Page 25 of An Heir Made In Hawaii (Hot Winter Escapes)

It hadn’t been until the day after Christmas, when her breasts had felt swollen and heavy, that things had suddenly clicked. A visit to the doctor had confirmed that she was indeed pregnant.

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She’d always wanted to be a mother. She had just assumed that title would come with marriage to a man she loved, and one who loved her in return. Not a one-night fling with an international lothario.

She’d spent the week after trying to decide what to do. Part of her didn’t want to tell Nicholas. He had made it crystal clear on their trip that he had no interest in settling down. If she told him about the baby, it would cement a connection between them that would never be broken. Worse, it meant she and her child would become a part of his life, even if he wasn’t physically present: the chaos, the constant media attention not if but when the news came to light, the other women who would no doubt drift in and out over the years.

That last thought had made her so nauseous she’d barely stumbled to the bathroom in time.

But her mother andbabicahad raised her to be truthful and honorable. Withholding knowledge of this magnitude would have flown in the face of everything she’d been taught. And if her child ever looked her in the eye one day and asked if she had told their father about them, she needed to be able to say yes.

A quick search online had revealed that Nicholas was in Dubai. Mercifully, the few tabloid photos she’d found online had shown him alone or with colleagues. It had been a simple matter to check the online gossip websites. When one article had touted that the “devilishly handsome Nicholas Lassard, heir to the Hotel Lassard empire” was on his way back to Lake Bled to oversee the final phases of construction and readiness before his newest hotel’s grand opening in a few weeks, she’d called over to the hotel and confirmed that Nicholas was indeed on his way. The hotel had done a soft opening the first week of January and was hosting select, invited guests as it completed construction on some of the remaining rooms. Construction Nicholas was overseeing as he also wined and dined his elite clients. When the receptionist had asked why she was calling, she’d simply replied that she and Nicholas had attended the conference in Kauai together and she had something to give him. The receptionist had called back to tell her Nicholas would see her at seven o’clock.

A tiny smile tugged at her lips. Even if part of her was terrified, there was a small, villainous part of her that was looking forward to seeing the shock on his face when she dropped the news.

Awareness tickled the back of her neck. Her eyes opened and her head snapped up. Nicholas leaned casually against the fireplace mantel, his tall, lean figure draped in black, one leg casually crossed over the other. The angles of his face, from the sharp cut of his cheekbones and broad forehead to the tapered point of his chin, contrasted with the smirk lurking about his full lips. His hands were in his pockets, his deep blue eyes focused on her face with an intensity no doubt designed to intimidate.

“Well, well,” Nicholas drawled. “I never thought I’d see the day you would set foot in my hotel.”

She took a deep breath. “I never thought I’d see it either.”

“Welcome.”

He still smiled pleasantly, still sported a pleasant tone. But he was reserved, distant.

“Thank you.” She looked around, taking in once more the Swarovski crystal chandeliers, the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the circle drive outside, the fountain that would spring to life in the spring. “It’s lovely.”

“It is.” He sat down in the chair next to hers, his nearness crowding her. “Frankly, Anika, after the way you left in Kauai, I’m surprised to see you at all.”

She wanted to look away from his eyes, but forced herself to maintain his gaze.

“I should have at least said goodbye. That was unprofessional of me.”

His reserve cracked as anger rippled off him. “Unprofessional? You didn’t walk out of a business meeting. You completely disappeared without so much as a goodbye after we slept together.”

“Keep your voice down,” she hissed. A quick glance around the lobby confirmed that no one had been close enough to hear.

“Afraid what others might think of you if they knew you’d fallen prey to my charms?”

“I saw the contract, Nicholas.” When he just stared at her, his brow slightly furrowed, she curled her fingers into fists. “The contract for the inn. Were you just waiting for me to put my clothes on before you handed me a pen to sign?”

His face tightened. “Is that what you thought?”

“Hard to miss when you conveniently left it on the same table as the coffee.”

He sat back in his chair, his head swinging toward the fireplace. He stared at the flames for a long moment.

“Yes, I brought the contract with me to Kauai. I had planned on using some of our time in Hawaii to convince you to sell.” His gaze swung back to her. “I had looked at it before I came down to the terrace that night. I laid it down on my way out the door. I hadn’t planned on you coming back up with me. Nor did I plan on springing it on you that morning.”

She stared at him, confused. Was he telling the truth? Had she misread the entire situation and acted like an adolescent teenager heartsick over her first crush?

“However,” he said as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs, “since you brought it up, we have unfinished business to discuss.”

Fury surged through her.Bastard.

“No, we don’t. Not in regard to the inn.”

“So, what’s the plan, Anika? You’re just going to run it by yourself? No matter what you think you learned at the conference, it can’t save the inn.”

“I’ve already seen an uptick in reservations,” she fired back. “I’ve been making improvements, upping our social media presence. It’s slow going, but I’m doing it. And I’ll continue to do it by myself.”

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