Page 41 of That Thing You Brew
When I started to shiver, Xavier extracted his face from mine. “You’re cold,” he observed.
“Not on the inside,” I quipped. I searched his face, looking for a crack in the façade, but I didn’t see any. “That felt so real,” I whispered, wishing for him to confirm what I felt.
Xavier leaned down to whisper in my ear. “What makes you think it wasn’t?” His voice was husky and strong, confident. His eyebrows knitted just for a second as he waited for me to reply.
But I couldn’t.
I turned my face to kiss his cheek, his beard, his ear, and leaned my head against his. I didn’t have any words. My actions would have to convey my message for now.
Daniella’s voice cut through my euphoria. “I stopped recording. We need to go or we’ll be running late for lunch.”
Xavier’s groan rumbled through me, and we parted reluctantly. He took my left hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my knuckles, the ring, and the top of my hair.
We strolled back to the car. Daniella handed Xavier the keys. “There’s a few extra minutes if you want to take her around by the arena.”
“I’d love to see it,” I said. Xavier opened the passenger door for me. I would never get tired of that. For a secret-ish fake relationship, he sure was doing all the things men did in real relationships.
I was getting impatient for the end of hockey season. A part of me wished the Edgedidn’tmake it to the playoffs so that we’d have a longer summer together.
Xavier drove around the arena and other notable places nearby. I wished I was here longer and we could go exploring. Another thing to add to my future Want-to-Do List.
We left the city, and Daniella gave me the must-knows about Bellevue, where their home was. When Xavier pulled into the driveway at their multimillion-dollar waterfront estate, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
The house—if you could call it that—looked more like a castle than the family’s European chateau. It was massive, sprawling at least the length of a hockey rink, with an oversize rounded bump-out resembling a tower on the left side and a six-car garage on the right. You could barely see the water in the distance. Separated from the house and covered in ivy was a small three-story building. A treehouse, perhaps?
The interior was elaborate and expensively furnished. Xavier held my hand as we followed Daniella through the entry rotunda—a rotunda!—past an open seating area with multiple configurations of couches and down a hall toward the rounded tower.
“Zavey!” Xavier’s little sisters burst through the archway and into the hall. He gave my hand a squeeze before letting it go to rush toward them and scoop the eight- and ten-year-old girls into his arms, letting them knock him to the ground.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” he chided. I stepped away as they climbed on him and giggled as they all unleashed “tickle monsters.” I caught Daniella’s gaze, and we both smiled.
“Mom says it’s a personal day!” Karina shouted, diving at his head to tickle under his chin.
When they seemed worn out, Xavier sat up. “Guess what?”
“What?” they screeched. He pulled them into his lap and looked up at me.
Karina’s head turned in my direction. She smiled and shout-whispered to Edyta. “That’sher.Lucky Penny!”
Edyta looked at me, awe painting her expression, and turned back to her sister. “She’s so pretty!”
I held back a smile while Xavier shout-whispered to them. “She’s the most beautiful woman in the world. But don’t tell Mom or Daniella that I said so, okay?”
Daniella snorted, kicking off more little-girl giggles. Karina and Edyta scrambled off Xavier’s lap so he could make his way back to me.
I glanced past the girls to the archway where their parents were standing. How long had they been watching?
Taking a deep breath, I pasted on my best smile and summoned all my confidence. Four new people at one time. I could do this. I fisted my hands in my coat pockets and waited for Xavier to introduce me.
His arm snaked around my back until his hand was at my waist. I mimicked his gesture, unclenching one fist, supporting him as he supported me.
“Mom, Dad, Karina, Edyta … This is Penny.” He bent to kiss my cheek, and the little girls squealed again and fired off questions.
“She’s going to be our sister!”
“I want to be the flower girl!”
“No,Iwant to be the flower girl!”
