Chapter One #3
The relationship turned serious fast, but I never met his family, and I began to feel like he was hiding me from his parents.
After all, he’d already met mine. And like with Linc, my mother was wary thanks to Collin’s family’s wealth, but since she didn’t work for them, she didn’t harp on the issue.
Then I missed my period and a test proved I was pregnant. And Collin Auerbach panicked and handed me money to get rid of the problem. Much like Linc’s father apparently did to one of his mistresses, as I now know.
I threw him out, ripped up the check, and the man I thought I’d marry got engaged to an oil heiress six months later.
As for me, a month into the pregnancy, I experienced terrible cramps and heavy bleeding and lost the baby. The pain of remembering always hurts. And who was there for me? Linc. He helped me with my grief and was there as I picked up the pieces of my broken heart.
After Linc graduated business school, he began working at Kingston Enterprises, and he all but begged me to become his personal assistant. Something his father wasn’t happy about because I was the help’s daughter.
This time I understood I’d never be good enough for anyone with wealth. Fine. I don’t want the upscale, hoity-toity kind of life anyway. I just desire a normal existence with a job I enjoy, a man I love, and eventually a family of my own.
I took the job at Kingston Enterprises, refusing to give up a great opportunity because Linc’s father was an asshole.
Besides, the older man’s office was a long hall away from Linc’s.
Once I was hired, I rarely saw him. And Linc and I fell into a special work dynamic.
I’d be a fool to think about him as anything other than my boss and friend.
A friend I treasure and don’t want to lose by adding sex to our relationship.
No more wealthy men for me. Plus I see the kind of women Linc dates, the type of families they come from, the approval his mother gives those women, all proof my own mother’s words still hold true.
I’m not in his league and don’t belong there.
“I need a plan,” he says, speaking up out of the blue.
I actually thought he’d fallen asleep.
“Do I go meet my sister? Or do I let it go because knowing the truth about her father might be too painful for her?” His words sound slurred, and he’s obviously in no position to talk tonight.
“I think we should discuss this in the morning. You need a clear head to make those kinds of decisions.” I push myself off him and rise to my feet.
“Stay with me,” he says, and when I glance at him, his lips are set in a little-boy pout.
This is the Linc not many people see. The vulnerable man beneath the businessman he presents to the world. “You need sleep. Do you have a car waiting?” I ask because he uses a driver to get around the city.
“I sent him home.” He stretches his feet out on my couch, and I realize he’s settling in for the night.
“Kick off your shoes,” I say. No way can he sleep on the couch in his work clothes.
He does as I instruct, and his black dress shoes fall to the floor.
“Now take off your tie and shirt so you’re comfortable.”
“Bossy,” he mutters and begins to undo the buttons. He works his way down, revealing his muscled chest and defined abs from time with a professional trainer. He shrugs out of the shirt, struggling with the buttons on the cuffs, but he manages to release them.
Swallowing hard, I take the shirt and tie from him and put them aside, planning to hang them up so they don’t wrinkle even more. He’ll need them to wear home in the morning.
Despite myself, I can’t help but stare at his naked chest. It’s been years since we were kids swimming together in his family’s pool, and the man in front of me now is a far cry from the boy he was.
How can I look at him and not drool? “Do you want to wash up before you settle in for the night?” I ask in a husky voice.
I reach out a hand to help him to his feet, and without warning, he pulls me forward. I tumble, twisting myself so I land on top of his hard body.
“Linc, what are you doing?” I lift myself up, intending to climb off him when a firm arm around my back locks me in place.
“I need you,” he says, his voice full of longing.
His words take me off guard. Heart pounding, I look up, and his gaze, hazy with alcohol but no less compelling, meets mine. Everything inside me twists with need. Need for this man and everything he is.
“Kiss me, Jordan.”
A moan escapes my throat because I want desperately to press my lips to his. I still, my heart debating with my mind.
Just as I decide to make light of the moment, to treat it as a joke, he cups the back of my head, and with a little pressure from his hand, my mouth meets his.
Sparks fly through my body, the warmth and feel of him utter perfection.
I sigh, wanting to get closer, and in response, his tongue pushes past my lips and curls around mine.
Unable to stop myself, I slide my hands into his hair and deepen the kiss.
His breath tastes malty from alcohol, but nothing matters except the feel of him devouring my mouth.
His other hand slips beneath the back of my shirt, his large, warm palm covering my skin.
My nipples grow tight, and I rub myself against him, enjoying our closeness.
The sound of my phone ringing penetrates my consciousness, popping the desire-filled bubble I’m in, and brings me out of my fantasy moment. Reality comes crashing in, and the reality is, Linc would never cross this line sober. I shouldn’t have crossed it at all.
Ignoring the call, I push myself up, breaking our connection. With a groan, he meets my gaze. “I’m not sorry,” he says.
But he will be in the morning. If he even remembers the kiss. I shake my head, knowing I’ll never forget.
I step to the other end of the sofa, pick up the blanket, and as I drape it over him, a light snore escapes his parted lips.
I gently tuck the knitted covering around him, and because he’s sleeping, I lean down and press my lips to his forehead, closing my eyes and savoring his warmth and masculine scent.
Then, with one last glance at the man on my couch, I pick up his clothes and head to my room alone.