Page 30 of An Heir Made In Hawaii (Hot Winter Escapes)

She rolled her eyes even as her stomach rumbled at the scent of food drifting up from beneath the silver dome.

“I woke up to find a revised contract out on the table after we just had sex, Nicholas,” she ground out. “Of course I left.”

“Or,” he countered as he lifted the silver dome off, “you could have stayed and we could have talked.”

“I didn’t want to talk. I felt embarrassed enough as it was.”

Slowly, he set the tray down and then turned to her.

“I’m sorry for that. I never wanted to embarrass you, Anika.”

Surprised by his apology, she looked down as her cheeks heated. “Um, thanks.”

“I have a proposal for you.”

Her head jerked back up and she eyed him suspiciously.

“Given how I handled your last one, and the numerous times you’ve brought it up since, perhaps you should cut your losses.”

“Not losses,” he countered with a confident smile. “Temporary setbacks. However, I think you’ll actually like this one.”

“Arrogant of you to assume.”

“I propose that we put the subject of the inn on the back burner since we have a more pressing matter at hand.”

Loath as she was to admit it, she did like this proposal. While she would prefer to get the business of the inn solved now, she also recognized that discussing how they were going to handle the baby was more important, especially since Nicholas did not seem to be wanting to take the easy way out and let her raise the child on her own.

He pulled out a chair for her and she sat, her eyes growing wide at the sight of fresh fruit, eggs and pastries. Her stomach rumbled. The first time she’d had an appetite in the morning in nearly two weeks.

“I wasn’t sure what you would be hungry for, so I took the liberty of ordering a little bit of everything. I’ve heard the first few months of pregnancy can be quite challenging.”

She took a bite of toast layered with butter and jam, moaning at the delicious berry flavors on her tongue. When she opened her eyes, it was to see Nicholas staring at her, his gaze riveted on her lips.

“Everything okay?” she asked nervously.

“You have a bit of jam...here.”

He leaned over, his thumb swiping across her lip. The little bit of intimacy made her blush.

Nicholas cleared his throat. Embarrassment filled her. Had he noticed her reaction? Or had their one night in Kauai been enough to sate his attraction to her? Was she just making a fool of herself by mooning over him?

“Tell me everything you know so far about the baby.”

Focus.He was being responsible. She needed to respond in kind.

“I’m seven weeks along. Due in early August. They picked up a very faint heartbeat at the beginning of this week. In a couple of weeks, I’ll go in for an ultrasound and actually get to see it.” Suddenly shy, she looked down at her plate. “You’re welcome to be at that appointment.”

“I would like to be there.”

“All right.” She took a deep breath. “Nicholas, I’m not saying you can’t be involved. It’s just not what I would have expected based on our conversations in Hawaii.”

“Which is fair,” he acknowledged. “I want to be involved at least on some level. I’m not content to simply be a bank.”

The way he said “bank” made her tense.

“I’m not going to be coming after you for money.”

“No, but I am going to make sure that you and the baby are well provided for. And that, Anika, is nonnegotiable.”

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