The Billionaire's Baby Bargain(61)

It gave him just the break he needed to catch up to her. He caught her around the waist, and lifted her drenched body from the water and up into his arms.

She clung to him, arms limp around his neck, her body shaking with sobs.

“Señor!” Filipe screamed and tossed a rope toward them.

Andrés caught the other end, recognizing it as the rope he’d kept in an emergency box in the back of his Land Rover. Filipe had tied it to one end of the vehicle and Andrés gratefully used it to haul himself and Chloe back to safety against the downward rush of floodwater.

Minutes later they were back in the Land Rover, driving back to his villa. He thanked God that they were alive, also praying it wasn’t too late to convince Chloe what she meant to him.



Chloe tightened the blanket around her body and stared into the crackling fire. Even after a hot bath, her body still shook from the cold water and at how close to death she’d been.

Her hand traveled to her stomach and another wave of fear hit her. Was the baby okay? When she’d fallen in the water, it had been complete turmoil. Like being on a horrific waterslide where she couldn’t break the surface to catch her breath, while being pounded by rocks and land.

“How are you feeling?”

Chloe gasped and turned around, having not heard Andrés enter the room. Her heart lurched into her throat, pounding at the sight of him. He moved slowly across the room, so devastatingly handsome with his hands thrust into the pockets of his jeans and his somber gaze moving over her.

Tears pricked at the back of her eyes and she blinked rapidly to dispel them. It was ridiculous how much she loved this man. How could she ever have thought she could leave him? All she wanted right now was to run into his arms and beg to be held.

“I’m all right,” she finally answered.

“I’ve spoken with the doctor. She says most likely the baby is fine but to rest until she can do an ultrasound once the roads are clear.”

His words helped to ease the fear a bit and she swallowed hard as he came to sit beside her chair. She glanced up at him through her lashes, emotion thick in her throat. “You saved my life. I don’t even know how I can possibly thank you.”

“You could stay with me.”

Her eyes flooded with tears, but she dipped her head so he wouldn’t see them. She loved him too much to be away from him, and her child needed a father. She knew he could be wonderfully attentive and giving, and she had no doubt he would adore his child.

“Of course,” she whispered.

Andrés moved to his knees in front of her and caught her chin, lifting her head until their gazes collided. “Don’t stay because you feel obligated to, Chloe.”

The expression in his eyes was gentle, regretful, and had an emotion that lit a tiny spark of hope in her heart. Something she cursed herself for wanting to believe was there.

He smoothed his thumb over her mouth and murmured, “Stay because I love you, cariño.”

Her heart tripped and she blinked in disbelief. A sob ripped from her throat and the tears rolled down her cheeks. They were the words she never thought she’d hear from him, was still almost afraid she’d imagined.

“You were right. I’m in love with you, and I suspect I have been for some time. Dios, but I was a fool and could not even admit it to myself. I am so sorry,” he muttered hoarsely and pulled her off the chair and into his arms. “I’m sorry for always being so quick to make assumptions about you—I treated you appallingly.”

“Enough, Andrés,” she choked out, pressing her hand against his cheek. He loved her. “Please, we can leave that behind us now.”

Turning his head, he pressed a kiss into her palm with a groan. “And I hate that it took me almost losing you to realize how much you mean to me. Chloe, you are my world. You’ve brought light into my heart, which used to hold only darkness.”

“I love you,” she said softly, her heart swollen with the emotion. She wound her arms around his neck. “You’re my husband and my soul mate. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“I don’t deserve you. Te amo, Chloe,” he said thickly, cupping her face in a gentle grip. He covered her mouth with his own in a thorough and passionate kiss. “I love you.”

“Te amo,” she returned the endearment on a whisper, knowing without a doubt she meant it with every inch of her being.

One year later



Chloe stared at the pregnancy test and shook her head at the sense of déjà vu. Another positive. Her stomach did somersaults as she drew in an unsteady breath.

Tossing the pregnancy test into the garbage bin, she left the bedroom and walked quickly down the stairs of the villa. A moment later she strode outside, where Spain’s last days of summer beat down over the green valley surrounding Andrés’ villa. Shielding her eyes, she glanced around to locate her husband. Finally she spotted him in the gardens.