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I resolve not to drink anymore of it until I’m feeling better, and reach for a glass of water instead. If nothing else, at least the water soothes the guilty burn at the back of my throat, as talk around the table turns to wedding plans.
Xander luckily fields those questions for us, insisting that we don’t have any set plans for the wedding yet, and no, we don’t need to know what color schemes we’ll be using on the big day just yet. By the end of dinner, my stomach has finally settled back down, at least. We rise together and hug Patricia first, then Marco. The latter insists on squeezing me so tight he lifts me clean off the floor, which makes his sister swat his back and tell him to go easy on me.
“I keep telling you, we can’t scare this one off yet,” she says, and winks in my direction. “I actually like her. Which is a first for Xander’s girlfriends, I have to say—not that I’ve met many of them, mind you,” she adds quickly. “Xan never really dates seriously. Well, not since that terrible goth girl in high school, what was her name?”
“Goodbye, Patricia,” Xander interrupts with a pointed look that earns another laugh.
“Anyway. You’ll do just perfect in this family, Mel.” Patricia winks at me.
My cheeks flush, but I smile back, too. At least she seems nice. So does Marco. First pretend meet the family down, only one more member to go, I reassure myself. Xander takes my hand, then, and draws me toward the elevators. Before the doors even close behind us, my sheer exhaustion hits.
The day has been a whirlwind. Far more than I’m used to. First the flight, then the dress shopping. “I’m beat,” I say, leaning against the back of the elevator.
“I’ll drop you back at the house,” Xander promises. “I have a few things I should really stop by the office to attend to.”
I blink in surprise. But when I check the clock in the lobby, I realize it is only 8pm, after all. For some reason dinner felt so much longer. Maybe it was the champagne I drank. “I can catch a cab back or something, if you need the car,” I point out as Xander waves to our chauffer, idling out front with the other valets.
“Don’t be silly. The penthouse is right on the way. And I wouldn’t let you take a taxi in that dress or those shoes. Much less with that much bling on your finger,” he adds with a pointed look at my left hand.
My face flushes. I’m not used to having anything that anybody else covets. Even my phone is so old and battered that when someone broke into the back room at Bob’s to steal people’s purses, they left my phone right where it was. I guess I’m going to have to get used to having fancy things, at least for the duration of the time that I’ll be spending with Xander.
“Okay,” I relent, as Xander opens the backseat of the car for me, before he slides in himself. “But you know I’m not completely helpless,” I add. “It might be my first time in the big city, but I’m pretty sure I can figure out my way around a little bit.” I swallow. “After a couple days, maybe.”
“Of course you will.” Xander withdraws his wallet and passes me something. A credit card, I realize. It’s solid black and weighty. I’ve never felt a card this thick. It feels like I could use it to hit someone in the head if I needed to. “But in the future, if you need to go out, this will help.”
I gape at it.
“Buy anything you need,” he adds. “Just I ask that you ask Andrew to take you in the car. It’s the safest method of transportation. Besides, he knows his way around better than any taxi driver, isn’t that right Andrew?” Xander taps on the glass partition that separates us from the front half of the car, and we hear a faint chuckle through the tinted glass.
“All right,” I murmur, turning the card over in my hand. My mind races. “But… I feel sort of bad spending your money.”
“Don’t.” He reaches over to press a hand to my knee once more. “Melanie, look at me.” I meet his gaze. He smiles, and it reaches all the way into those warm, dark gray eyes of his. “I told you, money is no object to me. And I plan to spoil you. So, use it. However you want, enjoy anything you desire.”
I can’t help it. I smile in return, and feel is stretch at my cheeks. “Okay.” I clear my throat. “Though, tonight, all I really want to do is sleep.”
He bursts into laughter. “I’m fairly certain that can be arranged,” he murmurs as we speed off through the gathering city dusk.
