A Wife for a Westmoreland / Claiming His Royal Heir: A Wife for a Westmoreland. Brenda Jackson
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for what she had done.
Before heading up the stairs, he decided to feel his sister out about something. “I ran into Lucia Conyers a few moments ago at McKay’s.”
Bailey didn’t take her gaze off the television and for a moment he thought that possibly she hadn’t heard him, but then she responded. “And?”
He smiled. “And we shared a table since McKay’s was crowded.” He paused a moment. “She’s pretty. I never realized just how pretty she is.” The latter he knew wasn’t true, because he’d always known how pretty she was.
He watched as Bailey slowly turned toward him with a frown on her face. “I hope you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.”
He smiled. “Oh, I don’t know. What do you think I’m thinking?”
“That you plan to hit on Lucia.”
He grinned. “If by ‘hit on her’ you mean ask her out, I’ve already done so. We have a date to go to the movies this Saturday night.”
Bailey’s eyes widened. “Are you crazy? That’s Chloe’s best friend.”
Now it was his turn. “And?”
“And everybody around these parts knows how most of the single male Westmorelands operate. You’re used to those silly girls and wouldn’t know how to appreciate a woman with sense like Lucia.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I know so and if you end up doing something stupid like hurting her, Chloe would never forgive you for it.”
He shrugged at the thought. Chances were, Chloe had no idea what her best friend had pulled that night. And as far as what Bailey said about Lucia’s having sense, he didn’t doubt that, which made him uneasy about just what she would gain from tumbling into bed with him.
“Lucia is an adult. She can handle me,” he said. He wouldn’t break it down and tell her that Lucia had handled him and had done a real good job doing so. He got a hard-on every time he thought about that night.
“I’m still warning you, Derringer. And besides being Chloe’s best friend, Megan, Gemma and I like her as well.”
He cocked an amused brow. “I guess that means a lot. The three of you never like any of the girls I date. I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
Without giving his kid sister time to say anything else, he quickly moved up the stairs for his nap.
Lucia couldn’t wait to get back to her office to give Chloe a call and tell her about her date on Saturday night with Derringer.
“I’m happy for you,” Chloe said with a smile in her voice that Lucia heard. “Falling off that horse must have knocked some sense into him. At least you know why he never approached you before. I can see your dad warning him off. I heard the Westmorelands had quite a reputation back in the day.”
Lucia nodded. “And you think I did the right thing in agreeing to go out with him?”
“Come on, Lucia, don’t you dare ask me that. You’ve loved the guy forever. You’ve even gone so far as to sleep with him.”
She drew in a deep, ragged breath. “But he doesn’t know that. At least I don’t think he does.”
“You honestly think he doesn’t know?”
“I assumed he did and that was the only reason he wanted to share my table.”
She heard Chloe bristle at that assumption. “Why do you continue to think you’re no match for Derringer when you’re classier than all those other women he messes around with?”
“But that’s just it, Chloe. I’m not the kind of woman he prefers, the kind he has a history of dating. I can’t hold a candle to someone like Ashira Lattimore. And everyone knows she has been vying for his attention for years.”
“I’ve met her and she’s spoiled, self-centered, possessive and clingy. Definitely not wife material.”
“Wife material?” Lucia laughed. “A wife is the furthest thing from Derringer’s mind. You know that as well as I do.”
“Yes, but I’m sure a lot of people said the same thing about Ramsey before I arrived on the scene. So that means a man’s mind can change with the right woman. All you have to do is convince Derringer you’re the right woman.”
Lucia cringed at the thought of trying to do that. She wouldn’t even know where to begin. “That’s easy for you to say and do, Chloe. You’ve always been sure of yourself in everything you did.”
“In that case, maybe you ought to try it for yourself. Just think, Lucia. Evidently Derringer is on your hook and now you have the chance to reel him right on in. You know how I feel about missed opportunities. How would things have turned out had I accepted Ramsey’s refusal to be on the cover of my magazine? I saw what I wanted and decided to go after it. I think you should use that same approach.”
“I don’t know,” Lucia said on a heavy sigh. This wasn’t the first time Chloe had made that suggestion. A part of her knew her friend was right, but what she was suggesting was easier said than done. At least for her it was.
“Think about it. Saturday is only two days away and if I were you, when Derringer arrived at my place to pick me up I’d make sure he would take one look at me and know he would enjoy every minute of his time in my presence. Now’s your chance, Lucia. Don’t let it go by without taking advantage of it.”
A few moments later, after hanging up the phone with Chloe, indecisiveness weighed heavy in her chest. More than anything she would love to pique Derringer’s interest, but what if she failed in her efforts to do so? What if she couldn’t get the one man she loved to want to love her back? Was there a possibility that she was wrong about the type of women Derringer actually preferred?
One thing Chloe had said was true. No one would have figured that Ramsey Westmoreland would have fallen for any woman. The man had been set in his ways for years and the last woman he’d attempted to marry had announced she was pregnant from another man in the middle of the wedding. Yet, he had fallen in love with Chloe, whether he had wanted to or not. So maybe there was hope for all those other single Westmorelands; but especially for Derringer.
“I’ve heard you’re interested in women’s undergarments these days, Derringer. Is there a reason why?”
Derringer slowly turned away from the pool table with a cue stick in his hand to gaze at each man in the dimly lit room inside his basement. Now that he knew who his late-night visitor had been, he wouldn’t tell anyone, not even Zane, her identity.
“No reason,” he answered his cousin Canyon who was four years younger.
Canyon smiled. “Well, you never got around to asking me anything, but just so you know, the women I date don’t wear underwear.”
Derringer shook his head and chuckled. He didn’t find that hard to believe. He studied the other men who had gone back to sipping their beers while waiting their turn at shooting pool—his brother Zane and his cousins Jason, Riley, Canyon and Stern. They were as close as brothers. Zane knew more than the others about the situation with him and the underwear, but Derringer was confident his brother wouldn’t say anything.
“So, what’s this I hear about you going on a date with Lucia? I thought old man Conyers pretty much scared you off her years ago,” Jason said, chuckling.
Derringer couldn’t help but smile. “He did, but like you said, it was years ago. Lucia isn’t a kid anymore. She’s an adult and old enough to make her own decisions about who she wants to date.”
“True, but she’s not your type and you know it,” Riley piped in.
Derringer lifted a brow. That was the same thing Bailey had alluded to earlier that day. “And what, supposedly, is my type?”
“Women