Page 36 of An Heir Made In Hawaii (Hot Winter Escapes)

“How did you do that so fast?”

“My first job for the hotel was on the maintenance crew at our flagship hotel in London.”

“Maintenance crew?”

He shot her a sexy grin. “Hard to imagine?”

With his coat tossed over a rocking chair and hammer in hand, no, it wasn’t hard to imagine at all.

“Did you like it?”

“Loved it.” He started to lift the pillar up. “When I was younger I loved tools. Getting the experience, seeing what our employees do, was eye-opening. And I still get to keep a foot in that door. Touring the construction sites, talking to the crew, the engineers, the architects.”

She remembered the rough scrape of his palm on hers on the Hanalei Bay pier. “And doing some work yourself?”

He grinned again. “Boys and their toys. Sometimes it pays to be the boss’s son and ask to get in on hanging drywall.”

The insight into the father of her baby sent a small jolt of happiness through her. Just like their intimate conversation back in Kauai, she was learning more about the man behind the glamour and tabloid stories. A man that she was liking more and more. A man she could easily see teaching their son or daughter how to wield a hammer, how to swim, how to dance.

Her throat tightened. They wouldn’t have the kind of family she’d dreamed about. But they could still be a family. Most importantly, her child was going to have a good father.

She held the pillar steady while he reattached the banisters on either side and brought the roof down. She walked down to the yard and looked back at the porch.

“Thank you.” She smiled at Nicholas. “What a difference.”

He came down the porch stairs and walked to her, stopping in front of her and looking down into her eyes.

“Come on a ride with me.”

Emotion fluttered in her chest. “To where?”

“Somewhere special.” He held out his hand. “You trusted me once today. Trust me one more time?”

The emotions spread through her, a confusing tangle that tied her up in knots. Hope, want, nervousness. It was a simple ride, not a marriage proposal.

Slowly, she slipped her hand into his, nearly closed her eyes as a sense of rightness filled her when his fingers curled over hers.

“Let’s go.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THEROADSLOPEDUP, a gray ribbon curving through snow-draped trees. The Audi handled the turns with a smoothness that normally made Nicholas feel confident, in control.

He felt neither of those things today. And it was because of the woman sitting next to him. So close and yet just out of reach.

He’d mucked things up after lunch yesterday. Confiding in her back in Kauai had felt natural. It hadn’t hurt that there’d been a solid steel door between them, allowing him to say the words he hadn’t confessed to anyone while still keeping some sense of distance between them.

That hadn’t been the case yesterday when she’d looked up at him with those big gold eyes, so willing to trust, to support, to offer him everything he’d craved as a grieving child yet had gotten used to doing without.

The possibility of opening himself up once more, of letting the true depths of his pain and fear not only see the light of day but be shared with someone, made him uncomfortable at best, if not downright afraid. What if opening the door to his past sent him spiraling like his mother or running like his father? What if Anika rejected him, agreed with his new and deepest fear—that he wasn’t capable of being a good father to their child?

He’d gone over that morning to apologize, to try to put some of what he was feeling into words, only to find the pregnant mother of his child sitting on the porch in the freezing cold with a hammer. Yes, he’d admired her tenacity. But it had also angered him. Why couldn’t the woman just accept help? Why was she so hell-bent on taking care of everything herself? On not letting him lend a hand?

Except she had accepted his help. And not just help on any project, but on her beloved inn. It had floored him to realize how much more impactful it was to help someone like Anika. With Susan and her constant needs, he’d gone from feeling like a champion to a crutch. With Anika, it hadn’t just been his own desire to be needed. No, it had been that she trusted him enough to help that had nearly knocked him back on his heels.

He slanted a glance at her out of the corner of his eyes. Sun streamed in through the window, casting golden light on the strands that had escaped the loose bun at the base of her neck. The rich emerald color of the sweater she’d pulled on made her skin glow.

How had he not seen her before? Had he let his pride over her initially indifferent reaction to him blind him to who she was? What she was capable of?

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