New Arrivals: His Inherited Family: Billionaire Baby Dilemma / His Ring, Her Baby / Cowgirl Makes Three

She flipped another page and came to Lucas.

“What are you doing in here?” his voice demanded.

Devin nearly dropped the album in shock. Her gaze flew to the closet entrance to see him looming over her, dressed in a business suit instead of a tux, frowning and furious instead of smiling for the camera.

“Don’t do that,” she cried. “You scared me half to death.”

“What are you doing in here?” he repeated, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Guilt and alarm invaded her system. “I… uh…” She swallowed over a sandpaper throat. What could she say? How could she possibly explain the fact that she was sitting on the floor of Konrad’s closet?

“I got lost,” she told him in a small voice, sticking to the only story she’d crafted. Then she glanced at the album, holding it up as if it proved something. “I happened to spot this, and then. well, I started looking, and remembering.” She made a show of swiping her cheek with the back of her hand, hoping for the sympathy vote she supposed, since her excuse was transparently lame.

Lucas took a couple of steps into the closet. “You got lost?” he challenged, the skepticism all but dripping from his tone.

“I, uh, took a wrong turn.” She couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “Out there in the hall. This is a really big house.”

She told herself to shut up.

His answering silence was unnerving.

After a long moment, he crouched down beside her. He cocked his head to peer at the picture on the open page.

“You looked very handsome at the wedding,” she offered, pointing to his image. Truth was, he’d looked amazing that night and every other time she’d seen him, including now.

She’d tried, but she hadn’t come close to banishing her memories of last night in the pool house. He’d looked amazing then, too.

“Are you trying to distract me?” he asked. “Of course not,” she lied.

He reached out and tucked her hair behind one ear, letting his hand rest there. “Then you’re saying you find me attractive?”

“Yeess,” she offered slowly, beginning to worry where he thought this might be leading.

He ran the pad of his thumb from her cheekbone to the shell of her ear, and along her jawbone.

Her pulse jumped at the intimacy of the touch. But she forced herself to keep still, torn between trepidation and arousal, with only one tiny, sane part of her brain reminding her she had to put a stop to this.

She reached up and grasped his wrist, attempting to tug his hand away.

She failed.

A lazy smile grew on his face, and his breath puffed sweetly against her cheek, even as his thumb meandered to the curve of her neck. “I can’t help wondering.” He paused. “Just how far you’d be willing to go to keep me distracted.”

She swallowed again, her heart thudding deep in her tightening chest. “Why.” Her voice was a rasp. “Why would I need to keep you distracted? “

He leaned closer. “Because you’re up to no good.”

She bristled. “I told you. I got lost.” But the lie sounded even worse this time around.

“And you accidentally wandered into Konrad’s closet?”

“That’s right.” It could have happened.

“You’re damn lucky I have a forgiving nature.”

“Ha,” she managed to scoff.

He sat down on the carpet beside her and lifted the album from her hands. “I’ve already forgiven you.” “I didn’t do anything.”

“Then why is your neck going all red and splotchy?”

Devin’s hand automatically rose to cover it up, and Lucas grinned at the telltale action.

Then he shook his head. “I just hope I never need you to lie for me.”

“That seems unlikely,” she sniffed.

Instead of pressing further, he turned a page of the album. “You were very beautiful,” he told her.

Devin turned her attention to a photo of her and Monica. “We threw out our pictures,” she admitted.

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “We chucked my bridesmaid dress, too.”

“She must have been pretty mad.” He turned to a page that showed the bride and groom cutting the cake. Their smiles seemed so sincere.

“Can you blame her?” Devin asked.

“She made a terrible mistake.”

“By marrying Konrad.”

Lucas butted Devin with his shoulder. “Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

Devin gave a shrug. “You might have decided to finally be honest.”

He shook his head in disbelief, folding the album shut and replacing it on the shelf.

Then, to her surprise, his hand slipped around to the back of her neck. His palm was warm, his gaze intent, and his voice sent a predictable quiver through the pit of her stomach. “You have got to be the most exasperating woman on the planet.”

She struggled to hold on to her equilibrium, keeping her tone tart. “What? The women you know don’t usually talk back?”

His lips relaxed to a half smile, and he leaned meaningfully toward her. “At this point, they usually stop talking altogether.”

“Is that how you like it?”

“It makes the kissing easier.”