She twisted in his arms, splashing water against the side of the tub. “For?”
“For agreeing to write the letter. For taking a chance on me.”
“Do you miss Konrad?” she asked, leaning her head against his shoulder where she could look up into his face.
“Very much.” Lucas took a sip of the champagne. “You know, it sounds trite, but it really is lonely at the top. I’ve been surrounded my whole life with people who want something from me. I’ve never known who to trust. I never know who my friends are. But Konrad was always there. And now he’s not.”
Lucas stopped talking, not sure why he’d confided in Devin.
“I missed Monica when she got married,” said Devin. “And some nasty, terrible little part of me was glad when she left Konrad to come home.”
“You’re not nasty, and you’re not terrible,” he felt compelled to point out. She was compassionate and protective, supportive and loving, and Amelia was lucky to have her in her life.
“Maybe,” Devin answered. “Of course, I’d have supported her unconditionally if she’d decided to go back to him. But I’ve spent very little of my life without her. Until now.”
Lucas’s heart went out to Devin. “What happened to your parents?”
“My dad left years ago. With his secretary if I remember the fights correctly. I never did ask my mom what happened. And I haven’t a clue where he is.” She took a breath. “Mom died when I was twenty. Monica was nineteen. Amelia seems like a miracle.”
“I agree,” said Lucas, smiling when he thought of his adorable niece. “Did I tell you I changed her messy diaper yesterday?”
“No way.”
“I did,” he confirmed.
Devin nudged him with a playful elbow. “You have any proof?”
“Ask Teresa.”
“Teresa works for you.”
“You think she’d lie?”
“I think she’d say whatever you told her to say.”
“You’re accusing me of a grand conspiracy over a dirty diaper?”
“I’m saying I saw you turn green that time at my house.”
“Well, I’ve hardened off since then.”
Devin set down her champagne glass and dipped her hand below the water. “Speaking of hard.”
Lucas sucked in a breath. “Are you kidding me?”
“I am not kidding you.” She turned to straddle his lap. Her breasts bobbed out of the water…slick, soapy and tantalizing.
He quickly set down his own glass as his body responded to the view. His hands automatically cradled her buttocks, sliding her fully up the length of his thighs. She bent to kiss him, her mouth hot while the steam wafted from the water to fill the space around them.
He cradled her face, kissing her deeply.
Somewhere in the recesses of his mind he asked himself what the hell he thought he was doing. He needed to hold back, keep some space between them. But all he seemed to want to do was bring her closer, hold her closer, let her in on the secrets he’d held dear for a lifetime.
He drew back to look at her. Her blue eyes were midnight dark. Her cheeks were flushed and dewy, her wispy hair damp from the steam. He stroked his thumb across her swollen red lips. Then he kissed her, kissed her harder, wrapped his arms fully around her and eased his body into hers.
He breathed her name, his body arching, his heart contracting.
“Lucas,” she whispered back. “Oh, Lucas.”
She wrapped her lithe body around him, and he swore he was never going to let her go.
Devin knew she was being influenced by Lucas. But she couldn’t seem to help herself. From her vantage point on the cushy deck furniture on Byron’s wide front porch, she was watching him roll a big colored ball for Amelia across the expanse of emerald lawn, while Amelia squealed in delight and toddled after it.
“I know he seems brash and cocky when you talk to him,” Lexi was saying. “But he’s really very gentle and respectful.”
Her laptop in front of her, Devin had been trying to compose her letter to the judge for a good half hour. But she kept getting distracted. Lexi was the latest distraction, plunking herself down on a chair across from Devin, a glass of diet cola in her hand, hair in a messy ponytail.
“Are you talking about last night?” Devin couldn’t help but ask. Like Devin and Lucas, Lexi and Byron had spent the night at the Gulf Port Grand Hotel.
“Last night, yesterday, this morning.” Lexi took a sip of her drink. “I don’t know what to think.”
Devin glanced around to make sure they were alone. “So, uh, did you two…”
If Lexi’s bright eyes and flushed face at breakfast this morning hadn’t confirmed what Devin suspected, her smile did now.
Lexi leaned forward. “I slept with Byron.” She compressed her lips on what was obviously trying to be an enormous grin. “And I wasn’t even nervous. I wasn’t uncomfortable. I wasn’t even embarrassed.” She sat back again. “I tell you, Devin, if you’d asked me a month ago if we’d be having this conversation, I’d have laughed in your face.”
“That’s so great.” Devin was thrilled for her friend.
“It is, isn’t it?” She gazed off into space for a moment. “I have no idea where it goes from here. I mean, he’s talking about coming back to Seattle for a while. But, you know, we really just met.”
Devin nodded to Lexi’s wrist. “Let me see that watch.”
Lexi glanced down at the diamond face and the delicate gold-and-emerald band. “I don’t think this is a big deal for him.”
“I do,” said Devin. “I think taking you to the party was a big deal. I think bringing you here was a big deal. Lucas says that Byron’s barely dated since Lucas’s mother died.”
“He talked about her,” said Lexi. “He misses her. Like I miss Rick.”
“That’s sweet,” said Devin.
Lexi gestured to Lucas and Amelia with her glass. “Now
“That’s surprising,” said Devin. Though, even as she said the words, she acknowledged that it didn’t seem at all strange now to see Lucas playing with Amelia. It had been a rocky start, but the two of them had obviously grown very fond of each other.
“So, how was your night?” Lexi gave a meaningful waggle of her brows.
“Are you kidding? We were in a luxury hotel suite. Champagne, strawberries, a tub the size of a backyard pool and a view of the city that stretched for fifty miles.”
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
“It was strange,” Devin admitted.
Lexi gathered herself up on the chair and leaned in closer, eyes alight. “Strange how?”
Devin tossed a pillow at her. “Not that kind of strange.”
“I’m not judging.”
“There’s nothing to judge. We-” Devin stopped herself. Lexi didn’t need to know they’d made love in the tub. “What was strange, was that it seemed so normal to be with Lucas.”
It truly had.
Making love with Lucas, talking with Lucas, sleeping in his arms, even waking up to shower and join Lexi and Byron for breakfast had, for some reason, seemed completely normal. Which didn’t make sense. Since they were still most definitely at odds over Amelia’s future.
She glanced down at the half-composed letter on her laptop. Well, they
“What are you writing?” asked Lexi.
“It’s a letter to the judge. I’m trying to get the words just right. Obviously, I want to undermine Steve. But I don’t want to set Lucas up for later.” She drummed her fingertips on the arms of the chair.
