Billionaire Baby Dilemma Read Free Page A

unerringly to a gravel driveway behind a compact, white cottage that obviously fronted on the lake.
    He yanked the parking brake, killed the engine and exited the low-slung vehicle.
    The staircase was short, and it brought him to a narrow wraparound deck that most likely led to a veranda overlooking the lake. Facing the road, there was a painted, blue door. He knocked.
    After a few minutes, Devin peeped through the small window, frowning before she opened the door to him.
    â€œLucas?” She glanced both ways, checking for what, he didn’t know, but obviously puzzled by his presence.
    â€œWhat did he want?” Lucas asked without preamble, hoping a strong offense would put her off balance. “Excuse me?”
    â€œSteve,” Lucas continued, taking advantage of the small opening she’d left between her body and the entry wall to barrel inside.
    She took a reflexive step backward, the action opening the door wider. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    Lucas turned and braced himself against the painted, yellow wall in the small entry, leaving eighteen inches or so between them. He was disappointed that she’d lie outright. Then again, what did he know about her?
    â€œSteve was here,” he stated.
    She didn’t answer.
    â€œIs that the way you want to play this?” he persisted. “Are you going to look me square in the eyes and lie?”
    Her expression faltered for a second, but she blinked her long lashes over her deep blue eyes, camouflaging her feelings. “What are you doing here?”
    â€œTell me what he wanted. Did he plead his case? Try to make a deal?” If Lucas understood Steve’s tactics, he’d be in a better position to counteract them.
    â€œYou’re not making sense.”
    He pinned her with a glare. “I saw his car.”
    â€œYou were spying on me?”
    â€œNo.” In point of fact, he’d been spying on Steve. “I was not spying on you. But I know he was here, and I want to know what he told you.”
    Opening a manufacturing plant in South America was not a decision to be taken lightly. Steve would have given her a rosy profit picture and glossed over all the risks. It made Lucas crazy that he had to justify his international corporate strategy to a woman whose sole business experience was in autographing her trite, self-help books for the lovelorn.
    Devin gave her head a little shake, her short, wispy, brunette hair moving ever so slightly with the motion. “It’s none of your business.”
    Lucas felt his blood pressure rise. “So, you admit he was here.”
    â€œThat’s also none of your business.”
    â€œDamn it, Devin,” he shouted.
    A baby’s cry sounded from farther inside the house.
    Devin smacked the palm of her hand against the end of the open door. “Now see what you’ve done?”
    Lucas instantly realized Amelia was here.
    Of course Amelia was here. She lived here.
    Devin turned on her heel and swished into the living room on bare feet, her faded jeans clinging to a shapely rear end. Lucas ignored the view. Instead, he took the opportunity to close the door and follow her inside the house. He wasn’t leaving without answers.
    Devin reemerged into the living room, a red-faced, blubbering and soggy-looking Amelia tucked over one shoulder. Her hand rubbed up and down the baby’s back as she snarled at Lucas. “Thanks tons.”
    â€œI didn’t know she was sleeping.”
    â€œIt’s three in the afternoon. What did you think she’d be doing?”
    Lucas didn’t have a clue, and it seemed pointless to venture a guess. “If you’ll just tell me what Steve said.”
    Amelia’s cries grew louder, and Devin began jiggling her. “You have a lot of nerve, Lucas Demarco. Barging in here—”
    â€œSteve has a lot of nerve sneaking around behind my back.”
    She stilled. “He offered to help