Not Daddy Material (Billionaire's Contract Duet 2)

I knew he didn’t use his money to take expensive vacations, but I wondered if there was a time in his life when he had gone on outdoor adventures. I could picture him white-water rafting, or rock climbing. He definitely had the physique for it.

He chuckled, jogging in front to help me climb to the next plateau.

“I always thought I’d have the time. I never did.” I appreciated his strong arms when the next step was half my body’s length. “I was either at practice, conditioning, or playing ball. And now I’m running my own companies. I can’t take off and do this kind of thing.”

“But is this what you’d do, if you could?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think about it. I don’t think about down time. You know that.”

“Right. Too much to conquer in the baseball world,” I teased. He was nothing if not ambitious.

“I kind of figured this wasn’t your thing, but maybe it could be. Maybe it could be our thing.”

“Hiking exotic waterfall locations?”

“Why not?”

I slapped a mosquito that had landed on my shoulder. “Because I hate bu

gs and pain,” I whined.

“Aww, it’s not that bad. You’ve got to leave that Newton Hills girl behind.”

“What? And be the other half of your power couple?”

“Something like that.”

I almost tripped. I wasn’t focused on the slips and cracks in the trail. I was caught in Jeremy’s words. Was that what he truly wanted? A stronger woman than me? A woman who would see a two-mile hike up a volcano as an adventure that needed to be tackled, that she would never pass on? I was the woman who wanted to pass it up. I wanted to sit on the beach and bask in the sun’s rays. I wanted to read a book and have a lazy pool day. Was Jeremy pushing me to try new experiences, or was I conforming to be the woman he wanted? Shit. My head was spinning.

“Jer—” I stopped before I said something I might regret. This wasn’t the right time to confess, or to press him for answers.

“What?” He had one foot on a craggy rock point. I didn’t want him to lose his balance. I was already unfocused enough for both of us.

“How much longer?” I asked, lying.

“I’m not sure. But there is a flat spot up ahead. We can stop and eat some lunch. Ten more minutes. Tops. Can you do that?”

“Sounds good.” I smiled weakly. I didn’t know how to silence the doubts in my head. I grew quiet, thinking and analyzing. Wondering if I was always going to doubt what Jeremy wanted, or if I was going to end up twisting myself into the girl that fit into that role.

I tried to focus on the birds of paradise and the hibiscus blooming wildly on the trail after lunch. I even paused a few times and took pictures. But the clawing doubt was in my heart. I kept hiking, keeping it to myself.

A couple hours later we emerged in a clearing. I was still. The beauty of what we witnessed wrapped us and held us breathless for what seemed like immeasurable minutes.

I looked down as Jer slipped his fingers between mine. The only sound was the constant gushing and roaring of the waterfall. Our faces were misted. Our bodies were hot from the hike. But the bug bites didn’t bother me anymore, or the pain in my hamstrings. I forgot how irritated I was that Jeremy had talked me into this. His palm was flat against mine, warm and strong. I’d never felt so grounded. So in awe of everything in my life in a single second.

“Worth it?” he asked.

I nodded quietly. “Yes,” I answered. “You were right. It’s amazing.”

“Want to try to get down to one of the pools?” There was a rocky path nearby that led to the landings. Below them were levels of pools that all fed into each other. It was like they were stacked the perfect height, one on top of the next, creating a never ending cascade.

“I do.” I smiled, wiping the water from my cheeks. “We have to get to that bottom one.” I pointed to my target, a crystal blue pool at the lowest level of the waterfall.

Jeremy laughed. “Should I carry you?”

“No way. I’m doing this on my own.” I dropped his hand and started down the trail ahead of him.

“Hey, Evie, be careful.” Jeremy chased after me.