Vegas Pregnancy Surprise (10 page)

He glanced down at her. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay. It was the…” Words escaped her for a second. “The water. Or…the boat.”

“Or…not.”

Heat curled between them, and the unmistakable whisper of desire rose in the air. Molly opened her mouth to say something witty, something to defuse the tension, but nothing came to mind.

She could barely breathe, never mind think. All she saw, all she knew, was Linc’s touch. The intensity of his blue eyes on hers. The warmth of his body against her skin. She molded into him, as naturally as ivy curling around a tree, as if she had always been in his arms.

As if no time at all had passed since the last time they’d touched. Kissed. Made love.

Linc reached up and captured her jaw in his palm. “Oh, Molly,” he said, his voice gruff, deep. “What are you doing to me?”

Her breath caught in her throat, her heart raced.

Then he leaned forward, and with no help from the boat, closed the gap between them, and kissed her.

K
ISSING
Molly Hunter was like the perfect symphony. Every touch, every moment, hit the exact note, as if she’d been made just for him. Her satiny lips skated across his, and her body curved against him, molding exactly into his frame. Wanting more of her, no, wanting
all
of her, Linc wrapped his arm tighter around Molly’s waist, then tangled the other hand in the silky lengths of her hair, and deepened their kiss.

God, he had missed her. Missed the taste of her, a mixture of sweet and spicy, like apples and coffee. Missed the soft sounds that escaped her when his tongue dipped in to tease hers. Missed the feel of her hourglass figure against his body.

But most of all, missed the way she could, with one kiss, make him forget everything in his life and open that window of hope, if only for a moment, that he could have it all.

She drew back, her face flushed, and smiled at him. Her dark green gaze seemed to go on forever, and he wondered if it was possible for a man to lose himself in those emerald depths. “That was…incredible.”

He returned the smile. “I agree.”

“And…a complication.” The smile faltered, and she slipped out of his grasp to put some distance between them. A whisper of cool air worked its way into the vacated space. “We’re working together, Linc. That’s all.”

He reached out, trailed a finger along her jaw, wanting to kiss her again more than anything. His better sense told him she had done the right thing, but right now, he wasn’t in any mood to listen. “Really? Because it doesn’t seem like we’ve done anything resembling work all day.”

A beat passed. “So what are we doing?”

He cupped her jaw, his thumb teasing along her lower lip, touching what his mouth couldn’t. “What if it wasn’t just about work?”

What was he doing? He had no time, nor room for a relationship. He was, in fact, the last man on earth who should try to have a relationship with a woman like her.

Yet, ever since he’d met Molly, he’d danced around the thought of having her in his life. At first for a night—

Now for longer.

Impossible. He couldn’t. Not now. Not ever. And especially not with a woman who clearly wanted the whole package—a husband, a family, a picket fence.

With any other man, she could have that. But not with Lincoln Curtis.

“Take care of your brother, Linc. Watch out for him. He’s fragile, and he needs someone to take care of him.”

And then, when Marcus was dying—

“Take care of my family. They’re depending on you now.”

“Are you saying you want us to…date?” Molly asked.

He should say no. Everything inside him geared up to vocalize that word, but then he took in her heart-shaped face, the question in her green eyes, the faint flush of fresh desire in her face, and opened his mouth instead to say—

“Well, here’s your bait,” the captain said, thrusting a small white container toward them. Holes had been poked in the top, and a dusting of dirt coated the rim. “Worms. Big, fat, juicy ones, too.”

“Great,” Linc said. Gee, if anything could kill the mood, those five words could.

“Fish love ’em,” the captain went on, oblivious to what he had interrupted. “Now, if you’re a little on the squeamish side, I can put them on the hook for you.” His grin revealed a couple of missing teeth. “All part of the service.”

Molly’s face, however, had turned positively green. She backed up, grabbed her fishing pole and handed it to the captain, staying as far from the bait as possible.

Any remaining sexual tension that had been hovering in the air disappeared. The moment was over. Molly couldn’t have been any clearer about that if she’d hung up a billboard.

Linc refused to call the sinking feeling in his gut disappointment.

“Fishing’s all about patience,” the captain said as he worked the wriggling worm onto the curve of the hook. Molly averted her gaze until the deed was done, and the captain had given her back her pole. “But a good catch is always worth it in the end. Young people always expect the fish to just jump on out of the lake and right into their hands.” The captain let out a laugh. “Life ain’t like that, and neither is fishing.”

Linc baited his own hook while the captain went on with his homilies and fishing analogies, filling the dead air between Linc and Molly. Probably a good thing.

What would Linc have said just then to the dating question? He would have said yes, even if it was the wrong answer. He wanted to date Molly. He wanted to explore this relationship. See where it led. He wanted to expand the narrow channel of his life to include her, too.

But what he wanted and what he should do were two completely different things. Molly was, as the captain would say, a good catch, but one Linc shouldn’t be fishing for, no matter how tempting the thought.

As he slipped into place beside Molly and lowered his line into the water while trying to block out the captain’s endless chatter, he thought back to the night in the aquarium. To how easily Molly had connected with that little girl. She’d made it seem so effortless, almost…

Magical.

He’d seen the joy on the little girl’s face as they shared a giggle over the burrfish, and felt an odd sense of longing. All around them, there’d been families—husbands, wives, mothers and fathers and children who had managed to create a complete circle.

Once, he had thought he could have that. Then Marcus had died—

And Linc had decided his efforts were better spent behind a desk than standing at an altar making a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep.

Beside him, Molly suddenly let out a gasp.

“Ooh! I think I have a bite.” She jerked on her pole, and the bright yellow-and-pink bobber disappeared beneath the water’s surface. She started to reel in the line, the rod clicking with the movement of the handle, watching the taut filament as it drew closer and closer to the boat. Then the line suddenly went slack and drooped into the water. “Oh, no. I think I lost him.”

“Sometimes that’s what happens,” the captain said. “Despite your best work, the good ones get away.” He gestured to her to keep on reeling in the line. “We’ll just bait her up again and keep trying.”

Molly let the captain re-bait her hook, and in a moment had her line back in the water. They fished for a while longer, with little results. The breeze that had been just enough to offset the relentless August sun dropped to a whisper, and the temperature rose. Soon, the fishing trip became less about fun and more about trying to stay cool.

“I think I’ve had enough fishing,” Molly said, as she reeled in her line, then rested her pole against the side of the boat. She turned to Linc, that devilish smile back on her face. “Want to go for a dip?”

“Swimming?” He tried to think of the last time he’d done that, and couldn’t. The idea sparked an immediate image of seeing Molly in a bathing suit. “Trying to work in the full lake experience in one day?”

“Oh, yes, I want to try everything.” A twinkle lit her eyes, and for the second time that day, Linc wondered if she was flirting with him. Hell, he didn’t wonder. He knew.

Desire roared through his veins. This was a dangerous game, one he shouldn’t play, but when she flirted with him like that, it rocketed him right back to that night two months ago, and every resolution he’d made melted in the power of her smile.

“Come on, Linc. If you’re going to take a day off, do it right.” She reached forward, took his fishing pole out of his hands, reeled it in and rested it in the holder on the side of the boat. Once again, Molly took charge, surprising him. Enticing him. “You can swim, right? You haven’t left your swimming skills in dry dock, too?”

He laughed. “Not at all. I may be a little rusty, but I won’t drown.”

“Good. Though I do know CPR.” Her grin quirked up higher on one side than the other, and the double entendre charged the air between them, raising the temperature more than the sun ever could.

“Maybe I’ll flounder just a little,” Linc said. “Just so you can practice on me.”

She laughed. “Putting your life in my hands? Very brave indeed.”

“That’s me, always living on the edge.”

Her laughter exploded out of her now, and he found himself joining in, feeling lighter than he had in days. Months. Was this what it could be like? If he opened his life to something permanent? Allowed himself to have what everyone else did?

“I’m going to go change into my swimsuit before I melt in this heat,” Molly said. “Meet you back on the deck?”

“Definitely.”

While Molly changed, the captain climbed into his deck chair, dropped a ball cap over his face, and fell asleep, leaving Linc and Molly, for all intents and purposes, alone. A moment later, Linc heard a sound behind him and turned.

Oh. Boy.

Linc swallowed hard. Told himself to breathe.

Molly stood there in a two-piece dark blue bathing suit that skimmed over her curves and accentuated every part of her that he liked best, while also exposing the sweet expanse of peach skin along her belly. She seemed self-conscious about it, though, and kept a hand splayed across her stomach. The suit wasn’t so revealing that it would end up in the center of one of those sports magazines, which made it all the more perfect. He loved the juxtaposition between sweet and spicy, the temptation to see more than what was covered up.

“You look…incredible,” he said. Managed, really. “Stunning.”

She blushed. “I…well, thank you.” The palm stayed on her belly and she turned slightly away from him. When she did, he noticed she had put on a little weight since the last time he’d seen her. Not much, just a little, most of it showing along her waist. Was that what she was embarrassed about? If so, no need, because she looked beautiful to him.

“Give me thirty seconds to change,” Linc said. He took a second look at her. “Make that ten.” He dashed down below, exchanged his shorts and T for the swimsuit he’d bought in one of the Lake Mead gift shops, then hurried back up to the deck.

Molly laughed. “That was fast.”

“I had incentive.” He wanted to take her in his arms again, wanted to feel her warm skin against his own, but knew that doing so would take things up several notches. Were they ready for that? More, was he ready for that?

Or should he be smart, and keep the brakes on?

Before he could decide, Molly swung her legs over the side of the boat, stepped onto the small platform at the back, and dove into the water, in one smooth, effortless motion. She disappeared in the deep blue depths.

He followed her, the heat of the day evaporating the instant his body met the cool water of the lake. He dove down several feet, then broke through the surface, a little ways from Molly. She treaded water beside him, grinning. Her dark hair hung in a sleek curtain down her back, and water droplets kissed her face, hung in tantalizing teardrops along her lips.

“You were right. This is much better than fishing,” he said.

“Much,” she agreed. “And better than working?”

He chuckled. “Yes. Definitely.”

He thought of all the days he’d spent in his office. Not just weekdays, but Saturdays, Sundays. Late nights, early mornings. While his employees took off for lake vacations, cruises, beach trips with their families. Entire days went by where Linc didn’t notice the sun rise or set, because he’d arrived too early and left too late, starting and ending his day in darkness.

Was this what he’d been missing? This…sense of freedom?

He’d had good reasons for doing so, but still, a feeling of loss dropped in his gut. He thought of what Harry had said, and wondered—

Would he look back on those years later in his life with satisfaction, because he had done what was expected of him? Or regret, because he had put aside the very things everyone else had?

Today, he’d had a taste of that. It wasn’t just the water, but the way the entire day had unfolded, with no schedule, no rules. Molly had suggested something and they’d done it, for as long as they’d wanted, then moved on to something else. He hadn’t even realized until now that he hadn’t missed his cell phone—

Because he’d left it in the car with Saul.

Accidentally, he’d thought at the time. Perhaps more on purpose than he’d realized.

“You should try playing hooky more than once in your life, Mr. Straight and Narrow,” Molly said, sending a splash of water his way. “Who knows? Taking a day off every once in a while might be good for you.”

“Oh, yeah?” He returned the splash, but she ducked out of the way, and swam a foot to his right. “How so?”

“It’s called recharging your batteries, Mr. Curtis. It’s all the rage.” She grinned.

Yes, she was definitely flirting with him.

And more, he was flirting back. And enjoying it. Immensely.

When was the last time he’d flirted with a woman? Really flirted like this?

The answer came swiftly. Two months ago. With this very same woman. Before that…he couldn’t remember. That alone was a clear sign he was spending too much time behind his desk. He might not be interested in a long-term committed relationship, but being alone—

Not exactly good for him, either.

He tossed Molly a grin. “Then I’ll be sure to add free time into my schedule.”

She laughed. “You can’t do that, silly. It’s not fun then. You have to just—” she swam up to him, lifting her chin toward his, the sun sparkling like gold dust in her eyes “—do it.”

Do it. Oh, he wanted to. And do a hell of a lot more than just take a day off.

The temptation to kiss her again roared through him, and he leaned forward to do that, but she darted away, teasing him. “Then who will run the company?”

“You have people. Let them do their jobs.”

“Can’t. If some of my
people
are playing hooky with me.” He splashed her lightly again, and kicked twice, bringing his body right beside hers.

She considered that, putting a finger to her lips, as if deep in thought, and Linc thought he had never enjoyed a playful expression on a woman’s face as much as he did hers. “True. Then maybe you should take advantage of the opportunities closer to home. Like that amazing pool at Hamilton Towers. I haven’t had time to try it out yet, but it looks fabulous. I bet you love it.”