A Bride for the Billionaire Bad Boy (The Romero Brothers, Book 2) (13 page)

“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” Lucas said to Maxine as
he stepped behind her.

Maxine was caught by surprise. A very pleasant
surprise! When did he arrive? She had been admiring the beautiful flowers in
the massive garden. The
hedge was professionally trimmed by the
family’s gardener into heart-shaped motifs
. Maxine was oohing and
aahing
over them.

“Yes, they are…beautiful,” she murmured after
she turned to face him. “I didn’t see you arrive. When did you get here?” Her
heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest. Butterflies were tickling her
stomach again. Being this close to Lucas did that to her, didn’t it? It never
failed. There was simply something about him that lifted her spirit and
elevated her mood.

“Well, you know I wouldn’t miss this for the
world. My cousin’s…ahem…baby shower,” Lucas said with a charming smirk.

Maxine could just imagine the two cousins teasing
each other or having a mock spat over the fact that they were both forced to
attend the Romero family’s first official Jack and Jill baby shower. In fact,
she noticed that Toni was extra perky today. She could literally feel his joy
over having a new grandchild in the family.
His very first.
How exciting! And Maxine got to be a part of that.

There was the pang in the center of her chest
again. A longing that she wished she had a big, close-knit family such as the
Romero family. She could see how much they stuck together and supported each
other whether they were busy or not. They were all in attendance.

“Can I get you a drink?”

“No. I’m good, thanks. Actually, maybe a glass
of water.” The hot sun was making her mouth dry all of a sudden. Or was that
Lucas? She was thirsting for a taste of his sweet lips. She hungered for his
passion. But this was not the time, nor place, was it?

Lucas took a glass of sparkling water from the
tray of one of the waiters who happened to brush by them at the time.

“So, how are you doing?” he asked as he handed
her the glass. His gaze focused intently on hers.

Maxine melted inside. He was inches from her
with a glass of champagne in his own hand. “Thank you,” she said, taking the
glass from him. “I’ve been…busy.” She lifted the glass to her lips and felt
quenched by the cool water sliding down her throat. A naughty thought crossed
her mind as she licked her lips after taking her sip. Lucas’s gaze was fixed on
her mouth for that moment and she thought she caught a wicked grin from his
lips.

Okay. She would
not
be doing that again. The last thing she wanted to do was tease
him. Or appear like some sort of flirtatious tease.

“Good. How’s the Dream software holding up?”

“Oh, it’s fabulous. Thank you again. We’ve had
a few good prospects
who
have tried the online program
and were happy to have us do the rest. It’s sort of some pre-screening for
them. They love it and so do we.
”

“Glad to hear,” he said sincerely. He lifted
the glass to his lips while his eyes stayed on Maxine.

“I’ve missed you,” he said almost inaudibly
when he’d finished taking his swig of alcohol.

“What?”

“Why does that surprise you?”

“Um. Well, you haven’t even called me since you
went out west.” She placed a hand on her hip.

“Sorry. I’ve been busy.”

Maxine rolled her eyes playfully.

“No. Seriously. I wanted to call you but I’ve
been working on this new project and trying to dodge the local media there,
too.”

Maxine’s heart squeezed.
That
scandal again.
How could she have forgotten? It had been a while since
things died down a bit but as she knew that could change in a heartbeat.

“It’s still hanging over you, huh?”

“You’d better believe it. We’re opening up a
family-friendly center there and all they could keep asking about was my unborn
child—the one I’m denying.” Bitterness crossed his handsome face.

Maxine’s insides twisted. “How awful. I’m so
sorry to hear that, Lucas. That’s the last thing you need. Why can’t they just
drop it? You’re innocent until proven-”

“Guilty?” He cocked a brow and grinned.

“That’s not quite what I meant, you know.”

“I know. I’m only teasing you, Maxi.”

Did he just call her Maxi? Only her dear and
close friends called her that. The few she had, anyway. The way he said it seem
to resonate well with her. It felt so right.
So natural.
It was as if he was warming to her.

“Anyway, enough about that. I trust
everything’s been okay with that situation,” he said in almost a tone of
finality. As if he knew everything was okay.

“Yes. In fact, I haven’t heard or seen any more
of those dreadful emails,” Maxine said with relief.

“Good. You shouldn’t.”

“Okay, everyone,” Shelly announced over a
microphone from where Lucy was sitting. “Ladies…and gents.
If
you would like to make your way over to this area.
We’re going to begin
the games and opening gifts soon.”

Murmurs rang from the crowd as everyone headed
in the general direction of Shelly's voice.

“You go on,” Lucas said to Maxine. Zack had
walked over to where they were standing with a glass in his hand. He had on a
dark suit, opened-up jacket. He looked as if he wanted to speak to Lucas eagerly.
Brothers. Maxine guessed they had something important to exchange.

“Okay, I’ll see you later then,” she said.

Lucas’s focus shifted to Zack. “What is it, Zack?”

“Well, brother dear, your suspicions were right
about everything.”

“Okay, let’s talk over here.” The two brothers
moved over to the hedge and a corner of the garden where no one else was within
earshot. “Okay, spill it out.”

“Our men found out that it wasn’t the couple
who was trying to sue Dream Weddings back when Lucy was CEO.”

“You sure about that now? They seemed a little
off, didn’t they?”

“Yeah. They were all right. But as it turns
out, they were running some sort of scam from the get-go. They travelled from
down south and apparently they would plan these crazy weddings and try to get
injured so they could blame the wedding planning agency.”

Lucas grimaced. What sort of crazy people were
these? “Very well. So what happened to them?”

“They got caught. They’ve been detained for
some other insurance fraud business. Anyway, our men have confirmed that they
have indeed dropped the case against Dream Weddings. So Maxine is definitely in
the clear about that. And no, they did not have anything to do with the notes
or trashing Maxine’s apartment.”

“Good.”

“Bad.”

“I don’t follow.”

“It probably would have been a lot easier if
they were the ones behind it.”

“Oh, great. So you’re telling me you know who’s
behind it and it’s someone close to Maxine?”

Zack nodded bringing his glass to his lips. The
two men were more focused on their conversation than on the laughing and clapping
going on behind them at the other side of the garden where the baby shower
festivities were going on.

Lucas glanced over briefly and saw Maxine
sitting on a chair in the circle enjoying
herself
. She
looked so happy. He liked that. It killed him inside that any creepy person
close to Maxine would want to hurt her. If he ever got his hands on the guy…

“Was it her ex?” he said bitterly.

“No.”

“Then who?”

“Betty.”

“Betty? Who’s Betty?” Lucas sighed heavily.
 
He wished Zack would just get on with it
and not hold back.

“Her receptionist.”

Lucas froze.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Okay, let's play the next game,” Shelly
announced to the men and women gathered around Lucy as she sat with her swelled
belly on the "queen's" chair. “What words of wisdom do you have for
the baby or for the new parents-to-be?”

The crowd murmured.

“Now, now. We’re going to record this so the
baby will know when he or she is older what messages you want to give to him or
her or to the parents.”

“Sounds cool,” Maxine chimed in. “I’ve heard of
this game.” She directed a wink to Lucy who smiled back appreciatively. Antonio
was sitting beside Lucy looking like the doting father-to-be. A longing seeped
into Maxine’s heart wishing one day that could be her and Lucas. For a fleeting
moment she had a fantasy play in her mind of being pregnant with Lucas’s love
child.
Yeah. If only.

Still, the baby shower party was a fun and
relaxing way for Maxine to spend this Saturday. Just what she truly
needed.
And yes, Lucas was there, too. She wanted more than
anything else to see Lucas. She glanced around briefly and saw Lucas speaking
with Zack. What on earth were they conversing about at a time like this? The
two looked deeply engaged in some sort of
tete
-a-
tete
.

“Maxine?”

“Yes,” Maxine was caught off guard by Shelly’s
voice.

“It’s your turn. You need to write down a
message for the baby. It could be funny, wise, or actually, anything you like.”

Maxine took the square piece of paper Shelly
handed to her and thought for a moment. She then scribbled down something cute
on the paper along with everyone else who had wrote their messages and placed
it inside an open basket to be drawn a bit later and read one by one.

“Good.” Shelly was beaming. Maxine wondered how
Shelly was feeling right now. She appeared as thrilled as everyone else for
Lucy and Antonio’s new bundle of joy but truth be told Shelly looked great for
a woman in her forties yet she didn’t have any children of her own. Granted,
she married the seventy-six-year-old, Toni. Were they planning on adopting? Or
was Shelly content in having eight grown men as her step-grandchildren and now
a step-great-grandchild on the way? Jeez! That was a lot to digest. Maxine was
happy Shelly found love with Toni and she was even
more glad
that she had a hand in making their dream wedding come true with Lucy at the
Dream Weddings, Inc. agency. Would Maxine ever know the joys of being a blushing
bride? Ever?

Moments later, Lucy picked the heartfelt notes
from the basket and one by one read each beautiful message. “Thank you,
Shelly,” Lucy smiled appreciatively at the gracious host who also left a
soothing message for her.

“And now, Maxine.” Lucy had picked out another
note from the basket to read. All of this was being recorded. Maxine was
stunned to see Zack had his camera on record. She looked around to see if Lucas
was about but she did not.

Maxine frowned but quickly shifted her
expression.

“This is beautiful, Maxine,” Lucy said, misty-eyed.
She had read the note in her mind first then proceeded to read aloud.

“Now you know we’re mind readers, Lucy, but
we’re not that good,” Zack teased her. “Come on, read it out loud so that my
video can pick up the non-telekinetic sound.”

The crowd burst into laughter and Lucy scowled
at him playfully as she rubbed her belly.

“Learn to have fun.
Lots of
fun.
Memories are what last forever. Love a lot. Laugh a lot. Spend a
lot.
A lot of time.
Children spell love T.I.M.E.
Cherish every golden moment and savor every precious day. And they’ll never
outgrow a hug because it’s always one size fits all. Good luck to the lovely
parents-to-be.”

A boisterous "
aww
"
rang out from the group. Lucy got up and gave Maxine a good squeeze and hug
over her large belly. Maxine hugged her back tightly.

“That was beautiful, Maxine,” Lucas said later
in a low voice. He stood beside her and she spun around in surprise.

“Wow, do you walk or do you just magically
appear whenever you want to be near me?”

Lucas grinned, his charming dimple appeared on
his cheek. Maxine was whole again. She loved when he was near her. She loved
the way he made her feel.
All the time.

“Thank you,” she then answered him back. By
then, the group was already on to the next message and Lucas gently pulled
Maxine away.

“Come,” he said to her. “We need to talk.”

“Can this wait?” Maxine said half-heartedly.
She felt bad about leaving the shower, but
God,
she
really wanted nothing more than to be alone with Lucas. She didn’t know why but
she just did.

“It is something you need to know about but if
you want we can do this later.”

“Oh no. It sounds rather important. Okay, where
should we go?”

“We can walk over to the guest house on the
other side.”

“Okay,” Maxine murmured. “I just need to speak
with Lucy.”