Vegas Pregnancy Surprise (14 page)

Whether Linc had changed. Or was determined to stay exactly where he had been for most of his life.

R
OCKY
pulled on his leash, anxious to be home as dusk settled over San Diego. Molly inhaled, drawing in the fresh scent of the ocean, the salty tang in the air. She loved it here, always had. San Diego was such a stark contrast to Las Vegas. Here, she had friends, a richness of Mother Nature, a life.

Granted, she didn’t have the one man she had been thinking about almost non-stop since she had gotten home, but she told herself she was okay with that.

That it hadn’t broken her heart to leave Linc behind.

Because somewhere between the job offer and the kiss in the lake, Molly had done the one thing that she had vowed she wouldn’t do.

She’d fallen in love with Linc. The man she knew was somewhere inside Lincoln Curtis, CEO. The man he kept setting aside, for whatever reason. Because of guilt over his brother’s death, pressures from his job, or fear, perhaps, of getting close to someone else.

She’d had glimpses of the man she’d fallen for weeks ago, and whenever she had, her heart had become entangled more and more. That day she’d kidnapped him, she’d done more than just take Linc hostage.

She’d wrapped herself up in him forever, too. Ever since she’d gotten home, she’d thought about him. Wondered where he was. What he was doing. Whether he ever thought about her or the baby.

He had thought about her. But not in the way she’d hoped.

He’d called. Left messages. Sent flowers. Cards.

She’d ignored them all. Because not a single one had said what she wanted them to say.

I want to make a family with you
.

Until Linc said those magic words, she wanted nothing to do with him. She would move forward, just her and the baby, no matter how much it hurt, and no matter how many flowers he sent.

As she rounded the corner of Gull View Lane, she saw two things that seemed out of place.

A black town car sitting on the curb in front of her house. And her mother—

Talking to Lincoln Curtis.

Molly stopped walking, which made Rocky let out a yelp of protest, especially since he knew his favorite chew toy was only a few houses away. Linc was here?

And talking to her mother?

Joy exploded in her chest, but she tamped it down. A thousand different things could have brought Linc to San Diego. He could be here to talk about custody after the baby was born, or to ask her to work for him again. He could have come because she’d ignored all his other attempts at contact. The chances of him being here to see her—because he wanted to make their relationship work—

Were slim to none.

She started walking again, and in a couple of minutes had reached her drive, then her walkway. Her mother and Linc were so deeply engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice her at first.

“You own your own company?” Cynthia asked Linc.

Oh, no. Her mother was on a roll now. Molly would undoubtedly hear all about how wonderful Linc was from her mother later. And trying to explain why Linc was a bad choice would likely go in one ear and out the other.

Had Linc told her mother that he was the father of the baby? Molly had only told her mother that it was a man she’d dated a few times. She’d not given her a name—because, knowing Cynthia, her mother would look the man up and have him at an altar before the end of the day. Her mother meant well, but she could be stubborn in the area of seeing her daughter get a happy ending.

“Yes, ma’am, I do. I own a software development company.” Linc smiled at her. “In Las Vegas.”

Cynthia made a little face. “That’s awfully far away from here. You don’t have a second office here in California?”

“No, but—” Rocky let out a bark, and Linc turned. When his gaze met Molly’s, the friendly smile he’d given her mother expanded into a wider one. “Molly.”

The soft way he said her name sent a quiver through her body. She hadn’t realized until just then how much she had missed him. How endless the days apart had been. She’d thought she could forget him, that she could go up to him and tell him she had nothing to say to him—

She’d been wrong. One word out of his mouth, and she was already a goner. Oh, this was not good.

She started up the few porch steps. “Linc. What brings you all the way to San Diego?”

“He came to see you.” Her mother lowered her voice to a whisper. “Make him dinner. Men love women who can cook, you know.”

“Mom!”

Her mother cupped Molly’s jaw and paused a moment to meet her daughter’s eye. “I know I interfere, and I know I sometimes push you into the wrong direction. But I only want you to be happy, Molly.”

“I know.”

“He’s a really nice man.”

“Mom…”

“And I like him much better than Douglas.” Cynthia cast a quick glance back in Linc’s direction. “I can’t even remember what I ever saw in Douglas. This one…he’s a keeper.”

Molly drew her mother into a one-armed hug. “Thanks for the advice. Now, please stop.”

Her mother opened her mouth to say something else, then sighed instead. “Okay. I’m going to leave and go to my book club meeting.”

“Book club meeting?”

“I took your advice and joined. I met the most amazing man there, too.” Cynthia’s eyes twinkled, as if she were a teenager all over again. “He’s not a fan of Brontë, but I think I can change his mind.” Her mother picked up her purse from the porch floor and swung it over her shoulder. For the first time Molly noticed Cynthia was wearing a dress, kitten heels and makeup—a big change from the last eighteen months. “Okay, I’m going now, so you two—” she glanced between Molly and Linc “—can be alone.”

Molly rolled her eyes as her matchmaking mother got in her car and left, faster than she ever had before. Once Cynthia was gone, Molly turned to Linc. “I’m sorry about that. She tends to be—”

“A mom.” Linc chuckled. “I don’t mind.”

“Do you want to come in? In case my other relatives decide to stop by and put in their two cents over my personal life?”

“I’d like that.” Linc followed her into her bungalow.

He still hadn’t said why he was here. Molly tried to speculate, but gave up. She couldn’t read anything in his face, and refused to hope. He knew when she left Las Vegas where she stood, and her non-responsiveness to his calls, e-mails and flowers had to be a sign that she still felt the same way.

“I’m sure it’s not quite what you’re used to,” Molly said, immediately feeling the difference between her tiny house and the expansive penthouse apartment Linc owned. For the first time since she’d bought her cozy house, it seemed small and cramped.

“It’s perfect,” Linc said. “Reminds me of you. It’s…comfortable. Like a fireplace on a cold day.” He gestured toward the pictures, a quintet of oak frames of happier times that hung on the wall, images of her and her parents throughout the years. “Your mom and dad?”

She nodded. “My dad died a year and a half ago. He was a great man. Firefighter for twenty years, then became a middle school history teacher after he retired.”

Linc turned toward her. “Is that why you went into teaching?”

She ran a hand down the frame that held her favorite picture of her father—him standing on the beach, holding Molly’s hand when she’d been about six. They’d just finished building a sand castle, and her mother had snapped the photo just before the ocean reclaimed the sand. “Yes. He loved his job so much, it sounded like the perfect thing to do. I can still remember how proud he was the day I graduated from college with my teaching license.”

“And you like teaching?”

“Yes. It’s a rewarding job, though it has its frustrations, like any job. Still, I love my students. Love seeing them learn something new every day.” She thought of telling him how much she had enjoyed working for him, too, about how rewarding that job had been, but she didn’t. What if he offered her the job back? Then she’d have to admit to herself that she missed the daily opportunity to flex her creative muscles. That she’d been thinking about how much she wished she could go back to working at Curtis Systems—and not just to see Linc again.

“Did you enjoy working for me?” he asked, as if he had read her mind.

Now she couldn’t duck out of answering. “Yes, I did.”

“Why?”

“Would you like some lemonade? Iced tea?”

“Iced tea would be wonderful,” he said, “and an answer, too.”

She headed toward the kitchen. Linc followed behind and took a seat at her small maple kitchen table that sat at the end of the galley kitchen, facing the large picture window overlooking the back patio and her garden. His tall frame seemed to dominate the space, making her a hundred times more aware of him.

She reached in the refrigerator, pulled out the tea and poured it into a glass, then added several ice cubes. Trying to take her time, to delay the inevitable conversations. “Lemon?”

“Please.”

A few more seconds while she sliced a lemon and plopped a thick wedge into his glass. Finally, when she could avoid him no longer, she crossed to the table, gave Linc his iced tea and sat down across from him.

“I saw the software, Molly.”

“Oh.” That was why he was here then. Because he was upset with the job she had done. Here to tell her she needed to redo it, or give him back her salary. “I’m sorry if—”

“It was incredible. More than I had hoped for.” He leaned across the table. His gaze met hers, deep blue eyes direct and powerful. “It was as if you read my mind.”

“I simply went by your notes,” she said, heat rising in her at Linc’s continued attention. He had a way of looking at her—really looking at her—so that she felt like the only woman on earth. The only person he saw. His intensity pleased her, and scared her, because of how intoxicating such attention could be.

“No, you went
beyond
my notes. How did you do that?”

“I don’t understand. I was…just doing my job, Linc. What you hired me for.”

Rocky crossed to Linc, nosing at the stranger in the kitchen. Linc smiled, bent down and scratched Rocky behind the ears. Rocky let out a groan and pressed his little body to Linc’s leg, wagging dog hair all over Linc’s custom suit. Linc didn’t seem to mind.

“You took what was an idea, a vision I had, and you made it something bigger than I had even dreamed, Molly. The ideas you had…” He shook his head. “For instance, I love that the children are encouraged, after they finish the grasshopper jumping game on screen, to go outside and look for real grasshoppers. To observe how they act, then come back to the program and put in their answers in order to get to the next level. You truly found a way to bridge the techno and natural worlds.”

“I just tried to do what you said.”

“No, you did more.” A smile crossed his lips. “It’s amazing. It’s different. And it’s going to take Curtis Systems in a whole new direction.”

“I’m glad.” She rose, unable to look at him any longer. Knowing that he was only here for the same thing as he always was.

Business.

Tears stung at the back of her eyes, and she turned toward the sink, to press the back of her hand to her face, keeping the tears from spilling out. Damn. Why did she keep hoping for something different?

For the impossible?

“So you came here to thank me?” she said, the words shredding her throat.

“Yes. And…”

She didn’t turn around while she waited for him to finish the sentence. She couldn’t.

“And to explain a few things.”

She heard the scrape of the chair against the tile floor, and then Linc was behind her, the woodsy notes of his cologne teasing at her senses, tempting her to turn into his arms. She didn’t. She held fast to her position against the sink, sure that if she faced him now, he’d read her every emotion—

And know she had fallen in love with him.

He put a hand on her shoulder, and gently turned her to face him. “Maybe if I tell you, you’ll understand why I’ve made the choices I have. They may not be the right ones, but they seemed like the best ones, then and now.”

“Okay.” She owed him that, at least, and maybe then she would understand, and it would be easier to let him go. To forget him. Have a simple, civil relationship with their child between them.

He let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. “I told you that my brother died three years ago, but I didn’t tell you everything.” He swallowed, then went on. “Marcus was born with a congenital heart disease. He had surgery to repair his heart valve when he was a baby, but the doctors said he would always be vulnerable to infections. He was supposed to be careful, take care of himself.

“Marcus just wasn’t that kind of kid, though,” Linc went on. “He was the daredevil, the one who would climb trees and go skiing. He wanted to have fun, not sit on the sidelines and worry about his heart. He always said our parents did enough worrying for him, that he could afford not to. So he never remembered to take his medication, or maybe just purposely forgot. I think he hated being reminded that he was ‘different’ or weak.”

“I bet your parents worried about him a lot,” Molly said, thinking like the mother she was about to become. How difficult that must have been for Linc’s parents, having a child with a condition that required constant monitoring. They must have always been on edge.

He nodded, his face somber. “Constantly. When we lived at home, my mother was on top of his medication, his doctor’s appointments. Then, when Marcus got out on his own, everyone thought he’d grow up and be responsible. But…” Linc shook his head. “He wasn’t. He’d go skiing instead of going to the doctor’s. Leave his pills behind. More than once he ended up in the hospital.”

Molly waited, letting Linc tell the story in his own time.

“Around that time, my parents were in a car accident. It was…” He shook his head and crossed the room. He stopped in front of the large picture window. For a long time he stared out at Molly’s garden, not saying anything at all. “My parents didn’t make it. Dad died at the scene and Mom had too many internal injuries.”

Molly placed a hand on Linc’s back, communicating her sympathy by touch, wishing she could go back ten years in time and be with him then. “It must have been so hard on you. I know how difficult it was when my dad died, and I was older than you.”