ruefully; Luccy had always been slightly disappointed that her bust size had stopped when she reached the age of sixteen, but she had definitely started to expand in that area since becoming pregnant.
Sin’s gaze warmed appreciatively. ‘I’m not complaining.’
‘Sin—’
‘The costume in the changing-room belongs to my mother, Luccy,’ he interrupted.
She blinked. ‘Your mother?’
Sin was so close to Luccy now that he could see the darker flecks of blue in her eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that a man could lose his soul in…
‘My mother uses that costume when she’s here,’ he expanded, wondering suddenly whether he was in danger of losing his soul to her. ‘I never bring women here, Luccy,’ he assured her even as he gave in to the temptation to allow his lips to once more taste the creamy expanse of her throat.
That throat moved convulsively as Luccy swallowed. ‘You brought me here.’
‘Ah, but you aren’t “women”,’ Sin murmured as he tasted the lobe of her ear now.
‘I’m not?’
‘Not at all,’ Sin responded. ‘You’re the future mother of my children, and the future mistress of this house.’
Until that moment, the owner of that black bathing costume now explained, Luccy had been in danger of succumbing to the air of intimacy that surrounded them, of losing herself totally in Sin’s seduction. But this stark reminder of Sin’s intention of seducing her into marrying him completely evaporated her rapidly escalating arousal.
She moved sharply away from him. ‘I said don’t, Sin!’ she repeated more firmly as she stood up and moved towards the step to get out, totally uncaring of the way the white tee shirt clung to her; after all, there was nothing there that Sin hadn’t already seen, touched, or kissed!
‘Why the hell not?’ he growled as he looked across at her.
‘I am not going to be the mother of your children or the future mistress of this house!’ Luccy was breathing hard in her agitation.
‘That’s exactly what you’re going to be—’
‘No, it is not!’ Luccy turned back to face him, her face flushed with anger now. ‘I allowed you to bring me here only so that we could discuss future arrangements for after the baby is born. I’ve already told you why I have absolutely no intention of marrying you, let alone having other children with you.’
Sin’s mouth was a taut line. ‘And I’ve already told you that the alternative, my setting you up in a house somewhere and then only being allowed agreed visitation rights, is not an option, either!’
‘I haven’t asked for any of that—’
‘What other alternatives are there?’ he rasped coldly. ‘Come on, Luccy, if neither of those is acceptable, what else is there?’
‘I don’t know.’ Tears glistened in her eyes. ‘I just know that I can’t marry a man—any man—because I’m expecting his baby!’
Sin nodded grimly. ‘Because your sister did and the marriage was a disaster.’
‘Well, it was!’ Luccy cried. ‘She and Rory despise each other now.’
‘And you think that might happen to us, too?’
‘You don’t particularly like me now, so, yes, in eight years’ time you’ll probably hate the sight of me.’
‘Oh, I like you now, Luccy,’ he muttered.
Luccy shot him an impatient glare. ‘You’re talking about in a sexual way!’
He shrugged bare shoulders. ‘It’s a good place to start.’
‘It’s a good place to finish, too!’
Sin’s expression was grim. ‘We have at least one advantage over your sister and her ex-husband that I can see.’
Luccy tensed warily. ‘Which is?’
His mouth twisted derisively. ‘You would be marrying a billionaire—’
‘Sin, don’t you dare start accusing me again of wanting you for your money,’ she warned angrily. ‘I’ve seen how most rich men treat their wives, and I can assure you that I have no intention of marrying you and being left in this house like some—some—’
‘Some what?’ Sin asked, dangerously soft.
‘Some trophy on the mantel—’ Luccy made it sound like an insult ‘—while no doubt you remain in the city night after night, at your conveniently “always available” suite at the Sinclair Hotel, entertaining your girlfriends!’
Sin’s mouth tightened at how close a description it was to the way his life was now. But that was as a single man. It would be different when Luccy was his wife. ‘You’re asking for fidelity, is that it?’
‘No, that is not it!’ Luccy said heatedly. ‘Don’t you see, Sin? I just don’t want to marry you!’
Yes, Sin did see—it was just that there was no other alternative that was acceptable to him.
‘I’m expecting your baby, so therefore I must become your wife.’ Luccy shook her head in utter denial. Then she said, coolly and calmly, ‘No way, Sin. Absolutely no way will I ever marry a man for that reason.’
Sin could only watch in absolute frustration as Luccy climbed out of the hot tub before pulling on her robe and marching back into the house, her cheeks flushed with temper, her head proudly high, and her shoulders stiff with resolve.
It was a resolve Sin had every intention of breaking.
One way or another…
CHAPTER NINE
‘YOU’RE looking very beautiful this evening.’
Luccy eyed Sin warily, having joined him outside on the terrace for a drink before dinner—wine for Sin, once again a glass of sparkling water for Luccy—and finding herself once again slightly unnerved by the pleasantness of his tone as he commented on the midnight-blue knee-length dress she wore, her hair loose and gleaming about her shoulders.
Quite what she had expected Sin’s mood to be after their disagreement earlier, she didn’t know, but she certainly hadn’t expected his first words to be a compliment on her appearance!
‘Thank you,’ she accepted huskily, having no intention of telling Sin how devastatingly handsome he looked in the black evening suit and snowy white shirt he had changed into. If she didn’t mention it perhaps she could ignore it. Maybe. Although she somehow doubted it. Distance, that was what she needed. If not physically, then at least verbally.
‘Sin, we still haven’t resolved our differences of opinion concerning the future—’
‘Not
