Page 31 of The Billionaire's Secret Heir

At one point, she got up to dig through a fabric toy bin, only to come back with a plastic tiara that she ceremonially placed on his head. “It princess?”

“Okay. I’ll be a princess.”

She went back to playing with the trains in front of him.

“You seem like an old pro at this. Do you have nieces or nephews?”

Madi’s voice shook him out of the moment. Beckett hadn’t noticed her sit in a nearby chair. He didn’t even know how much time had passed. Half an hour? An hour? Madi leaned forward, elbows on her knees, watching him. He felt suddenly self-conscious. Since sitting down with her, he had been so completely focused that he hadn’t wondered what he looked like. Now he felt foolish in his suit pants and expensive shoes down on the floor. With a tiara.

“I have a niece and a nephew.”

“Well, you’re amazing with her. I didn’t expect that. Not to be rude, but I just didn’t.”

“I can understand that,” Beckett said. To say that he hadn’t expected it either would be an understatement. “And I don’t think it’s rude. Have I mentioned that being direct is a Dutch thing? We’re often thought of as rude because we speak our minds. I appreciate that.”

Becka sat down in his lap, working to push two big Lego blocks together. It felt like she belonged there, like the most natural thing in the world. Just as quickly, she got up and went back to the toy baskets on a mission.

“I think you’ve just been given a nickname. I hope you don’t mind,” Madi said, a teasing smile on her face.

“I suppose I can answer to It. There are worse names to be called. You should probably stick to calling me Beckett, though.”

Madi smiled and Beckett found himself drawn to her eyes. The way she looked at him had changed in the last few minutes. Her gaze was soft and carried an emotion that drew him to her. Beckett hadn’t even considered that meeting Becka would shift things between himself and Madi. But he could see it there in her eyes and he felt it in his own. Whatever lay between them was now charged and heightened. It took an effort to look away from her.

“I should probably go.”

This was true, but he didn’t want to go. Becka continued to play, lost in her trains.

Madi walked him to the door, much quieter than she had been all day. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me for anything,” Beckett said.

“I do. For the lawn care and the guys fixing the house.”

Tears pooled in her eyes and he didn’t need her to say what she really wanted to say. He knew she was thanking him for spending time with Becka. Her meaning was clear even without the words.

He opened the door and stepped onto the porch, then turned back to glance at Becka once more. She hadn’t seemed to notice that he was gone. He felt torn standing there, like he was leaving a part of himself there. An idea began forming in his brain as he stared at Madi and her soft brown eyes, filled with warmth for him. Before he could think twice about it, he spoke.

“Move in with me.”

“What?” Madi’s eyes flew open and she stepped back.

Beckett grimaced when he realized how that sounded. “I don’t mean it like that. I have a guest house on my property. Totally empty. I’d be happy to offer it to you and Madi for as long as you need.”

Or longer. As long as you want. Preferably a very long time.

“Beckett, I don’t know what to say.”

He smiled. “Then don’t answer yet. I’m happy for you to come by if you want to see it first.”

“Can I get back to you?”

Beckett couldn’t help but feel a stab of disappointment. She couldn’t answer right away? It had probably been inappropriate to even ask her or to think that she might say yes to living in his guest house. What had he been thinking, even asking that? He turned to go.

“Beckett.”

He faced her again. “Yes?”

A smile lifted her mouth. “Your crown.”

Beckett flushed as Madi reached up on tiptoes to take off the plastic tiara Becka had given him. She grabbed his arm to steady herself. He sucked in a breath, his pulse picking up its tempo. She ran a hand through his hair after removing the crown. Her closeness only lasted a few moments, but time seemed to slow as Beckett swept his gaze over her cheeks, her delicate nose, her full, pink lips. The air between them grew charged and heavy. Did she feel that too?

Madi stepped back. Before he could stop himself, Beckett took the tiara from her hand. Smoothing back her hair, he placed the tiara on her head. Their eyes locked. It should have been a light moment, silly, even, but Beckett sensed something deeper in her gaze: a longing, almost a plea. Her lips parted, drawing his eyes down. It was all he could do not to close the space between them.

Swallowing, he backed away, then turned without another word and got back in his car. He could see Madi from his peripheral vision, still standing on the porch where he left her, but he steeled himself not to look. What had happened to him in the last hour? Where was Beckett Van de Kamp, the cool, collected businessman who ran his family’s empire?

ThatBeckett had been replaced by this new, open, vulnerable self. His chest tightened as he drove away. Briefly he feared that he was about to have a repeat of the panic attack he’d had in Graham’s kitchen. This feeling was subtly different. It wasn’t pain or panic, but something else entirely, a tug and pull toward the house he had just left, growing stronger with each mile he drove away.

He wanted to be near his little girl. He desperately wanted to be the father she deserved, to be worthy of her. But the stirring in his chest was not only toward Becka. The connection with his daughter had made the feelings he had for Madi increase exponentially. As he drove home, all Beckett could think about was what it would take to get them both moved into the guest house so he could have them both closer.

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