A Baby For The Billionaire: Triple the Fun / What the Prince Wants / The Blackstone Heir. Maureen Child

her eyes and sighed in response. Dragging his thumb across her nipple, he felt it harden even through her bra and the thin fabric of her shirt. “I want you, Dina. Right now, but I’ll settle for tonight.”

      “Connor...” Whatever she was going to say changed as seconds ticked past with their gazes locked, their bodies pinned tightly together. She licked her lips, sending a zip of heat sliding through him.

      “Okay,” she said at last, reaching to cover his hand on her breast with her own. “Tonight.”

      “And then every night after,” he said, knowing he was pushing and not giving a good damn. Having his hands on her again was both torture and delight.

      “And every night after,” she said softly, shaking her head as if she knew she was making a mistake but was determined to do it anyway. “This is crazy, you know that, right?”

      “No. What’s crazy is knowing what we have together and not having it.”

      She laughed shortly. “Still, not a good idea.”

      “Best idea since pizza,” he countered.

      “I guess we’ll see.” Reluctantly, she pulled away from him and moved away. “But for now, I’ve got to run. I should be back by one or so...”

      “I’ll be waiting,” he said as his body tightened painfully, throbbing and aching with each hard slam of his heartbeat.

      “Great. Good.” Nodding, she backed away from him and Connor’s gaze swept down, loving the look of her long, toned legs in those very tiny shorts.

      She made it to the doorway and paused. Turning back to him, she gave him a warning stare. “No more sampling the goodies.”

      “You’re the only goodie I’m interested in,” he said quietly.

      “Oh, boy.” She swallowed hard, then left the room at a run, as if she didn’t trust herself to stay another minute.

       Nine

      By the time she got back to the mansion on the cliff, Dina was exhausted and triumphant. She’d picked up two more jobs just on the strength of her appetizers. It really was amazing what you could get done when you had a little help. With Louise watching the triplets all day, Dina had been able to get everything done in half the time it usually took her when she also had to care for the babies.

      She let herself in and paused long enough to listen to the silence in the big house. Then she took the stairs in the darkness; the only lights burning were night-lights plugged into wall sockets and gleaming like fallen stars in the shadows. Dina looked at Connor’s door, then at her own, and hesitated.

      In that moment, his door opened and a slice of light spilled out. He leaned one hand high on the doorjamb and cocked his head as he looked at her. “You weren’t going to back out, were you?”

      “I was thinking about it,” she admitted, giving a quick glance at the triplets’ room, its door cracked open just a bit.

      “I’ve got the monitor in here, so,” Connor said, with a sly smile, “if you want to be able to hear them tonight, you’ll have to be with me.”

      Dina had thought about nothing but this moment on the long drive back. There hadn’t been much traffic and so she’d let her mind wander a little. Of course, it wandered right to Connor and the situation she found herself in.

      Ireland had altered everything between them. She’d allowed her relationship with Connor to fundamentally change. She’d slept with him, realized she was in love with him, and still she had no answers to how they would solve the issue of the triplets’ custody. She knew he wanted the babies and so did she. Neither of them was willing to give an inch about that, so sleeping together had only confused an already chaotic situation.

      But she couldn’t regret it, either. Couldn’t wish that she’d stayed away from him. These last two days, sleeping alone in her own room had been difficult. She’d wanted to be with him but hadn’t wanted to assume that he meant to keep their intimate relationship alive.