Page 56 of An Heir Made In Hawaii (Hot Winter Escapes)

“I’ve barely been able to sleep,” he whispered. “All I can think about is you. You and...” His other hand came up, paused, then rested on her belly. “Our child.” He leaned down, rested his forehead against hers. “Anika, I’ve been such a fool.”

She rose up on her toes and flung her arms around his neck. His arms came around her, crushing her to his body before he loosened her.

“The baby—”

“Is just fine. Don’t let go, Nicholas. Please don’t let go.”

He threaded his gloved fingers through her hair, pulled her head back and crushed his lips to hers. She returned his kiss with every ounce of passion and love she had.

“I missed you,” she whispered between kisses.

“And I you.” He lifted his head but kept her enclosed in his embrace. “I’m terrified, Anika. I told myself in the beginning that I needed to go all in if I was going to be involved in raising our child. But every time I tried to let myself experience the joy I saw on your face that day you had the ultrasound, it was like there was a wall I couldn’t get past. I told myself it was because I wasn’t capable. But it wasn’t.” He let out a harsh breath. “It was fear. Fear and years of unresolved resentment and anger toward my parents.”

Her heart broke for him. She had suffered loss, too, but she had never doubted that her parents or herbabicahad loved her.

“That’s on them, Nicholas. Not you.”

He smiled slightly. “My mother told me the same thing.”

“Your mother?”

“She came to visit. We had the first truly honest conversation about David’s death and what happened in the years after that.” His fingers traced a pattern on her cheek, his eyes never leaving hers. “She told me that fear of what might happen in the future was a poor reason to hold oneself back. That whenever she thought of that time after David’s passing, she would always mourn, but she would never regret the work she put into getting better, nor the life she’s found after loss.”

Anika reached up and brushed his hair back from his forehead. “How do you feel about that?”

“Good. Sad, but good. It’ll take a while for my parents and me to fully repair that relationship. I had always thought I had been the most successful one to move on from David’s death. But I did the same thing they did, losing myself in school and sports, then university and work.”

“You were a child yourself,” she reminded him with a little heat in her voice. “You shouldn’t have been left to deal with that on your own.”

“No. My parents made mistakes. But as an adult, I have the choice to do things differently now. Starting with an apology. I’m sorry I walked away from you, Anika, and our child. I’m sorry I pushed to get what I wanted, to not truly listen to your reasons for wanting to hold on to the inn.”

She smiled through her tears. “But you were right, you know. I was holding on to it for the wrong reasons. We were both holding on to the past. It was safer to focus on the inn and the connection I already had than risk forging a new one. I was so focused on what I might lose by selling the inn that I couldn’t see all the wonderful possibilities in front of me. Although,” she added, “it was very satisfying in the beginning telling you no.”

He smiled. “I hope you’ll have a different answer for my next question.”

Her breath caught as he dropped to one knee in the snow. He reached into his coat pocket and brought out a small black box, opening it to reveal a beautiful ring with delicate strands of silver winding over the most incredible sapphire she’d ever seen.

“I love you, Anika. I never thought I’d be capable of loving someone the way I love you. And I can’t promise there won’t be days I still question whether I’m capable or not, whether or not I’m doing things right. But I can promise that I won’t give up and I won’t stop trying to be the kind of man you and our child deserve.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked down into the face of the man she loved.

“Yes.” She barely choked the word out as he slid her glove off and put the ring on her finger.

“I picked the sapphire because it reminded me of the way the ocean looked in Hawaii.” He stood, looking down at the ring as his hand curled around hers. “How blue it was when you jumped off the pier looking like a mermaid. How it felt when you reached out and grabbed my hand while we were snorkeling. How untamed it looked when we watched the storm from the balcony.” His eyes came up to capture hers, the heat and passion stealing her breath. “I knew I wanted you before we went to Hawaii. I wanted you like I’d wanted nothing else before. But it was the moment you held my hand under the waves, and then when you smiled like you had just seen the most spectacular thing in the world, that I started to fall in love with you.”

“Funny,” she said as she reached up and laid her bare hand on his cheek, the ring glinting in the sunlight, “it wasn’t too long after that I started to fall in love with you. The night of the gala, when we danced, when you called to check on me, when we sat and talked in the dark...” She leaned up on her toes and brushed her lips against his. “I realized how much more there was to you than fancy suits and smug smiles. And you saw me,” she murmured against his mouth. “You saw me and told me how special I was, and I felt myself fall right then and there.”

He kissed her again before he leaned back and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. She took it, frowning at the unexpected weight.

“I was hoping I could offer this to you as a wedding present.” She opened it, pulling out little square cards with different paint colors on them. “Instead of the Hotel Lassard purchasing the inn, I’d like to help you renovate it. Bring it back to its former glory.”

Tears fell again, making the envelope crinkle as they hit the paper.

“Nicholas...”

“I should have offered this to you a long time ago.” He brushed a hand over her hair. “I was so focused on my dream that I disregarded yours.”

“And I appreciate that. More than I can express.” She ran her fingers over the paint colors, indulged in a brief fantasy of what it would be like to see the inn with a fresh coat of paint, a new roof, a renovated front porch. Savored the image.

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