“Till when?”
“The birth. That probably sounds old-fashioned but I really enjoy the not knowing—the possibilities. Is that strange?”
He shook his head. “It’ll be a nice surprise at the end of this adventure. But what will you do about buying things for the baby?”
She shrugged. She honestly hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I guess I’ll stick with neutral colors like...like pastel purple and green.”
He paused as though giving it some thought. “Sounds like a plan. Now I better get us some lunch before you have to return to the office.”
Once the bubbly fruit punch was poured into their respective wine glasses, he sat across the small table from her. He glanced around the table and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I’m forgetting something.” He snapped his fingers. “I know what it is.”
He jumped to his feet and rushed to the kitchen. She couldn’t help smiling. She’d never seen him work so hard to make her happy. What in the world was he up to?
Xander returned and lit the candle in the middle of the table. “There. Now we can eat.”
She glanced down at the food in front of her. A salad, pasta with a giant meatball atop it and fresh bread. It looked delicious. And she was hungry. Her appetite was in overdrive now that she was pregnant.
They ate their salads in a peaceful quietness. When they started to eat the pasta, she noticed that the sauce had a different taste.
“Did you make this from scratch?” she asked.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“If you like it, I made it. If you don’t, I had nothing to do with it.”
She couldn’t help but smile. This side of Xander was like the man she’d fallen for when they first met. She was beginning to think she’d imagined his lighter side, but this proved that there was a part of Xander that he kept hidden from others.
She took another bite. It was definitely good—very good. All the while, she could feel his gaze upon her. When she glanced up, he was just sitting there staring at her.
“What? Do I have sauce on my chin or something?” She immediately reached for her napkin and dabbed around her mouth.
“Your face is fine. I’m just waiting to hear the verdict about the food.”
“Oh.” Heat rushed to her face. And then she had to decide if she wanted to tease him a little longer or whether she wanted to put him out of his misery.
The fact he wanted to know—that he appeared to care so much about her opinion—moved her. Her own parents didn’t seem to care what she thought. And it wasn’t just her extended family that they had decided she didn’t need to know about. There were also colleges that had accepted her but the letters had gone missing. It wasn’t until after she’d settled on an in-state university that she found out about the other schools. Her parents had told her that they were just trying to help her. Now she wondered what other parts of her life they had tried to manipulate.
Xander’s phone buzzed. He went to reach for it and then hesitated.
“If you need to get that, go ahead,” Lea said.
He looked torn. “Are you sure you won’t mind? It won’t take long.”
She shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”
Xander slipped outside to take the call, most likely about business. Over the time he’d spent with her, he’d received countless phone calls and even more text messages. Business in his world obviously wasn’t relegated to the usual office hours. The interruptions came at all hours of the day and night. He was a workaholic.
Not that she could point her finger at him unless she was willing to point it at herself also. It was more than a job, it was more like a calling. It was doing what she loved—making people happy by making their dreams come true. They filled out the surveys and then between her and Popi, they made their dreams a reality. Some weddings were classic while others were quite imaginative. Regardless, it was a privilege to be responsible for someone’s dreams.
“I’m sorry about that.” Xander’s voice drew her back to the present and this lovely meal.
“It’s okay.” But she secretly wished she ranked as the priority in his life.
“It sure doesn’t look okay. I wouldn’t have answered but there’s a multi-million-dollar deal on the line. And I just need to keep a close eye on things. But enough about work. Let’s finish eating.” He glanced at her plate with half the food still remaining. “Listen if the food tastes bad, you don’t have to eat it.”
She shook her head. “That’s not it. The food is amazing.”
“You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better.”
“Trust me, I’m not. If you didn’t already have a career buying and selling real estate, I’d tell you to go into the restaurant business. This is amazing.”
“If it’s so amazing why’d you stop eating?”
She twirled the pasta around the tines of the fork. “See? I’m eating. I wouldn’t let something this good go to waste.”
He studied her for a moment as though he could gauge the truth just by staring into her eyes. The breath hitched in her throat. She didn’t know how insightful it was, but she did know that every time he stared at her her heart accelerated.
When she broke the intense stare, she found her gaze dipping to his lips. What she wouldn’t do for another kiss—another chance to be held in his very strong arms. A sigh attempted to escape her lips, but she stifled it. She didn’t need Xander reading her every thought.
“You’re being serious?” he asked.
“Of course. Why don’t you believe me?”
He shrugged. “I just don’t have much experience cooking for other people.”
“Feel free to cook for me any time.” And then she set to work finishing the delicious meal before it grew cold.
When she glanced over at him, she found his plate still had most of the food on it. It was as though he’d done nothing more than move the food around his plate throughout the meal. And now he was staring off in the distance.
“Xander?”
His gaze met hers. “What did you say?”
“Is everything all right? You’ve hardly eaten anything.”
He glanced down at his plate. “I guess I was just a little distracted.”
He set to work cleaning off his plate. But he remained unusually quiet as though he had a lot on his mind. But she wasn’t going to push him. She didn’t want to ruin the newfound peace. She liked it—perhaps more than was safe.
* * *
A few days had passed since Xander had come up with his idea of how to impress Lea. And he hadn’t wasted a minute of that time. If this idea didn’t win her over, he wasn’t sure what to try next, but he wasn’t giving up—
“How’s it going?”
The male voice drew Xander from his thoughts. He paused from hand-sanding the cradle. He turned to his new friend on the island. “Joseph, thank you for letting me use your workshop.”
The island handyman nodded. “Just make sure you clean up when you’re done.”
“I will. Don’t worry.”
The older man grunted, attempting to sound grouchy, but Xander knew the man may be crusty on the outside but inside he had a heart of gold. Joseph reminded him a bit of his own grandfather. Neither wanted to let on that they were both big softies when it mattered.
Xander had been working on the cradle for days—cutting, gluing and sanding. He turned his attention back to rounding out a corner. Maintaining steady pressure, he worked with the grain. He wanted this cradle to be as smooth as he could make it. No mistakes or blemishes were acceptable. He wanted everything to be perfect for the baby.
Xander paused to give the piece a quick once-over. Just a bit more sanding and it would be time to secure the rockers to the bottom of the cradle. The thought of hi
s baby sleeping in it drove him to work harder—striving for perfection. And when his phone buzzed with yet another message from the office, he put off answering it until later.
Nothing less than his best effort would do for his child. And his gut told him that it would come in handy because Lea wouldn’t want the newborn to be far from her side.
Once the cradle was fully assembled, Xander pressed down on the foot, making sure it rocked smoothly. There couldn’t be any jolts that would jar the baby from its nap.
He stifled a sigh. He was tired of referring to the baby as it. Anxiousness consumed him to know if it was going to be a boy or girl. But what should the name be? He knew Lea wouldn’t need his input, but that didn’t stop him from going through names in his head.
Basil? Hercules? Kosmos? But it could be a girl. Hmm... Calla? Nara—
“Xander?” Joseph’s voice drew Xander from his thoughts. The older man sent him a strange look. “Did you fill Miss Lea in on your plans about the cradle?”
Xander shook his head. “I decided to surprise her.”
“You think it’s a good idea?”
He had thought it was, but now he was second-guessing himself. “I take it you don’t.”
Joseph sorted through his collection of tools as though looking for something specific. “Don’t ask me. I’m single for a reason. Can’t figure out women.”
Xander turned away as a smile pulled at his lips. “That makes two of us.”
At last, Joseph grasped a tool and turned around. Xander couldn’t help but wonder if the man truly had trouble locating a specific tool or if he’d used it as an excuse to linger...and chat.
“Hey, Joseph, you’ve been on this island for a while, haven’t you?”
The man nodded. “Sure have. I was born here. Never saw any reason to leave.”
“Do you believe what they say? You know, about the magic of the island bringing hearts together for infinity?”
Joseph glanced down at the long-handled screwdriver. “Don’t have any firsthand experience, but I’ve never seen or heard of any marriage that didn’t last. And it’s been a lot of years.”
Xander guessed the man’s age was somewhere in his seventies, by the deep lines etched upon his face and his snow-white hair. But Joseph moved with the agility of someone half his age.
Joseph arched a bushy white brow. “You thinking of testing the island’s magic?”
Xander took a step back. “Me? Get married?” He shook his head vehemently. “Not going to happen.”
“Uh-huh.” The man’s eyes said that he didn’t believe him. Without another word, he turned and headed out the door.
Xander stared after him, refraining from shouting that he was never getting married. It was true. He wasn’t going to marry Lea, or anyone else, for that matter. He was not marriage material.
However, he and Lea were coexisting peacefully. In fact, they were doing better than peacefully. He looked forward to dinner these days. It was no longer a hurried take-out sandwich or Chinese in a paper box.
These meals with Lea weren’t rushed. He actually sat down and noticed what he was eating. And best of all was the beautiful company. Perhaps he shouldn’t dismiss the thought of marriage too quickly. There were possibilities.
But...if he did marry Lea, it would solve a lot of problems for both of them. And who said that marriage had to be based on love? Friendship, preferably with benefits, and the shared goal of raising their child would be a strong foundation. But was he dreaming of the impossible?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
AT LAST IT was done.
The cradle hadn’t turned out too bad, if he did say so himself.
Four days later, Xander waited until Lea headed off to the office where he knew that she would be busy all-day meeting with various members of the staff as they prepared for one of the biggest weddings of the year. This time a member of royalty was saying “I do.” A prince from some small country that Xander had to admit he hadn’t heard of before.
Lea was all excited about the event. From what Xander could gather, the marriage had been frowned upon by the royal family and so the couple had decided to run off to get married and had settled upon Infinity Island for their nuptials.
When Xander had asked if Lea was nervous about going against the royal family and hosting the wedding, she hadn’t hesitated a bit when she said no. The couple had passed their compatibility test. When he asked if she would have turned down the prince if he’d have failed the test, he noticed how Lea avoided answering by changing the subject. It left him wondering what she really would have done. Did people really say no to a prince?
But then he’d had the thought that if the royal family had rejected the union, would anyone come to such a wedding? Xander recalled the look of amazement that had come over Lea’s face, like he’d asked the dumbest question ever. It would appear that everyone but the immediate royal family wanted to be in attendance, including an army of paparazzi. It showed how little he knew about these matters.
So while Lea was off dealing with the last-minute details for the big event, he had the bungalow to himself. He’d retrieved the now finished cradle from Joseph’s workshop and carried it to the room he’d been staying in. However, when he placed it in the room, he found it didn’t fit in with the decor.
The room was done up in yellow and teal. It was an okay room, but not for a baby. And then the next step of his plan to win over Lea came to him. He would create a nursery for the baby. It would be his gift to his son or daughter. Even if he couldn’t be the loving, doting parent his child deserved, he could do this for the wee one.
He grabbed his laptop and set to work. There was paint to be ordered. Curtains. Furniture. And toys. Definitely lots of toys. And he needed all of it shipped to the island ASAP.
This was going to be the best nursery. It would have all of the latest techno gadgets to make Lea’s life easier and the child’s life safer. And it would be a fun room—someplace that his child would want to spend time.
And then he looked at the corner of the room and the image of him with the baby in his arms came to mind. It was such a foreign concept as he’d never held a baby. And yet excitement and longing filled him at the thought of sitting in a rocker and holding his daughter or son.
That was what he needed, a rocker. The perfect rocker.
His gaze returned to the computer monitor, straying across the date at the bottom of the screen. Somewhere along the way, June had become July. In the course of the two weeks that he’d been on the island, he’d gone from multi-million-dollar real estate deals to buying building blocks and teddy bears. Xander spent the afternoon researching baby products and ordering everything with expedited shipping. He hadn’t been this excited in a very, very long time.
Now what color would Lea prefer? Hmm...
* * *
Life passed in a blur.
Lea had so much on her plate. It was taking both her and Popi to pull off this royal wedding. The budget was endless and the wants were continuous. To say the wedding was over the top was no exaggeration.
The theme colors were white and purple. The garden was resplendent with large white trees strategically placed throughout. Purple floodlights highlighted them. No area was left undecorated, including the brick walkway to the garden. Arches of twinkle lights and flowers adorned the guests’ path.
Lea had to admit she liked the part the bride had insisted on: when the couple were pronounced husband and wife, an army of cannons would shoot white rose petals that would rain down upon the guests. For that reason, Lea had insisted the vows be separate from the reception. She didn’t even want to think what it would be like cleaning up thousands of petals while guests were milling about.
No part of the wedding was ordinary. Every detail was extraordinary in one way or another. There were even white and purple orchids cascading from centerpieces suspen
ded above the tables. And above the flowers was a network of white twinkle lights. The stars would get some help that evening.
And if that wasn’t enough, the night would conclude with a spectacular fireworks display. The bride didn’t know about it. This was a surprise that her groom had set up without her knowledge. Lea thought it was a wonderful way to wrap up such an amazing wedding.
“Have the pyrotechnics arrived?” Lea asked Popi as her gaze skimmed down over the extensive checklist for the wedding.
“They arrived this morning. I met the crew down at the dock. And you’ll never guess who I saw there.”
Lea glanced up from her checklist. “Please tell me the soon-to-be princess hasn’t arrived. We’re not ready for her. Nothing is in place and we all know how nervous brides can be.”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t spot a nervous bride, but I did see a Greek mogul receiving a rather large crate.”
“A crate?” Lea frowned. What would Xander need that was that big? “What did he say it was?”
“That’s the thing. I didn’t have a chance to speak with him. I was drawn away by the pyrotechnics guy. He had a lot of specifications for where the fireworks could be stored.”
Lea frowned. She honestly knew nothing about these things. This was her first fireworks send-off. “Wasn’t the warehouse good enough?”
“Yes, it was. But he wanted to make sure it was guarded. He didn’t want any young kids or old fools to get near the stuff. He’s the cautious type and frankly I couldn’t blame him. The prince ordered enough aerial mortars to light up the entire Mediterranean Sea.”
“That much, huh?”
Popi nodded. “I don’t think the prince and his intended know how to do things in a small way. But anyway, I was just wondering if you and Xander had decided to make your arrangement more permanent.”
“Not that I’m aware of.” What was her roommate up to? He wasn’t planning to stay forever or anything like that, was he? She would get to the bottom of it soon enough.
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