason my parents had fallen in love with it. The interior walls were nothing but knotty pine, exposed wood beams, and large, open rooms with hardwood floors. There were a total of five bedrooms, two of which were already being outfitted as rooms for the twins as per my mother’s request.
I questioned my parent’s choice when I discovered the house was over sixty years old, but upon further inspection, I realized it had all the updated modern amenities that you would expect to find in a home built today. Besides my parents were so excited about the house and its location that I didn’t have the heart to rain on their parade.
What I did question was Xavier’s involvement. I knew how much the house had cost, and even if I didn’t, the location alone would have been a big enough clue. Every time I tried to question him concerning it, he would blow me off by telling me he wanted to have a fun, but safe and secluded place our children could visit their grandparents. There was no arguing with him on this. Case closed.
The drama that Carline tried to incite by releasing that photo of Devlin and me while Xavier and I were on our honeymoon had quickly become old news much to my relief. As a matter of fact, over the last month we have not heard from nor seen Carline or Stephen. My mystery caller even stopped calling, which only solidified the fact that it was Stephen at least in Xavier’s mind.
The only thing I did regret about the whole Carline debacle was the strained relationship that seemed to be developing between Carline’s father and Xavier. I knew that Carline’s father had been an important figure within his organization when his father had been CEO; so to see the strain develop between them was difficult for me to handle. Of course, Xavier blew that off, too. At least he tried to when in front of me. He kept insisting that it had nothing to do with me or Stephen and more with the nonexistent relationship that was now between Carline and himself. He tried to tell me that it was difficult for her father to see him happily married when he still had hopes that he would end up with Carline. The man was obviously delusional. I was beginning to understand why Carline was the way she was. In my mind, she clearly took after her father.
Then there was this feeling of dread that I just couldn’t shake. Things were finally starting to head in the right direction for me. I did my best to ignore this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach that something horrible was about to happen.
Here I was, now two months following our honeymoon, standing in my parents’ house with Marissa directing the furniture delivery men on where items needed to go. My parents only planned on moving clothes and personal items from New Jersey. All big-ticket items, such as furniture, were being sold before they moved. Things were right on schedule for their scheduled move in May, which was just two months away.
As the last few items for the living room were being brought into the house, Marissa’s phone chimed alerting her to a new text message. Stewart needed her back at Xavier’s office as soon as we were through. She needed to get her picture taken for the new security badges that were being issued.
By the time we got to Xavier’s office it was close to three in the afternoon. Marissa exited the elevator and headed off in the opposite direction of me to find Stewart. Carmen waved from the front desk as I made my way back to Xavier’s office.
Walking down the hall, I noticed Patrick wasn’t at his desk, but Xavier’s office door was open. I headed into his office only to find it empty. I placed my coat and pocketbook on a chair at the conference table before heading over to his desk.
I sank down into his office chair. The soft leather creaked as I made myself comfortable. Immediately I noticed a beautiful silver frame that contained a picture from my latest ultrasound. It had pride of place on his desk. I picked up the photo and caressed the smooth glass with my fingertips.
It was from two weeks ago. I was eighteen weeks pregnant. Xavier surprised me by not wanting to know the sex of the babies. He wanted to be surprised at birth instead. I, on the other hand, was dying to know, but I respected his wish even though it was driving me crazy. I secretly hoped for a boy and a girl. The technician had kindly labeled them Baby A and Baby B. One appeared to be lying on top of the other while their little heads clearly visible on the ultrasound.
I placed the frame back on his desk. My hand wande
red down to my prominent baby bump as soon as I started to feel the gentle flutters of their movement. It was almost like they knew I was thinking about them. It made me smile.
I was so engrossed with feeling their movement that I didn’t pay much attention to the voices coming down the hall. The laughter of a woman didn’t register in my foggy brain until it pierced the quiet of Xavier’s office. I glanced up just in time to see Xavier strolling into his office with Monica.
I jumped up so quickly out of his chair that it rolled back into the floor-to-ceiling window behind his desk. My hands immediately went to my swollen abdomen. The feeling that I was intruding on something hit hard even though the smile on Xavier’s face just grew as he looked at me.
Of course Monica looked gorgeous as usual. She was taller than I remembered. Her voluptuous curves were accentuated by the formfitting dress she was wearing.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmured. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.” I dropped my gaze to the floor as I quickly walked around his desk to the conference table. I was determined to get my coat and bag so I could leave. Suddenly, I realized I didn’t feel any jealousy towards Monica in the slightest. The realization made me pause for a moment as I reached out for my coat. I paused long enough to give Xavier the opportunity to speak.
“Ella, it’s all right. You aren’t disturbing me.” He continued to smile widely at me. “Monica just stopped by-”
“I just stopped by to apologize, Ella,” Monica said, totally cutting off Xavier as she focused her green-eyed gaze on me. “I behaved like a spoiled little brat back in December. I had no right to treat Xavier as I did or to make any kind of demand on his personal time.” She smiled sheepishly at me. “I was never interested in Xavier romantically, and I was blinded by my own selfishness to see just how happy he truly is with you.”