Free A Bride for the Billionaire Bad Boy (The Romero Brothers, Book 2) by Shadonna Richards Page B

the morning. Who could she
call now? There was a passage she’d read somewhere in a book but she could not
recall from where. She thought it could be from a later Hollywood screen
legend. Was it Marlene Dietrich who once said:   “It's the
friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.”
    Maxine grinned and shook her head. She really wished
she had such friends now.

 
    Later, Maxine ran a warm bath and dropped in some bath
oils compliments of the travel lodge. She really needed to soak her troubles
away. Sleeping was out of the question. She had just sent an email off to the
office to let Betty know she would be in much later in the day. She had to
itemize damage for the insurance company in the morning. Then a horrible
thought struck her. Did she renew her renter’s insurance policy?
    Maxine slid down in the tub and tried to sink the
worries of her day away. Her mother would tell her while growing up: “Worry
don’t solve a thing. It only makes things look worse.” Maxine grinned. Those
were the days, all right. Worrying about what happened would only give Maxine
heartburn and elevated blood pressure. She would think about it tomorrow.
Whatever was stressing her out.
    Right then she wanted to switch her thoughts to
something more pleasurable. Like Lucas sexy-as-hell Romero. She remembered what
he’d said about calling him if she ever needed him. She dreamed about acting on
his offer but changed her mind. No way could she do that. He was probably just
being polite and routine by giving her his business card. How many other women
had he given out his business card to? What about that woman from the nightclub?
    She closed her mind to that thought. She thought
instead of Lucas kissing her hand, only this time as Maxine closed her eyes
luxuriating in the warm silky water, she envisioned Lucas kissing her nipple.
She stroked her nipple under the water lightly imagining it was Lucas’s tongue
and waves of pleasure pulsed through her body to her inner thighs.
    “Oh, Lucas,” she murmured. If only she could get a guy
like that. A strong, handsome, powerful man who would move earth and heaven for
the woman he loved.
    Oh, if only!
    After her bath, Maxine grabbed her towel and wrapped
it around her. Then she grabbed her white towel-fabric robe compliments from
the hotel. She pinned her dark hair up into a bun and went towards the bed feeling
hot inside but was distracted when a knock befell the door.
    She glanced at the clock in the room.
    Who could be knocking on her door at this hour? Was it
the concierge desk? Oh, God! Had her credit card been declined, too?
    Great! That was just the icing on the top of her cake
of a disastrous day, wasn’t it?
    She looked through the peephole and her heart leaped
in her chest. Maxine blinked thinking she was in a dream or hallucinating.
    Lucas Romero?
    What was he doing there?
    Lucy.
    It must have been Lucy who told him about her
situation. But then she didn’t tell Lucy she’d changed her plans to come to the
travel lodge. Perhaps Lucas went to the Fairmont and that clerk told him that
Maxine was directed to check in at the lodge. Or maybe it was Lucas’s men. He
wouldn’t do it himself. Not with him being locally famous.
    She pulled away from the door. Dazed. Lucas? Oh, my God! Lucas was standing
outside the door to her room. How did he know she was there? Maxine thought she
was hallucinating for sure. He looked so stunning. In a suit and tie. That much
she could see from the peephole.
    Maxine looked in the mirror by the door quickly and
used her hands to brush the sides of her damp tendrils of hair so that she
wouldn’t look so…unbecoming.
    “Who is it?” she called out routinely.
    “It’s Lucas, Maxine.” Lucas’s deep voice sounded curt
yet soft. She just didn’t want to whip the door open first without hearing his
voice.
    She inhaled a deep breath, her heart pounding in her
throat. She opened the door and her heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
    “Lucas? What