Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“How about we get the house ready for the family?” Xander slung an arm around his brother’s shoulders.
No matter how much he’d rather be continuing what he started with Sasha, he wouldn’t throw his brother out when he was obviously in need.
* * *
Sasha returned to her room and pulled herself together. Putting that make-out session out of her mind was impossible, but at least she had something to focus on. If Xander’s family was coming over, she needed to make a good impression.
While she thought about what to wear, she called Cassidy, only to find out her friend had decided to visit a relative who lived right outside the city and couldn’t make it to the Hamptons today. Which Sasha understood. It was a last-minute invitation.
Standing by the closet, where she’d unpacked a few outfits, she scanned her clothes, including remembering what was still in the suitcase. She didn’t want to be too dressed up, like she was looking for attention, nor so casual that it seemed like she didn’t care.
She bit down on her lower lip, the same lip Xander had sucked and tugged on a few minutes ago, and shook her head.
Focus. She really wanted his family to approve of her again. Like they had the first time, before she’d blown their lives apart and hurt Xander so badly. They were a tight unit who looked after each other. Sort of like she and her mom … except her mom had an agenda, to live through her daughter. And Xander’s family just poked at one another, joked, and ultimately supported each other. She’d always wanted people like that in her life. At least she’d found Cassidy, who bolstered her in so many ways. And Sasha would like to think she did the same for her friend.
Another glance at the closet and she decided what to wear.
“Romper,” she said, pulling the one-piece outfit off the hanger. It was an adorable black and white vintage floral print, shorts not pants, that hung off one shoulder. She bent and picked up a pair of white flip-flops to complete the outfit.
Wanting to give the men time alone, she picked up the script and walked herself through her lines and cues until at least twenty minutes had passed.
Then she walked out of the room and saw them working on the outdoor furniture, moving chairs around a rectangular table. Inside, Sasha made herself useful organizing things in the kitchen, setting up soft drinks at the outdoor bar, and getting the plastic plates and silverware together.
Xander explained they handled clean-up as a family, at least as far as loading things into the kitchen and garbage detail. His housekeeper would come to clean on Monday.
She and Xander would leave the Hamptons tomorrow night. They were heading to Manhattan so they would be close to the set Monday morning. She planned to stay with Cassidy in the new hotel with her security nearby. Which meant tonight was her last chance to be alone with Xander. She wondered if he’d be willing to pick up where they’d left off. She certainly wouldn’t mind convincing him.
Midafternoon, a delivery van arrived at the house. Once security checked the driver’s and passenger’s identification and did a quick search of the inside of the van, a woman and a man wearing collared shirts with a store name on the front unloaded trays of food. Uncooked but premade hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, and a ton of side dishes and desserts were carried inside.
“How many people are coming?” she asked Xander as he directed them through the front door and toward the kitchen. She knew he had four siblings, plus his mom, but the amount of food here could feed an army.
“A lot.” He grinned and began reciting names. “Linc and Jordan, she’s pregnant, by the way; Chloe and Beck, they’re living together and engaged; Beck’s two brothers and his parents are coming; there’s Dash, the band if they decide to join us, my mom, Aurora, and baby Leah.”
“Oh,” she said, surprised. She’d expected immediate family only.
“But don’t worry. You’ll have a fan. My sister Aurora can’t wait to meet you. Plus, how can you be uptight when there’s a baby around? You have to see Leah. She’s got these gorgeous indigo-colored eyes. They’re so deep blue.” His eyes lit up when he talked about his niece in a way she’d never seen before.
Her eyes widened at the thought of Xander holding a little girl against his broad chest. “You have a soft spot for the baby. That’s so sweet.”
“I have a soft spot for you,” he said, hooking an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, and stealing a kiss that was way too short before the doorbell rang and the first of his family arrived.
* * *
Xander needed peace and quiet in his life, but he enjoyed having his family over, too. They were growing, with Linc and Jordan now married, although Jordan had always joined him at family barbeques, and now Chloe, Beck, and his family. But Xander still didn’t consider the extra people intrusive or noisy. Not when he considered them family. Then, he always wanted to hang out with them.