Billionaire Baby Dilemma (15 page)

“You're flying all the way to Houston for a party?”

Lexi grinned. “
We're
flying all the way to Houston for a party. Byron wants all four of us to go.”

“I can't go to Houston.” Devin straightened on her perch at the other end of the bed. She was here to take care of Amelia, not to go gallivanting around the state of Texas.

“Don't be ridiculous.” Lexi gave her a playful swat on the knee. “Teresa will take good care of Amelia. You need to do some research for your rich people book, and I need to take advantage of a date who owns his own jet plane.”

“You are a mercenary,” Devin playfully accused.

“He helped me get on my horse,” said Lexi, biting down for a second on her bottom lip. “Then he helped me get off. And
his hands lingered on my hips. I don't know why that seemed so incredibly sexy, but it did.” She pressed the small towel into her lap, squeezing it between her palms. “I haven't kissed a man since Rick died. And we dated from the time I was fifteen, so I've never really kissed another man at all. I've certainly never made love to anyone else.”

Devin blinked. “You're thinking about making love with Byron?”

Lexi's cheeks flushed brighter. “Maybe.” She tossed the towel on the bed and finger-combed her long hair. “I don't know. I'm thinking about kissing him, anyway. Maybe tomorrow night at the party.” She leaned forward, a pleading look in her eyes. “You have to come, Devin.”

Devin wasn't crazy about the idea of flying to Houston. And she definitely wasn't wild about attending a party with Lucas.

She made an excuse to Lexi. “I don't have anything to wear.”

Lexi grinned. “We'll go shopping.”

“But—”

Lexi waved off Devin's protest. “Byron already told me I should go wild. We can stop in Dallas on the way, or we can make sure we get to Houston early. Come on, Devin. Designer dresses. Somebody else's credit card.”

“Mercenary,” Devin repeated.

“It'll be a blast.”

Devin found she didn't have it in her to let Lexi down. It was the happiest she'd seen her friend since Rick had died. She'd buy a dress, make a little small talk and tough it out in Lucas's company.

It wasn't as though his opinion of her could get any worse. She groaned.

“What?” Lexi's voice betrayed her concern.

“Nothing.” Devin shook her head. This was about Lexi. “I'll come to Houston.”

“Is it Lucas?”

Devin's throat thickened for a split second, but she swallowed
it away. “Of course it's Lucas. Everything is Lucas. My nemesis is Lucas.”

“Because you hate him?”

“I don't hate him.” She didn't. She hated the situation and the circumstances.

“Is it because you want him again, and you can't have him?”

Devin coughed on a exclamation of denial. “I don't want him.”

Lexi lapped the robe over her thigh. “Uh-huh,” she agreed sarcastically.

“And if I did,” Devin declared, “I could have him any old time I wanted.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I'm sure. In fact, I already—” Devin stopped herself.

Lexi scooted eagerly up on her knees. “In fact, you already
what?
”

“Oh, hell.” What was the point of pretending. “I did it again.”

“Slept with Lucas?”

“Yes,” Devin admitted.

“And you didn't tell me? When? Why? How?”

“How?”

“You know what I mean.” Lexi wriggled closer.

“He caught me. Well, almost caught me. Snooping in his emails. I was looking for messages from Konrad.”

Lexi gave an admiring nod. “Gutsy. I like it.”

“I was in his bedroom.” Devin couldn't help thinking back. “I heard him coming down the hall. So I hopped on his bed and acted like I was there to proposition him.” She cringed at the memory.

“And he said yes?”

“Oh, yeah.” A touch of pride crept into Devin's voice as she remembered Lucas's enthusiasm.

Lexi gave a throaty chuckle.

“But then, later, I guess the next day. I'm not sure. He found
the emails, and now he thinks… Well, he thinks I'm the kind of person who'd use sex as a tool for covert operations.”

“I think it's admirable.”

Devin frowned. “That I'd use sex that way?”

“That you'd break into Lucas's email account.”

Devin plucked at the quilt on the bed. “I couldn't do it. I mean, I know I did it. But I realized I'd gone way over the line. I was about to shut it down when he showed up.”

She remembered the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach when she'd realized how badly she'd invaded Lucas's privacy. She was mortified by her own behavior, and she could certainly understand Lucas's disgust.

“I bet he would have done exactly the same thing,” Lexi staunchly defended.

“You think?” Not that it gave her an excuse, but Devin would prefer to think she wasn't the only one whose ethics could be questionable.

“Don't let him paint himself as an angel. You're not perfect. Then again, neither am I. I'm thinking about sleeping with a man I only just met.”

“Kind of like I did?”

Lexi reached out and squeezed Devin's hands. “We're human. It's not a flaw to be human.” She paused. “So, what do you say about Houston?”

 

Lucas realized he was unlikely to ever see any of these people again. But he couldn't get past his discomfort at sitting in a pink armchair next to the lingerie section of Desmonde in downtown Houston, sipping a glass of white wine and pretending he cared about the fashion magazine the clerk had left open on his lap.

He tipped his body toward Byron and hissed. “We're shopping for
dresses.
”

Byron leaned back in obvious self-satisfaction. “Do I know how to keep a little filly happy or what?”

“Can't we leave? And come back later?” Maybe they could find a sporting goods store or a cigar bar, somewhere Lucas could regenerate his testosterone.

“You've never been married, have you, Lucas?” Byron knew that perfectly well. “Trust me on this, I know what I'm doing.”

“But I don't
want
to keep the little filly happy.” Lucas plunked the magazine back down on the glass table in front of them.

He was willing to attend the party. It was a state board of trade event, so there were likely some good business contacts to be had. And Byron always supported Lucas, and Lucas understood Byron was interested in Lexi. But he didn't see why they had to traipse around Houston like a couple of college girlfriends, oohing and ahhing while Devin and Lexi chose dresses.

“Take a look at that,” Byron cooed in a voice that carried across the room. “Isn't she the prettiest thing?”

Exiting the dressing room area, Lexi did an exaggerated model walk across the raised floor. The dress she wore was a brilliant blue, tight on top, with a full, layered crinoline-type skirt that fell to her knees. A jewel-studded belt flashed at her waist.

Lucas had to admit, Lexi had amazing legs for a forty-year-old.

Byron gave a low whistle, and Lexi flashed him a grin.

“Those shoes are a must,” noted a salesclerk as she approached the dais.

Lexi turned her ankle to give them a better show of a pair of silver, high-heel sandals with wide ankle straps.

“You like the shoes, darlin'?” Byron asked.

“Love the shoes,” said Lexi.

“We're taking the shoes,” Byron informed the salesclerk. “And the dress. I'm particularly partial to the dress.”

“It's the first one I've tried on,” Lexi protested.

“Then try on some more,” said Byron with a wave of his large, work-roughened hand. He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial level as he addressed the salesclerk. “Never known a woman to have too many dresses.”

The salesclerk gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, obviously sensing a hefty commission. “Neither have I,” she readily agreed.

Devin appeared next, but Lucas barely got a glimpse of her black sheath of a cocktail dress before the salesclerk rushed to shoo her back into the change room.

Then the woman marched purposefully past Lucas to the lingerie, snagged a lacy black push-up bra and a scrap of a thong and whisked them toward the dressing rooms. “Nothing will ruin that Rue de Femme dress like panty lines,” she announced to anyone who happened to be within earshot.

Lucas glanced uneasily at Bryon.

“Too much information,” he finally responded.

“Way in the hell too much,” Byron agreed.

Lucas shifted in his chair.

After a few minutes, Devin reemerged. The black dress was simple enough, a square neckline showing a creamy hint of cleavage, three-inch-wide shoulders straps that emphasized her slender arms, a nipped-in waist, clingy over the hips, narrowing to a hemline just above the knees. The dress wouldn't have normally stood out for Lucas. But Devin was wearing it, and all he could see was the image of that sexy underwear on what he knew to be a killer body.

The clerk stood back to consider. “That neckline simply cries out for diamonds,” she commented.

The observation obviously took Devin aback. Her hand rose to her bare throat.

But Byron slapped one hand on his knee. “I'm buyin',” he announced in a hearty voice. “Bring on the diamonds.”

“Like hell you are,” Lucas retorted, while the clerk scurried off to the jewelry department.

“Nice shoes,” said Byron, gesturing to the black suede platform sandals that were going to haunt Lucas's dreams.

“I'm not getting diamonds,” Devin told them both.

Lucas lowered his voice so only Byron could hear. “And
you
are not buying Devin's underwear.”

Byron slanted Lucas a look. “One too many roosters in the henhouse?”

“You want to buy underwear, buy some for Lexi.”

The clerk hustled back to Devin, three velvet cases in her
hands. She opened the first, and the jewels flashed under the store lights.

“This one is called aurora swirl,” she said. “Three-colored teardrop diamonds—blue, yellow and pink—with white square cuts in the chain—D flawless. And a total of seven carats in all.”

Devin seemed speechless as the woman speedily fastened the necklace around her neck.

Byron leaned across the table separating them. “I suppose you'll insist on buying the diamonds, too?”

Lucas knew he should be annoyed at being backed into a corner, but he was too busy getting a kick out of the expression on Devin's face. He had to admit, the necklace looked stunning. The clerk knew exactly how to accessorize the dress.

“Let me get a better look,” he said, motioning Devin forward.

The clerk smiled like a Cheshire cat, giving Devin a gentle little shove toward him.

Devin took a few halting tentative steps. Then she came down off the dais, her voice a low hiss. “Don't you dare encourage her.”

“It looks good on you.” Lucas spent only a fraction of a second on the diamonds before catching a glimpse of the lace bra peeking out above the neckline of the dress.

“Well, I think it's too garish,” Devin stated loud enough for all to hear.

The clerk's expression faltered for a split second. “We have many other fine—”

“I think this is the one,” said Lucas. He boldly reached out to touch the stones, brushing his fingertips against the warm, soft skin of Devin's chest. His voice went lower. “This is definitely the one.”

“No,” said Devin.

“Oh, yes,” said Lucas. He hadn't thought about buying her jewelry. But suddenly he wanted Devin to look exactly like this at the party tonight. He wanted to watch her sinuous movements
under the slinky dress, to see her smile, to hear her voice and to pretend it was a real date.

“You're going to meet the Duke of Rothcliff,” he told her. “I'm expanding our manufacturing base in Europe, and I need to impress him.”

“That's ridiculous.”

“It's a time-honored tradition. I wear the same old tired suit, and you're the billboard for my wealth.”

Devin's jaw worked for a moment.

“Now
that's
a ball gown,” Byron said in a hearty voice from the chair next to them.

Lucas looked up, and Devin turned her head.

“Too much?” asked Lexi as she did a twirl in a fuchsia satin strapless dress with miles of ruffled, bell-shaped skirt.

“I'm finding us a big ol' ball to attend,” Byron responded. “Hell, I'd even strap myself into a tux to take you out in that, darlin'.”

Lexi's grin was wide.

“No, to the necklace,” Devin told Lucas.

But Lucas had already reached in his pocket and deftly extracted a credit card. “Yes, to the necklace,” he told the clerk. “Yes to the dress. And yes to everything else she's wearing.”

His credit card was out of his hand before Devin could mount another protest, and the clerk was swiftly heading across the store.

“I win,” he told Devin.

“What did you win?” she scoffed. “You just spent—” She faltered. “Lucas, you didn't ask the price.”

“It'll be on the bill,” he told her mildly.

“Are you showing off?” she challenged.

“Yeah. Because up until now, I didn't think you knew I had money.”

“You're impossible.”

“What was your first clue?”

She pointed in the direction the clerk had gone. “Go stop her.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Lucas.”

He lifted his eyebrows.

“What are you doing?”

“We're shopping for dresses. Which, by the way, is a whole lot more fun than I expected.”

Byron chuckled beside them. “Take that one, too,” he called to Lexi. “And try on something else. Lucas is finally starting to have some fun here.”