A Bride for the Billionaire Bad Boy (The Romero Brothers, Book 2) (14 page)

When the game had wrapped up, Maxine spoke with
Lucy on the side.

“Oh, please don’t worry, Maxine,” Lucy said.
“In fact, the shower is pretty much over now. I’m really beat. I need to take
my nap now. I’ve told the others to carry on without me.” Lucy then winked. “I
insist on you spending some time with Lucas.”

“Lucy!”

“Seriously, Maxine. He’s a nice guy and well…he
cares about you.”

Maxine smiled sheepishly and hugged Lucy. “I
will speak with you later, okay?”

“Don’t rush,” Lucy said, smiling.

Later, Maxine and Lucas strolled along the lawn
while the partygoers were oblivious to their absence. What could Lucas want to
talk to her about now?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Lucas and Maxine arrived at the
guest house
—a cedar-sided cottage at the west side of
the estate. It had its own cobblestone walkway
and
 
meticulously
trimmed hedges in
front of the main door.

It was an extraordinary guest home with a
breathtaking view of the hills. How Maxine loved the way the Romero family
lived. It was an impressive estate for sure. The land seemed to go on forever. It
must be nice to live like this. Heck, even if the family had bothersome guests
staying over, they would not be affected at all since the guest house was far
from the main house yet luxurious enough to keep the guests satisfied. And she
noticed there were several other cottages nearby.

Lucas opened the main door and led Maxine
inside. “After you, beautiful,” he invited in a smooth voice that caused her to
tingle inside.

“Oh, this is nice,”
Maxine
commented as she walked inside. She was stunned. It was an ultra-functional environment.
Spacious and cozy at the same time.
She noticed the
open area living room with ceiling-to-floor stone fireplace and sofas with a
Persian rug in the center over a shiny hardwood floor.

The kitchen area in the open concept design had
marble countertops and stained oak cabinets with a marble-top kitchen island with
brown leather backless bar stools around it—sort of like a breakfast bar
in the middle of the kitchen nook.

“It’s okay. It’s a place for guests to stay.”

Maxine turned around in awe. She could not
believe he was so casual about the opulence of his surroundings, especially
since he started out life humble. “Aren't you ever simply amazed at what your
grandfather has built?”

“Of course, I am. I’m very proud of my old man.
But his legacy is more important than his assets. My grandfather has instilled
a lot of positive values and good work ethics in all of us. To tell you the
truth, I’m more impressed with that.”

“Of course!” Maxine smiled. She felt warm
inside. That was one of the attributes that attracted her to Lucas. He wasn’t
at all what the media painted him out to be. He was so much more—profound.
“Well, he’s done a good job, Lucas.”

“Thank you. It’s because of his work ethics why
we are the way we are today. It’s all about helping others, leaving the world a
better place than how we found it and making a difference. He always told us to
never look for work, create it.”

Maxine nodded thoughtfully.

“Can I get you anything?”

Just
you.

“I’m okay for now,” she murmured.

“Come. I’ll take you on a tour.”

He led her through the hallway and towards the
back where there was a study and a view of the swimming pool outside.

“Nice.”

“Thanks.”

Lucas looked deep in thought. Of course, he did
not bring her there solely for a tour of one of their guest homes. They needed
to talk.

“Listen,” Lucas said, his hands shoved in the
pockets of his dress pants. His lips were clenched slightly. “I have some news
for you, regarding the notes you received.”

“Oh?” Maxine’s stomach was squeezing uncomfortably
inside. Did she really want to hear this? Was this about some crazy ex-client
who wanted to get even with her for a wedding gone wrong?

“There’s no easy way to say this but Zack had
his men look into it and they found out the source. You're not going to believe
it. It was Betty.”

“Betty? No way. Why would she…?”

“Exactly. Sometimes it’s the people closest to
you who can do more harm and by that I mean the people who know too much about
you.”

Maxine was stumped. She sat down on the
recliner chair by the fireplace in a daze. “But why?” she whispered almost to
herself. She racked her brain trying to figure out why Betty would pull such a stunt
but then it clicked. Betty knew her home address and everything else about her.

“We had the emails traced. The couple
who
had that lawsuit have dropped it by the way. You’ll be
hearing from their lawyer. So that’s good.”

Maxine practically ignored the “that’s good”
part of his conversation. Nothing seemed good right now. Nothing. Betty? Why
would Betty want to hurt her?

“It seemed as if Betty had some sort of grudge
against you. She was a close friend of the former owner, Chris.”

“Oh, my God! That’s right. She told me Chris
wanted her to run the business before Lucy came on board.”

Lucas nodded. He also explained to her that
Betty agreed to resign from the company and a temp would be in place come
Monday. Arrangements were already made pending Maxine’s approval. He had
connections with an admin agency that supplied temps to Romero Corp. and
Foundation. She was at least relieved to hear that part. But she just couldn’t
get her head around this chilling betrayal.

“Well…I don’t know what to do now or whom to
trust,” Maxine murmured, hugging
herself
.

“You can always trust me, Maxine,” Lucas said
in a soothing voice. He gazed intently into her eyes and shivers of delight ran
down her spine.

“I’ll never hurt you,” he whispered and the
words resonated within her soul. Maxine didn’t know why but she felt something
pull in her heart—a good thing. A connection.

Maxine stood up and leaned on Lucas. She
pressed her head into his chest and he hugged her so tightly with such a
powerful emotion she felt so meshed with him. She snaked her arms around his
firm waist and looked up into his dark, sexy eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“You don’t have to thank me, Maxine,” he dismissed
her overwhelming gratitude. His silky voice caused a reaction inside her.
A very delicious one.

“But I want to. You’ve done so much for me. How
could I ever…?” Her breath caught in her throat. Raw emotion washed over her. “I
want you.”

Her breathing grew heavy. The truth was she’d
never desired someone as much as she craved for Lucas’s touch, his embrace, his
presence. Her mind was going crazy and her head was spinning out of control.

Kiss
me.

As if he could read her mind, Lucas lowered his
head to hers and pressed his hungry lips to hers. His kiss was slow, deep,
wanting. He sipped her lips and sucked them causing ripples of emotions to
tingle inside her. Her nipples tightened when his lips kissed the silky skin on
her neck. His soft lips caressed her neck and she let out a soft moan of
pleasure. She could feel his arousal getting harder and harder behind his
zipper while his body was pressed to hers.

Oh,
Lucas.

“God, you have no idea what you do to me,
Maxine,” he groaned as he continued to press his soft lips into her neck. His
breathing was slow and deep. Maxine arched her back in his embrace. They’d made
their way over to the kitchen counter as they ravenously devoured each other
with amazing kisses.

***

Lucas moaned with pleasure as he sucked on the soft
skin of Maxine’s neck. The erotic sounds of her groans as he pleasured her with
his lips were driving his testosterone levels off the charts. His erection was
straining inside his pants. He wanted her desperately. He would do anything for
her. Protect her. Take care of her and bring her carnal pleasure like she’d
never known before.

No woman had ever captured his heart, his soul
and his mind the way Maxine did. There was just something about her.
Something that resonated within his soul.

“Oh, God, you’re so sexy,” Lucas groaned as he
rubbed his hands down the soft curves of her silhouette. He continued to kiss
her gently on her neck then he moved his lips down her arms as he caressed her
body. Slowly taking his time, savoring her body while she moaned and writhed
with ecstasy in his arms.

“I want you so badly, Maxine,” he moaned.

“Oh, Lucas, I want you too. Please, take me.”

Excitement shot through Lucas’s blood. He
wanted to pleasure her so badly and bring her erotic delight more than anything
else.

He gently led her into the bedroom a few steps
away; both were breathing heavy and in no time he guided her to the bedside and
continued to delight in rocking her world.

He wanted to take his time with her gently. She
deserved to be treated like a princess, no, like a queen!

“I want to taste you, Maxine. Let me take you
down there,” he groaned as he intermittently pressed his lips to her neck and
her lips.

***

Take
me down there?

Intense arousal washed through Maxine at the
thought of Lucas wanting to put his sweet lips between her legs. This wasn’t
something she’d ever done before. She was glad her bikini wax was done. What
would she have done if she
wasn’t
groomed "down
there"? She trembled inside with delight and awe of what was to come.
Panting and breathing hard she moaned, “Yes. Yes!”

Lucas guided her body down on the bed while he
positioned himself over her. Gently he lifted up her skirt and spread her legs.
To her surprise,
he started gently rubbing his fingers over
her folds while her lace
,
sheer panties were in place
.
The feeling was sensual and delightful as she writhed on the bed and arched her
back letting moans of pleasure escape her lips.

“Oh, Lucas,” she groaned in ecstasy. He hadn’t
even pressed his lips there yet and she thought she was going to lose control
completely.

He then slid off her panties slowly,
seductively, and sent her senses into overdrive. Lucas lowered his lips to her
mound and gently stroked and teased her with his tongue before covering her
with the moist of his mouth while she arched her back on the bed.

Expertly, he sucked and kissed her slow and
soft over and over until she came with an explosive orgasm. The first time
she’d ever peaked like that. It was her first time she’d ever really climaxed.
Her legs were weak with satisfaction and Lucas moved up on top of her and
kissed her throat before bringing his lips to hers. She could taste her
sweetness on his lips as they kissed.

She wanted so badly to return the favor and she
licked her lips and repositioned herself to him and unzipped his pants to free
his throbbing erection.

Maxine gently stroked his shaft with her hand
while he gasped in delight. Up and down she slid her fingers lightly to drive
him wild.
 
She then lowered her
mouth to his manhood and pressed her tongue then covered him with her lips and
took him into the moist of her mouth. Sliding up and down and savoring him
while he shuddered at how erotic it felt.

On the brink of release he stopped her,
breathing hard and heavy. Lucas then reached into his pocket and pulled out a
condom. He tore it open with this teeth and rolled it over his hardness and
before long he had positioned herself over him taking her all the way as he
thrust himself inside her back and forth, hard and fast until she came first
with an intense shudder, delicious and sweet. He then came soon after and they
both collapsed in each other’s arms.

It was late in the evening when Maxine woke up
in the cottage to the sound of music playing outdoors and the laughter of
people having fun.

She came to her senses and realized the after
party was now in effect. Lucy was probably in the main house getting some rest.
But where was Lucas? She looked around and he was not there.

The afterglow of their passionate lovemaking
brought
a warmth
inside her and a deep connection to
Lucas more than anything else.

She grabbed the sheets around her and got up
out of bed; her hair was disheveled in a good way—an after-sex way. She
swept her hand through her mane to tidy herself up.

“Lucas?” she called out as she went into the
main area. She looked over by the fireplace and his jacket was laid over the
sofa.

She heard the door unlock and waited to the
side. It was Lucas who stepped inside. Thank God!

“Oh, beautiful, you’re awake,” he said in a low
voice, a sexy grin on his lips. “I didn’t want to disturb you. Did you sleep
well?”