The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,53

up to stand beside him. Her body was radiant in the moonlight.

He pulled her close and kissed her again, and she fitted herself against him like a glove. The wind was chilly against their wet skin, but they were warm where they touched.

“Inside?” Zach murmured.

Rhea nodded, her breath coming rapidly.

After a warm shower together, they found their way to bed. To Zach, it felt as though they had never spent a single day apart. They were able to easily resume the patterns they had established back home, and though they were relearning one another’s bodies, Zach was pleased to find that his knowledge of how to love Rhea had not been lost in the intervening weeks.

When they were finished, they lay in one another’s arms as their breathing returned to normal.

“This is the most beautiful place in the world,” Rhea said quietly.

“I’ve always thought it was special,” Zach agreed. “But now it’s the place where you and I found our way back to one another.”

Rhea didn’t respond.

He looked down at her, suddenly concerned. “We are back together, aren’t we?” he asked.

“We are,” she said. “I can’t keep away from you, Zach. I know that now.”

“Then why do you look sad?” he asked anxiously.

“I’m not sad,” she assured him. “I’m just… I don’t know. I’m worried, I guess.”

“Worried about what?”

“It’s easy for us to be here in this moment together, and to promise each other that everything’s going to be fine going forward,” she said. “But there was a reason we had to leave the country to get to this point.”

“You’re worried about your family,” he realized.

“Of course I am,” she said. “They’re going to feel so betrayed when I tell them I let you back into my life, Zach.”

“Won’t they understand that my father was the one who stole from them?” he asked. “I had nothing to do with it. We’ll tell them that.”

“We will,” she said. “And I’m sure they’ll believe it. But I don’t know how they’re going to be able to look at you without seeing that betrayal. Do you know what I mean? It was difficult enough for me to do it. My father trusted your father.”

“Rhea, they’re going to have to find a way to move past it anyway,” Zach pointed out. “Your baby is my father’s grandchild. They’re going to have to figure out some way to accept that our families are tied together now.”

“I know,” Rhea said. “You’re right. And I’m not saying it isn’t worth the effort. It’s just difficult to think about. I’m afraid my father’s going to be heartbroken over this.”

Zach sighed. “I don’t know what to say,” he said.

“You don’t have to say anything,” she assured him. “You’ve been through enough over this, Zach. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’ll handle my family. I don’t want you to worry about that.”

“I just want you to be happy, Rhea,” Zach said. “I’ll do whatever it takes. If you need me to talk to your father, to convince him that I had nothing to do with the theft, I’ll do that. I’ll even pay for the formula that was stolen, if you think that will help.”

“No,” Rhea said quickly. “I don’t want that. My father will be upset as a matter of principle, not because he actually needed the profits he would have gotten from that formula.”

“Then what do you think we should do?”

Rhea sighed. “The best thing to do right now is probably just to try not to worry about it,” she said. “We’ll deal with this when we get home. But for now, we’re in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and we’re together. Let’s try not to worry too much about what we can’t control.”

Zach nodded. “I think that’s a good idea,” he said. “We’ll worry about it when we get back home.”

He turned toward her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, and within a matter of moments all their worries seemed very far away.

Chapter 19

Zach

A Month Later

Zach’s phone was ringing, but his hands were covered with flour.

“Can someone get my phone out of my pocket for me?” he called to his staff.

A hand slipped into the pocket of his apron. Then Jeff appeared beside him, holding his phone.

“It’s Rhea,” he said.

“Put her on speaker?”

Jeff answered the call, put it on speaker, and placed the phone on the counter.

“Hey, Rhea,” Zach said. “You’re on speaker, just so you know.”

“Why am I on speaker?”

“I’m making bread,” he said.

“Are you bringing some home for