“What? Of course you’re smart,” Bianca says. “You’re brilliant.”
“Aw, babe, you’re brilliant,” Chris says, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Lexi’s temple.
“I’m brilliant!” Alec announces.
“So brilliant,” Lexi says, running a hand over the top of her son’s head.
Xavier grins and looks over at Bianca, who is smiling softly at her sister and brother-in-law and nephew, and suddenly something in his stomach warms and rises up into his chest.
If . . . if he was ever going to want that, if he was ever going to have that, he would want it with her.
He’s soentirelyscrewed.
“Excuse me for a minute,” he says, pushing back from the table and heading straight for the bathroom.
Once inside, he pops another button from his collar and breathes out heavily, leaning on the rim of the sink, staring into the mirror.
Still the same guy he was a minute ago, and yet, so entirely changed, on a fundamental level.
This was why he’d never . . . why he’d never made a move, why he never even let himself do more than just be near her. Because now here he is, just a few weeks away from starting his dream job thousands of miles away, and the only thing he wants to do is give up the whole fucking thing to marry this woman and have babies with her and make a life with her.
A life that she would hate.
One that he’d hate too.
And it wouldn’t be long until it went from hating their life to hating each other.
It wouldn’t be like that at first – at first it would be perfect, but then after a while, it would fade.
Just like his parents’ marriage.
And he can’t do that to her.
Fuck.
He lets out another breath, long and ragged. Okay. He needs to just get a grip, get through dinner. It won’t be so bad. Maybe another hour, hour and a half tops, and they’ll be out of here. He splashes some cold water on his face, and with one last nod to himself, he heads back to the table.
Chapter 10
“Ah good, you’re back,” George says when Xavier returns to the table. “I wanted to wait until the wedding for this, but since you two can’t set a date yet and don’t even know when you’ll be in the same country, I thought, why not now?”
Her mom reaches into her purse and pulls out an envelope, handing it to Bianca with a flourish.
Bianca’s head tilts in curiosity at it, but she peels open the flap and removes a card. It’s a simple one, something designed by Hallmark for an engagement – flowers and a diamond ring on the cover – but when she opens it . . . what’s inside is not nearly as simple.
A check.
Made out to an amount that looks more like the balance of her student loans from undergrad, plus her master’s and PhD combined.
Holy shit.
That’s a lot of money.
“No,” Bianca says, her face suddenly pale. She’s shaking her head back and forth. “I can’t . . . I couldn’t possibly . . .”
“It’s your inheritance,” George says, waving a hand in the air like it’s nothing, like he’s giving her a weekly allowance as a kid.“We want you to have it now, while we’re still around to see you enjoy it.”
Her mom reaches across the table and places a hand on her arm. “It’s not just for you, Bianca. We did this for Lexi with the house when she got married and we put the same amount away for you for this day.”
