The Billionaire's Legacy. Reese Ryan

nodded, and he leaned in and kissed her cheek. A kiss that was soft and sweet. Yet, it warmed her from the inside out.

      He kissed her again, this time a closed-mouth kiss on the lips.

      When he raised his eyes to hers, there was the same desire she’d seen there that night. The night they’d made the twins.

      Except six months ago she’d been beautiful, and now she felt like a beached whale.

      A sly smile curved the edge of his mouth and he leaned in to kiss her again.

      “Should I come back later?” A male nurse hovered inside the doorway.

      “No.” Benji groaned, his gaze still meeting hers. “I’d liked to get her back home and settled in as soon as possible.”

      He moved to the sofa to give the nurse room to check Sloane’s and the babies’ vitals. The man put a blood pressure cuff on Sloane.

      “Now’s a good time to tell my mother and father they’re going to be grandparents.” He pulled out his cell phone.

      “You’re going to tell them over the phone?”

      Sloane’s pulse suddenly raced as she imagined Connie and Rick Bennett’s reaction to the news. Rick would be mildly surprised, but Connie would be spitting fire, and she’d probably faint right on the spot. When she recovered, the woman would blame her for corrupting their son. Which she probably deserved.

      And Delia. God, her friend was going to be angry with her. Delia already knew of her pregnancy. Only Sloane hadn’t told her friend the whole truth about it. Like the fact that her little brother was the father.

      “Why not tell them now?”

      “I’m pretty sure that’s the kind of conversation that should be had in person.”

      “We have to tell them eventually, Sloane.” He kept his voice even.

      “I know.” Sloane frowned when the blood pressure machine beeped, and she saw the unusually high numbers. She turned to the nurse. “Can you give me a few minutes and take it again, please? I just got a little worked up. My numbers will go down in a few minutes, I promise.”

      The man nodded begrudgingly. “Be back in fifteen minutes.”

      She sighed in relief, then turned to Benji. “I know that we have to tell them, and we will. But don’t you think it’s better if we figure all of this out first?”

      “All of what?” He sat beside her again.

      “You said you’re not going back to Seattle. Well, fine. But there isn’t enough room in my tiny condo for me, you and all the stuff for the babies.”

      “So we’ll sell your place and get a bigger one.”

      “I can’t just sell my place. It needs a lot of work before I can put it on the market and...” Sloane chewed her lower lip. She didn’t like talking money with Benji. Feeling as if she had her hand out.

      “And?” He prodded.

      “And I’m under water.”

      “You overpaid for the condo?”

      She shook her head, her voice lowered. “I took out a second mortgage on the place.” Sloane fiddled with the strap across her belly. “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t spend the money on shoes or something. I took the loan out for a good reason.”

      “Which was?”

      “I don’t think that’s any of your—”

      “Sloane!” He inhaled deeply, then lowered his voice considerably. “Just tell me. Why did you need the money?”

      “To save the farm. The crop yield hasn’t been good the last few years. Plus, my grandfather needed bypass surgery last year and the insurance didn’t cover everything. Do you have any idea how expensive medicine is for a cardiac patient?”

      Benji stood and paced the floor. “Delia mentioned that your granddad had surgery.” He turned to face her, the wheels in his head obviously turning. “Both your condo and your family’s farm have second mortgages on them?”

      “Yes.” She whispered the word under her breath. “I had a plan. I didn’t have much cash to spare, but I was paying my bills and theirs. And I was about to land the job as the creative director at the record company until...” She paused, sinking her teeth into her lower lip. She didn’t want to make it seem as if she was blaming him or the twins.

      “Until you couldn’t work anymore because of the pregnancy.” Benji slid into the seat beside her again. “I’m starting to get the picture.”

      They were both quiet for a moment. Then he leaned forward and gripped her hand. “Look, I know you think the worst of the folks in Magnolia Lake, but I plan to prove you wrong.”

      “What are you talking about?”

      “Let me get the condo ready for sale.”

      “Even if I got top dollar for it, I’d barely break even with the second mortgage.” Her grandfather had implored her not to do it, but she’d been determined to prove to him that she’d made something of herself, despite his predictions that she’d flop in “the big city.” Not one of her better decisions. “Besides, if I sell my condo, where will I live?”

      “You’ll move to Magnolia Lake with me.” His brown eyes were earnest, but his expression was neutral.

      “I have no intention of moving in with my mother and grandfather.” A shiver ran down her spine just thinking of it. “I’d rather live in a tent in the woods.”

      “Perfect. Then you’ll move into the cabin with me.”

      A tiny ray of hope flared deep in her chest.

      Benji was asking her to move into the cabin with him. Did that mean he felt something for her, too?

      After their weekend together, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her head. She couldn’t stop wondering if a future for them was possible. But Benji was the first man she’d been with since her divorce. She cared about him too much to make him her rebound guy. Once she learned she was pregnant, she’d attributed her feelings for him to her wildly fluctuating hormones.

      The same hormones that filled her body with heat as her gaze traced the sensual lines of Benji’s strong physique. The same hormones that made her long for his hands to glide along her skin, the way they had when he’d made love to her.

      Sloane pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shake loose the fine image of how Benji’s muscles had bunched beneath his brown skin. She needed to focus on the larger implications of what he was saying.

      “You’re asking me to move in with you?”

      “We should get married first, naturally. For the sake of the twins.” He released her hand and pulled out his cell phone, tapping out a message. “But it would only be temporary.”

      “The marriage?” Her heart had inflated and deflated in six seconds flat.

      Not that she wanted to get married again. Ever. And she still had a modicum of pride. He wanted to marry her, but only because he felt obligated to, and now he was saying it would be some kind of temporary arrangement?

      He looked puzzled, then frowned with realization. “No, not the marriage. Living at the cabin would be temporary,” he clarified. “I’m shooting my cousin Cole a message now. We’d live at the cabin until Cole’s company can build us a permanent home.”

      “Hold up there, Andy Griffith.” She extended her palm toward him. “I’m not agreeing to a shotgun wedding. Do people really still have those?”

      “You don’t want to get married?” The poor thing looked bewildered, as if he couldn’t possibly imagine why a knocked-up poor girl would reject the offer to get hitched to an incredibly