The Billionaire's Baby (The Romero Brothers, Book 5) (17 page)

His lovemaking
was incredible. Gusts of desire overtook her body. His hardness electrified
her. She came, not once, but several times as he pleasured her to carnal heights,
loving her body, caressing her and pleasing her with his currents of desire. Oh,
God. Jules was an amazing lover. Ecstasy rippled through her entire body.

After she came
hard, Jules’s body convulsed with orgasmic release as well. Her blood pumped
hard and fast in her body as he collapsed on top of her. Both breathing hard
and heavy as they embraced each other after their magical experience. Deep
sexual gratification assuaged them.

Amber had never
experienced such mind-blowing passion that caused a rush of blood to course
through her veins like that. She ran her fingers over Jules’s taut muscles and
sculpted chest, feeling sated and rejuvenated. The pleasure was pure and
explosive between them. The chemistry was awesome and unique, especially the
way Jules caressed and admired every inch of her body making her feel special
and loved in every way. Even
normal
. This
was good. This was so good. Her body was pumped.
So alive.
She felt on top of the world. There could be no other lover like
Jules—her incredibly sexy and awesome husband. Her body was still buzzed after
their magical
love-making
while she rested on his
muscular chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart,
savoring
the feeling of satisfaction Jules left her with. So this was what it really
felt like to be Mrs. Jules Romero.

The next morning,
Amber woke up to the sound of the baby cooing in the next room, the scent of
baby wash and a man’s voice singing—or trying to sing—Twinkle
Twinkle
Little Star. She felt deeply rested and re-energized.
Jules was obviously with the baby.
Oh,
no. Crystal needs feeding.
There were still some things daddies were not
equipped for.

She whipped the
sheets off her and sprung out of bed. Amber grabbed her silky pink dressing
gown from the chair by the bed and threw it over her. She glanced at the time.
Crystal was sleeping through the night these days but it was time for her to eat.
Amber quickly went into the washroom to brush her teeth and freshen up as she
prepared to go to the nursery in the next room to feed the baby. Actually,
since Crystal was officially three-months-old, she had graduated from baby to
“infant” now. Amber could not believe her little baby was officially an infant.
Imagine that! It was as if yesterday she was born. My, the time did fly as days
turned into weeks then weeks to months.

A smile curved
Amber’s lips at the lovely memory of Jules last night and their lustful night
together.
 

A part of Amber
felt a burning guilt over not telling Jules who Crystal’s biological father
was. She wondered if she should let him know. But she didn’t want to spoil the
momentum. Did it really matter? Jules was Crystal’s father. Born to Amber and
Jules in wedlock. What else could possibly matter? It wasn’t as if Crystal’s
biological father would ever be in the picture. It just wasn’t possible at this
point. Or was it?

Why was it that
when everything seemed to be looking hopeful, there was that stomach-sinking sensation
over something about to happen to change all that?

Think positive, Amber.
You’re in a better place in your life. Let the positive energies of the
universe flow through you and in your life. Stop creating so much unnecessary drama
in your head
.

Amber had to
learn to switch off any negativity that sometimes crept into her mind at the
most unexpected moments. Dr.
Danye
was right! As soon
as she switched her thinking, her mood and sense of
well-being
would follow suit. Life was just too short to be creating head drama about
something that might never happen. “Live in the moment” were words Dr.
Danye
often prescribed to her during her therapy sessions
with him. And that she would do.

Amber finished in
the bathroom and tied the belt around her robe to go into the nursery. And when
she walked in through the open French doors of the room Jules and his brother
Dion had so artfully decorated for Crystal, her heart melted and a wide grin
curled her lips.

Jules was sitting
in the rocking chair, holding Crystal, an empty milk bottle on the side table
beside them. Amber had expressed her breast milk and left it in the fridge so Crystal
could be fed by the nanny in case of emergency or if Amber was on her medical
appointments or unable to for some reason. The milk would only be left for
twenty-four hours at time and Amber would end up using it beforehand to feed Crystal.
But it looked as if doting daddy Jules had already beat her to it.

She folded her
arms across her chest and leaned against the doorframe watching him rock and
sing to their daughter. What a golden moment. Amber hurried to her room,
grabbed her smartphone and returned to the nursery to take a few snapshots of
this tender moment of bonding between Crystal and her daddy, something for her
baby’s photo album and scrapbook.
Memories to treasure.

“Nice going, Daddy,”
Amber said, admiring the memorable vision before her.

Jules looked up,
his dark, handsome gaze locking with hers as Crystal rested comfortably on his
chest while he gently rubbed her back. He smiled lovingly. “Hey, what are daddies
for?”

“You’re a
wonderful daddy, you know that?” she said. “I thought you would still be
jet-lagged.”

“Nothing could
make me too tired to do my daddy duties. Our daughter will get nothing but the
best from her parents. She’s even got your beautiful eyes,” Jules said,
admiring his daughter.

Amber’s
heart squeezed in her chest.
That feeling again.
She wished she could say
that the baby had something for Jules. But she didn’t. Crystal looked like
everything Amber was. Amber wondered what Crystal would look like if she were a
true Romero. Would she have inherited Jules’s mesmerizing eyes, his strong
cheekbones and his height when she grew older? Amber would never know. What if,
God forbid, Crystal ended up looking more like her biological father? The
thought caused Amber’s
breath
to pause.

“You should have
seen our daughter this morning when she woke up,” Jules continued, unaware of
Amber’s inner turmoil. “She had a riot looking in that mirror there,” Jules
continued, stroking Crystal’s soft hair.

“Oh, not that funny
mirror,”
Amber
teased. Crystal’s dear uncle Dion had
gifted her one of those lovely child-safe activity mirrors and Jules insisted
that it stay pinned at the side of the crib for Crystal to entertain herself
looking at her face, exploring those adorable chubby cheeks of hers. She was at
the stage where she was fascinated with visuals.

Amber looked
around the bursting-at-the-seams nursery. The Romero family was nothing short
of kind and generous in their time with Crystal while Jules was away on business.
Their affection was endless.

“Grandpa Toni was
a hoot yesterday,” Amber said as she sat down beside Jules and Crystal.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah,”
Crystal sighed. “He could not stop singing to her.” Amber grinned and shook her
head. “Well, I know where your talent came from.”

“Are you trying
to be funny, Mrs. Romero?”

Amber smiled.
“I’m just saying, you Romeros have a very unique…um, let’s just say…
style
of singing, that’s all.” She
leaned over to him and planted a sweet kiss on his cheek. “And I love you for
it, Jules. Crystal couldn’t stop giggling yesterday. You know your family has been
nothing but wonderful accepting me and Crystal,” she added, her voice trailing
off slightly.

“Hey,” Jules
reproached, “you and Crystal are my family, their family. There’s nothing more
to accept. When are you going to stop regarding me as her stepdad? I’m her
father. Period.”

“I know. I just
can’t help but feeling that…well, they know. They all know that when we met up
again, I was already pregnant.”

“So?”

“So…” Amber felt
her throat close off with overwhelming emotion. Was it her hormones? Oh, heaven
help her if she was going through post-partum depression. She prayed not. But
she really must stop being so sensitive and self-conscious.

“Listen, Amber.
You need to know that we, they don’t think that way. No one in my family thinks
that way. Wait a minute! Has someone said anything to you?” Jules’s voice
sounded defensive and sharp.

“N-no! No, of
c-course not.”

“Good. Then please
drop it, okay, baby?” he said gently. His voice so soothing, smooth and filled
with warmth. “I know you’ve been through a lot feeling self-conscious and
everything, but trust me, there’s no need around here. You and Crystal are a
part of me now. I would lay down my life for you in a heartbeat. You’re my family.
That’s all anyone has to know.”

But Crystal
wasn’t his blood and for the first time since their marriage, she felt a piercing
pain of regret over it. She really wished Jules
was
the father. She really prayed that no one or nothing could bring up anything in
the future to tarnish what they were building. The painful memory of what happened
to her was all too fresh in her mind when the kids at her school found out that
she wasn’t really her stepfather’s daughter. Amber was made to feel like trash in
her past. And now, looking at her angelic, chubby-cheeked, innocent-eyed,
beautiful daughter caused a gut-wrenching feeling to creep into her soul. She
would die if anything like that happened to her precious princess. But Jules
was right. The Romeros were not judgmental. Lord knew they’ve had their own
reputations grinded through the gossip mill by the media in the past.

And Amber and
Crystal were part of the Romero family. They were Romeros. She would deal with
anything that came her way—if it ever did. Until then…

“I’m taking
Crystal to the café today.”

“You are?”

“Yeah, my aunt told
me everyone has been asking to see her. I thought it would be nice to stop by
for a few minutes and see the old gang. I really kind of miss them even though
I’m on maternity leave.”

“I wish I could
go with you but I have an important meeting later this morning,” Jules said. “You
know, you don’t have to go back to work.”

“Jules, are you
saying you want me to be a stay-at-home mom? What if I enjoy running the café
with my aunt?”

He looked into
her eyes and her body responded. He didn’t have to say
anything,
it was just the way his sexy, dark eyes filled with passion captivated her. A
grin of amusement curled his sweet lips. It was the look of
I-don’t-believe-that-for-a-second.

“All right, I
confess. Maybe, I don’t want to go back to work right now. And I could think of
a hundred different reasons why I don’t enjoy working with my aunt, but I do
want to take a break and show off little Crystal in her new decked out stroller
Toni and Shelly got for her.”

Jules laughed.
“Yeah, just be careful with my daughter. I’ll have our driver take you guys
there and wait for you.”

“But what if I
don’t want to have a driver with me?”

“I think it’s a
good idea, Amber.”

Was Jules going
to be overprotective of her and the baby forever? Part of Amber appreciated his
thoughtfulness but she really craved her independence. She didn’t mind driving
herself to wherever she and the baby had to go. Plenty of new moms do it all
the time.

 
“Yes, sir, Daddy!” Amber finally
responded, giving in. He’d have his way.
Just this once.

“So, big guy, where’s
Amber and Crystal? Thought you’d bring them in to the office today,” Dion said
to his brother, Jules, as he propped up he knee, leaning back in the chair
opposite Jules’s desk at the headquarters of the Mayberry Hill Family Research Center.

It had been a few
months since Jules Romero’s company had officially taken over ownership of the not-for-profit
organization and added it to his portfolio of family-friendly affordable health
centers in the province. As his grandfather would preach to him and his
brothers, it wasn’t always about ways to make money. It was encouraged to think
of ways to give back and help others in need. Jules could certainly relate to a
time in his youth when he was in need before he became one of the wealthiest
men in the universe.

He was getting
ready to meet with his newly hired executive director who would oversee the
organization in his place while he oversaw operations of the
R.M
. Fitness facilities. Did Jules really have his hand in
too many projects? Amber had spoken to him about it before and he’d playfully
tell her there’d be plenty of time to rest when he was dead.

Jules sighed,
multitasking as he flipped through some paperwork on his desk to sign left by
his assistant Brenda.
 
“Amber’s at
the café with Crystal. She wanted to see her colleagues and her aunt.”