he agreed. “What about you? You golf?”
Devin shook her head. “I do not.” “You want to try?”
“Not particularly.” Of all the places she could put her leisure time and recreational resources, she couldn’t say golf had ever made it to the top of her list.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he cajoled.
“My life’s a little too busy to take up an expensive, time-consuming sport.”
“I thought you were the party girl.”
“That was your opinion. I’ve got a book deadline to meet and a baby to care for. Barbecue dinners I can do. Golf games, not so much.”
“What about swimming?” he asked, nodding as they approached the pool and the end of their run.
“Sure, I swim. I live on a lakeshore.”
“I meant right now. I’m sweltering.”
They slowed to a walk as they moved onto the pool deck. Lucas swiped the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead.
Devin was hot, too. And the pool looked inviting. But she had no desire to head up to the second floor and retrieve her bathing suit. When she crossed the threshold of her bedroom tonight, she’d have only one thing in mind, and that was sleep.
“No suit,” she told him, placing her hand on one of the tables for balance and stretching out a calf muscle.
“No problem.” He pulled his phone from the pocket of his shorts.
“You are not calling the staff to bring me a bathing suit.”
“Who said anything about a bathing suit?” He set the phone down on a table and stripped off his shirt, tossing it onto a lounger.
Devin couldn’t help but take in a quick glimpse of his bare chest. The man was in amazing shape.
But then he reached for the waistband of his shorts.
She pulled her leg from the stretch position and staggered back. “Whoa. Hang on there, cowboy.”
He grinned unrepentantly. “Boxers,” he assured her. “But I can dim the lights if you’re shy.”
She withdrew a few more paces. “It’s all yours. I’ll just head up to my room.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He crossed to the pool house and opened an electrical panel, flipping a couple of switches, and the pool water went dark, as did the deck area. Illumination came from discrete pot lights placed in the shrubbery and flower gardens around the perimeter of the pool.
“Come on—” he gave her a cajoling wave and moved forward in the darkness “—you must be sweltering.”
“I’m not wearing boxers,” she answered tartly, half-scandalized and half-aroused at the thought of a late night swim with Lucas.
“You naked under those shorts?” He reached for his waistband again, and she swiftly looked away. “I am not.”
“Then swim in your underwear. It’s no different than a bikini.” “Yes, it is.” “Only in your mind.”
She heard a splash, and caught him in her peripheral vision as he sliced into the deep end. His boxers flashed black before he disappeared into the dark water.
He came up, shaking his wet hair. “It’s beautiful,” he enthused. “I’ll even be a gentleman and turn around until you get in the water.”
She had to admit, the water looked incredibly tempting. It was unseasonably warm, and Devin had been hot all day, running errands around town. Amelia had been fussy, and Devin’s car’s air conditioner was dying a slow but final death.
She reached for a bottle of chilled water and took a drink, cooling her parched throat. The liquid helped, but it really didn’t do the trick. She was very tempted by the pool.
“You promise you won’t look?” she called to him.
He turned his back on her. “Don’t be paranoid.”
Devin drew a breath, glancing around at the dimly lit yard. There was no one else out here, and the house was far enough away that they wouldn’t be seen, at least not in any detail, especially with the lights out. Her peach-colored bra and panties would be indistinguishable from a bikini. It wasn’t as if they were going skinny-dipping, she told herself. And it would feel fantastic to cool off before she headed up to bed.
“Okay,” she announced, kicking off her shoes. “I’m coming in.” She quickly peeled off her sweaty T-shirt and her running shorts. She mostly trusted Lucas to keep his word, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She dove straight into the pool.
After an initial shock of cold, the water felt heavenly. She broke the surface and smoothed her hair back from her face, treading water at the opposite side of the deep end from Lucas.
“Nice?” he asked, his voice a low rumble and his face a dark silhouette against the pot lights in the distant gardens.
“Very nice,” she agreed, doing an easy front stroke down the length of the pool. She tried to pretend it was just another swim, but she was hyperaware of the darkness, her silky underwear and Lucas’s gaze following her as she swam.
The memory of their kiss battered its way into her brain. And she couldn’t seem to banish the feel of his arms around her. Maybe it was a forbidden-fruit syndrome. Or maybe she was learning all the reasons Monica had been unable to resist Konrad, despite all the evidence he was bad news.
Lucas was definitely bad news for Devin. She understood that with every fiber of her being. But it didn’t seem to stop her from wanting him. It didn’t even stop her from making stupid decisions like this little late-night swim.
Oh, those Demarco men were good.
“Devin?” It was Lucas’s deep voice, strumming along her nervous system.
“Yes?” she answered, finding her feet in the chest-deep water and resting her hand on the smooth pool wall as she turned to look at him.
He’d drifted closer then stood, water dripping down his skin. “There’s something you and I need to talk about.”
“What?” she asked warily, hoping it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that she was in her underwear and they were taking a late-night swim, or the kiss they’d shared two days ago.
But he looked serious, and not the least bit flirtatious.
Despite everything, she was forced to squelch a flash of disappointment. She warned herself to get a grip. She did not want him to flirt with her. She dreaded the idea that he might try to flirt with her.
“It’s about Steve,” he said, voice going lower as he moved closer still.
Devin’s stomach reflexively clenched with anxiety. She didn’t want to talk about Steve. She didn’t even want to think about Steve.
“Byron
