A Bride for the Billionaire Bad Boy (The Romero Brothers, Book 2) (10 page)

“Yes, I’m good, thanks,” she replied as she captured
his beauty from across the table in the plush, cozy booth. The dim light of the
candle and ambiance was soothing, romantic and calm. So inviting. Oh, God! This
place was way too inviting. Anything could happen right there and then. There
were very few people in the establishment except when she’d entered she noticed
a few men dressed in the finest of suits.
A discreet place
where elite hang out.
Who would have ever thought that she, ordinary,
unknown Maxine, could be at a place such as this?

When the waiter took their orders after she’d made her
selection from the
iPad
menu on the table, they were
finally left alone.

“Nice place. Do you come here often?” she questioned in
a hushed tone, trying hard not to gaze into his dark, sexy eyes. Every time
their gaze met tingles would erupt between her thighs and she could feel
moisture pool between her legs. She had to get her mind off sex. Off how sexy
Lucas was.

“Sometimes. When I need to get away from it all.”

“I see.”

He sighed and leaned back into the leather seat of the
booth. Lucas cocked a sexy boyish grin that melted her inside, yet again. The
place looked elegant and rich, everything seemed elite, expensive from the
art work
on the walls to the soothing music in the
background to the ambiance but it was all nothing compared to the vision of
loveliness before her. Lucas.

“No freelance photographers, no onlookers, no
hassles.” He grinned.

“I get it. I should have known. It must be awful being
chased by…reporters every time something…um…”

“Every time a girl makes a claim against me in the
media?” he finished for her, a grin of amusement played across his sexy lips.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—"

“Don’t be. I’m pretty much used to it by now.”

The waiter came back to the table in no time with Maxine's
Caramel Macchiato.
A rich blend of sweet steamed, deliciously
frothy milk with a shot of freshly brewed espresso and creamy caramel.
A filling hot beverage and one of Maxine’s favorites when she could
afford it.
What really grabbed her was the fact that when she brought
the drink to her lips, it tasted
more rich
than she’d
ever remembered. Holy! Was the milk from a sacred cow or something?

She’d heard of rich folks going to places like this
where it appeared that the chef took extra care with preparing their meals. This
gave new meaning to the term expensive taste. Mind you, she’d also read online
that some rich people went to places like this to pay $400 for the world’s most
juiciest, tastiest hamburgers with the most expensive organic beef. Imagine
that! That was a week’s worth of wages for most people.

Lucas enjoyed a steaming cup of freshly brewed black
coffee.
Strong and dark.
Like him, she mused.

They engaged in small talk about sports and other
issues before the waiter came back with their breakfast. Maxine delighted in
his sense humor during that time.

She enjoyed an exquisite queen sized plate of soft
scrambled eggs, mushrooms, shredded cheese and Pico de Gallo toppings and
American fried potatoes. She also had Cinnamon Swirl French Toast with warm
maple syrup to the side—unsure of how she would accommodate the
proportions. Maxine had no idea how huge the dish would be when she ordered.

She salivated over her entrée. Lucas had a similar
dish with a slice of steak!
So early in the morning?
But then again, judging by his broad shoulders and his muscular
build
 
she
knew
he worked out hard at the gym so having a protein-rich meal was probably
expected.

“I’m really sorry about what happened to you at the
apartment, Maxine.”

“So I am,” she lamented. Her eyes looked downcast.
“But I’ll survive.” A knot tied in her stomach but she had to be brave about
the whole thing.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For this.
For doing all of this.
For your concern,” she murmured. “I have to be honest with you, Lucas. It
shocked me to see you at the motel where I'm staying. I was like…wow! What are
you doing here?”

“As I said before, you're like family. I take care of
my family, Maxine.”

“I know.” She twirled her scrambled eggs on the plate.

“Listen, I’ll be upfront with you, too,” he offered.
“I had my men look into things for me with that note you received.”

Her eyes widened. But why was she really surprised?
She suspected he
may
have something to do with
watching her back, though she didn’t know for sure. She secretly hoped he
would. Who wouldn’t want to have a hot, eligible guy watching their back from
time to time? Watching over them, sort of?
Like a genuine
hero.
Not that she needed saving. At least that’s what she fed herself
daily. She was drowning in debt, overwhelmed with caring for her mom and didn’t
know which way to turn at the moment.

“I can’t believe you did that for me.”

“To be honest, it tore me up inside when I heard about
it. You’re way too beautiful to be going through that crap.”

“It happens, I suppose. Speaking of which. I’m sorry
about what you’re going through,” she said with genuine concern. “That really
sucks when people try to make up things about you and tell the press about it."

“I know,” he said bitterly. His expression lightened
slightly. “Thanks for caring.”

“Well, why wouldn’t I?”

“You’d be surprised at how many women wouldn’t even
care to ask how I’m feeling or what I’m going through.
Just
what I can give them.
Or what I can do for them…or to them.” A wicked
grin touched his lips and he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Oh, that’s terrible. You’ve dated the wrong women!” Maxine
squirmed on her seat. Why did she say that? It must have come out awful. “I
didn’t mean it like that, Lucas.”

“Oh, no. You’re right. I dated the wrong type of women
in the past, Maxine.” The way he looked intently into her eyes caused all sorts
of emotions to swirl through her body.
 
Were they connecting? Lucas seemed
more mellow
than she’d ever seen him. He was comfortable
opening up to her. That was good, wasn’t it? She was equally comfortable with
him.

“You must have had one woman who was nice.”

Lucas swallowed hard. She knew she touched a raw nerve
when she saw the look of pain sting his eyes. Oh, no. Maybe she shouldn’t have
said anything. She should have quit talking when she was ahead.

“I’m sorry.”

“No. It’s okay. I did have a steady girlfriend once. We
dated in grade school,” he said putting his elbow up on the
back
rest
and casually leaning back. He was looking off into the distance for
a moment as if visualizing this former love.

“Grade school?” she asked. That was so long ago. Was
that his only steady girlfriend?

“She was a good girl. It wasn’t anything like that. I
was unaware of my…status back then. I’d only…my brothers and I met our
grandfather when we were in our teens. So life up until that point had been
pretty much like how your life is, Maxine.”

Wow. Normal. So he hadn’t been raised with a silver
spoon in his mouth. No wonder he still hung out sometimes with “ordinary folks”
and didn’t look down on those struggling to make ends meet. It made sense how
they could connect like old friends.
 
He understood Maxine and where she was
coming from.

“Your life was like mine.” She smiled appreciatively. Maxine
leaned forward, desperate to take her mind off her own troubles and get to know
Lucas better. That was what she wanted.
Intimacy on an
emotional level before anything else.

“So what happened to the lucky girl? Where is she
now?” Maxine probed.

Lucas’s eyes grew darker. Maxine flinched slightly.
Was it something she said? Was she delving too deeply into a place in Lucas’s
life that was off limits?

“She’s,
Julianna
,
Julianna
was her name, she's no longer…around,” he whispered
almost inaudibly. His eyes glazed over with pain and a deep, horrible anguish
she’d never seen on a man and wished she hadn’t. She wanted to reach across the
table and hug Lucas. Was that why he hid behind his bad boy exterior and didn’t
give a toss what others thought of him?

“I…Oh, God! Lucas. I’m so…so sorry,” she offered, her
heart squeezing.

“It’s okay.”

“What happened?”

“It was a long process unfortunately. But we were
close throughout school and then we discovered she had a rare form of brain
tumor.”

“Oh, God! Lucas, that’s awful.”

“I know. She should have been enjoying school and
everything else in life but she had severe headaches throughout it all. Her
parents didn’t think much of it and thought she was studying too hard. They
pretty much ignored it most of the time. I would get her Tylenol from my dad
and give it to her. Her folks didn’t really believe much in modern medicine.”

Maxine shuddered inside.

“So,” Lucas continued. “Before long, the pain grew
unbearable. I spent most of senior high going to appointments with her because
her parents worked so hard and needed to pay the mortgage. Anyway, finally,
they took time off work to get her hospitalized and we rotated turns sleeping
at the bedside at the hospital. But the doc said it was too late. The tumor
could have been operated on and maybe radiated if she’d had an MRI done long
before and they’d caught it in time but…”

“Oh, God! Lucas, that’s terrible.” Tears stung Maxine's
eyes.

Lucas was consumed by his emotions, she could see. “So
that’s why I was inspired to develop a software system for clinics to get
people into early signups and pre-screening for their health.”

“Of course,” Maxine chimed in. “The Healthy Start
Program. How wonderful of you, Lucas.”

“It’s the least I could do. I had developed so many
different programs in my line of work but that one was close to my heart.”

“I’m very…honored to know you, Lucas.”

Lucas shot Maxine a glance. “Well, I’ve never heard
that before,” he admitted softly with a charming grin. “Usually women say the
opposite.”

“Why?”

“Well, I’m not perfect, Maxine. I’ve made tons of
mistakes. I love women. What can I say? But commitment was always difficult for
me after
Julianna
died. I just didn’t feel anything
intimate for anyone else, until now.”

“What?” Maxine almost choked on her drink. Something
sparked inside her. Was he referring to her?

“I’ve been admiring you from afar, Maxine. I thought
you would have known that.”

“No. I…um…why?”

“Because you’re different. And I can’t explain it but
you reach me in a spot I’ve never been touched before, not since
Julianna
.”

Oh. My. What could she say to that?

“But you hardly know me,” she said, rubbing her finger
around the rim of her cup.

“But I know me. And I know how I feel when I’m around
you. And you’d be surprised at what I’ve learned about you and observed about
you over the past six months since the wedding, Maxine,” he said with a knowing
grin of satisfaction.

Maxine was stumped. What had Lucy said about her?

“Such as?” Maxine cocked her brow.

“You care deeply about those you love. You’re humble.
And you’re sweet. You make me feel wild things inside, Maxine, and I didn’t
even have to touch you. That’s what amazed me.”

“Oh!” Maxine felt heat rush to her cheeks and to the
area between her legs. She was getting breathless in there. Was it the heat?
Or the magnetic energy between them?
So this was what kismet
felt like. She never felt this way around any other man before.

“By the way, how is your mother doing?” he asked, so
sincere.

Lucas Romero cared about her and her mother? Oh, my.
 
He was so important. Maxine thought she
hadn’t mentioned her mother before but then again at the wedding when they had
chatted, it may have come up. But oh, God! This guy had a memory like an
elephant. He remembered. That was good, wasn’t it?

“She’s,” Maxine swallowed hard. “She’s coping.”

“How are
you
coping?” Lucas leaned forward.

“Good.”

“Really?”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I see it in your eyes. I can read eyes, you know. You
work so hard around the clock, sacrificing yourself for the good of your mother
and everyone else around you. When have you taken time for yourself? You know
caregiver burnout is not healthy and can happen if you don’t take it easy.”

Maxine looked sheepish. What could she say? “You
really care about me, don’t you?”

“I want to help you, Maxine. Let me. I can hire a
private nurse for your mother.”