Teresa smiled tightly. “True. I do defend him. I do what I can to help him. He’s a good boss. And he’s been good to me. I’m not saying that how he handled the…situation with you was right—”Dave stopped her, holding up both hands. “You know what? Never mind. It was more than a year ago. It’s over and done. And whatever Dave and I had has ended, too.”Teresa cocked her head to one side and looked at her thoughtfully. “You really think so, hmm?”“Trust me on this,” Lucia said as they started walking again. “Dave is so over me.”“If you say so.” Teresa stopped in front of a set of double doors. Waving one hand at them as if she were a game show hostess displaying a brand-new refrigerator, she said, “Here we are. Your new quarters. I hope you like them.”“I’m sure they’ll be great. Way better than the Riviera Deck anyway.”“Oh,” Teresa said with a smile, “that’s certainly a fair statement. You go on in, your things have been unpacked. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.”“Okay.” Lucia stoo
He looked her up and down and could admit at least to himself that she looked damn good to him. Her dark blond hair was a little windblown, stray tendrils pulling away from her braid to lay against her face. Her eyes were wide and gleaming with suspicion, and, strangely enough, that didn’t do a damn thing to mitigate the attraction he felt as he drew in a breath that carried her scent deep into his lungs. “I’ll stay here, but I’m not sleeping with you,” she announced suddenly. Dave shook his head and smiled. “Don’t flatter yourself. I said you’re staying in my suite, not my bed. As it happens, there are three bedrooms here besides my own. Your things have been unpacked in one of them.” She frowned a little and the flush of color in her cheeks faded a bit. “Oh.” “Disappointed?” Nick asked, feeling a quick jolt of something hot and reckless punch through him. “Please,” she countered quickly. “You’re not exactly irresistible, Dave.” He frowned at that, but since he didn’t actually b
“A little of both.” She tipped her head back to look up at him. “Why didn’t you give the key back to her?” He looked genuinely surprised at the suggestion. “Why would I embarrass her in front of her friends?” Lucia snorted indelicately. “I’m guessing it’s next to impossible to embarrass a woman like that.” “This really bothers you.” It always had, she thought. When she first went to work for Falcon Cruise Lines, she’d heard all the stories. About how on every cruise there were women lining up to take their place in Dave’s bed. He was a player, no doubt. But for some reason, Jenna had allowed herself to be swept up in the magic of the moment. She’d somehow convinced herself that what they’d had together was different from what he found with countless other women. Apparently, she’d been wrong about a few things. “One question,” she said, keeping her voice low enough that no one they passed could possibly overhear. “Okay.” “Are you planning on using that key?” He only looked at h
“Hmm. Interesting question,” he said. “I could say you’ve lied before, but then we’ve already agreed not to talk about the past.” Lucia wasn’t sure if she wanted to sigh in frustration or kick him hard under the table. This was so much more difficult than she’d thought it would be. Somehow, Lucia had convinced herself that Dave would believe her. That he would look at the pictures of the babies and somehow know instinctively that these were his sons. She should have known better. All around them the clink of fine crystal and the muted conversations of the other diners provided a background swell of sound that was more white noise than anything else. Through the windows lining one side of the restaurant, the night was black and the sea endless. The shimmer of colored lights hanging from the edges of the deck looked almost like a rainbow that only shone at night. And beside her, the man who’d haunted her dreams and forged a new life for her sat waiting, watchful. As she started to sp
“But,” she added when he didn’t say anything else, “along with all the work, a single mom gets all the perks to herself, too. I don’t have to share the little moments. I’m the one to see them smile for the first time. To see them waking up to the world around them.”“So since you’re not looking to share the good moments, that means you’re not interested in having me involved in the twins’ lives,” he said thoughtfully. “All you really want is child support?”She stiffened a little. Lucia hadn’t even considered that Dave might want to be drawn into their sons’ lives. He wasn’t the hearth-and-home kind of guy. He was the party man,who spend most time with other girls, she had always been worthless to him. He is a guy you date and don’t just take home to your family even though our marriage was a conditional marriage back then.“You and I both know you don’t have any interest in both of us having a baby, you prefer all the girls you always party with.”“Is that right? And how would you kn
“So where are we going?” she asked as he laid his hand at the small of her back to guide her down the gangplank to shore. Damn, just the tips of his fingers against her spine was enough to make him want to forget all about this appointment and drag her back to his cabin instead.Gritting his teeth, he pushed that image out of his mind.“My PA called the hospital here,” he muttered. “The lab’s expecting us. They’ll take a DNA sample, run it and fax the results to your lab. We should have an answer in a day or two.”She actually stumbled and he grabbed her arm in an instinctive move. “That fast?”“Money talks,” he said with a shrug. He’d learned long ago that with enough money, a man could accomplish anything. Way of the world. And for the first time, he was damned glad he was rich enough to demand fast action. Dave wanted this question of paternity settled. Like now. He couldn’t stop thinking about those babies. Couldn’t seem to stop looking at the picture she’d given him of them.Coul
Lucia felt a chill as she looked into those icy blue eyes of his. All night she’d lain in her bed, thinking about him, wondering if she’d done the right thing by coming to Dave. By telling him about their sons. Now she was faced with the very real possibility that she’d made a huge mistake.Once he was convinced that the boys were his, then what? Would he really be satisfied with writing out a child support check every month? Or would he demand time with his children? And if he did, how would she fit him into their lives?Picturing Dave spending time in her tiny house in Seal Beach was almost impossible. His lifestyle was so far removed from hers they might as well be from different planets.“Dave,” she said, “I know there’s a part of you that thinks I’m lying about all of this. But I’m not.” She paused, watched his reaction and didn’t see a thing that made her feel any better, so she continued. “So, before you take this DNA test, I want you to promise me something.”He laughed shortl
“How do you manage taking care of two of them?”“You get into a rhythm,” she said with a shrug that belied just how difficult it had been to find that rhythm. “Alan’s more patient than his brother, but I try not to use that as an excuse to always take care of Ethan first. So, I trade off. One morning I deal with Cooper first thing and the next, it’s Jacob’s turn. I feed one, then the other and then get them into their playpen so I can start the first of the day’s laundry loads.”“You leave them alone in a playpen?”Instantly defensive, Lucia shot him a glare. “They’re safe and happy and it’s not as if I just toss them into a cage and go off to party. I’m right there with them. But I have to be able to get things done and I can’t exactly leave them on the floor unattended, now, can I?”“Hey, hey,” he said, tightening his grip around her waist a little. “That wasn’t a criticism…”She gave him a hard look.“Okay,” he acknowledged, “maybe it was. But I didn’t mean it to be. Can’t be easy.