Page 106 of See You There

Dahlia dragged her finger from her lips, keeping her eyes on him. Heat throbbed between her legs. She knew what Luke was imagining, and for a second, she allowed herself to indulge as well.

What would he do if she fell to her knees in front of his chair and ran her hands up his strong thighs? Her core ached, and she looked toward the forest, trying to ignore the sensation.

Luke had kissed her earlier and held her hand, but he hadn’t made a move since. Was he waiting for her to give himan indication that it was all right? Did she want to? It would complicate things even more.

Dahlia was so out of practice. She wasn’t sure she was brave enough to make the first move. But she feared that her taking the initiative was the only way Luke would act on the obvious desire between them. What if she did and he still rejected her?

Dahlia cleared her throat, breaking the intense moment. “I never would have guessed Cara was an heiress,” Dahlia said. “She’s so normal.”

Luke’s eyes slowly lost their hazy, unfocused look, and he blinked like he had been asleep. “I’m not sure I’d call Cara normal, but she has certainly changed in the past year. And she’s not an heiress anymore.”

Dahlia hesitated. He had told her the night before about the surprise in his father’s will, and today, she had read about the scandal online. But that didn’t mean Luke would appreciate questions.

“It’s none of my business…” Luke’s eyes were dark in the dim light, and Dahlia couldn’t tell what his silence meant. “You said your dad’s will was forged, but the internet said he changed it because you were all estranged. If you thought something was fishy about the will, why didn’t you challenge it?”

Luke shoved his entire s’more into his mouth and chewed, watching her speculatively.

She directed her attention back to her own dessert. “I’m sorry,” Dahlia mumbled. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

Luke stared at her. The crackling fire and the insects coming to life in the dark were the only sounds. Dahlia tried not to squirm.

“It’s fine. You aren’t the first person to wonder about it,” Luke rumbled, but then his mouth quirked up. “But youarethe first one to ask me to my face.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’d rather you ask me than speculate and try to trick it out of me.”

Is that what had happened to him before? Luke came across as happy-go-lucky, but Dahlia was learning that there was so much more going on beneath the surface than appeared. Luke was playing a role in much the same way she did as Lia.

Did he long for someone to see the real him, the same way she did?

“If you looked it up, you know the basics. They covered it in blogs and all the tabloids. But the truth is, only Declan suspected something at first. James and I were estranged from our father, though not to the extent the media made it out. At the time, I thought it was his final fuck you to us.”

Dahlia’s lips parted in surprise. Luke tapped his beer bottle lightly against the arm of the chair. “For our entire lives, David Bloom wanted to control his children with his money, and when we made our own, he didn’t have that power anymore.” Luke rolled the neck of the bottle between his fingers. “He didn’t like to lose, so it wasn’t completely out of character that he would disinherit us.”

“What changed?”

Luke shook his head slowly, his lips pressed into a tight line. “I don’t know. Time, maybe? Declan wanted to challenge the will from the beginning, but there was no evidence anything unethical had happened. He continued to investigate on his own, and then Declan convinced Cara… Things started happening… And it became clear.”

Dahlia’s teeth found her bottom lip. “I heard what that tabloid did to Cara. The pictures. It’s horrible. I had no idea she’d been through all that when I worked with her.”

The skin across Luke’s cheekbones tightened, and his eyes glittered. “She was just a kid when those were taken,” Luke said, disgusted. “The tabloids have always hounded us, but her mostespecially because of who her mother is. Cara embraced the press for a long time. A lot of people think she had it coming.”

“She didn’t deserve to be exposed like that. Even if she liked the attention from the press.”

Luke took a long pull of his beer. “No, she didn’t. It could have broken her. Cara had it really rough for a while.” His lips twitched. “But then she picked up the pieces and made herself a new life. She’s happy now.”

“She got married, right?”

Luke nodded but didn’t elaborate. Dahlia chewed her lip, wondering if she was pressing her luck. “The press like to follow your brother. He’s kind of a mystery…”

“Declan?”

Dahlia nodded.

He looked at her expectantly. “What is it you want to know? I can practically hear your brain working.”

Luke didn’t sound upset. In fact, he sounded… amused. “How is it your brother has an Irish accent and the rest of you don’t? I mean, it’s not strong, and maybe I’m just sensitive to it because of what I do, but I saw an interview with him and there were certain words…”