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After he parked, he gently removed her from her seat hoping he wouldn’t wake her. He was able to get her up to her bed without her stirring until he started to remove her clothing.
“Where are we?”
“Home. You need to go to bed.”’
She protested, but he was adamant about her going to sleep. He slipped off her blouse and bra and laid her in bed with her legs hanging over the side. Then he worked on removing her skirt and shoes. He had planned on putting a shirt on her, but when he finished with her skirt, she curled up in bed in just her panties. He didn’t want to bother her, so he pulled the sheet over her, then he got undressed. He slipped into the cool sheets and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest. She woke for a few seconds to plant a kiss on his chin and dropped back to sleep.
He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled. He loved the smell of her hair and the rest of her. He couldn’t wait for her to be his wife especially now that their engagement was official. They had a lot of decisions to make for their upcoming life together.
She woke early. She felt stiflingly hot because Xander had his body wrapped around her. Without disturbing him, she slipped out from under his arms, got out of bed and put on a t-shirt. The boys followed her from where they had been sleeping in their bed near the door. They were hoping to be fed.
She took care of their breakfast and made herself a cup of coffee. She looked at the ring on her finger. It was so surreal to her that after all the issues she and Xander had faced, they were finally engaged. It was what she had wanted for the past five years. She twirled the ring on her finger as she sipped her coffee and thumbed through the mail she took up yesterday but didn’t have time to open. Her portfolio statement had come, and she opened it wondering how much it had increased. It seemed that even in a down market, Jack’s suggestions on where to invest made her money.
Xander knew that she had a trust, but he was unaware of the value. He never asked, and she had no worries that he had designs on getting his hands on the money. She had no intentions of asking for a prenuptial agreement even though she was certain her father would want her to draw one up. Whatever she had would gladly be shared with Xander.
She stared at the statement going through each page. She was so focused that she had no idea Xander had gotten up until he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.
“Oh, you scared me.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I couldn’t resist your delicious neck.”
He glanced over her shoulder at what she was reading before he realized it was something personal and looked away. But not before he got a glimpse of the total she had in her portfolio, seventeen million dollars give or take a few.
“Do you want to see?” Ava held out the top page of the statement.
“No. I’m sorry I looked. That’s private, and I have no business looking at your finances.”
“It’s not private now that we are engaged. Don’t you think we should discuss our finances with each other? The debts and assets we have?”
“Ava, that money is yours. I would have no claim to it even if we were married.”
“Oh, this old argument again?”
“There is nothing to argue about. I have my assets, and you have yours.”
Ava had no idea that Xander had a small nest egg of his own to the tune of close to one million dollars. He had started investing in college with money he received from his uncle as part of his inheritance. He also saved money from birthdays and other events in his life which he invested. He had lived frugally when they were apart and invested most of his salary into the portfolio.
“But we are a couple now, and I want to know what your debt is and you to know how much I have especially if something happens to one of us.”
“I don’t want to discuss it right now. Can we discuss it after the wedding?”
“Our wedding or Sam and Robert’s?”
“Sam’s, of course,” he said not hiding his irritation.
He turned to walk away, and she grabbed his hand.
“Please don’t be angry with me. I just want to know everything about you before we get married.”
“Why? So you can decide if I am a good choice for a husband?”
“Xander, don’t be that way.”
“I'm not any way. I just don’t want to discuss this now especially the part about something happening to one of us.”
He turned his back on her and went to walk to the bathroom. A few minutes later she heard the shower. She went to the bedroom, stripped off her clothes and slipped into the bathroom. Xander had his back to her and was washing his hair. She quietly opened the shower door and stood behind him running her hands down his muscular back. He wheeled around almost knocking her over. He reached out before she fell and pulled her against him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
