Barbara Dunlop - New Arrivals - His Inherited Family - Billionaire Baby Dilemma / His Ring, Her Baby / Cowgirl Makes Three

“Okay,” she announced, kicking off her shoes. “I’m coming in.” She quickly peeled off her sweaty T-shirt and her running shorts. She mostly trusted Lucas to keep his word, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She dove straight into the pool.

After an initial shock of cold, the water felt heavenly. She broke the surface and smoothed her hair back from her face, treading water at the opposite side of the deep end from Lucas.

“Nice?” he asked, his voice a low rumble and his face a dark silhouette against the pot lights in the distant gardens.

“Very nice,” she agreed, doing an easy front stroke down the length of the pool. She tried to pretend it was just another swim, but she was hyperaware of the darkness, her silky underwear and Lucas’s gaze following her as she swam.

The memory of their kiss battered its way into her brain. And she couldn’t seem to banish the feel of his arms around her. Maybe it was a forbidden-fruit syndrome. Or maybe she was learning all the reasons Monica had been unable to resist Konrad, despite all the evidence he was bad news.

Lucas was definitely bad news for Devin. She understood that with every fiber of her being. But it didn’t seem to stop her from wanting him. It didn’t even stop her from making stupid decisions like this little late-night swim.

Oh, those Demarco men were good.

“Devin?” It was Lucas’s deep voice, strumming along her nervous system.

“Yes?” she answered, finding her feet in the chest-deep water and resting her hand on the smooth pool wall as she turned to look at him.

He’d drifted closer then stood, water dripping down his skin. “There’s something you and I need to talk about.”

“What?” she asked warily, hoping it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that she was in her underwear and they were taking a late-night swim, or the kiss they’d shared two days ago.

But he looked serious, and not the least bit flirtatious.

Despite everything, she was forced to squelch a flash of disappointment. She warned herself to get a grip. She did not want him to flirt with her. She dreaded the idea that he might try to flirt with her.

“It’s about Steve,” he said, voice going lower as he moved closer still.

Devin’s stomach reflexively clenched with anxiety. She didn’t want to talk about Steve. She didn’t even want to think about Steve.

“Byron and I figured out his new tactic.”

Devin swallowed. “Is it bad?” Did she need to worry?

“It’s quite despicable,” said Lucas, rubbing his palm across his face to remove the errant water droplets. The beads on his skin made him look rakish and dangerous. “He’s trying to have Amelia disinherited.”

Devin focused her attention. “How do you mean? “

“Steve is trying to prove she isn’t entitled to the ten percent of Pacific Robotics.”

“How can he do that?”

“He’s found a loophole in the will,” said Lucas. “He thinks if he can prove Konrad and Monica’s marriage was a sham—”

“It was a sham,” Devin felt compelled to point out.

Lucas crossed his arms over his muscular chest. “It wasn’t. But that’s not the point.”

Devin didn’t answer, assuming Lucas would only let her wait so long before he told her exactly what the point was.

“The point is—” he drew a deep breath “—you might inadvertently help him.”

“Inadvertently?” What planet had Lucas been living on these past few weeks. “If the point he’s making is that Monica and Konrad’s marriage was a sham, then I’ll be helping him on purpose.”

Lucas took a step forward, his head cocking slightly to one side. “You can’t do that, Devin.” “I’m not going to lie, Lucas.” “I’m not asking you to lie.” “Konrad didn’t love Monica.” “He did love her.”

Devin clenched down on her jaw. If Amelia was entitled to the inheritance, Devin would fight tooth and nail for her. But if she wasn’t…

“You don’t have some special psychic ability to see into Konrad’s brain,” said Lucas.

“Don’t you mean into his heart?” “You need to see the broader picture.” “That’s a nice way to put it.”

“You need to allow for the possibility, however slim, that you might have been mistaken about Konrad.”

“I don’t need to do anything.” The truth was the truth. “Listen to me—”

“You’re grasping at straws.” Devin had spent countless nights consoling Monica over Konrad’s betrayal. He’d hurt her sister very badly, and Devin wasn’t about to pretty it up now.

“Amelia is the legal and rightful heir of my grandfather’s will,” Lucas growled. “You and I…” He paused, clearly gathering his emotions. “You and I owe it to Konrad and to Monica and to my grandfather to protect Amelia’s interests.” Lucas’s shoulders were squared, his jaw was set in a determined line and his eyes glittered black in the dim light.

When Devin didn’t respond, Lucas carried on. “And that means you and I have to stop fighting with each other.”

“We’re not fighting.” Well, maybe they were at this very moment. But they’d been getting along pretty well over the past couple of days. In fact, they’d been getting along too well for Devin’s peace of mind.

“I mean over the guardianship case,” said Lucas. “We have to shut it down.”

It took a second for his words to sink in. And when they did, Devin’s heart plummeted.

She didn’t know why she was disappointed. She shouldn’t have even been surprised. “Is this some trumped-up scare tactic to get me to drop the guardianship case?”

His eyes narrowed. “No.”

“Has Steve really found something in the will?”

“Devin—”

“I don’t believe you.” Why, oh, why did she keep letting her guard down? What was the matter with her?

“Believe me,” Lucas stated, voice hard as steel, “Steve has found something. And if you and I duke it out in court, Amelia will be the loser. Your testimony, misguided as it is, will play right into his hands.”

“I am not giving up on guardianship of Amelia.” She flattened herself against the pool wall, hands sloshing through the tepid water as she stepped sideways toward the ladder. “This conversation is over.”

He reached out and gasped her wet arm. “I’m not asking you to give up on guardianship, Devin. I’m asking you to buy us time for Amelia’s sake.”

She shook off his hold, fighting the tingle that was left behind from his fingertips. “You’ve never done a single thing for Amelia’s sake.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.” She rubbed the arm where he’d touched her, fighting hard to ignore his closeness, the darkness around them, the cool water lapping against her bare skin.

“You won’t even listen,” he accused.

“I’ve been listening plenty. All I do is listen to you. And I give you the benefit of the doubt, over and over—”

“Ha!” he scoffed.

“And I make stupid decisions.”

He moved in. “And you don’t think I do? I make the stupidest decisions in the world when it comes to you.” His body brushed up against hers, thigh-to-thigh, belly-to-belly.

“Lucas,” she gasped, reacting instantly to his touch.

Her skin flushed hot, her nipples beaded, while raw desired pooled in the base of her belly.

In slow motion, he tipped his head, and she held her breath, waiting for his lips.

The peach-colored fabric for Devin’s bra had gone translucent in the water, the image dancing through Lucas’s brain. Her nipples were hard, and the filmy fabric revealed every nuance of her gorgeous breasts. Her face was red, her full lips parted.

With steely determination, he kept himself from completing the kiss. Instead, he slid his fingertips along her slick arm and rounded her shoulder, skimming his way to the curve of her neck.