Page 18 of Claiming His Baby At The Altar

He must have registered the shock in her eyes for he smiled faintly. ‘I thought you would prefer your own space while you settle in and recover. You will be in the guest room next to mine so I will be close by if you need me.’

Her stomach plunged but whether in relief or disappointment she couldn’t tell.

With everything that had happened these last few days, the sleeping arrangements here were not something she’d allowed herself to think about but on some subconscious level she must have assumed she would share Ramos’s room, because wasn’t that what married people did?

The elevator door opened into the same reception room she’d first stepped into three years ago for his twenty-eighth birthday party. Directly ahead, through a wide, open archway, was the main vast living area with a ceiling so high she’d had to crane her neck fully back to see it. Her entire childhood home, floor to roof, could fit in a third of that one space. The other side of the living space led to the outdoor entertaining area where the party had been held.

With an unsettled Benjamin in her arms, they headed straight up the wide winding stairs to the first floor. Flora followed Ramos along the open galleried section of the landing that overlooked the main living area and held her breath as they neared the bedroom where she’d so willingly, foolishly, given herself to him.

If she hadn’t seen Ramos’s bedroom, she would have gasped at the splendour she’d been appointed. Her room—or suite, as it should really be called, but even that was to do it a disservice—was breathtaking. A princess of royal birth would be delighted to call this her own, and if she weren’t feeling so low and if Benjamin’s cries weren’t becoming more vocal by the second, she would be bruising herself with pinches to believe this was to be hers.

A crib had been placed next to the emperor bed that in itself was approximately half the size of Ramos’s own bed.

‘I assumed you would want him to sleep with you while you are still feeding him,’ he said.

Flora nodded. Benjamin needed feeding right now. She’d had no problem feeding him with Ramos around in the hospital but it felt different here in the intimacy of a bedroom, and as she realised this she realised he must have anticipated she would feel like this and that was why he’d given her her own private space.

He must have sensed her awkwardness for he bowed his head. ‘I will leave you to it. I will show you the nursery and everything else when you are ready. Shall I get Madeline to bring you tea?’

‘Who’s Madeline?’

‘My housekeeper.’

‘Yes, please.’ But as she spoke a tear rolled down her cheek. She had no idea where it came from or why it was followed by another, and another, but before she knew it her cheeks were sodden.

‘Hey.’ Ramos crouched in front of her.

She managed to wipe her eyes clear.

He brushed a strand of hair off her face. ‘What is the matter?’

She sniffed but it did nothing to stop more tears from falling. ‘I don’t know.’

And she didn’t. Flora didn’t have a clue what she was crying about.

‘You don’t like your room?’

She managed a laugh. ‘It’s beautiful. I think maybe this is what they call The Baby Blues.’

Sympathetic understanding lit his face and he brushed another lock of her hair. ‘You concentrate on taking care of Benjamin. Let me take care of you and everything else. Okay?’

She bit into her wobbling bottom lip as she breathed in deeply and nodded.

The whisper of a smile quirked on his cheeks before he gently kissed her forehead. ‘I will get the tea organised for you.’

And then he was gone, leaving Flora touching the scorching mark on her forehead made by his lips.

There was a tap on her bedroom door.

Flora, her stomach churning, braced herself before calling, ‘Come in.’

Ramos appeared, suited and booted and looking all hunky and fresh. ‘I’m going now.’

‘Safe travels,’ she said brightly, determined he should think she wasn’t in the slightest bit bothered about him leaving.

Ramos owned an international chain of mammoth hotel casino complexes. He’d taken three weeks off work to be there for her and Benjamin, and now it was time for him to return to the working world. He was easing himself in gently. Today was the start of only five nights away in Rome.

Only.

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