Page 327 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 2
A light knocking on our bedroom door made me yawn. "James," I said and nudged him. "Who's at the door?"
"What?" he grumbled.
"James," Ellen said and knocked on the door again. "I hate to disturb you, but your brother is downstairs asking for you."
James groaned and looked at the clock on his nightstand. "It's 5 o'clock in the morning. Why is Rob here so early?"
"Do you think something is wrong?" I was about to sit up when James put his hand on top of my massive stomach.
"I got it. He probably just wants to say goodbye before they head down to the beach. I'll go tell him to go away."
I laughed and rolled onto my side in search of a cool spot on my pillow. I was just drifting back to sleep when I heard James clear his throat.
"So, bad news," he said. "My dad came down with some kind of bug. And..."
"Aunt Penny!" Sophie yelled and pulled on my hand that was hanging off of the bed.
I opened up my eyes. "Hi, sweetie. What are you doing here?" I tapped the tip of her nose with my index finger.
"My daddy said I get to spend all day and night here."
"And we're going to go spend that time downstairs," James said and swooped Sophie up into his arms. "And we're going to be quiet so we don't wake anyone who's sleeping. Right, Soph?"
Sophie giggled. It didn't look like she had any interest in listening to what he said.
"Is your dad okay?" I asked as I pushed myself into a seated position. I yawned again. It had been awhile since I had woken up this early.
"He'll be fine. Keep sleeping, baby, I've got this."
I watched him walk out of the room with Sophie. I was still tired. Plus, Ellen was already here to help. I lay back down and closed my eyes.
***
When I finally wandered downstairs, I followed all the noise into the family room. I smiled at the scene in front of me. Axel was standing on the couch repeatedly hitting James in the back of the head with a pillow, while James played the board game Pretty Pretty Princess with Scarlett and Sophie on the floor. James was decked out in a pink necklace, ring, and bracelet. Why he got stuck with the color pink was beyond me. It looked like Axel had played long enough just to snag the crown.
I used to love that game when I was little. But I certainly couldn't remember my dad playing with me. "Are you the winning princess?" I asked Axel as I walked into the room.
Axel scowled. "No. I'm the prince. They're the princesses."
Scarlett was clipping on a pair of earrings. I was almost positive that it wasn't even her turn.
"Axel won't play," she said. "He thinks it's a game just for girls. But Daddy's playing, so Axel is wrong."
"I am not," Axel said, and whacked James on the back of the head again.
"Okay, enough of that," James said. He turned and lifted Axel off the couch. "You get to choose what we play next, but right now we need to finish Pretty Pretty Princess. And it's your turn."
He stuck his tongue out at Scarlett and then sat down next to her.
"Here you go, Axel," Scarlett said and put a necklace over his head. "Now you're a beautiful princess."
"I'm not a princess! I'm a boy!"
"But my Daddy is playing and he's a boy."
"That's different. He's a dad, not a boy."
James and I both laughed. James looked up at me and smiled. He looked completely ridiculous decked out in his garishjewelry. But I wasn't sure I had ever seen him more handsome, jewels and all. Being a dad definitely didn't take the man out of James. It certainly took a level of confidence to willingly dress like a princess, and to me that exuded a level of sexiness that was hard to put into words.
