Chapter Four

Mia

The next morning I was brought downstairs to an incredible breakfast spread in a private section of the hotel.

There was more food than I could possibly eat sitting out in front of me, but after Xavier and I had not once, twice, but three times gone at it after the reception, I was damned near starving.

I wasn't surprised he was the perfect gentleman. Even this morning he'd woken me up with a soft kiss on my forehead and an offer to start the shower for me. All of this was the kind of bliss I was jealous my sister would be getting when she finally reappeared, and it made me sad that I'd only get to live it for a little while.

Perhaps I was being selfish in having Xavier to myself—going so far as to sleep with him too.

In my defense, he would've found it suspicious if I didn't. Especially after all the letters we'd been sending back and forth. At least that was what I was going to tell myself, so the guilt of being selfish wouldn't weigh on me too heavily.

"How's the food?" Xavier asked, sipping his coffee and looking at me over the rim of his mug.

I smiled and stabbed a few pieces of egg with my fork. "Incredible. You didn't need to do all of this, you know."

His smile was more prideful than gracious at my compliments.

I found it funny that he was enjoying feeding me and taking care of me. For all the horrible rumors about how he operated—that I'm sure were true on some level—for this man to be proud of himself for something like this was endearing and also flattering.

I'dcertainly fallen head over heels for him throughout our letters, so seeing that he felt something towards me was comforting.

I ignored the way my stomach clenched at the thought of having to give this all up soon, pushing it to the back of my mind.

When my phone rattled on the table, I jumped and grabbed it.

My father's name flashed across the screen.

Shit…

"Everything okay?" Xavier asked.

I pushed back my chair, standing. "Yeah, I just need to take this. One second."

I could feel his eyes tracking me as I walked away from the table and over to a small gap in the partition that blocked our private section from the main part of the hotel's restaurant.

My hands shook as I put the phone to my ear. "How's everything going?"

My father's relieved laugh was all I needed to hear. "We found her! I just got off the phone with our soldiers. She'll be on a flight home from Mexico tonight."

"Oh," I tried not to sound disappointed. Not even an entire 24-hours have gone by and I'm already going to be giving Xavier up? "When does she land?"

"Around three am. I'll have a car out to grab you and switch you two out by the morning."

I'll only get the rest of today with him?

"I see."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I know yesterday was a lot, but it'll be over soon."

I swallowed back a retort—yesterday had been far from horrible. In fact, it had been amazing. How could I be expected to give all of that up?

"Actually… don't you think it's a little soon?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it hasn't even been a day yet. If I tell him I need to go run an errand or something tomorrow morning, he's going to find it suspicious. We're supposed to be in the honeymoon phase and not want to leave each other's side. You saw those letters, dad."

He was silent for a while. "Yes… that's true."

"I just think it's too soon. He'll start to wonder if I'm already asking to leave to come visit you or whatever excuse I can come up with for the switch."

He sighed. "Yes, maybe you're right."

"Why don't I stick it out for a few more days? You can sober Amanda up, get her presentable and then we can figure out the switch." This was the only way I could think to squeeze out a few more days with Xavier.

I'd only just gotten a taste for him—I couldn't give him up yet.

"Okay." He sighed again. "Keep me updated. I don't want you stuck over there longer than necessary. It's time your sister started her life with her new husband."

I rolled my eyes but bit my tongue. She couldn't even be bothered to write the man a single letter in the entire time he and I were corresponding. I'd tried a few times to get her to but soon gave up and simply kept writing to him myself.

And that was all before I started to fall for him.

"Will do," I said and then hung up.

Breathing out, I wiped away the sweat from my palms and tried to get myself to relax. I had a few more days with Xavier. It would take some time to get Amanda actually functioning, especially if she had been on a bender that entire time down in Mexico.

As sad as it was, that gave me more time here. I could get to know Xavier in person and then relay whatever information I found to my sister so that when our switch happened, it wouldn't seem so jarring.

The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him.

Xavier's eyes locked onto me as soon as I came back into view. He had a concerned frown on his face that didn't let up even as I sat down.

"Everything okay?"

"Oh," I forced out a laugh. "Yeah. My family called to tell me that apparently one of my aunties got into a fight with someone after the reception. Guess she got taken to jail and my father had to bail her out this morning."

His expression morphed into amusement. "What kind of wedding would it be without some family drama?"

"Exactly. I'd say that's the beginning to a very long and happy marriage."

He lifted his mug of coffee towards me. "A blessing, one would say."

I grinned and lifted my own up, clinking it with his. Butterflies lit up in my stomach as he chuckled.

"Amanda, what do you say that I take you out on a date?"

I blinked in surprise. "A date?"

He nodded, setting his mug down. "Yes. A proper one. I want to get to know you better now that we aren't forced to correspond between letters."

I felt my cheeks flush as I smiled. "I'd love that."

He mirrored me with his own. "Perfect."