Page 41 of The Billionaire's Secret Heir

So, he’d been kind of a playboy. He’d dated her sister. He’d been engaged. Madi closed her eyes. “What changed? You said you became a Christian more recently?”

“Two years ago. My parents raised us in church, but it didn’t really stick for either of us. My brother Graham became a Christian in college and kept trying to talk to me, but I wouldn’t listen.” Beckett smiled. “That’s still kind of how it is. He talks my ear off and I try to ignore him. But anyway, every so often, I did go to church with him or with my parents when I was little. And this one Sunday, that didn’t seem any different than any of the others, I walked in the doors a complete skeptic and walked out a believer.”

Beckett gave a short laugh. “It probably sounds very cliché, but I heard the message that day—really heard it. Jesus lived the perfect life that I can’t ever live and died so I could be forgiven. He makes it possible to know God, really know him. It seemed both simple and incredibly more complex than I could understand. I had heard that so many times before, but that day, I really heard it.”

Madi squeezed his hand and Beckett gave her a hesitant smile. She could read the wonder in his face, but also shame. She hated that for him. Guilt, she’d learned, could be a helpful tool. It could make you realize a place you needed change. Shame was something entirely different. It was dark and ugly, a sneaky emotion that weaseled its way into your mind and was hard to get rid of. It haunted you, but didn’t move you toward change the way guilt could. It simply hung there and kept you in misery. She’d dealt with shame before, but not anything compared to what she saw when she looked at Beckett’s eyes as he spoke about his past. Seeing his regret helped ease the dark feelings she had thinking about his past, especially his relationships, like the one with Calista.

“Graham always seemed better than me in so many ways. I had always assumed that I needed to straighten up my life before I could walk through the doors of church again. But it was the opposite, really. God took me as I was that day and has been changing my life since then. I’ll admit that it’s a slow process. Probably much slower than it should be, at least according to Graham.” Beckett gave her a wry smile. “I know that doesn’t answer the question you asked, but I had to backtrack a bit.”

Beckett leaned forward even more, crowding her space. Her breath caught as his gaze intensified. “To go back to your question, how I think of Calista. She is—was—the kind of woman I wanted back then.”

Madi wished that she could have stopped the burning thread of jealousy she felt weaving through her chest. He was saying this is how he used to be. And Calista was gone. Irrational though it was, the jealousy remained. She pulled her hands away from his, knotting them together in her lap. “I see.”

Looking down at her hands, she tried to fight back the tears she felt starting. She would not cry over this. It was useless and stupid. This was his past. Over and done. But it woke the whispers of self-doubt that had so often plagued her when she compared herself to her younger, more beautiful sister. The silence stretched between them and Madi wondered what he must think of her. Was it obvious that she felt jealous and sad? Did he think she was as stupid as she felt?

Beckett touched her face and she almost jumped. His fingers traced over her cheeks and moved underneath her jaw, gently urging her to look up. She tilted her chin, but it took another moment before she could meet his eyes without feeling like the tears were going to spill over. When she finally could look at his eyes, they were so kind and tender that the tears immediately returned.

“Madi. You are the kind of woman that seems perfect for me, as imperfect and flawed as I still am. You are.”

Madi swallowed. The weight of his words fell softly on her shoulders slowly, making her feel alight with excitement. Did he just say … ?

As if sensing her question, Beckett smiled and slid his thumb over her cheek. “In case I was too subtle, let me be more direct. If you are willing to move past my past, would you consider being my very present girlfriend? And perhaps a future something more?”

It took a beat for the words to settle in her head, to arrange themselves into something she could understand. Perfect. Girlfriend. Something more.

Obviously, he couldn’t mean it. He didn’t know her well enough. He was on a totally different playing field than she was: incredibly handsome, wealthy, and surprisingly gentle under his strong exterior. It would never work.

“Why?” The question popped out and Madi was immediately embarrassed. She ducked her head. Nothing was less attractive than a woman constantly plying for compliments. She wasn’t trying to discount herself, but really failed to see what she could offer Beckett. Other than the fact that she was attached to his daughter.

Beckett’s hands moved to her hair and she shivered as he traced his hands down, letting them come to rest on her shoulders. “I don’t want to give away all my best lines tonight. If I’m planning to keep you around for a while, I need to save some things for later.”

Madi felt bold, suddenly. Flirtatious. She gave him a half-smile. “So, you’re just feeding me lines?”

He grinned. “Lines, yes, but they’re the truth. And the truth is that I’m crazy about you. Ms. Lott, you blew into my conference room with more backbone and integrity than anyone I’ve done business with. I admired your strength and the way you stood up to Bret with one T.”

She began to giggle and he leaned closer still, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and bringing his hands back up, under her hair. His fingers curled behind her neck, sending shivery threads of joy down her spine.

“You had strength and so much honesty. You fought me on giving you too much money, which is unheard of, and you drew me in with those gorgeous eyes. But the moment it was over for me was when I saw you trying to push that lawn mower with those amazing legs.”

Madi slapped his bicep and her giggles turned to loud laughter. “You were not admiring my legs!”

“Was too! Though I lied—that wasn’t what won me over. It was seeing you with Becka. I got a glimpse of your big, beautiful heart. And now I’m making the kinds of foolish declarations that I never in my life thought I’d make. I’m really hoping you’ll save me about now. Either tell me that you are willing to try to date me or else kick me to the curb.”

“That’s not really a fair choice. I can’t kick you to the curb since this is your house.” Her tone was playful and Beckett groaned, rolling his eyes.

“You are killing me right now, Madi.”

“To be direct: are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”

His smile lit her up, making her feel like the sunniest summer day. “To be direct: I am. To be direct again: are you going to answer me right now or continue to make me suffer?”

Madi put a finger to her chin as though thinking hard about her answer, then met his gaze with a smile. “To be direct—” He groaned. “—that’s an easy yes.”

Beckett practically lunged across to her and she squealed—a noise she never remembered making before. He wrapped her up in a hug, but her arms were trapped between them. Her legs were still under her body, making the embrace very awkward. She began giggling again.

“This was not well-thought-out,” Beckett said into her hair. His breath near her ear made her vision swim. “But the intention was good.”

He pulled back to sit beside her and Madi unfolded her legs to put her feet on the ground. When he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, she leaned into him, sighing at how good it felt to be held by him.

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