The Tycoon's Love

  I went up the stairs and down the long hall towards the nursery. On my way there, I passed the master suite. The door was open and I glanced in. I was frozen to the spot, in awe of what I saw. Alex was lying on his big bed, shirtless. Baby Michael was lying on his chest in only a diaper. Alex had one hand resting protectively on the baby’s back. They were both asleep. It was literally the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. I don’t know how long I stood there like that… I couldn’t draw myself away. My attention was suddenly drawn behind me where a middle aged lady was mopping the floor.

  “Oh hello.”

  She looked up at me and smiled. “Hello Miss. I’m Esther I don’t think we’ve met yet.”

  “Hi Esther, I’m Vicki.”

  She glanced in at what had me so captivated and said, “Oh my goodness, if that’s not the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  I smiled. “Me too,” I said. “I can’t seem to drag myself away.”

  “Don’t Miss. Just stand there watching them as long as you can. Before you know it, that little one will be grown with his own babies. My youngest just turned twenty-two.”

  “How many children do you have?” I asked her.

  “Two boys,” she smiled. Then suddenly she looked wistful and she said, “They didn’t have a daddy around. Your little one is lucky.”

  “Yes, he is.” She went on to do her work and I stood there looking at the two men I loved most in the world. She was so right. Michael was lucky and if it meant living here forever and watching Alex have relationships with other women… then that’s what I would do to ensure that he never had to be without his father.

  CHAPTER THREE

  ALEX

  I had the best time taking care of Michael while Victoria went to visit her friend. He was so alert to be so little and when I talked to him he stared up at me wide-eyed and looked like he was taking in every word. It was almost eerie to look down at eyes that were so similar to my own. The only difference between them was that his held an innocence that mine had long since lost.

  When he got hungry, I fed him the bottle that Vicki pumped before she left. He ate it like a champ and then we lay down on my bed to have a talk and he fell asleep on my chest. I didn’t have the heart to move him and before I knew it, I fell asleep too. When I woke up, Vicki was sitting by the bed watching us.

  “Hi, how long have you been home?”

  She shrugged. “An hour or so. I lost track of time watching the two of you.”

  I looked down at Michael. He was beginning to wake up, stretching and wiggling in that way newborns do. He amazed me like nothing in my life ever had. I would be eternally grateful to Vicki for giving him to me. “He’s something, isn’t he?”

  “He sure is.” I looked up at her and she was looking at me, not the baby. She smiled and then she stood up and scooped him off my chest. Holding him in one arm, she leaned down and pressed her lips to mine. It was a soft, sweet, intimate kiss… nothing that should have excited me too much… but it did. I found myself wanting her more and more with each day that passed, but I had to examine my feelings and make sure that this was about me wanting her and not me being grateful, or her just being convenient. She’s the mother of my son and she’s a good mother. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt her.

  “That was nice,” I told her. I sat up and said, “What time is it?”

  “Around three.”

  “I have an idea… if you’re up for it.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Maybe after you feed him and get him settled back down… Karen could watch him for a bit while you take a walk in the gardens with me? I could ask Cook to pack us some snacks and we could have a little picnic by the pond?”

  She smiled and her eyes lit up. “I’d like that a lot,” she said. I was happy and surprised. I’d almost expected her to refuse to leave Michael again. I suppose it was because we weren’t going that far, or away for that long.

  “Great!” I reached for my shirt and pulled it on. “I’ll go talk to her and cook and set it up.” She started out of the room and I said, “Vicki?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you for him.”

  She laughed. “You put in half the genes you know.”

  “I know, but you could have… you didn’t have to let me…”

  “It’s okay, I know what you mean. Just so you know I’m so glad that I did. I think he’s so lucky to have you. We both are.” She left with the baby and a smile that made me feel warm all over. I think this past couple of weeks with her and Michael have been the most truly contented moments of my life. I wanted it to be like this forever… only I was beginning to want more. I didn’t want to rush her and scare her… but I am not sure how much longer I’d be able to keep those kisses chaste.

  I asked Karen and she said she’d love to watch Michael for an hour or two. Cook set about packing a basket full of delicious snacks and by the time Vicki finished feeding Michael, everything was ready.

  We walked away from the back of the house towards the gardens that I regrettably didn’t usually get enough time to enjoy. When I first bought the house I’d had grand delusions that Cassandra and I would live here forever and that we would raise children here. I had the gardens designed with walking paths and clearings around the pond where the lawns were lush and green and just perfect for a picnic on a beautiful day. We walked along one of the brick paths and the smells of the flowers wafted around us in the breeze. The fragrance was soft and sweet and I could see Vicki inhaling deeply as we passed the roses. I stopped and picked a deep orange and white one; a variety that I’d had specially imported. I handed it to her and she smiled and put it up to her nose. I wondered as I watched her if she had any idea how beautiful she is.

  “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen one this color before.” She looked into the rose garden and made a little happy noise. “Look at them all! Every color you can think of! They’re gorgeous. Why does the gardener deliver red ones for the house every day?”

  I hated to bring up Cassie to her, but in order to give her an accurate answer I said, “He’s still following the instructions that Cassie gave him. You can let him know that you’d like a different color… or a variety. You’re the lady of the house now.” I couldn’t really read the look on her face. I wasn’t sure if it was shock or reluctance.

  She laughed then and said, “I’m the lady of the house?”

  “Well of course you are. You’re the mother of the lord of the manor and my…”

  She looked at me curiously, in anticipation of what I was going to say next. “Your what? What do you think of me as… other than Michael’s mother?” She looked like she enjoyed putting me on the spot.

  “I would love to think of you as my girlfriend… to start. If that’s okay with you?”

  She smiled brightly then and the next thing I know she was throwing her arms around my neck. I had to drop the picnic basket and blanket I held onto in order to wrap her up in mine. “It’s okay,” she said. She looked up at me with her pretty face and I brought my lips down to meet hers. She was so responsive, I loved kissing her. This kiss started out sweet, but the feel of her in my arms was too comfortable and the tickle in my core too powerful. I pressed my tongue into hers and she tangled hers up with mine. Her hands went up and her fingers tangled in my hair as my hands found the bottom of her blouse and ran up underneath her shirt and across her silky soft skin. I wondered if she could feel the evidence of my desire against her hip. When we broke the kiss, we were both breathless and a light sheen of sweat had gathered between us.

  “I want you, Vicki.”

  She smiled, “I could feel that,” she said, with a blush. “I want you too.”

  “Will you stay with me, in the master suite tonight?”

  “Any night that you’ll have me,” she said. I kissed her again.

  “When we get back to the house, I’ll move your things in there. I’d like to have you there every night.”

  She laid her head i
nto my chest and we just stood there for a long time in the midst of the beautiful, fragrant flowers. Vicki finally pulled back first and said, “Since we have to wait until tonight, maybe we should finish our walk and have our picnic. Breastfeeding makes me hungry.”

  I laughed. “Okay, then we better feed you. I fed the little man the bottle earlier. He’s a glutton. You’ll need your nourishment.”

  We walked until we came to the clearing by the pond. Vicki gasped again. “Oh Alex! It’s so beautiful!”

  “It is,” I agreed with her. “But you know what?”

  “What?” she asked, looking at me with those clear blue eyes and her blonde hair blowing back gently in the breeze.

  “It pales in comparison to you.” Although it wasn’t my intent the compliment netted me another embrace and another long, deep kiss. After we tore ourselves apart again I laid the blanket out and sat down. Vicki was still transfixed by the pond and the brilliant colors that surrounded us. The sun reflected off of the water and back into her eyes. They were filled with wonder and I suddenly realized that I wanted to do something every day for the rest of her life that brought that look into her eyes.

  I sat out the food that Cook packed for us and said, “Would you like to join me or should I just fix you a plate and hand it on up?”

  She grinned and sat down. “I’m sorry, it’s just so gorgeous.”

  I looked at her smiling face and said, “That’s okay, I know the feeling.”

  She looked down at what I sat out and said, “Wow! Cook outdid himself.”

  Laughing I said, “He usually does.” He hadn’t packed anything paper. There were real china plates and linen napkins and glass champagne flutes. He remembered about Vicki breastfeeding and he’d packed apple cider instead of champagne. There was a tray of exotic cheese and hard salami and another of prosciutto. He’d packed a baguette and even some beautiful French pastries. While we ate, I took the opportunity to ask her something that I’ve been thinking about. “Have you ever been out of the country?”

  She looked at me like I was crazy and said, “I’ve barely been out of Los Angeles.”

  “I was thinking that maybe you and I could take a weekend and go somewhere… anywhere you’d like to go… somewhere you’ve always wanted to go…”

  “Oh, I think it’s a little too soon for that, don’t you?”

  I raised an eyebrow and smiled at her. “You just agreed to move into my room.”

  She laughed. “I guess that did sound a little backwards, didn’t it? I meant that it’s too soon to leave Michael.”

  “Then we won’t leave him. We’ll hire a nanny this week and we’ll plan the trip for next weekend. Michael and the nanny can go too.”

  “Well…” My phone rang before she was able to finish.

  “Hold that thought… as long as it was a yes,” I told her with a wink. “Hello?”

  “Alex, it’s Amanda.” Amanda is my personal assistant. I could tell just by the sound of her voice that something was very wrong.

  “Hey Amanda, what’s up?”

  “It’s not good, boss.”

  “Okay… what is it?”

  “Variety has a two-page spread about your “love child.” It names his mother and it also says that she was in a relationship at the time and working as your maid. They of course failed to mention that you and Cassandra were in the middle of a divorce at the time.”

  “Damn it! Where did they get their information?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s pretty accurate.”