Forbidden Heir (The Heirs 8)

Ryker takes hold of my hand, and linking our fingers, we begin to follow a trail. Everywhere I look, there are wildflowers.

My happy smile tightens as a sharp pain shoots through my head, and then my vision fades to black. My steps falter, and my legs lose all feeling. Before I can hit the ground, Ryker grabs hold of me. “Danny?”

“Just… dizzy,” I mumble, my speech slurring.

As my vision begins to return, Ryker carefully lowers me to the ground and crouches behind me so I can lean against him.

“Probably… from… the… spinning,” I say, my voice halting between words as if I’m struggling to remember how to form a sentence.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, brushing the hair from my face. “Feeling better?”

I close my eyes and take a couple of deep breaths. “Yeah.”

He helps me up and wraps his arm around me, pulling me to his side. I hold onto him, my legs still feel shaky.

“Do you want to go back?” Ryker asks.

I shake my head and point to a bench. “Can we… sit?”

“Sure.” Ryker keeps our pace slow, and once I’m seated on the bench, I focus on taking deep breaths. The sharp pain has reduced to a dull ache.

Another damn headache?

It’s happening more and more. Not jumping to conclusions, I decide to visit a doctor once we’re back in the states. It’s probably just stress from signing the new deal.

I lean into Ryker, resting my head against his chest.

“Better?” he asks before pressing a kiss to my hair.

“Perfect,” I whisper.

When I glance up at him, he presses a kiss to my mouth. “Are you sure it’s from the spinning?”

Hearing the concern in his voice, I smile widely. “I’m sure. I guess you just have a way… of sweeping my feet from under me.”

My words make him smile, and he seems to relax.

I begin to feel nauseous, and it has my eyebrow popping up.

Shit. What if I’m pregnant? Birth control isn’t foolproof.

RYKER

Rubbing my hand up and down Danny’s arm, I feel when she tenses, and it has my eyes sharpening on her. “What’s wrong?”

She shakes her head as she sits up, then she says, “I feel nauseous.”

“Do you think it’s something you ate?” I ask, my worry coming back in full force.

Again, she shakes her head.

I tilt my head, and the corner of my mouth tugs up. “You’re dizzy and nauseous. Do you think…”

Danny lets out a chuckle, then she mutters, “It would be… just my luck. I’ll do a test… when we get home.”

My smile keeps growing. “What if you’re pregnant?”

She begins to laugh. “One step at a time.”

“But what if?” I push.

“Well…then I suppose… we’re having a baby,” she says, shaking her head.

“How do you feel about having kids with me?” I ask directly.

“I’ve always wanted kids. I was just hoping… to take things… a hell of a lot slower.”

It’s my turn to chuckle. “I’m not going anywhere,” I say just in case she’s worried about that. “I’m in for the long haul.”

Danny leans forward, resting her chin on her hand and her elbow on her knee, then her ocean-blue gaze finds mine. “Yeah? You want to be… my baby-daddy?”

Leaning forward, I press a kiss to her lips, then murmur, “It would be a dream come true.”

“How many kids… do you want?” she asks.

My eyes sharpen on her again when the way she’s talking grabs my attention. There are pauses between her words, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

“Two to three would be great,” I reply.

A breeze begins to play with her brown strands, pushing some across her face. I reach for her, tucking the strands behind her ear.

“And you? How many do you want?” I ask, love for her filling every inch of my heart and pushing the worry back because she looks fine.

“The same.” Danny turns her gaze to the ocean and takes a deep breath. “I had it all… planned out. My life. I’d meet the man… of my dreams… at twenty-eight. We’d get married at thirty, and we’d have our… first child at thirty-two.”

I lift my hand again, brushing my fingers over her cheek as I move her hair behind her ear.

Her mouth curves up as her eyes find mine again. “Wouldn’t it be funny… if it all happened now?”

“Why would it be funny?” I ask.

She shrugs, then whispers, “You’re only twenty-five.”

“So?”

“Aren’t there things… you want to do before settling down?” Danny asks.

I shake my head. “I’m happy with my career. I have my own place. I’ve traveled. The only thing missing from my life was you.”

Danny’s smile softens. “It’s crazy… how much has changed… during this trip.”

“Yeah, I just needed to get you alone,” I joke.

“Oh, so you planned this?” she asks, her eyebrow raising.

“No, but I sure as fuck hoped for it.” We stare at each other in silence, and after a couple of minutes, I ask, “Tell me about your dreams.”