Page 38 of An Heir Made In Hawaii (Hot Winter Escapes)

“Based on everything I’ve seen, you’re more than invested.”

“I like parts of it. But other parts... I feel like I have to,” she said as they started up. “Like if I don’t keep the inn alive, I’ll have let down the woman who was my family for over half my life and everything she worked for. Like I’m letting the last bit of my family die.”

Before he could stop himself, Nicholas wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close. She didn’t even hesitate as she leaned into him. Their steps harmonized as they neared the top. Even as he kept her tight against his side and indulged in the sudden, fierce sense of possession, dread pooled in the pit of his stomach. He’d thought Anika’s obsession with the inn had been a matter of pride, of not liking him and not wanting him to have it.

Learning the full extent of her reasons for not wanting to sell took his carefully laid plan that she’d already disrupted and tore it into tiny pieces. It didn’t negate the fact that without a major intervention, the inn wouldn’t survive.

Anika’s shoulders relaxed beneath his arm as they neared the top. Feeling her against him, sensing the trust she was placing in him, was enough for now. The hotel would open in just a couple weeks, with or without the inn. He needed to focus on that, and the baby, for now.

“Are you ready?”

He glanced down at Anika, who smiled up at him with the same unabashed joy he’d first glimpsed back in Hawaii. His chest tightened as he entertained the idea of leaning down and brushing a soft kiss across her lips. The need to taste her, to mark her as his for everyone around them to see, shocked him to his core.

“I am. Although if the view doesn’t live up to the hype, you owe me a drink.”

She arched a brow. “And if it does, what do I get?”

“A full-body prenatal massage at the Hotel Lassard spa.”

A sigh escaped her lips. “That sounds heavenly.”

So did the idea of being the one to offer to massage her from head to toe. He bit back the invitation. Moments later they emerged onto the stone floor of the upper courtyard of Bled Castle. To the right and left were stone walls covered in barren vines, topped off by reddish orange roofs.

And in front of him...in front of him was heaven.

They moved to the stone wall at the edge of the courtyard. He released her and placed his hands on the cold rock, leaning forward to inhale a deep, cleansing breath of winter air. Beyond the wall there was nothing but a plunge straight down to a tree-covered slope several hundred feet below. The lake glimmered beneath the early afternoon sun. The church stood proudly on the island, and beyond that he glimpsed both the inn on the southern shore and the roof of the Hotel Lassard next door. Mountains rose beyond, smaller than the steep peaks to the north, but no less beautiful in the gentle rise and fall of their majestic summits.

“The first time I saw this lake, I felt like I was at home.”

He felt Anika tense beside him. He didn’t look at her, couldn’t. Not if he was going to get through this. He kept his gaze focused on the snow-draped hills, the wispy clouds clinging to the tops of the taller peaks.

“David died when he was seven. We were riding bikes and a driver ran a stop sign.” His bare fingers dug into the stone, the roughness grounding him in the moment, keeping him present even as the past tried to pull him under. “The driver was at fault. But to this day I replay that moment over and over in my mind. What I could have done differently. I looked away for a second and David rode his bike out into the road.”

When Anika didn’t say anything, he plunged forward.

“I know, logically, it wasn’t my fault. My parents reassured me of that fact over and over as we sat in the hospital, waiting for David to come out of surgery, then waiting for him to wake up.”

The memories washed over him. The incessant beeping of machines, the sharp scent of antiseptic, the tightness of his mother’s grasp on his shoulder.

“That first year, we beat the odds. We went to counseling. My dad took us on trips. My parents spent every waking moment they could together. But something changed just before the first anniversary. My mother started sleeping in more. A couple nights I found her in David’s old bed. The more she slipped into depression, the more work trips my father took. We existed like that for nearly nine years. The only times we were truly together were on our trips.”

He looked down as Anika laid a hand over his. A simple gesture, but one that steadied him enough to continue.

“I haven’t shared that part of myself with anyone. I’ve gotten used to keeping people at a distance because it was how I survived those years. Even after my parents reconciled, I kept them at arm’s length.” He steeled himself, looked down at Anika. “I don’t know how capable I’m going to be as a father.”

Slowly, Anika wound her arms around his waist and pulled him against her. He forced himself to relax, resting his chin on top of her head.

“I don’t know how capable I’m going to be as a mother,” she finally said. “But, from what little I’ve seen, you’ve got a lot of potential.” She leaned back and looked up at him. She breathed in, then out. “I was scared when you said you wanted to be involved in the baby’s life. I’m not as scared now.”

It was one of the simplest compliments he’d ever received. Yet it warmed him like nothing else had in his life.

“But still scared?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Terrified,” he admitted with a small smile.

“Me, too. But you’re not as bad as I thought,” she replied, her eyes glinting with a teasing light for a moment before her face sobered. “Thank you, Nicholas. For sharing with me.”

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