Page 67 of The Billionaire's Secret Heir

“Baby Bundt—even the name is cute. Let’s see if they taste as good as they look.” Madi’s eyes closed as she lifted the first bite to her lips. “Wow. I’m not sure there are words.”

When she opened her eyes, Beckett’s fork rested on the plate and his gaze was on her lips. Madi swallowed, feeling the hum of attraction light up the space between them. Beckett set his fork down and turned his chair to face her, resting his arms lightly on her shoulders.

“Madi,” he said, his voice low, “I want nothing more than to kiss you right now, but I should probably say some words first. I don’t want there to be any hesitation, any confusion, or anything hidden between us.”

“I want that too. All of it. Do you think we could talk quickly?”

Beckett chuckled. “Eager to finish your dessert?”

“To be direct: I’m thinking more about the promise of a kiss.”

In a sudden move, Beckett curled his arms around her and pulled Madi into his lap. She sighed against his chest, loving the feel and smell of this man. His strength, his confidence, and the tenderness that radiated from him as he held her, lightly caressing her bare arms with his fingertips. He held her carefully, his hold sure but careful, like she was precious to him. Madi had never felt so adored.

When he spoke, his breath ruffled her hair and sent a wave of shivers over her skin. “Madi, I should have told you about my father’s contract about having an heir. I could kick myself now that I didn’t just tell you right away. The truth, though, is that I really wasn’t thinking about the contract while I was falling in love with you. Once I knew it had been resolved with my father, it simply wasn’t on my mind.”

Madi’s mind spun. Beckett had continued talking, but her mind had stuttered to a stop before he finished. “Did you say ‘falling in love’?”

Gently, slowly, Beckett eased her back so they could see each other’s eyes. She knew now that the look she saw there was love. “I know it’s soon. I know things have been unconventional between us. But it’s not like we’re teenagers. I think we’re both mature enough to know what we want and what we don’t. For me, once I know what I want, I tend to be determined to do what it takes to get it. Which means I’m prepared to do all that I can to win you over, Madi. Does that scare you?”

Madi shook her head, smiling. “I spent the last few days scared. And maybe the weeks before that. Scared that this was a fairy tale or a dream that I was going to wake up from. Afraid that you couldn’t possibly feel the same way for me as I did for you. Scared that it would end, leaving me and Becka alone. Again. I didn’t know if I could go through that again and had to think about her needs. She’s lost enough too and it’s my job now to protect her. When I found out about your father and the contract, it felt like the culmination of all those fears. And then the past few days since the accident, I’ve been even more afraid. I was terrified that I had lost you.”

He traced his fingers over her jaw, resting his hand there tenderly. “I don’t want you to be afraid anymore, Madi. Of having me or of losing me.”

“You can’t promise that I won’t lose you. That’s something that we can’t control. You or I could have died in the accident. You could get cancer or have a random heart attack tomorrow. I’ve had a lot of loss in life, so this is something I think about a lot. I’ve been told before that I’m a worst-case-scenario person and that rings true. You might not be quite as bad as I am about imagining the worst, but I know you’ve got some idea of loss after losing your mother.”

“I do. It was awful. Watching Papa go through the pain that he did made me never want to fall in love. Madi, I don’t want to live in fear anymore. I don’t want you to either. I think we’ll both miss out.”

His hand still rested on her cheek and she covered it with hers, leaning more into his touch. “You’re right. But I’ve still been struggling with it. We can’t promise that we won’t lose each other or hurt each other. We can’t know the hurt that might be ahead of us. But I also realized that I can’t let fear—of loss or anything else—hold me back from love. I’m trusting God to order my steps and to be with me, no matter what loss I face. I’ve asked him to help me with my fears.”

Beckett’s voice was hardly more than a whisper, one that she felt on her cheek as he inched closer. “And has he?”

“It may be a daily struggle to remind myself to trust him and not to fear. But yes—I don’t want to be led by fear. I’ve fallen in love with you, Beckett. I don’t want fear or anything else to come between us.”

His whole face lit up in a smile, softening his strong features and making Madi’s heart swell. “For starters, how about we get rid of the distance that’s between us right now?” As he spoke, his gaze dipped down to her lips and Madi let her soft smile tell him yes.

And then his mouth was on hers, gentle but strong, just like Beckett was with her. His arms tightened around her and her hands moved up his neck and into his hair. His kiss was fire and heat, making her whole body flush, but also carried with it the secure feeling of his love. She felt his love in every caress of his lips against hers and Madi hoped that her own mouth conveyed the same feelings back to him.

The kiss felt like a claiming and a declaration of Beckett’s intent. Madi lost herself in the moment, letting love and hope carry her away. Her fears had been swallowed up by the promises he had made out loud and now with his lips pressed to hers.

She could see flashes of a certain future with Becket: walking down the aisle of a church to where he waited; seeing both of their hands touching her swollen, pregnant belly; Beckett laughing and chasing Becka and her younger brother and sister through the yard at evening.

For at least this time, Madi wasn’t seeing the worst-case-scenario, but the best.

After a few moments, Beckett pulled away. They were both breathing heavy. Both smiling, both gazing at each other with adoration.

“In case I didn’t make my intentions perfectly clear, I love you, Madi. I love you and I love Becka and I have every intention of wooing you so well that by the time I ask you to marry me, you won’t have any hesitations or reservations about saying yes.”

Madi smiled and pressed a gentle kiss on his lips. “I look forward to every moment of that.”

What she didn’t tell him was that if he had asked right there in that moment, the answer would already be yes. No doubts. No hesitation. No thoughts about the worst thing that could happen. Just yes.

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