The Billionaire's Baby (The Romero Brothers, Book 5) (4 page)

He noticed that
everybody in that class had a partner—except Amber. It looked as if they
were about to perform some breathing exercises. He often sponsored classes
offered at the fitness facility he ran with his brother Carl, before he became
mayor. He was focusing on acquiring new facilities, while his deputy ran the
fitness center. There must have been about a dozen couples in the classroom,
Jules assessed, still glancing in. One woman had a motherly figure beside her;
the rest had what looked to be the baby daddies at their sides, holding their waists
as they sat on the carpet. But Amber was alone. Gazes around the room seem to
penetrate her.

Jules’s heart muscle
tugged just then. He felt deeply sorry for her. Amber looked a bit sheepish in
her facial expression. It looked as if the color had drained from her face. Not
good. Not good at all. He even caught a pregnant woman whispering to her
partner and then gazing back at Amber. The class must have encouraged women to
bring their partners. It appeared to him that Amber was trying to put up a
brave face or a brave front, by the way she tilted her head up slightly and
hugged her chest.
And that expression on her face?
Oh,
he knew it all too well. He had studied her like a charm back when they had
dated for that brief period of time.

He turned his
face to the boardroom and agonized over what to do. His heart burned in his
chest. He pulled his smartphone from his breast jacket pocket and
dialed
his assistant. “Take over for me. I’ll be gone for a
little while. Remember, we’re not going all in without the daycare center.
That’s part of the deal.”

“Sure thing,
boss.” It was a good thing he’d trained Brenda, his executive assistant and coordinator
in this merger, to handle his affairs while he was busy with other projects.
She was a gem.

It looked as if
Amber could do with a friend. Not like he was busy or anything, he grinned to
himself and rolled his eyes.

Jules opened the
door and strode inside to the surprised stares of the group. Did they recognize
him?
Probably not.
It was probably the way he was
dressed, not exactly ready to do floor exercises in a room with pregnant ladies
and their partners.

“I’m here with Amber,”
he announced to the instructor.

“Oh…um…wonderful.”

Amber’s face lit
up and a huge smile of appreciation rested on her beautiful soft lips. Okay, it
wasn’t the way he planned his day. But heck, some things were worth more than
money and this was one of those moments.

Adrenaline pumped
through Amber’s body as excitement coursed through her veins. Overwhelming emotion
fluttered inside her chest. Jules had offered to be her partner for the workshop,
even though he had prior commitments.

Though she vowed
after her crazy ex, she’d never have a man in her life again, she was grateful
like sin to have Jules by her side right now.
Really
thankful.

Amber would never
forget this moment as long as she lived.

“Now,” the
resource nurse started, “as you know, this is a very special session for moms and
dads. The topic of this session is: Parenting Together. Many of you may wonder
why a father is important or two parents during the process of childbirth. In
this case, dads, the most important thing you can give your partner is support.
Just to be there. Nothing is more important than emotional support during this
time. Making sure that mom’s needs are tended to. The baby, most of all, is the
focus and mom is carrying your precious bundle, or bundles, of joy and she
really needs that extra care. It is a wonderful, and in some cases,
overwhelming journey to bring a baby into the world.”

Amber’s heart
melted. Of course, she could have done this all alone, but the resource nurse
was right. Carrying a live human being within her and having to give birth one
day was an incredible experience. Life transforming. What had she been
thinking? There was nothing like having emotional support by your side. Amber
took a quick glance around and saw most of the couples snuggling up to each
other.

She glanced at
Jules who seemed to be listening intently to the instructor, his arm extending
across her back in a supportive position. He seemed to be really taking this
all in. Oh, what she would give for him to be the father of her child. Just the
mere thought that he wanted to be there to lend her support meant the world to
her.

Amber felt her
baby swiftly kick about in her belly at that instant. A warm smile crept on her
face. She hadn’t notice that Jules’s attention had turned to her. He was
grinning from ear-to-ear.

“I think our
little one agrees,” he said, gesturing to her belly. He must have seen Amber’s
abdomen stretch while tiny feet pressed against the inside of her abdominal
wall.

Amber smiled but
then her smile was replaced with the look of astonishment.
Did Jules just say,
our
little one?

Jules snaked his
arm around Amber and gave her a loving squeeze.
 
A jolt of electricity pumped through her
body. Her baby also gave her a pleasant bounce kick below her rib. It seemed as
if mom and baby were both enjoying Jules’s presence and support. She’d never
felt the baby so active.

Amber was tickled
inside by this overwhelming show of affection. There was a spark in the air.
A connection that was indescribable between the two of them—all
three
of them.
She didn’t
quite know what it was. The faint delicious scent of Jules’s aftershave
delighted her nostrils when he took one hand and unbuttoned his suit jacket to
get more comfortable. His aroma was so pleasurable. It had been a while since
she’d inhaled the sexy scent of a man. Since she’d inhaled Jules’s sweet essence.
It was as if they’d never broken up and they were quickly bonding
again—this time over her unborn child.

Ignore that feeling, Amber. You’ve sworn off men,
remember? Look at what Rex did to you in the end. It starts off sweet and
charming and then…

But if she were
honest with herself, she’d realize that Jules and Rex were two completely
different specimens. She should have had Jules as her first love, not Rex the
Jerk.

But who was she
to question Jules coming to her rescue at just the right time? She would have
been so alone—felt so inadequate during this special session today. Of
all the prenatal sessions in this program, she had to start with this one.
The class that required two parents to be present—or at least
a supportive partner for the mom.
 
 

During the
remainder of the session the instructor guided the couples through loving
support techniques, a
labor
and delivery/birth
refresher, comfort measures, parenting together, practice runs on changing the
diaper on a lifelike baby doll and coordinated pushing during
labor
.

Amber felt a
fluttery sense in her chest and her internal temperature climb at the thought
of having Jules by her side during the class. It was a delight to see him
fumble with the practice baby doll, attempting to change its diaper. Amber
giggled at times when he pulled his usual funny faces that always got her
going. The endorphins rushing through her blood at that time were a pleasant
muscle relaxant that Amber really needed. Before Jules came into the classroom,
she’d felt herself tensing up again—her nerves had taken hold of her.
But not now.
She was more relaxed and felt more comfortable
than she’d been in a long time.

“Man, I hope the
real deal is not going to be as awkward,” he commented and she smiled at his
response. The other dads were also having a hell of a time getting it right.
Changing the diaper for a pretend newborn the way the instructor had
demonstrated.

Amber admitted
she missed Jules’s quirky sense of
humor
. Rex was
always the serious type with an ulterior motive to everything whenever he did
lighten up. Rex just never knew how to have sincere fun. Right now he would
have made her feel like an idiot if she had screwed up in the diaper-changing
lesson in this workshop.

At times Amber gave
Jules a sheepish grin and appreciative smile. “Thank you,” she’d said so many
times, whispering in his ears as she watched lovingly while he proceeded to pat
the doll’s back gently.

What a full
session it was turning out to be.

But then her body
core temperature plummeted when she realized Jules was there just to save face.
What would she do when the actual due date arrived? It was one thing to plan
everything but now seeing how happy all the couples looked in that session and
feeling the warmth and support of having Jules by her side, even though it was
a prenatal class, caused her muscles to tighten at the thought of not having
him with her. Funny thing, even if the father of her child was present, Amber would
not feel the same as having Jules by her side. Jules was lovable, warm and had
one heck of a sense of ice-breaking
humor
. He would
crack a joke from time to time to get her to loosen up or lighten up, or say
something witty and charming to melt her defences.

Amber appreciated
the fact that Jules was a natural at this. He was affectionate and protective
over her. He always was. That’s why it ripped her to shreds when she had to
part ways with him before they could become intimate. She really didn’t want to
but she couldn’t risk him finding out about her. It would have been all too
painful to go through—at least that’s what she believed at the
time—thanks to her deranged ex. Talk about making the wrong choice!

“Breathe deeply,
Amber,” Jules coached, his soft, low voice mellowing inside her. He gave her
another affectionate squeeze at her side and she gushed.

“Thanks.”

“Now, I know you
have something on your mind; you look far away,” he continued, whispering to
her discreetly.

Then she turned to
him and gasped at his boyish grin. His smiles were always infectious and she smiled
in response. Suddenly, whatever Amber was thinking about was wiped clear out of
her mind at that moment.

“That’s better,”
he said. “And don’t let me catch you holding your breath like that again. Our
little guy needs as much oxygen as he can get.”

She chuckled.
“Okay, Jules. I’ll try to remember.” Amber noted that Jules referred to her
baby as “our little guy” again. Of course, Amber realized quickly that couples
were seated close to them. Was Jules just keeping up the pretence that he was
the baby’s real daddy? Or did he really mean what he said? Of course, he could
not have. The baby wasn’t his and he knew it.

A sinking feeling
settled inside Amber. Gosh, she had no idea how emotional this session would be
for her.

Jules didn’t know
what had gotten into him all of a sudden. His mind kept obsessing over Amber’s
well-being
and how she would cope bringing a child into the
world alone. What was she thinking? She’d left him to be with some lowlife who
didn’t even have the decency to stick around? If Jules ever got his hands on that
creep! Why was she keeping his identity a secret? He could probably figure it
out with the help of his agency but he decided to let it rest—for now.

“Hey, you look as
if you’re in a different world,” Amber commented, as she gathered her bag and
her sweater off the table.

The prenatal
session had just finished and the rest of the couples proceeded to make their
way out of the room.

“Oh, it’s nothing,”
Jules lied. What was he going to say to her? That he was royally peeved that
she’d left him for a deadbeat?
Some Rex without-a-surname guy.
The guy’s name might as well have been John Doe. Jules would never have left Amber
to attend prenatal classes on her own or removed himself from the picture if
she was carrying his child. A guy not sticking around for the mother of his
child was just plain wrong in so many ways.

“I’m glad you
were able to make it today, Mr. Murray, I presume?” The instructor extended her
hand to shake Jules’s as they made it to the door to leave.

“Murray?” he said
without thinking. Great. Amber’s surname was Johnson-Murray. The instructor
assumed that he was Mr. Murray!

He was about to
correct her but caught the look on Amber’s face.
Too much
information.
“Call me Jules,” he said, shaking her hand.

“Thank you,
Jules,” Amber said later. “I really didn’t want to get into the name business
right now with the nurse.”

“Well, I’ve read
somewhere in the world, some men take on the woman’s name when married. I sure
as hell didn’t think I would be one of them.” He chuckled.

She playfully
rolled her eyes and shook her head. “It’s only for the class, Jules. I’m sure
she won’t remember you as I doubt she’ll see you again.”

Jules froze.

Something pulled internally
and it had nothing to do with his early morning workout that day. Never see him
again. Was Amber seriously going to finish the rest of the sessions alone? He
couldn’t explain what the heck zapped into his body right then and there but something
moved him to want to stick around Amber, to make sure she wasn’t going to do
this whole childbirth thing alone.