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Chapter 33
“Wouldyou open that email already. Aren’t you curious if you passed or not?”
“I’m afraid to look. Suppose I failed?”
“You know you passed. So just do it already.”
She clicked on the email from the New York State Board of Law Examiners. She closed her eyes tight as the email opened. Then opened one eye to look at her laptop screen.
“I passed! I can’t believe it!”
She put the laptop on the table and threw her arms around Xander. They had just gotten back from Vegas that afternoon. Now she had two reasons to be overjoyed: her engagement and having passed the bar exam.
“I knew you could pass on the first try. You have a few other things to do, and then you will be a full practicing attorney.” But then Xander scowled.
“What’s that look?”
“Soon you aren’t going to be my assistant any longer. You will have your own assistant to work for you.”
“I guess I won’t see you that much during the day especially if they move me to an office on sixteen or seventeen. I don’t think there are any empty offices on eighteen. I think I should call my father. He has been badgering me to let him know when I get my grade.”
“Are you going to tell him we’re engaged?”
Ava started to chew her cheek. “I prefer to do that when we see him at the wedding in a few weeks. I want to tell everyone in person. Are you going to tell anyone?”
“I was thinking about telling Suzanne. She told me I was a fool to let you go, and I know she will be ecstatic that we are engaged. I can trust her; she won’t reveal it to anyone until we tell others.”
Ava picked up her cell and went into the bedroom to speak to her father. He told her how proud he was of her. When she got off and came out the door, Xander had just hung up with his sister.
“Suzanne wants us to come to lunch tomorrow. Do you want to go to Stamford?”
“Yes. I want to be able to wear my ring.”
She absentmindedly twirled it around her finger. While they were out of the office and not around friends or family, she would wear the ring. She would have to make sure she took it off before she left for work each day.
He swept her up in his arms and kissed her. He felt so giddy that she was finally going to become his wife after all they had been through. They spent a good part of the week making up for lost time. Vegas had so much to offer for entertainment but all they wanted to do most of the time was make love. Sam was the only person that knew that they were engaged and together. They had a hard time keeping up appearances as if they were not a couple.
Twice Xander had wanted to punch Christos when he got too touchy with Ava on the dance floor. Sam intervened and danced with him instead while Ava went to sit with Xander. Before the night was over, she was in his bed after they sneaked away. They needed to be careful as long as Jacob was there. He and Sandra had left on Monday, leaving Xander and Ava four days to spend time together without him around.
On Wednesday, they were able to steal an entire day alone together. They went to Fremont Street for part of the day then came back to the hotel to have some lunch. Ava wore her engagement ring until they got back to the Bellagio. She was bursting to show it off to everyone, but she knew she would have to wait. They ended up spending two hours in Xander’s room and then found the group at the casino in the hotel.
Ava won forty-four hundred dollars playing slots and took everyone out to dinner and clubbing that night. She and Xander were almost found out by Robert when they sneaked away to the lounge. They separated just before he came to use the bathroom. He raised his eyebrow when he saw them together, and Ava wondered if Sam had told him anything. But Robert said nothing, so she assumed Sam hadn’t said a word.
On the plane home, Ava and Xander sat together in first class. He kept trying to convince her to try the mile high club, but she told him he was crazy. There was no way she was going to have sex in a bathroom on a plane.
The next morning they quickly got dressed. They had spent too much time the night before making love and woke up late. Then Ava chose to seduce Xander in the shower causing them to be even later. He had told Suzanne they would be at her house by noon, but as it was, they were lucky if they arrived by one. They headed to the River Garage to Xander’s new car. He had leased an Infiniti Q50 in black with black leather interior. As he drove out of the city, he pressed the accelerator, and she was pushed back in her seat.
“Slow down. You are almost doing eighty.”
“Man, this car is awesome.”
“Boys and their toys,” Ava mumbled.
They arrived at his sister’s house shortly before one. They hit traffic on I-95, or they would have arrived earlier with the way he had been driving. He drove around to a large subdivision and pulled up to a huge brick colonial home in a cul-de-sac. The driveway had two stone pillars on either side. Xander drove up the winding drive and parked in front of the three-car garage.
This house rivals the one of my childhood. Xander got out and went around to her door to open it for her. They walked hand in hand up the stairs and were just about to knock when Steven, Xander’s brother-in-law, opened it. He shook hands with Xander and hugged Ava with congratulations.
Suzanne was busy in the kitchen preparing some snacks for everyone. She wiped her hands on her apron to hug them hello and shooed Xander out of the room so she could talk to Ava. Xander turned and mouthed, “Don’t interrogate her.”
