The Playboy Takes a Wife. Crystal Green

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СКАЧАТЬ consider adopting?”

      At her question, he became even more intense, leaning on the table, his posture deceptively casual. “Only under the right circumstances.”

      Why did that sound as if he could mean so much more?

      And why, Alicia asked herself with a growing mixture of trepidation and excitement, was she hoping he was back to flirting with her again?

      Alicia took another bite of her salad instead of responding, but Lucas waited her out, using the opportunity to absorb her. She was wearing another prim, neat white blouse with short sleeves and crisp jeans to ride in.

      The charms on her silver bracelet sang with her every move.

      Anxiety throttled him again and he shifted on the bench. He still hadn’t come to any conclusions about David’s plan, but Lucas couldn’t help feeling out Alicia, anyway. Why not? His desire to gain stature was probably going to force him into some kind of other PR relationship, anyway—he might as well admit it. He wanted the respect badly…so badly he could taste it.

      So he filed away the information about her really, really wanting a family. She was a good woman who would make a good mother. Extra PR points for that—

      He cut off the thought, disgusted with himself for even musing about it.

      When Alicia finished her salad, Lucas brought out the next course, fettuccine slathered with a creamy marinara and topped with honey ricotta. Heaven.

      She must’ve thought so, too, because the first bite caused her to do a little wiggly dance in her seat. Damn, it was cute.

      “Know something?” he said. “I’m pretty surprised you’re not giving me the hard sell about adopting one of the boys now, like a spokeswoman usually would. I get the feeling you’d normally never let this chance go with anyone else who’d visit the property.”

      “It shouldn’t be a pressured decision, Mr…Lucas.” She smiled. “If adopting was in your heart, then you won’t need to be talked into making it happen.”

      Ouch. But he recovered because he had to. “I think you just know when to let something lie.”

      She took a sip of her sparkling cider, then slowly put it down. “My grandparents taught me how to do that. They were full of good advice and lessons to learn from.”

      Lucas thought about his own family. He’d learned by example from them, too, except it was to do the opposite of whatever his dad did.

      “We weren’t very well off,” she added, “but my grandparents scraped up enough money to give me a great home and an education. I realized from them what was important in life—the basics. And they showed me it was necessary to be thankful for every one of them.”

      “College.” He was genuinely interested to hear more about her. “Where did you go?”

      “Oh, just a community school. And it turned out that it wasn’t for me. So I decided to work as a receptionist and contribute to the household, just as I did when I worked waitressing jobs in high school until I knew what I wanted. But eventually my abuelo died.”

      A shadow seemed to pass over her face as she returned to eating.

      She hadn’t explained anything, really, had she?

      “And how did you become the philanthropist you are today?” she asked, clearly changing the subject.

      “Oh, you know…” He twirled some noodles onto his fork. “The usual rich-kid tales. The best schools, the best of everything. My mom divorced me and my dad when I was real young. She decided life as a socialite was too empty and she took off for parts unknown to take advantage of her anthropology degree, doing lots of fieldwork, from what I understand.”

      “You don’t talk to her?”

      “Occasionally.” When Lucas took a bite, the food was suddenly tasteless. “She attempts to make contact from each of her research locations but, more often than not, she’s in a village with no modern technology and bad cell-phone reception.”

      “So you don’t know her very well.” Alicia’s soft gaze was sympathetic.

      “Right. But that’s okay. I’ve had a lot of stepmoms to take her place. Four, by my last count.”

      “Four? Are you close to any of them?”

      “Nope. I did get a half brother out of the deal, though. Luckily, he’s the only other child my dad bothered to have. Unleashing two cynical Chandler boys into society is enough.”

      “Cynical.” Alicia laughed. “You?”

      She wasn’t being sarcastic. Not this straightforward woman who barely knew him. It was a nice change of pace for once.

      “I’m afraid so. See, we were raised by a man who values cold, hard success above everything.”

      Alicia tipped her glass to her mouth, the rim resting against her bottom lip. Lucas found himself leaning closer, envying the glass.

      She finally took another sip, ending his reverie.

      “So, am I to think that your father soured you on marriage?”

      Her words were a punch to the gut.

      He swallowed, nerves screaming. “In the past, I thought I might avoid getting hitched. I didn’t want to be a serial husband like my dad.”

      “And that’s why you…” She gently swished around her glass, seeking words, the cider spinning around like a liquid golden web.

      “I what?” He wanted to hear her say it.

      She smiled sweetly and his heart flipped.

      “That’s why you date all those women,” she said. “At least, that’s what they say.”

      Yeah, all those women. The ones who didn’t have any interest in families at all. There was a cold comfort in that kind of emptiness. Security. And the more Lucas thought about David’s suggestion that he find an “appropriate” woman, the more he came to believe that it wouldn’t be much of a change from his previous relationships. He wouldn’t have to invest emotion. It was a business deal, pure and simple. A situation that would benefit everyone all around. His girlfriend could spend his money any way she wanted to, especially when it came to taking part in charity work that would generate positive ink in the press. And Lucas would be a better man—at least in the eyes of the world.

      Putting down her glass, Alicia then propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her palms. She was just as beautiful as David had said, even more so. Her physical appearance whipped his overused libido into a frenzy, but that’s not what really tore Lucas up about her.

      She had soul. A sincerity you had to travel far and wide to find. Something he’d never experienced.

      “You want to know the truth?” he asked.

      “What?”

      Lucas pushed his plate away, appetite for food gone. СКАЧАТЬ