The Billionaire's Baby (The Romero Brothers, Book 5) (15 page)

“You know Grandpa Toni would love to
babysit if I’m not available.”

“Oh, don’t I know it. I love dear old
Gramps. But with his cane and his back…” Amber sighed. “I guess I’m just making
all the excuses in the book, aren’t I?”

“You are, darling. I hope you’re not
worried about…?” Venus paused again.

Amber’s insides tightened. She knew where
Venus was heading with her interrogation. Amber was terrified of getting
intimate with Jules right now. She was nervous about not pleasing him, even
though he had seen her body with the disfigurement from the accident. Oh,
heavens, Amber hoped she wouldn’t have any trouble around Jules. But oh, her
body cried out to be touched by him when he was near her. Even when he was
overseas and she heard the silky, deep voice of his sexiness from their long
distance phone calls into the night when he was on one of his business trips.

Oh,
Jules.

She craved him, desired his soft hard body
over her.
But oh, that hesitation, that emotional scar from
her past.

Amber closed her eyes tightly and drew in a
deep breath before opening them again. Venus was right. Amber deserved to be
happy. Jules deserved to have all of her. She was ready. She was not going to
put off her innermost desire. What on earth was she afraid of? Not pleasing her
husband the way she knew he could pleasure her? Oh, his sexually addictive
kisses, like an elixir of desire to drink in and
savor
.
She loved the touch of his lips. Her body was ready. No longer sore from giving
birth after a difficult pregnancy.

Things would be different.

“Listen, Venus, I hear a car pulling up in
the driveway.” Amber’s heart galloped in her chest like a
school
girl
about to meet her crush for the very first time face-to-face.

“My prince has arrived.”

Though Jules
couldn’t wait to get back home to see Amber, he was feeling stressed and
fatigued right now. Marriage wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be. Amber
was busy with the baby around the clock—and rightfully so. And well, he
just got lost with business and working hard around the clock himself. Still,
he obsessed about her on the plane from Europe.
Amber and his
little angel.
His daughter, Crystal.
His family
meant the world to him. Jules didn’t know what he was missing out on until that
special day when he made it official with Amber and tied the knot. What a
ceremony
that
was! They both welcomed
their baby girl into the world at the same time. Well, that was some story he
couldn’t wait to tell his grandkids one day.

Grand kids.

Imagine that.

Jules still had
to get his head around the fact that he was a father. He was a little girl’s
daddy. Didn’t matter that she wasn’t biologically related. He still felt an undeniable
sense of protection and closeness to her. She was so precious, so adorable. The
way she looked into his eyes with her large, brown, innocent eyes made him melt
every time. Amber even accused him of spoiling her. Well, she was only three-months-old.
Of course he’d spoil her! He’d given her everything a dad could give his baby.
She had the most advanced and latest toys on the market and Jules made sure
that practically everything in her room was sterilized—even though that
was going a bit far and admittedly unnecessary. He’d even set up a scholarship
fund for her already even though she hadn’t spoken her first word yet.

In the past, Jules
thought he would do anything for his brothers and dear old Gramps but having a
child and a wife was a different feeling. If anyone so much as caused them to draw
a tear, he’d have that sucker for dinner. He was fiercely protective of his
little family. He wouldn’t hesitate to lay down his life for them if he had to.
That was the burning love he felt in his gut, in his soul.

He slammed the
car door of his SUV shut after he yanked out his luggage. Dion had already gone
to his own place. The meeting in the capital of
Lendovia
,
one of the wealthiest principalities in the Mediterranean, where their latest
expansion project to open up educational facilities lay, threw a few kinks in
their plans regarding expanding Romero’s sponsored colleges and educational
programs.
 
But they would deal with
that after the weekend, on Monday. Now it was all about family time. Now if he
could just fight this fatigue from all that flying and those boardroom meetings.

By the time he
turned the key in the lock and entered the foyer of his villa, Jules could
smell the aroma of freshly baked apple pie with cinnamon. His
favorite
.

“Hey, beautiful.”
Jules made his way into the kitchen and placed his luggage on the tile. He then
snaked his arms around Amber’s waist. He placed a soft kiss on the side of her
neck and she moaned with delight leaning into his body.

“Hi, Jules,” she
said, turning around to face him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “How
was your flight?”

 
“Hi, Jules? That’s all I get?” he teased
her. “Well, I’ve been lonely without you.” Jules lowered his head to hers and kissed
her gently. God, he loved the feel of her skin, the whisper of her perfume. It
drove him crazy each and every time. And he enjoyed the feel of his hands on
her fine, rounded,
child-bearing
hips. She was a
healthy, proportionate woman. Curved in all the right places.

“Hmm, you smell
so good.” He nuzzled her neck. He slid his hands over her behind and gave it a
good squeeze. Amber’s body responded.

“I love when you
do that,” she whispered as she arched her neck enjoying his silky kisses.
“I…I’ve missed you.”

“Good,” he
growled in a low voice. Just the sound of her soft, sultry voice drove him wild
with erotic thoughts of pleasing her in every way, wanting to hear more of it
as she cried out his name with ecstasy. Oh, the things he really wanted to do
with her right now.

 
He’d been away from her for way too long.
He just couldn’t wait to finally be with his wife. He’d been busy since the
birth of their daughter and they never got a chance to be intimate, but then
again, how many wives gave birth on their wedding day?

Her body had been
sore and fatigued and she was feeling too overwhelmed then, adjusting to
sleep-wake intervals of two hours at a time.

Damn, he’d waited
so long already. He could tell by the way her body was responding to his, that
she was more ready than she was before. It pumped him up as well and his
fatigue faded.

He reached his
hand up her blouse and underneath the material, feeling the skin on her back,
gently caressing her body over her scars.

Just then, she
pulled away from him.

“What is it,
baby?” he asked gently. He hoped he hadn’t done the wrong thing. He wanted her
to know that he loved her and that he appreciated everything about her, no
matter what.

“It’s nothing,
I…” she said, her voice trailing off as she hugged herself and looked out
through the large kitchen window at the sunset. The view was breathtaking as
the kitchen window overlooked the beautiful hills in the countryside.

He drew in a deep
breath.

“I know what it
is.”

“No, you don’t.
You don’t understand.” Her gaze failed to meet his as she continued to look
outside avoiding his eye contact.

“Whenever we get
this close it’s always the same, Amber. You need to let go and just be okay. I
love you, all of you, just the way you are.”

“I…I know.” She
closed her eyes, breathing deeply then opening them again. “Sometimes, I just
can’t help it, Jules. I’m sorry.”

“No. Don’t be.
The only person who should be sorry is the coward who did this to you and…your
family. What happened to you is not your fault, Amber. But you’re still
beautiful.”

“My skin is not,
Jules. I know you’re just trying to be kind—”

“What?” Heat
rushed through Jules’s gut and it had nothing to do with passion. He felt his
heart squeeze in his chest. “What are you talking about, Amber? How could you
think I’m being patronizing? You should know me better than that by now.”

“I know you are a
perfect gentleman, Jules. You were raised right. But…”

He could see
tears threatening to fill her eyes. He reached over to her and pulled her
close. If he could only get his hands on the idiot who killed her parents and
brother in the accident and sped off leaving his beautiful wife scarred for
life, both in body and psyche. Damn it! It wasn’t fair. And the first guy Amber
had trusted to sleep with, he let her down even worse, making her even more
self-conscious and feeling less worthy, when in fact, she was ten thousand
times worthy—she was precious like a rare flawless diamond and she meant
the world to Jules.

Yeah, Amber meant
the world to him. But would she let him inside
her
world, completely? If he
was
honest
with himself, he’d admit he didn’t help matters much being away so much. He
could have postponed some of his trips or have one of his senior executives
take his place. But maybe he was just too overwhelmed with the changes in his
life.

Jules already had
his men on the job, looking into the accident case that was reopened recently
by the Mayberry Hill Police Department. He had connections and they were
already hot on to some leads. Apparently, there had been a witness who had
recently come forth after a cold case files program was aired on the local network.

It was bad enough
that Amber had to deal with the massive changes to her body during the
childbirth process and the after effects of giving birth, but now memories of
her past came back to haunt her as she watched herself every day in the mirror.
Her more prominent scars since childbirth had her feeling less than sexy. She
had already explained that to Jules and he’d tried hard to understand, all the
while, feeling contempt for the person, or persons, responsible. He would find
that suspect, even if it
was
the last thing he did.

He loved Amber,
more than he’d desired any woman in his life. He couldn’t imagine his life
without her. A vein throbbed in his temple at the mere thought of losing her
again—even emotionally. They’d gotten so far in their relationship since
they rekindled what they’d once had—and now this.

“I love you,
Amber. I love all of you and I want you to know that you are the most beautiful
woman I’ve had the
honor
of being with. You’re so
caring and thoughtful, kind and have a heart of gold.” It was true and he loved
everything else about her, too.

Her beautiful,
large, almond-shaped eyes, framed with long, thick, dark lashes and her
heart-melting smile, always ready to brighten a room or cheer up anybody who
needed it.

“Not to mention,
you’re the best mother in the world. You do your work with love and warmth
twenty-four-seven
. You’re amazing, you know that?” he said
softly, as he tilted her chin up to look deeply into her eyes.

“
Th
-thank you, Jules. You’re wonderful. Sometimes, I feel as
if I don’t des—”

“No. Don’t say
it. You deserve everything good in life, Amber. God knows you’ve paid the
price.
Nothing good in life comes easy
,
remember that
. I’m here for you. My family is here for you.”

“I know,” she
said, her voice filled with emotion. “Jules, I’m just so…worked up right now…so
on edge. I really want us to be…close but…I need to relax. I wish I had
something to help me to relax, Jules. I just wish…”

“Listen, I’ve got
something for you,” he said, pulling her gently in his direction. He leaned
down and reached into the side of his luggage and pulled out a gift set that
contained some sensuous body massage oils. He’d had this in mind while on his
trip. Amber had always told him that she enjoyed massage therapy in the past
but stopped doing it and right now, she didn’t trust anybody to get close to
her body, to see her scars. There were times when she was okay with her body
and other times when her body image issues got the best of her. “Let’s go to
the guest room,” he said gently.

“But, you must be
tired, jet-lagged. You just flew in.”

“Oh, please. When
am I ever beat?”

“That’s true.” Amber
grinned. “You’re all work and…all work.”

He chuckled. “Besides,
I had plenty of time to rest and shower on the plane.”

“Oh, yeah, I
forgot, you executive folk travel on those Emirate-like flights with
gold-plated faucets, private showers and boardrooms up in the sky while you
conduct the next business deal…” she playfully teased him.

“And when you’re
ready, you’ll be flying with me on my trips—you and Crystal. I want to
take you all over the world on a sightseeing excursion. You said you wanted to
visit every continent, remember?”

“You remembered
that?” she gushed. The look of surprise on her face was priceless. Amber told
him that when he’d first met her, a while back.