Missing Linc (4 page)

“Thanks.” He smiled at Mitch through the rearview mirror as he started the engine. “It

was one of the few luxuries that I brought with me when I moved here.” Linc lovingly

caressed the steering wheel of his Mercedes-Benz. It cost him a fortune when he”d purchased

it eight years ago, and it was ridiculously expensive to maintain, but it was worth every

penny. Although he”d bought other cars over the years, this one still ranked as his favorite,

and it was one of the few possessions he”d kept from his previous life.

“So, you”re not originally from Puerto Rico?” Mitch asked.

“No,” Linc said as he pulled away from the hotel. “I was born and raised in Brooklyn.

But my parents are from here, and I have a lot of family here as well.”

“Well, that explains it.” Tomi laughed. “I thought I detected an East Coast accent in

your voice.”

Shaking his head, Linc smiled. “No matter how hard I try, I can”t seem to get rid of it.”

“Don”t bother. I like it. It sounds sexy.”

Linc laughed hard. “I think that”s the first time anyone has ever told me that.” Inside,

he hoped that his voice wasn”t the only thing about him that Tomi found sexy. “What about

you two? Are you both originally from New York as well?”

“I grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut.” Linc glanced up at the sound of Mitch”s voice.

From his tone, it was clear that he was less than impressed with his birthplace. “Good area,” Linc said carefully. “You must have had a nice upper-class upbringing.”

“I guess that”s one way to describe it.” A ghost of a smile passed across Mitch”s face.

“Although I”m sure my life is nowhere near what my parents planned for me growing up.”

Linc saw Mitch”s gaze lock on the back of Tomi”s head. “But I wouldn”t change it for

anything in the world.”

When Mitch didn”t offer any more information, Linc took the hint and left the subject

alone. It didn”t take a genius to understand that was a sensitive topic for Mitch, and the last

thing Linc wanted was to remind him of unpleasant memories that he clearly didn”t want to

discuss.

“What about you?” He shifted his attention to Tomi.

“Oh, I”m an army brat. I was born in Hawaii, but I grew up wherever my father was

stationed.”

“So, I have to ask how a beautiful, feminine woman ended up with such a masculine

name.”

Tomi”s soft laughter filled the car. “My actual name is Tomiko,” she explained. “In

Japanese, it means „child of Tommy,” which is my father”s name. Growing up, everyone

called me Tomi, and it just stuck with me.”

Linc looked into her exotic face. “I take it you”re part Japanese.”

Tomi nodded. “My mother is Japanese.” She didn”t specify her father”s nationality, but

it wasn”t necessary. Everything from her face to her hair to her skin made it apparent that

her father was black.

Linc”s conversation had him so distracted that he almost passed the red, glowing sign of

the Ajili Mojili restaurant. He slowed in time to grab one of the few parking spaces out front.

“Oohhh, I read about this place!” Tomi stared out the window. “I hear their food is

delicious.” “It is.” Linc smiled at the excitement in her voice. “My cousin is the chef tonight. They

have some of the best Puerto Rican food in the area.” They got out of the car and headed

toward the restaurant. Linc reached the door first and held it open for them.

“Buenas noches.” The smiling hostess greeted them at the door.

“Hola, Selena.” Linc returned her smile. “We have an eight forty-five dinner

reservation.”

“Sí.” She grabbed three menus. “Right this way.” She led them to a quiet table in the

corner of the restaurant. Linc waited until Tomi and Mitch sat down before he took a seat.

“Would you please let Alejandro know that we”re here?”

“Sí, Señor Castillo. I”ll tell him.” Once she walked away, he turned to Mitch and Tomi.

They sat studying the menu.

“I have no idea what to order.” Mitch stared blankly at his menu.

“You should try the mofongo relleno de camarones o langosta,” Linc recommended.

Mitch glanced up at him. “What”s that?”

“It”s stuffed plantain. You can get it with shrimp or lobster inside. Mofongo is common

in Puerto Rican cuisine, and it”s one of the specialties here. The arroz con pollo is chicken

with rice. It”s excellent as well.”

“Why don”t I get that, and you get the mofongo.” Tomi looked at Mitch. “We”ll share.”

Mitch closed his menu and placed it on the table. “Sounds good to me.”

Once the waiter arrived and took their orders, they settled into an easy conversation.

“Thanks again for inviting me to dinner,” Linc told them. “I don”t think I”ve ever had

customers extend an invitation like this before.” He”d had plenty of customers offer to let

him eat something, but none of it ever involved food. “It was the least we could do after subjecting you to our impromptu show earlier.”

Mitch”s words brought back images of him and Tomi fucking in the backseat of the limo. The

memory made Linc”s groin tighten.

“Like I said, it was definitely no hardship on my part. The two of you are incredible

together.”

Tomi smiled. “Well, I”m just glad that you were able to join us on such short notice.”

Her expression suddenly became concerned. “I hope you didn”t cancel any plans you already

had in order to be here with us.”

“Not at all.” Linc shook his head dismissively. “I didn”t have any particular plans for

tonight. Before your invitation, I was going to have an unexciting evening at home alone.”

“I guess it was our lucky night,” Tomi said softly, a suggestive smile on her lips. “I

suspect it”s very rare that you”re alone, especially on a Friday evening.”

“You give me too much credit.” Linc laughed. In truth, she was correct. Linc typically

had something — and someone — to do most weekends. Tonight was no different. When the

day began, he”d promised to attend a hotel party with a hot young thing that he”d met at

another hotel party a couple of weeks before.

Somewhere between breakfast and lunch, he”d lost all interest in going, willing to risk

missing out on a guaranteed piece of ass if it meant not having to suffer through another

party filled with pretentious people walking around trying to be seen, when they weren”t in

the restroom getting high. As far as Linc was concerned, he couldn”t have picked a better

night to cancel his plans.

“So, do you live here in San Juan or one of the surrounding cities?” Mitch asked him.

“San Juan,” he confirmed. “I stay in Punta Las Marias. It”s about twenty minutes from

the hotel where you”re staying.”

The waiter arrived with their food, and their conversation slowed some as they focused

on their meals. A full dinner plus dessert, a pitcher of sangria, and several beers later, they sat back

laughing and talking. Linc noticed how comfortable, how good it felt to be in their company.

Their conversation flowed easily and naturally, as if they”d known each other for years

instead of hours.

Tomi sighed. “That was one of the best meals I”ve had in a long time.”

“I”m glad you enjoyed it.” Linc looked up as his cousin Alejandro approached their

table. “Here comes the person responsible for it now.” He stood and embraced Alejandro

before he introduced him to Tomi and Mitch.

“Gracias por una cena maravillosa, Alejandro.” Linc looked at Tomi in surprise. He had

no idea she spoke Spanish.

Alejandro brought Tomi”s hand to his lips. “Es un honor a cocinar para una señora tan

hermosa.” Alejandro released her hand and shook Mitch”s. “I trust your dinner was enjoyable

as well?”

“Oh, yeah.” Mitch smiled. “This place is great. It more than lived up to its reputation.”

“I”m happy to hear that. Any friend of my cousin is always welcome here. Enjoy the

rest of your evening.”

Once Alejandro left, Linc looked at Tomi. “Your Spanish is perfect.”

“It should be.” Mitch chuckled and rested his arm around the back of Tomi”s chair.

“She makes a living teaching it to others.”

“Oh, you”re a teacher?”

Tomi nodded. “A professor. I teach foreign languages at New York University.”

“NYU is my alma mater.” Linc smiled. “I completed undergrad and grad school there.”

He paused. “Although I”m certain that none of my finance and economics professors ever

looked anything like you.” “That”s what I told her.” Mitch looked down at Tomi. “But she doesn”t believe me. You

should see all those young kids in her classes, watching her with hopeful eyes, hanging on to

her every word.”

The picture Mitch painted made Linc laugh. Looking at Tomi, he understood their

reaction.

“I can”t blame them. You look young enough to still be in college yourself.” He looked

at Mitch. “You both do.”

“Not so young.” Tomi smiled, glancing at Mitch. “We”re both thirty.”

Linc laughed. “Compared to me, that”s young.”

“Like you”re so old.” It was Mitch”s turn to chuckle. “What are you, thirty-two, thirty-three?”

“Try thirty-nine.” Linc tried to pretend that Mitch”s words didn”t flatter him, but he

couldn”t hold back the grin that spread across his face.

“Damn.” Mitch looked at him appraisingly. “I would never have guessed that. I just

hope I look as good as you when I get that age.”

“Something tells me that you won”t have anything to worry about,” Linc murmured.

He looked at Tomi. “Neither of you.” He decided to change the subject and stick to safer, less

suggestive topics. “So, do you only teach Spanish?”

She shook her head. “I alternate between Spanish, French, Japanese, and Russian.”

“So you speak five languages, including English?” At her nod, he said, “Damn, that”s

impressive.”

“Thanks.” Her smile was tinged with the embarrassment of a person who knew she was

incredible, but wasn”t all that comfortable with the knowledge. Mitch, on the other hand,

had a look of absolute pride on his face — and all of it was directed at Tomi.

“Do you teach as well?” Linc asked him. “Only if it involves sweating and grunting.” Linc”s confusion must have shown on his

face, because Mitch began to laugh. “I”m a personal trainer,” he explained. “I have about

twenty regular clients who I work with, and I teach classes for Equinox gyms.”

Linc was familiar with the upscale chain of gyms dedicated to the buff and the

beautiful. It also explained Mitch”s amazing physique. And from the look of her, it was

obvious that Tomi was one of his clients.

“What about you?” Tomi asked. “Were you always in the limousine business?”

Linc paused. Tomi”s question caught him off guard and triggered so many memories;

memories he”d spent years trying to forget. He didn”t respond immediately, still trying to

figure out what to say, how much to share. He rarely discussed his past life with anyone,

even his family. Yet as he looked at the couple sitting across from him, Linc suddenly felt the

need to share it with them.

“I used to own a brokerage firm when I lived in New York City. It wasn”t huge — I had

close to a dozen employees — but we did well. We had a solid client base, and we made good

money for them and ourselves.” Linc glanced at Mitch and Tomi to find them watching him

intently. Their focus seemed centered on every word he spoke.

“I lived with my two lovers, Ava and Paul. Ava was the office manager for my firm,

and Paul was a firefighter.” Linc met their eyes again, unsure of how they”d react once they

knew about his lifestyle, but unwilling to hide who he was.

“We”d been together for a couple of years, and everything was great. But after a while,

things just…changed. It was gradual at first, and one day we looked up and realized that two

years had gone by, and we still didn”t seem to know each other. We all wanted different

things, each of us was moving in different directions. Deep down, I think we all knew that it

was over between us, but none of us had the guts to say it. One night, we had this big

argument, and we said a lot of fucked-up things to each other. It was clear that our

relationship couldn”t be anything but over, and I remember wishing that they would just disappear, go away and leave me alone.” He shook his head at the memory, still as fresh as if

it”d just happened.

“Anyway, Paul spent the night at his firehouse, and Ava slept in the guest bedroom.

The next day, I slept late. I never did that. I was always the first one in the office at seven

o”clock in the morning, and Ava usually rode to work with me. But I was still feeling pissy

about our fight from the previous night, and I didn”t want to be bothered with her. She must

have felt the same way, because she went to work without saying a word to me.” He met

their gaze. “That day was September eleventh. My brokerage firm was on the twenty-seventh floor of Tower Two.”

Linc heard Tomi”s soft gasp. “My God…”

“Well…you know how that story ended.” Linc cleared his throat and continued. “Ava

and two other employees got trapped inside the building and never made it out. Later, I

learned that Paul and members of his fire engine company were in Tower Two as well when

it collapsed.”

“Damn, man. That”s…” Mitch shook his head, his expression sympathetic. “I”m so

sorry.”

“That”s why you moved here, isn”t it?” Tomi”s softly spoken words pulled Linc from the

past, and he looked down to see her smaller, darker hand covering his. His fingers

automatically entwined with hers, and he held on for several long moments.