by Amie Denman
Adrenaline raced through Autumn’s chest and left a streak of pain around her heart. Her mom and dad had hardly said a word to her, but she wanted to know what they were thinking as much as she wanted them to understand her choices. They were the best parents and grandparents she could imagine, but they couldn’t be happy with her secrecy that had led to an ugly scene on her brother’s wedding cruise. She owed them all—especially the bride and groom—a serious apology.
“They’re like parents to me, too,” he said. “One of the first things your mother wanted to know was if I’d told my mother she was a grandma. Her thoughts were on my mother and aunt and how happy they would be to know about Carter.”
Fresh pain shattered Autumn as she considered how she had denied Paige and Ellen, two sweet hard-working ladies, the chance to enjoy Carter’s first words and steps. She’d been so busy thinking about Carter as her own.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “They should have gotten to hold him as a baby just as you should have. I’ve made a mess.”
“I heard you tell your cousins it wasn’t too late for Carter to have a relationship with me.”
Autumn nodded, taking heart from the hope she heard in Luke’s voice.
“But you thought it was too late for us,” he added.
She looked into his eyes and hoped she was wrong about giving up on their relationship. All the years of friendship and love she’d felt for him were still there, still alive. He ran a hand over her hair and left it at the base of her neck. She hardly breathed, reveling in the comforting and yet exciting feel of his fingers touching her sensitive skin, brushing the back of her ear.
“I took back my marriage proposal because it was the wrong proposal,” he said. “That one was based on a practical decision. I thought of everything. A room for Carter at my house, a way to work a playset into the back yard. Which school he would go to. A family car. I thought about myself and getting to be the dad I never had.”
Autumn swallowed. “You should get the chance.”
“I want that,” he whispered, his words almost lost in the sea breeze as the yacht motored closer to Athens. “But I want you, too.”
Autumn opened her mouth even though she had no idea what to say. What seemed to be happening was almost too good to be true.
“Do you love me?” he asked.
Autumn smiled. This was a question she could easily answer. “With all my heart,” she said. “I may have chosen a stupid way of showing it, but I’ve loved you for years.” No matter what happened next, she owed him the truth.
“I love you, Autumn. Not just as the mother of my child, but as you. We have some ground to cover and time to make up for, but I’m asking for us to do it together.”
He kissed her, a long lingering kiss that seemed to be full of years of laughter and also promises for the future. Autumn could have kissed him for hours, standing there on the deck of his yacht under the Greek sunshine, but Luke broke the kiss and touched his forehead to hers. “Marry, me, Autumn, not because it’s the practical easy thing to do. Marry me because you love me and I love you.”
Tears swelled in her eyes and she didn’t try to stop them as they fell. “Yes,” she breathed, her heart so full that there was only room for one more thing. “Let’s go find Carter and officially introduce him to his dad.”
“Nothing would make me happier,” Luke said. He took her hand and led her along the magnificent deck of his yacht toward the sound of their son’s laughter.
~The End~
A note from the author
I hope you enjoyed reading A Secret Baby on the Billionaire’s Yacht: A Sweet Billionaire Romance. I would appreciate it so much if you would consider leaving a review on the site of your choice, and please visit me at www.amiedenman.com or on twitter @amiedenman. There will be more books in this series because I have fallen in love with opulent yachts and the billionaires who own them!