His Instant Heir

Cari wasn’t sure. She knew she was already putting Dec before her obligation to the company. In her mind there had to be a way for her to convince him to leave the company as it was and to keep him in her life. She wasn’t going to be happy with anything less than that.

Cari believed she’d planted the seeds in his mind that he couldn’t treat Infinity Games like just another business to be gobbled up. She hoped his feelings for her would lead him to the conclusion that she and her sisters and their company should stay intact.

* * *

Cari left her sister’s house and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway with no real destination in mind. She had a Yo Gabba Gabba! CD on for DJ who seemed happy enough in his rear car seat.

There was no reason for the tension in her stomach. Right now she knew she was doing all she could to protect her staff from trouble at work. Right now she knew her sisters were safe and healthy. And right now she still believed that she and Dec were going to end up together and be happy.

But she knew that Jessi and Emma had planted a seed of doubt in her mind. There was no way she could just keep moving forward with Dec while not knowing what his plans were for her and her sisters and their jobs.

She knew that there was a chance—okay, more than a chance—that Dec was going to recommend that she and her sisters be cut from the head count. Everyone knew that they didn’t need two sets of executives in one company who did the same thing.

But she had been hoping as the weeks had gone on that there would be a way to truly merge the different corporate entities. Today, though, she was going to have to face reality. There was no way that the Montrose heirs were going to let her and her sisters stay on.

Even worse, Cari understood where Dec and his cousins were coming from. She pulled her car onto a scenic overlook and sat there with the motor running as the truth of why her stomach hurt hit her.

She was afraid that even after he destroyed her family’s heritage she’d still love him.

She hadn’t wanted to admit that even to herself, but it was the truth. In fact, she loved him right now.

She glanced in the backseat at DJ and she realized that from the moment Dec had walked back into her life, she’d wanted this.

But she also wanted Dec to save her company, fall in love with his son and love her back. She wanted him to change completely from the man she knew him to be.

And that wasn’t realistic. She didn’t need Jessi’s P.I. to tell her that Dec didn’t make business decisions from the heart. She’d called him a cyborg, and in truth that was what he was when it came to slashing the game-making companies that Playtone acquired.

She also knew that he had bonded with their son. She’d seen him on the floor playing with DJ. When he thought she wasn’t looking, sometimes he held the boy close and kissed the top of his head. And she had seen that look in Dec’s eyes. The one that showed how very much he cared for his son.

And he did like her. And lust after her. He made her feel like she was the only woman in the world. No matter that to him this might be something that only lasted six weeks.

She rubbed the back of her neck. In that moment she decided that she was just going to ask him flat out what his intentions were. There wasn’t going to be any more guessing if he wanted her or if he was going to stay with her.

She reached into her huge handbag and took out her mobile phone, then dialed his number.

“Montrose here,” Dec answered.

“It’s Cari. Do you have a sec?”

“Just. I’m on my way out to play volleyball with my cousins. What’s up?”

“Um…I’d like to invite you to come and have dinner with me tonight,” she said. “My place six-thirty.”

“I’d like that,” he said. “I’ve got a few things I want to discuss with you.”

“Me, too,” she said.

“Not business,” he added.

Perfect, she thought. She’d let Jessi and Emma rattle her, but she’d been spending a lot of time with Dec and her instincts where he was concerned were good. “Me, too. I’ll see you later.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said, disconnecting the call.

The tension that had been in her stomach disappeared and she smiled to herself in the rear-view mirror. She needed to know where she and Dec stood and, it seemed, he wanted answers to the same questions.

The love she’d been afraid to admit to started bubbling up inside her and she had to sit in the car another minute before she started driving along. She wanted to enjoy this magical feeling inside her. Her sisters had warned her how impossible her dreams might be. Warned her that she couldn’t have it all with Dec. But at this moment she realized she had to at least take a chance on him and see if her secret dreams could come true. The future she craved where she had her man, her company and the father of her son.