And if by chance that wasn’t enough to prove to her that he was serious about them—about their family—he was in the process of having plans drawn up to relocate his offices to the island. He never thought that he’d be happy living outside of the city—with his thumb on the heartbeat of commerce—but Lea had changed all of that.
Now he couldn’t imagine living away from Lea and their child. And there was something about Infinity Island—something that felt like home.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THERE WAS A buyer for the island.
And now she had to truly decide where her future lay.
Lea knew selling the island would be hard, but she hadn’t realized it would be this hard. Even though the woman she’d met with the previous day was really nice, very interested in the island and had promised to keep it running in the same manner as Lea’s ancestors had done, Lea was still hesitant to sell.
Selling Infinity Island would be giving up on her heritage—giving up on her friends that were now her family, giving up on finding out if this thing with Xander was real. It sure felt real to her, but she didn’t know if Xander felt the same way.
Xander was offering her a chance to have everything she’d ever wanted. And he’d done everything to show her how invested he was in this relationship. Now it was time she met him halfway. It was time she took a chance with the island and most of all, with her heart.
As soon as she arrived at the office, she called the number the woman had left her. It went to voice mail. Lea didn’t really want to leave this information in a voice mail.
She attempted to work, but her mind just wasn’t into it. She was so excited about what the future held. Teaming up with Xander would be interesting. She believed that there was nothing they couldn’t do together.
Just before ten o’clock in the morning, Lea gave up the pretense of working. She planned to swing by the bungalow and switch into more sensible shoes before she went to track down Xander at whatever project he’d gotten involved with this time. With Joseph laid up for a couple of months, there was more work than ever to be done.
Lea stepped through the doorway of the bungalow, surprised to find Xander at home. He was video-chatting with his back to her. She slipped off her shoes at the door and walked softly across the floor, not wanting to disturb him. But she had to pass by the table in order to get to her room.
As she neared him, she heard a woman’s voice. It was a familiar voice. Wait, she knew that voice. She couldn’t quite place it.
It was best to keep walking, ignoring the woman’s voice. But an uneasy feeling chewed away at her insides. Was there another woman in Xander’s life?
And then the woman laughed. It was a warm, jingly kind of laugh. Xander replied softly to her, making it impossible for Lea to make out the words. The feeling in her gut turned to red hot jealousy. It was unmistakable. But she refused to let Xander know how she felt. She kept walking, but she couldn’t resist a quick glance at his monitor.
Gasp!
Lea stopped. That was the same woman that had been interested in purchasing the island. But how could that be? Was Xander plotting against her?
Xander turned around. Surprise was written all over his handsome face. “Lea. Wait.” He turned back to the computer. “I’ll call you when I’m on the plane.” And with that he closed the laptop.
By then Lea had recovered enough from the shock to get her feet to move. She thought about leaving, but then realized this was her home. She wasn’t going anywhere. Xander was the one who was leaving. Hadn’t she heard him say something about a plane?
She headed to the kitchen. She could hear his footsteps behind her. She steeled herself, refusing to let him see just how deeply his betrayal had hurt her.
“Lea, it’s not what you think. That was my sister—”
“Stop. I don’t want to hear whatever you have to say.” She turned on him. Her shock morphed into anger. “What I think is that you and your sister made a fool of me. And now it’s time you leave the island.”
“No one made a fool of you. And no one set out to hurt you.” He stepped closer to her.
She held her arm straight out, blocking his progress. “Just stay away. Don’t try and charm your way out of this.”