The Billionaire's Baby (The Romero Brothers, Book 5) (12 page)

“I…I don’t know,” she sighed, her mind
racing with all sorts of ideas and scenarios. She really didn’t want to spoil
the mood, especially after all the trouble Jules and his family had gone
through to make the celebration extra special for Amber and her unborn daughter.
Talk about a caring, wonderful family. All families should be like the Romeros,
wealthy or not. Their strong bond was the cement in their relationships that
kept them stuck together in times of thick or thin. That was impressive
considering how different, yet alike, they were.

“Oh, I think you do know what’s on your mind,”
he lovingly teased her. “Your mind seems to be racing. I can see your eyes
spinning in your head, darling.”

He grinned and she smiled at the image.
“Jules, you’re not that funny!” Amber denied,
then
playfully
slapped his arm.

“Ouch.”

“That didn’t hurt.”

“No, not the slap, the words. Man, you can
really kill an aspiring comedian’s spirit.”

She burst out laughing. “I didn’t know you
were aspiring to be funny, Jules.”

“Good. Now that’s the spirit. At least I
got you laughing.”

“Jules, seriously. I…I want us to talk.”

“About what?”

“About us.
Our future
together.
The last couple months were just…amazing.”

“I know.”

“You said you wanted to be a part of my
life.”

He gently spun her around to face him and
cupped her chin in his soft hands. “I do. I still do,” he assured, gazing
intently into her eyes. His dark, sexy eyes mesmerized Amber and stirred
something in her soul. His eyes were so loving, so passionate, so trusting.

Sure,
you want me in your life, Jules. I just wished you wanted to marry me. I wish I
could be sure it would even work out between us.

“Well, I care
about you, Jules. I always have. I really hope that…oh, it’s nothing.”

“What were you
going to say?”

The
tranquility of the moment was then shattered by a loud engine roar of a plane
flying low
. Talk about
bad timing. “Oh, Jules, what’s that awful sound?” Amber looked up as Jules
continued to hold her snugly.

Her jaw fell
open. Up in the late afternoon blue sky, a plane spelled out: AMBER, WILL YOU
MARRY ME?

Amber’s heart
hammered against her ribs. Her pulse leaped in her throat. She covered her
mouth with her hands.

Jules reached
over to the side of the rail and pulled out a gift basket filled with yummy
delicacies and a fluffy brown teddy bear with a blue and pink ribbon tied to
it.
 
The bear was holding a small red
velvet jewellery box in its hand.

“Sorry for the
overkill, Amber. I really wanted to make this a special occasion for a special
girl.”

“Oh, Jules!” She
was overcome with surprise. This was all a dream and she would wake up and be
back to her usual self—alone with no support. But this wasn’t a dream.
Jules was on bended knee.

She hesitated at
first then nodded repeatedly, the words caught in her throat.

“God, I hope
that’s a yes in sign language,” he said.

Amber melted into
a nervous smile. “Yes. I’d be
honored
to marry you,
Jules!”

She should be
honored
, yet she was torn. She was crazy about the new
Jules. She knew deep down he’d be a great father but—and there was this
big but—she felt totally unworthy of him and couldn’t imagine he’d be
happy making love to her one day, given the extent of her scars. Jules was such
a perfect physical specimen. Her ex had given her a traumatic sexual
experience. What was she thinking saying “yes”?

Jules helped Amber
open the ring box and her eyes almost popped out of her head.

She felt her
heart explode with overwhelming emotion as he placed a sparkling French-cut
diamond engagement ring on her ring finger. “Jules, this is so beautiful.”

“Not half as
beautiful as you, Amber.” Jules smiled and the warmth in his expression was
enough to melt her to tears.

“Oh, no. Don’t go
crying on me now. It’s only for eternity that we’ll be together. After that,
you won’t have to worry about waking up with me every single morning.”

Again, the
soon-to-be Mrs. Romero gave a nervous chuckle. Jules really had one heck of a
wry sense of
humor
about him.

“I love you,
Amber. I know we’ve been through a lot and spent time apart but all this time I
couldn’t stop thinking about you. When you came back into my life that time at
the Family Center…I knew we were meant to be together. I want to spend the rest
of my life with you. I never thought I would say this to another person but…
It
’s true.”

Oh, God! That sounds so promising but…can this really
work? Honestly? Who am I kidding? But this would be the miracle I’ve been
wanting for my child.
For her to have a father.

“Oh, Jules. I…I
love you, too. I really want us to work. I…I’m so glad, I hope anyway, that
we’ll be married before,” she lovingly glanced down at her baby bump as she gently
rubbed her beach ball belly, “she comes along into this world.”

Her daughter
deserved to have a father’s name on her birth certificate.

“So am I. I agree
with you. I love you and want to spend my life with you and our little girl.
And I do think it’s best that she’s born to us as husband and wife.”

Did he say spend his life with me? Could they even
stay
married together?

“Thank you for
understanding, Jules. It wasn’t easy for me growing up, feeling different from
the other kids because my real dad wasn’t married to my mother or even in the
picture. When she married my stepfather, it was a dream. I’ve always dreamed
and prayed that my daughter, my child would be born into wedlock. It’s just
something that meant the world to me. When I became pregnant I thought I’d lost
that dream, Jules. Thank you.”

“That’s what love
is all about, right?” Jules lifted her chin to his and kissed her lips so
softly.

 
He had already given the thumbs-up to the
pilot of the plane who did the skywriting proposal and soared off into the
distance.
 

“I know,” she
agreed quietly. Her baby kicked a few times and Jules melted into a grin. He
placed his hand over Amber’s and both soothed the belly together.

“I’m going to be
the best daddy to our little girl, Amber. It doesn’t matter that I’m not the
biological father. Blood is thicker than water, but love is thicker than
blood.”

She tingled at
the sound of his empowering words. Sure, Jules would be a great daddy. But she
didn’t know if she could be a good wife to him. Would they end up splitting up
again?

“That’s so true.
I like that.”

“It’s the truth,
but they aren’t my original words. My brother got it from some wisdom website.”

She grinned
again. Oh, Jules.
Always the one to lighten what could be a
serious or intense moment.
“I still agree, Jules. It is so true.”

“Anyway, we’d
better move quickly with the date if you want to be married before our little
princess makes her grand entrance.”

“I know.” Amber
felt a pang of guilt. She didn’t want Jules to feel let down by her. There was
so much about herself she could never reveal to him.

“I’ll speak to
Carl and we’ll see what we can do to expedite things at City Hall. We need to
get some paperwork completed.”

“Okay. That
sounds like a plan.” A lump climbed into Amber’s throat again.

He smiled. “I
like the sound of that,” he purred in a low, sexy voice.

Jules traced the
outline of Amber’s jaw with his fingers and she tingled at his soft touch. Waves
of pleasure tumbled through her veins.

Oh, Jules. That magic touch.

A part of her was
glad her daughter would have a father’s name on her birth certificate. Part of
her was terrified that Jules and she would regret they rushed into this
marriage.

His fingers
touched her chin and tilted her head up to his and he pressed his soft lips to
hers, brushing her flesh with his. Despite her inner turmoil, she enjoyed the
soft erotic touch of his lips as she inhaled the delicious scent of his
cologne.

She moaned with
ecstasy as he moved his lips to her ear and nibbled on her sensitive flesh. Oh,
she loved when Jules did that! It was so magical. So amazing. He then slid his
lips to her cheek and kissed her lovingly. His mouth moved to the tip of her
nose and she tingled with delight when he pressed his lips to her skin.

“God, you’re so
beautiful, Amber. Every single inch of you,” he murmured as he brushed his soft
lips over one of her scars resting on her shoulder. At first she was nervous; her
belly exploded into what felt like a thousand tiny butterflies scattering
inside her. But then she remembered, he was nothing like her ex.
Nothing at all.
 

“Hmm,” she
responded as she embraced his body, feeling his warmth and his genuine
affection. His feelings for her were almost palpable.

She moaned into
his lips as he kissed her passionately, sliding his tongue between her lips and
gently twirling his tongue inside while she felt her body throbbing from his
desirable stimulation. They kissed hungrily and passionately as he slid his
hands down her back holding her firmly as she leaned against the rail of the
yacht.

Panting hard, she
pulled away from him.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I
just…I love this moment.” Amber glanced down lovingly at her baby bump before
giving it a good rub. She didn’t want to progress any further. Not that
anything could happen out there in the open anyway. She just wasn’t ready yet.

She turned around
to face the water. Jules snaked his strong arms around her. “Okay, beautiful,”
he said, as if he could read her mind. “We’ll take it one step at a time.” He
pressed his lips to the top of her head as he continued to hold her from
behind. There was something soothing and calming about being near the water. Amber
closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the feel of Jules around her, loving
her.

They embraced and
held each other glancing up at the beautiful early evening purple sky, the
coolness of the water from the lake breezing onto their skin as they
savored
the moment.

The water might
have been calm, but
Amber
felt anything but serene inside.
Why did she feel as if Jules proposed under the excitement of the baby? She
felt as if there was something missing. A marriage would not change things.
 
If anything it might reveal things.

*
    
*
    
*

“He said what?”
Venus asked Amber over the phone the next day, sounding excited.

“He asked me to
marry him, Venus. I’m still reeling with shock.
I’m so
overcome with emotion
,
you have no idea
.
Unless, you knew about this?”

She was overcome
with emotion all right.
All kinds of emotions.

Venus’s voice grew
excited. “Oh, Amber, I’m thrilled for you and Jules. I had no idea! Carl didn’t
say a peep. That’s amazing. Welcome to the family, sister-in-law.”

Amber sat on the
plush patio chair soaking in the warm weather at the cottage at Romero Manor.

“Jules is at City
Hall right now. He’s applying for the marriage license and seeing what he can
do to expedite the ceremony for next week or the week after since I’m due in a
few weeks.”

Amber’s heart
pounded hard and fast at the thought. Her nerves were getting the best of her
again at the thought of getting married in a few weeks before the baby’s due
date.

“They’re lining
up a minister and everything. I just don’t know how they’re going to find a
dress that can accommodate my baby bump. I hope I look all right for the
wedding photo. I wouldn’t want to ruin that for Jules.”

“Oh, you won’t.
And about that maternity wedding gown, that’s nothing to worry about. Believe
me, you’re not the first one to be married with a bun in the oven!
Besides, Pamela’s super connected in every walk of life.
She’s good at finding stuff. In fact, she got my wedding dress at the last
minute when Carl and I flew to Vegas on a whim to get married.”

“Oh, that’s
right. I remember you telling me that.”

“And besides-”

Amber let out a
scream!

“Amber?” Venus cried
over the phone. “What is it? Are you all right?”

Amber’s heart
thumped erratically in her chest. She felt fluid ooze down her leg.

Oh, no!

So
much for Amber’s dream of having her baby born into wedlock next week.
“Venus, I…I need to call Jules. I need to
go to the hospital right now. I think my water just broke!”