Quade's Babies - Brenda Jackson [42]
At their nods, his smile widened, and then he said, “It’s a pleasure to meet the two of you. I’m Quade Westmoreland.”
At least her sisters now understood how the sight of Quade had practically knocked her off her feet the first time she’d seen him. She could tell they had been just as overwhelmed by him as she had. There was no way they would not agree that Quade Westmoreland was a very good-looking man. Quade was handsome beyond measure and debonair to a fault. He practically oozed sexuality from every pore.
Instead of going to a deli like she’d thought, he had gone grocery shopping with the intention of surprising her with a home-cooked breakfast. He ended up fixing a feast and inviting Vanessa and Taylor to join them.
It didn’t take long to see how captivated her sisters were with him. Not only was he a wonderful cook, he was a great conversationalist. Vanessa and Taylor hung on to his every word. Then it was their turn to ask him questions and they started off by asking him about his family.
They were astonished to discover all the famous people in his family. There was motorcycle great Thorn Westmoreland and author Stone Westmoreland, aka Rock Mason. He also told them about his cousin Delaney, who was married to a Middle Eastern sheikh. They had remembered reading about Delaney’s storybook romance and wedding in People a few years ago. Then there were his cousins who owned a multimillion-dollar horse-breeding business.
When Taylor—whose business was growing a person’s wealth and who was always on the lookout for potential clients—had inquired as to who was managing the Westmoreland’s wealth, Quade responded that his brother Spencer was the financial whiz in the family.
Then they had asked him about his occupation. He told them he had gone on early retirement from a position in government to join his cousins in opening several security firms around the country, as well as a number of other business ventures.
It didn’t take long to accept that Quade was not someone after the Steele fortune. He and his family were already wealthy. And it was also easy to see that he cared for his babies and would be a wonderful father to them.
Moments later, Cheyenne excused herself when she heard the sound of soft noises on the baby monitor. “Excuse me, everyone. Troy is awake,” she said, pushing her chair back from the table, standing and making her way to the nursery. Quade smiled at her, and she could feel his gaze following her until she was no longer within his sight.
Cheyenne sensed something was wrong the moment she walked into the room. Troy was crying as usual and Athena had begun whimpering, as well, but when she glanced over at Venus, Cheyenne went on alert and quickly lifted her daughter into her arms.
Barely able to let out the scream that was lodged in her throat, she raced from the room with the baby in her arms. She then began screaming for Quade. He and her sisters intercepted her at the end of the hall. “Cheyenne, what’s wrong?” he asked, panic covering his face.
“It’s Venus!” she said in a frantic voice, not even trying to remain calm. “Call 9-1-1. She’s having trouble breathing.”
Nine
C heyenne sat in the hospital’s waiting room and closed her eyes against the rush of emotions ripping through her. Everything had happened so fast. Quade had taken Venus from her arms and had begun resuscitation procedures while Vanessa had called 9-1-1. The rescue service had arrived within minutes and now she and Quade were here, waiting for the doctor to tell them what was wrong with Venus. Vanessa and Taylor had been left behind to care for Troy and Athena.
“Our baby girl is going to be okay, Cheyenne,” Quade said, taking her hand in his.
She glanced over at him and found comfort in his solid presence beside her. She loved this man, who less than an hour ago had taken their