A Billionaire BWWM Romance 4: The Proposal (2 page)

“
Hey
yourself. How are you feeling?” he asked as Julie walked round
the couch to sit down. “You are still a little warm,” he
frowned as he put his hand on her forehead.

“
My
nose is still a bit stuffy,” Julie said. Steven smiled.

“
You
bean your dose?” he said. Julie looked at her and playfully hit
his arm.

“
Stop
making fun of me,” she said. “Why didn’t you wake
me up?” she asked. Steven smiled and shook his head.

“
That
pill Mary gave you…” he started.

“
Marge,”
Julie corrected him.

“
Yeah,
right Marge. Well that pill should be banned,” he said.

“
I
know. I have been out for ten straight hours,” Julie gasped.
Steven smiled and stood up. “Where are you going?”

“
I
want to get you the flu kit I prepared for you,” he said as he
walked to the kitchen.

“
Please.
No more pills,” Julie pleaded.

“
Just
the night pill. You need as much rest as you can get,” he
ordered as he put some soup into the microwave and set the timer.

“
Like
I pointed out, I have just woken up from a ten hour nap,” Julie
retorted. Steven smiled and put the bowl on a tray that had a bottle
of water, some orange juice and vapo rub. He carried it to her and
set it on the table in front of her. “What’s all these?”
Julie asked as she blew her nose on a Kleenex.

“
Chicken
soup, freshly made. Water, juice and the vapo rub my mother swears
by,” he said. Julie looked at him and smiled.

“
So,
you are going to be rubbing this on me?” Julie asked frowning.

“
You
act like having my hands on you is a bad thing,” he winked.
Julie smiled and shook her head.

“
No,
it’s the smell that puts me off,” she said. Steven moved
closer and kissed her lightly.

“
The
way I do it, you won’t even notice,” he said when he
pulled away.

“
Baby,
I’m patient zero right now. You need to keep your distance,”
Julie said. Steven shook his head and kissed her again.

“
It’s
flu season. I already got my shot,” he said. “How come
you are down with the flu anyway? Didn’t we get the shot on the
same day?” he asked as he put a fluffy cushion behind her.
Julie looked at him and frowned.

“
Actually,
I never got mine,” she admitted. Steven looked at her.

“
What?”
he asked.

“
Yeah,
I was in the waiting area and then I got a call from the office. I
just walked out…I planned on going back, but I guess I just
never got round to it,” she said. Steven shook his head.

“
You
need to take better care of yourself,” he said. Julie nodded.

“
I
know. I’ve just been so busy lately…” her voice
trailed off. She was not sure what she wanted to say.

“
So
busy you forgot about your health?” Steven asked. Julie had a
guilty look. “Your health should always come first,” he
added as he picked up the bowl.

“
Are
you seriously going to feed me?” Julie asked.

“
Well,
it depends. If I leave you to it, are you going to eat it all on your
own?” he asked. She shrugged and shook her head a little
guiltily. “Well, that settles it then. You are eating this even
if I have to force it down your throat.”

“
Sometimes
you are so mean,” she said.

“
Well,
I did slave over it. I think this has to be the best soup I have ever
made,” he said smiling as he lofted a spoonful of soup to her
lips. “Trust me, Betty Crocker has nothing on me,” he
winked as she took the spoon into her mouth.

“
Oh
my God,” she moaned when she swallowed. “Even in my
state, I agree,” she laughed before he gave her another
spoonful. She then took the bowl from him and smiled. “I think
I’ll take it from here,” she said before she took another
spoonful. Needless to say, she was done in a matter of minutes.

“
There
is more if you want,” Steven said as he looked at her. “You
sure were hungry,” he said smiling. Julie looked at him as she
put the bowl on the table.

“
Ten
hours,” she reminded him. “And I didn’t even have
breakfast this morning,” she added as she took the bottle of
water.

“
By
the way, you need to finish the juice. You can go slow on the water,”
he explained. She smiled and put the bottle down and then picked up
the glass.

“
I
think you were a doctor in another life,” she teased. He put a
hand on hers and smiled.

“
I
have been a lot of things in past lives,” he said. She looked
at him and shrugged.

“
So,
what next? I finish up and go back to bed?” she asked. He
smiled and then put her legs on his lap.

“
Now,
you get a relaxing foot rub and then you take the night time medicine
and finally, yes, go back to bed,” he responded as he began
rubbing her right foot.

“
And
then what?” she asked as he looked at him before she sneezed.
He looked at her and handed her a box of tissues that was on the
table.

“
And
then you take a few days off work because it wounds to me like you’re
getting worse,” he said.

“
How
many days?” she asked frowning.

“
A
couple. Maybe three,” Steven said as he rubbed her foot. “Dana
said you should take as much time as you can,” he added. Julie
smiled and leaned back against the couch. “Are you comfortable?
Need me to get you another pillow?” he suggested. Julie looked
at him and smiled.

“
I
only have a flu. You are acting like I have cancer or something,”
she laughed.

“
Well,
the bottom line is that you are not feeling okay. And I am supposed
to be here for you,” he said as he switched to the other foot.

“
I
wonder how over protective you will be when I get pregnant,”
she said. Steven looked at her and smiled.

“
When?”
he asked. “Not if?”

“
Yeah,
when,” she confirmed. “Or am I the only one who thinks we
are going to have great looking babies?”

“
Oh,
I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while. I just didn’t
think you had the same thoughts,” Steven told her as he looked
into her puffy eyes. Even then, with her face all red, he still
thought she looked sexy.

“
I’ve
thought about it,” she said with a smile before she sneezed
again.

“
You
should really take the night medicine now,” he demanded. Julie
shook her head and frowned.

“
I
want to hear more about our babies. Like how many have you thought
about?” she said.

“
Four,
maybe five?” he said. Julie’s eyes grew wide.

“
Out
of me? Are you kidding me?” she shrieked.

“
How
many did you have in mind?” he asked.

“
Two.
Three max,” she said. “Why would you want five children?
Are you trying to make some kind of team?” she asked. Steven
looked at her and smiled.

“
Three’s
a good number,” he said as he leaned forward and took the night
medicine from the table. He took a pill out of the bottle and placed
it in her hand. “Time for your pill, babe.”

“
I
wanted to stay awake a little longer,” she frowned. Steven
smiled.

“
You
have exactly twenty minutes before it kicks it. We can snuggle until
then,” he promised. She smiled and popped the pill into her
mouth before she took large gulps of water and then leaned back. “You
want to go to bed?” he asked. She looked at him and shook her
head. He smiled and stood up before he lay next to her holding her
close to him.

“
Hey
babe,” Julie whispered.

“
Yes,”
Steven said as he ran his hand up and down her arm.

“
I
think you’ll make a really good dad,” she said before she
closed her eyes. He smiled.

“
Are
you just saying that or is the pill already taking its effect?”
he asked but she never answered. He looked at her and smiled. Maybe
the residual effects of Marge’s pill were still in play or she
was just tired. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead and then
pulled the blanket she kept on the couch before he draped it over
them.

When
Julie went back to work after taking a three day sick leave, it was
almost like she had been absent from the office for a month. She had
new clients lined up all for her and a number of returning clients
who wanted new properties. The office was simply crazy. It was almost
like she was all alone in the realty. In the two days she had been
back, she’d had to deal with all kinds of clients: disapproving
types, annoying types, the divas…somehow she felt like she had
seen it all in just a short period of time. She did not even realize
that she worked late two days in a row. On the first day, she got
home at one in the morning and she was back in the office before
eight. And today, she had sworn she would not be in the office past
six. But she didn’t know what had happened because it was
almost ten at night when Steven called.

“
Hello,”
she answered when she picked up.

“
Hey.
Where are you?” he asked.

“
The
office. Why?” Julie asked, wondering why he sounded anything
but happy.

“
Nothing.
It’s just that I have never really been stood up before,”
he said. Julie raised an eyebrow.

“
Stood
up? What the hell are you talking about?” she asked.

“
I’m
at Sophia’s,” he told her. Julie shook her head. She was
sure there was some kind of message Steven was trying to pass but she
just wasn’t getting it.

“
Sophia’s?”
she responded.

“
Yes
Sophia’s. Where you were supposed to meet me an hour ago,”
he stated. It was at that point Julie saw the post it note her
assistant had put on her computer screen so that it wouldn’t
slip her mind. There was also another post it on her phone which was
probably put there just before her assistant clocked out. She closed
her eyes and took a long, deep breath before she leaned against the
chair.

“
Shit,”
she thought. “Babe,
I’m so sorry. Work was…crazy. I must have lost track of
time,” she said. She actually felt silly. That was the most
cliché reason she could ever give. She heard Steven sigh. “Let
me make it up to you,” she reasoned.

“
Sure.
My place? I’ll just take the food to go,” he said.

“
Okay.
I’ll be there in half an hour,” she said and then took
another long, deep breath. She had no idea how this had happened.
“I’m sorry, baby,” she apologized again.

“
Don’t
be. You have quite a lot of work to do in making this up to me,”
Steven teased. She could tell he was smiling.

“
Okay.
You got some whipped cream up in that house?” she asked.

“
I
have it all. Whipped cream, chocolate covered strawberries…hey,
maybe we can do that thing today,” Steven suggested. Julie
smiled.

“
My
computer’s already off,” she said. “And no, we can
make our own thing,” she added before she hung up.

A
few months back, they had seen a man using strawberries as a sex toy
on an adult film and as disturbing as it was, they had both sworn
they would try it. But somehow, none of them could ever bring
themselves to the point of trying it. Julie put her laptop in its bag
and then got out of the office. She hated herself for being such a
workaholic. In the past, she had failed to understand how a person
would work so much that they lost track of time and for the second
day in a row, she had found herself in that same position. As she
drove to Steven’s place, she could not help but think that it
was time she took advantage of duty delegation. Maybe it was about
time her assistant earned her keep.

“
I
can’t believe I just thought that,”
she
thought as she pulled over in front of Steven’s place. She
inhaled deeply and then got her laptop and her bag before she got out
of the car. By the time she got to the door, Steven had already
opened it and he was standing there, holding a glass of what looked
like white wine.

“
You
will not be driving home tonight,” he demanded as he handed
Julie the glass. Julie smiled and kissed him deeply before she pulled
away and took a sip. “You brought your laptop?” he asked
as he helped her with her bags. Julie smiled and then shrugged.