Page 36 of The Billionaire's Secret Heir

“Hello to you too.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “I wanted to see if this is still a good time to stop by and see the updates. Not that I don’t trust you, but I just wanted to check one more time.”

“Don’t feel you need to explain. I understand. Now is perfect. I can’t wait for you to see it.”

She paused and then said, “Great. I’ll see you soon.”

“I’ve got some people working at the house. The gate is open and my housekeeper can let you in the main house if I’m not inside.”

When Beckett hung up, Kit was grinning at him, her arms crossed over her chest. “What?” he asked.

“I’ve just never seen you smitten before. I hardly would have believed it possible.”

Smitten.Such an old-fashioned word. And yet … Beckett couldn’t argue. He had been searching for the right word for how he felt about Madi. People used like and love, but it seemed like there should be way more words in between. He more than liked her, but it was way too soon for love. Smitten sounded just about right.

His lips turned up in a smile. “That obvious?”

Kit laughed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah. Is she coming now to see it? I’d love to see her face, but I think I should let you have your moment.”

“Do you think she’ll notice? I mean, that I’m, um …”

“Do you want her to?”

Did he? Beckett wanted to tell her sometime. It had taken tremendous effort not to tell her by the pool when she came to look at the house. Every time he had talked to Madi on the phone this week about the guest house project, his heart had been beating wildly out of control, leaving him feeling giddy and breathless. Never in his life had anything or anyone had this kind of effect on him.

Kit stepped closer and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m going. Any woman would be lucky to have the kind of guy that completely made over a house just for her. It’s sweet and thoughtful and she will love it.”

Beckett walked out to the pool. The sun was beginning to set, sending pinks and oranges into the sky. The fire features lit up around the new gated area. He had stood right here with Madi with his arm around her. She had fit perfectly next to him, though he had wondered what it would be like to pull her completely into his arms.

“Beckett?”

He spun at the sound of Madi’s voice. She stood on the other side of the fence, fumbling with the pool gate. He crossed the concrete patio to let her in.

“The gate has child safety features. Which, apparently, work on adults too.”

Madi giggled, then shook her head as she took in everything. Her gaze traveled all over the pool area. “How did you do all this? It’s incredible. I just can’t even believe that it got done so fast. And it’s beautiful. I’m speechless.”

Beckett laughed. “You just said a lot of words for being speechless.”

“You know what I mean. Just … wow.”

Madi wandered around the patio, touching the water features and looking at the fire that danced along the top of the new concrete structures. Beckett rocked back on his heels, watching her. She ran her hand along the top of the fence and put her hand directly in the flow of the fountain, but with a slight hesitation. Like she was afraid. No—like she didn’t think she deserved to be touching it.

“How?” Madi asked, spinning suddenly toward him.

He smiled and before he could second-guess it, Beckett held out his hand. “Come on. You need to see the rest.”

Madi stared at his hand so long that he almost pulled back. Then she smiled and grasped his hand like there hadn’t been a question at all. Biting back another smile, Beckett opened the gate toward the guest house and pulled Madi towards it. Twilight had fallen, but the house was still lit up inside from his tour with Kit. The curtains hadn’t been drawn yet and he heard Madi gasp as they got closer.

She stopped on the walk just outside. “Beckett. I don’t think I can.”

“What? No. Whatever is going on inside that head of yours, tell it to stop. Just come inside with me.”

The reflection of the lights by the front door of the guest house glinted off the tears pooling in her eyes. Did she cry as much as other women or more? Tears seemed to always be just below her surface. More than once since he met her, Beckett had noticed her trying to hide them. It only endeared him to her more. She tried to pull her hand away, but he squeezed it tighter, lacing their fingers together, loving the feel of them against his.

“Beckett. This is too much.”

“You haven’t even seen it yet. It’s not too much.”

“I can’t accept all this. You have furniture inside. I can see it through the window. You didn’t need to do this! That wasn’t part of the deal. You were just giving us a place to go that was safe. You weren’t supposed to … I can’t.”

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