Page 58 of The Runaway Billionaire's Inconvenient Baby
“Come with me.” He offers me his hand, and I frown. “I promise you, it’s not scary,” he says. “You’ll like it.”
I narrow my eyes but take his hand. “Where are we going?” I ask.
“You’ll see.” He grins and gives me a wink.
He leads me out the door, and we turn left away from the town. We walk for a while in silence, and as the buildings thin out, I ask, “Did you really do it?”
“Do what?”
“Give the town back to us? Like you promised?”
“I wasn’t lying to you when I said I would,” he says softly, with the same earnestness as he did those weeks ago. This time, I can see it for what it is. The truth. He has honest eyes and a sad smile, and I squeeze his hand.
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” I say quietly.
“I get it,” he says. “I didn’t exactly do the right thing. I don’t think I would have believed me either. I should have been better to you, to all of you.”
“You’re going to make it up to me now, though, right?” I say.
He nods, squeezing my hand in return. “This island is yours, all of yours. If anyone else ever tries to take it, I’ll be first in line to stop them.”
“My hero,” I say sarcastically, pressing the back of my hand to my forehead as if I’m swooning.
He laughs at that. “I missed you every day while I was gone. I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he says.
“Me too,” I confess quietly.
“You did?”
“Don’t sound so surprised!” I laugh. “I really, really tried not to. I wanted to be angry with you. Iwasangry with you, but what we were building together before you left, how we felt… that was real.”
“I’m glad you think so,” he says, giving me this small, sad look like he still can’t quite believe I’m really here with him, that I really want to be.
“Of course I do,” I say firmly. “Jacob, I…” I start again, but he grinds us to a halt before I can piece the words together.
Triumphantly, he stomps his foot. “Here we are!” he says, gesturing at a wide-open plot of land.
“What do you mean, here we are?” I scoff. “This isn’t anything.”
“Yes, it is,” he insists. “Or at least it will be. It’s my future home.”
I fix him with a withering look. “You’re not going to build a house. Seriously?”
“I am too. Well, not personally, but I’m going to pay for people to build me a house. And before you start, yes, I’ll make surethat they’re aware of all the environmental impacts, and I won’t do anything unsafe or bad for the island, and I’ll pay the fairest wage possible. And?—”
“You don’t have to justify it,” I interrupt, rolling my eyes. “If you’re going to walk on eggshells around me for the rest of my life, it’s going to get annoying real fast.” He opens his mouth, grimacing in embarrassment, but before he can grovel again, I add, “I’m just surprised you want a new build. That’s all. I would have thought you’d want something with a bit of history.”
He shrugs. “I want a fresh start for me. And for you. If you want it. I’m not forcing anything on you. But my door is open to you, always, and I would love it, if you wanted to…”
“I would move in with you.” I chuckle. “Those weeks when you were living in my house, they were some of the best weeks of my life. I can’t wait to spend more of my time with you. And before you start, yes, I mean it. I’m not going to lie to you, Jacob.”
“Good.” He smiles, the wind catching in his hair, ruffling it. The sun shines gold across his face, glinting in his eyes and highlighting him like he’s glowing. He’s beautiful. I can’t believe I ever thought this would not be his natural environment. He looks like he fits so well.
“Jacob,” I say quietly, taking both of his hands. He hums in question, still staring at the land as if he’s planning out all of his future decorations. “I have to talk to you. Listen to me.”
He cocks his head slightly to one side. “I’m listening. What is it?”
“I have something to tell you.”
