Missing Linc (11 page)

“How long has she worked for you?” Mitch asked.

“Rosa”s been with me since I bought this house. She”s like family now, and the only

person I trust to take care of things around here. Even when I lived in New York, I never

worried, because I knew that Rosa would look after my home like it was her own.”

“Well,” Tomi spoke up, “I”ve only seen a few rooms, but it”s obvious that you have a

very beautiful home.”

“That”s right.” Linc smiled apologetically. “You never got the full tour.” When he”d

brought them to his home the night before, he”d left his manners outside in the car. The only

thing he wanted them to see was his California king-size bed. “Come on.” He picked up his

cup. “Let me show you around the place.” He waited for Tomi and Mitch to grab their coffee and stand up from the table before

he led them through the house.

Twenty minutes later, they entered his office, the last room left to see. Linc sat in the

overstuffed chair behind his desk, placing his feet on top of the walnut surface as he drank

the remainder of his coffee.

“Man,” Mitch began, as he had a seat on the leather couch, “you could fit at least five of

our condo back in New York City inside this place.”

“I remember that.” Linc smiled sympathetically, thinking about the place he used to

own when he”d lived there. The only thing big about it was the price tag. He suspected that

Mitch and Tomi”s condo probably cost nearly as much as he”d paid for this place when he

first bought it. It was just one more thing that he didn”t miss about the Big Apple.

He took a final drink from his coffee cup before setting it on the desk, his gaze on

Tomi, who slowly walked around the room.

“I can tell you spend a lot of time in here.” She glanced over her shoulder at him as she

looked at various family pictures throughout the room. “Aside from your bedroom, you seem

more comfortable here than in any other room in the house.”

Linc couldn”t argue that. He did spend quite a bit of time in this room, and not just

working. His office was one of his favorite places to kick back and put his feet up, just as he

was now. All the pictures in the room helped as well. Each one represented a special memory

for Linc, a way for him to feel connected to his family, even when they weren”t around.

“Is this Paul and Ava?”

Linc focused on the picture frame that Tomi held in her hand, immediately recognizing

the couple in the photo.

“Yes,” he confirmed, ignoring the sadness he always felt whenever he thought about

his deceased lovers. Mitch stood and walked over to Tomi, looking over her shoulder at the picture.

“They”re gorgeous,” he murmured, looking back at Linc. “Where was this taken?”

“Rio de Janeiro,” he said automatically, the memory still vivid in his mind, the picture

capturing a moment of happier times between the three of them before everything went so

terribly wrong.

Linc lifted his feet off the desk and dropped them to the floor, before standing and

moving across the room to join Mitch and Tomi. Looking down, he stared into the faces that

he knew so well. Paul was the serious one, a tough, strong firefighter with cinnamon skin

and warm, chocolate eyes, and Ava with her blonde hair and smiling green eyes, always the

peacemaker, always wanting everyone to be as happy as she always seemed to be.

“I bet the three of you had a lot of good times here,” Mitch commented.

“Actually, we didn”t,” Linc admitted. “I originally bought this house as a place for us to

get away, but Paul and Ava never saw it.” When Mitch and Tomi looked at him in surprise,

he shrugged. “We never could get our schedules to coincide long enough for all of us to be

off at the same time.”

“Do you miss them?” Tomi asked, her voice soft and gentle.

Linc thought about her question for a moment before he responded. “Yes,” he finally

said. “But not in the way you might think.” He paused again before continuing. “I miss

knowing that they”re alive and well and living their lives with someone who loved them the

way they deserved to be loved. I miss not having had the chance to say good-bye, and I”m

sorry; I wish things could have been different between us.”

He felt Mitch”s eyes on him. “So…do you think you”d ever want to be a part of a

relationship like that again?”

He met Mitch”s gaze. “You know, if you”d asked me that a few days ago, my answer

would definitely have been no. Now” — he looked meaningfully between Mitch and Tomi —

“I think I”ve had a change of heart on the subject.”

Mitch lay in bed, leaning on his elbow with his head resting in his hand, quietly

watching Tomi”s sleeping form next to him.

He absently stroked her hair, his mind a million miles away as thoughts of their

weekend with Linc raced through his mind.

Despite his intense attraction to Linc, the most that Mitch had allowed himself to hope

for was a nice evening out with a man who, if they were lucky, Tomi and he would consider

a friend once they returned home.

Somehow, their simple dinner had evolved somewhere along the way and turned into

so much more. He”d never formed a connection so quickly, so deeply, with someone other

than Tomi. Mitch felt drawn to Linc by an attraction that surpassed the mere physical.

The fact of the matter was that he liked Linc a hell of a lot more than he probably

should, considering he”d only known the man for three days. Tomi”s reaction to Linc,

particularly the way she trusted him enough to share herself uninhibitedly with him, seemed

to speak volumes about her feelings toward Linc as well. “If you keep thinking so hard, you”ll give yourself a headache.” Tomi”s sleepy voice

brought him back to the present. Mitch smiled and leaned down, kissing her slowly,

enjoying the feel of her soft, full lips against his.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Mitch teased, kissing along her jawline and nuzzling her

neck until she giggled.

“Well, I am on vacation.” Tomi squirmed, trying to move away from his tickling caress.

“Aren”t vacations supposed to be about catching up on all the sleep and fun you missed

during the rest of the year?”

“Speaking of fun.” He raised his head to look into her face. “I enjoyed our weekend

with Linc. I”m glad we met him. He”s a good man.”

Tomi seemed to sober. “Me too,” she said quietly. She opened her mouth as if she was

going to say more, but she remained silent, averting her eyes away from him instead.

“Hey.” Mitch cupped her face, refusing to let her look away. “What is it?” He searched

her face, his concern increasing by the second. “Do you regret what happened?” He suddenly

worried that he”d somehow misread her attraction to Linc, misinterpreted her interest in

being with him again. “If you do, it”s okay. We don”t have to see Linc again if it makes you

uncomfortable.”

Please say no. God, he felt like such a selfish asshole, but he couldn”t help it. In a short

period of time, he”d begun to have very strong, very real feelings for Linc. Mitch was willing

to admit that the more time he spent with the other man, the more he wanted him.

Hell, Linc had just dropped them off at their hotel six hours ago, and Mitch could

hardly wait to see him again, could barely contain thoughts of the three of them together as

they”d been all weekend.

However, this wasn”t just about him. Tomi was the most important person in his life,

and he”d never do anything that made her unhappy. If she told him that she didn”t want to

see Linc again, he wouldn”t try to change her mind. “No,” she finally said. Her cognac eyes stared back at him, her voice sure. “I do want to

see him again…very much.”

“Then what”s wrong? Talk to me, baby,” Mitch urged. “You know you can tell me

anything, right?”

Tomi nodded. “I know.” She paused again as a myriad of emotions flashed in her eyes.

Her face filled with familiar expressions that said she was trying to gather her thoughts.

Mitch remained silent, patiently waiting for her to continue.

Finally, Tomi sighed. “I had a really good time with Linc as well. In fact, it was

almost…too good.” She smiled slightly. “After this weekend, I realized just how special Linc

is, and I…I think I could fall for him just as easily as I fell for you when we first met.” Tomi

looked at him guiltily. “The thought of that happening, the thought of doing anything that

would hurt you or our relationship, scares the shit out of me.” Her last words were barely

above a whisper.

“Listen to me.” Mitch cupped her face with both hands, his gaze locked with hers

unwaveringly. “That will never happen. I trust you with my life. I know that you would

never intentionally do anything to harm me, and I hope you know the same thing about me.”

When she nodded, he continued. “There is nothing and no one in this world or the next that

could ever come between us, Tomi, or diminish the amount of love we have for each other.

Okay?”

Tomi smiled. Her eyes were slightly watery. “Okay.”

Mitch kissed her then, needing to reinforce his words, wanting to reassure her that

things would never change between them.

He ended the kiss and looked into her beautiful face, his chest swelling with his love

for her. “I won”t lie to you. I don”t know where this thing with Linc is headed, but regardless

of what does or doesn”t happen between him and us, the bottom line is, we came here to

Puerto Rico together, and that”s exactly how we”ll leave…together.”

*

“It looks like somebody had a good weekend.” Linc looked up at the sound of his cousin

and best friend”s voice. Pedro stood in the doorway of his office, arms folded across his broad

chest, watching Linc with a smirk on his face.

Linc had no idea how long the other man had been standing there. His mind had been

solidly on a certain couple who”d occupied his every waking thought since he met them just

a few days ago.

Pedro walked farther into the room and took a seat on the edge of Linc”s desk. “It

wouldn”t have anything to do with your dinner guests that my brother saw you with on

Friday, would it?”

Linc shrugged. “I had a great dinner.” He didn”t bother trying to deny it, knowing that

Alejandro would tell his brother that he”d seen Linc with Tomi and Mitch at the restaurant.

“So I see.” Pedro reached out and pushed the collar of Linc”s shirt aside, exposing the

bruise on his neck that was still visible from where Tomi had bitten him. “From the looks of

things, dinner wasn”t the only thing you had. So, which one was it, the woman or the man?”

he asked, well aware of Linc”s sexual orientation.

Linc sat back in his chair, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Several seconds

of silence passed before Pedro”s eyes suddenly widened as if he finally realized the answer to

his question. His head fell back, and he roared with laughter.

“Tú híbrido! You did both of them, didn”t you? Oh, man, you are such a fucking dog!”

There was no heat in Pedro”s tone despite his words. He was still grinning when he said, “No

wonder you looked so damn happy when I walked in here. I guess Miguel”s no-show on

Friday worked out all right after all. Otherwise, you might have missed out on your weekend

entertainment.”

Pedro shook his head, a look of mock disappointment on his face. “Shit, I”m in the

wrong line of work. I should have gone into business with you when I had the chance, then I”d have access to all the hot customers too. Men aren”t my thing, so I”d leave them to you,

but if I met women even half as beautiful as the one Alejandro described with you on Friday,

it”d be worth it.” A smile suddenly spread across his face. “I don”t suppose you need another

driver, do you? I”m sure I can fit a few runs into my schedule.”

“It”s not like that,” Linc objected. “Tomi and Mitch aren”t like some of the customers

that I”ve told you about.” The need to defend them, to differentiate them from all the other

easy fucks he”d met over the years, was great. “They”re not here trying to get laid; they”re

here to get married.”

Pedro”s brow arched. “If they”re here to get married, what are they doing fucking you?”

Before Linc could find a way to explain the seemingly unexplainable, to put into words

the undeniable connection that existed between the three of them, Lorna walked into his

office unannounced and interrupted their conversation.

“What is it, Lorna?”

“You forgot your messages, baby.” She reached past Pedro to hand Linc several pink

slips of paper. “Don”t forget, you got a meeting across town this afternoon.”

“Thanks.” Linc scanned the messages. Lorna knew him well. He”d completely forgotten

about the meeting. She could be a complete pain in the ass at times, but she kept him

organized.

Lorna turned to leave, making certain to brush against Pedro in the process.

“Hola, Pedro.” Her voice dropped seductively. “Estás pareciendo bueno, como de

costumbre.”

Linc sighed, knowing what would come next. He should have known Lorna couldn”t

make it back to her desk without hitting on one of them.

In true Lorna fashion, she spent the next several minutes all but falling to the floor,

spreading her legs, and offering herself to Pedro. His cousin didn”t help the situation as he laughed at her provocative comments, seeming to enjoy, even encourage, her flirtatious