One More Kiss (Forsaken Sons Book 1)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  “Who threatened you?” he asked.

  The question sounded conversational, but Kinsley heard a note of anger as well. “Don’t worry about it,” she replied, glancing up at the man speeding across the racetrack, then back down at the stopwatch. “I handled it.”

  “Give me a name, Kinsley,” he growled.

  “What are you going to do? And would you please slow down? You’re heading into that corner too fast!”

  He laughed again, and sped up. In fact, he took the corner so fast, and angled the motorcycle so low as he leaned into the turn, that she held her breath in alarm.

  “I’m fine,” she heard him say when he came out of the turn. “Give me a name.”

  “Concentrate on what you’re doing. I’m timing your laps.”

  He laughed again, and stopped interrogating her. Hopefully, he was concentrating on what he was doing. Unfortunately, so was Kinsley and every time he came up to the U of the race track, he seemed to be going faster, taking the corner at a slightly deeper angle. It terrified her every time, but she forced herself to capture the lap times.

  After about forty-five minutes, he drove up to where she was standing, and trembling, and took off his helmet. “What do you think?”

  She glared at him. “What do I think?! I think you’re insane! I think you need to slow down! I think you almost –”

  He chuckled. “I’m fine, Kinsley,” he assured her. He bent over the motorcycle and the sight of those strong muscles flexing under his jeans made her mind sputter to a stop. He straightened up, something in his hands, and looked back at her. “You don’t know this yet, but I’m very careful.”

  He walked over to the box and put something else in while Kinsley sputtered her surprise. “Careful?” She moved closer, tugging the headset off. “How in the world were you careful? You were speeding around that track at…like…fast!”

  He laughed. “Were you worried about me?”

  “Yes!” she yelled, throwing her hands in the air.

  “Would you have been upset if I’d crashed?” He asked teasingly.

  The blush that stole over her cheeks was enchanting. “Yes!” she replied, but not as vehemently. In fact, it was barely a whisper.

  For some silly reason, her concern warmed his heart. Some women had feigned concern over his stunts through the years. Other women had been excited and turned on by what they termed his daredevil ways. But Kinsley’s concern seemed genuine, as if she were sincerely shaken. “I’m very careful,” he promised her again. “And I needed to go fast in order to test this.”

  She looked down at his hands, which were smudged with grease, which had sputtered onto the contraption.

  “What is it?”

  “I had an idea last week about how to better balance motorcycles when they go around corners. One of the major reasons motorcycles, and cars for that matter, spin out of control is due to a lack of balance. Well, that and stupid driving.”

  She blinked, bringing his attention back to those incredibly expressive eyes. “Oh. Well…” she eyed the contraption and sighed. “Well, did it work?”

  He hefted it in his hands. “Sort of. Would you mind sending me the lap times? I’ll compare those times to a few other data points that this recorded, angles and speed and such, then make some tweaks. After that, I’ll need to test it out again, see if it works better.”

  She stared up at him, those pretty blue eyes widening with obvious horror. “You’re going to do that again?” she gasped, pointing towards the racetrack.

  He nodded and grinned. “Sure. It was fun.” And with that, he scooped up the box, walked over to his bike and revved the engine. “Want a ride back to the office?”

  She looked at the motorcycle, then at her sedate Prius, then back to Lincoln. He saw the yearning in her eyes and his body reacted to it. The moment was brief, only a flash, and if he hadn’t been watching her, Lincoln would have missed it. She wanted a ride! She wanted to feel the excitement and the danger! Damn, his body tightened with excitement.

  Unfortunately, before Kinsley could give in to her desire for speed and thrills, her common sense kicked in. Shaking her head, she took a mental and physical step backwards. “No. Thank you for offering, but I already have my car down here. I’ll drive it back to the building and…” she blinked, obviously trying to remember what she was doing before he dragged her down here to the track. “I have those receipts to sift through.”

  Now that he’d seen the desire in her eyes, the need to get her on the back of his bike, her soft breasts pressing against his back as he rode down the street, her thighs pressing against his and her fingers holding onto his shoulders…yeah, that sounded pretty, damn amazing!

  Lincoln really was careful when he rode the bike. He knew what he was doing and how to maneuver through tight turns and on gravel. Hell, the bike had several special gismos he’d been playing around with that made the bike significantly safer than normal. But she didn’t know that. Nor would he tell her. At least, not for a while, he decided.

  Kinsley took the box from him. “I’ll bring this up as well. You probably need both hands to…” those blue eyes drifted down over the motorcycle. Did her gaze linger on his thighs? He suspected they had, but he wasn’t sure. “To drive that thing back up to the building.”

  Lincoln watched her move towards her car, appreciating the soft sway of her hips. He suspected that she didn’t know she was doing it. Normally, her back was so stiff and tight, but at the moment, she was soft and…sexy. Alluring, he thought. Kinsley really had no idea what a temptation she was. Damn, that only made her appeal so much more intoxicating!

  Chapter 4

  Kinsley stood in front of the deli counter, debating with herself. She should. But really, she should just mind her own business. No, that wasn’t the polite thing to do, she admonished herself.

  “Ma’am?” the deli counter attendant prompted with a touch of impatience.

  Ugh! “Yes, give me another sandwich, but with this one, add some banana peppers and jalapenos,” she told the attendant.

  He grinned, and reached for the peppers.

  “And would you double the meat?” she added.

  “Sure thing, lady.” He proceeded to make the most enormous sandwich she’d ever seen. Kinsley didn’t really understand why a sandwich with double the meat and adding peppers was such a thrill for the guy, but she smiled her thanks when he handed both sandwiches to her. “Have a great day!”

  Kinsley replied back, taking both of her sandwiches to the counter to pay for them. She added in a banana and apple, foregoing the chips, but included two soft drinks. The cashier started to bag up the lunches but the gesture snapped her out of her contemplation of her stupidity in buying her boss a sandwich. “I have a bag,” she announced, pulling the re-useable, fabric bag out of her purse.

  “Excellent!” The teenager replied with a smile. “It’s people like you that are going to save the environment,” he added as he loaded up her fabric bag.

  Kinsley agreed with him, but in her opinion, the fabric bags she’d sewn for herself and all her friends were just easier to carry, they held more, and they were prettier. She’d made dozens of tote bags out of pretty flowered and striped fabric. She loved her bags, and even more, she loved making them. Which was why she’d made about forty of them last month before she realized how many she’d sewn and stopped, forcing herself to get back to crocheting. Her month of sewing insanity was also why all of her friends now had pretty fabric bags. Of course, Carl had refused to carry one of her fabric bags made with flowered fabric. So, she’d sewn him several out of darker, un-patterned materials.

  Driving back to the warehouse, she parked in her usual spot and frowned at the truck parked in the other space. Lincoln owned a Ducati motorcycle, a sexy, powerful Mercedes, and a truck that was big enough to haul just about anything. She had no idea what one actually hauled with trucks, other than a boat or trailer or…she peered into the bed of his truck. Empty. What in the world did he need with
a truck this big?

  None of her business, she thought as she walked towards the door. She knew now to place her hand on the door, pause so that the palm-reader-lock could examine her fingerprints, then tug the door open. She’d thought that there was no security in the warehouse originally because Lincoln never used a key to unlock the warehouse doors. But now she knew better, and had been thrilled when her prints had been loaded into the system so that she could come and go easily.

  “Lincoln?” she called, poking her head into his workroom.

  He glanced up from one of the middle tables, his dark-rimmed glasses making him look even sexier than normal. “What’s up?” he asked.

  Kinsley lifted the bag. “You haven’t eaten lunch over the past few days. I got a sandwich for myself and,” she felt silly now, “well, I got one for you too.”

  His eyes widened slightly and for a long moment, he didn’t move. She actually thought that he might reject her offer, but then he straightened up and stood. He looked a bit awkward for a moment, but then he nodded. “That’s really…nice of you.”

  Kinsley didn’t really understand his reaction, but for some reason, it made her heart ache just a little. As he approached, Lincoln looked a bit like a little boy who had just been promised a Christmas present, but was afraid that it was going to be taken away at any moment.

  “What kind of sandwich?” He asked, his hands hanging loosely by his sides. He took his glasses off and tossed them onto one of his worktables, then stuffed his hands into his pockets. He looked confused. Almost as if no one had ever bought him a sandwich before.

  It was possible. According to the news articles she read about him every night, the man was ridiculously wealthy, although no one would know it from the way he dressed or the way he decorated this space. He wore various tee shirts that had definitely seen better days, well-worn jeans, and work boots. And glasses. That had been an unexpectedly sexy surprise the first time she’d seen him working on one of his projects. Yeah, the glasses…they were hot. Hot in a nerdy-sexy kind of way.

  She lifted the fabric bag up slightly. “Um…well, I didn’t know what you prefer. I got a ham and cheese sandwich for myself, so that’s what I got for you as well.” She bit her lip, not sure what else to say. “With peppers.”

  He looked at the bag and, thankfully, didn’t mention the pink and purple flowers all over the bag. “I like peppers,” he agreed.

  She felt…special as he looked down at her. And awkward. “Well, would you…?” She looked around, noting that there wasn’t a lot of clear space available. Every inch of the tables was covered with…stuff. Nuts, bolts, odd gizmos, and tools. So many tools! The man loved tools!

  He glanced over his shoulder at the mess as well, then back at her, his thumb jerking behind him at the door to the side that she now knew led out to the side of the building. “Why don’t we eat outside? It’s a pretty day.”

  Her relief was huge! As much as she really enjoyed the challenge of this job, it was kind of lonely. She worked by herself in her office all day, her only communication with anyone was when a reporter or “investor” called to demand “just five minutes” of Lincoln’s time.

  It suddenly occurred to her that not many people gave anything to this man. He lived a solitary life, working on his projects. She had no idea how long it took before he came up with a finished product to launch into the world, but suspected that too many people demanded things of him. And not many gave much back.

  “That would be really nice.”

  She followed him out of the building, watching when he grabbed a couple of chairs out of a closet she hadn’t known existed. He set them up in the sunshine and they both sat down. “Do you want the apple or banana?”

  “Apple, unless you prefer apples.”

  She passed him the apple, wondering at the significance of the man who looked like the devil taking a bite out of an apple. Wasn’t there some sort of biblical import to that image? Probably not. Wasn’t it Eve who offered the apple to Adam in the bible?

  Either way, it felt significant, even if she was only thinking it. She also noticed that he had straight, white teeth. She was a teeth person, she knew. It was probably a weird thing, but a person who didn’t take care of their teeth…ick.

  “I think this is the one with the peppers on it,” she said, handing him the larger sandwich.

  For several minutes, they ate in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. They both looked out at the view, marveling at the mountains in the distance. “Why did you choose this area to build your compound?” she asked.

  “I’ve never really thought about the land and all of the buildings as a ‘compound’ before, but…” he took a long sip of his soda as he looked around, “I guess it could be considered one.”

  Kinsley was fascinated by the way his neck and Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed. He was so powerful and strong, his biceps flexing just from lifting the bottle to his lips.

  “You have a work building, a racetrack, and,” she pointed behind her at another mystery road leading up into more lush landscaping. “And whatever is up there.”

  He looked around, squinting in the bright sunshine. “I built out here so that I could be away from others.”

  She considered that for a moment. “For security?” She prompted.

  “To a degree,” he replied, shrugging slightly with a tilt of his head.

  Kinsley suspected that there was more to his reasoning. Something he didn’t want others to know about. “Or because you get sick of everyone asking you for help?”

  His eyes snapped away from the view, narrowing on her features. “Why do you say that?”

  Because someone buying you a sandwich stunned you, she thought. But said, “I answer your phone, remember?” she teased. “Not a single person has called offering help, only demanding your time and attention.”

  He shrugged and her eyes moved down to his deliciously broad shoulders. “I’m well known as a recluse in the industry.”

  She considered his words for a moment. “Not because you prefer being alone though,” she offered, surprised she’d actually uttered that observation out loud. He seemed surprised as well.

  Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be offended by her comment. He shrugged slightly. “I don’t like to talk about my projects until they are ready to be presented to the world.”

  She took another bite of her sandwich and nodded. “That’s fair.”

  “So, are you engaged-engaged yet?” he asked, then took a big bite of his sandwich.

  Laughing, she shook her head. “No! It’s not time yet.”

  He froze for a moment, then looked at her earnestly. “What does that mean? Is there a season for engagements I don’t know about?”

  Another laugh, but Kinsley warmed to her subject. “No, there’s no specific time when a man is allowed to propose. But there definitely are good and bad times for a wedding.”

  His eyebrows went up, then down as his eyes narrowed. “And you’re waiting for…?”

  She shrugged, her eyes turning shrewd as her innate sense of organization and efficiency kicked into overdrive. “It will take me ten months to plan my wedding.”

  “Ten months?” He echoed, surprised. “Why that long? Can’t you just go to a justice of the peace? Or even better, fly out to Vegas and get the deed done and over with?”

  The horror on her face made him laugh.

  Kinsley huffed a bit, implying that the idea of doing a quickie wedding was absurd. “Absolutely not! Going to Vegas is just…well, it’s fine, for some people. But not for me. I want to be married with all of my friends and relatives around me.”

  He leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him and crossing his ankles. “Do you have a very big family?”

  She paused, shrugging slightly. “No. Not really. I’m an only child.” She looked a bit forlorn for a moment, but rallied quickly. “But still, I’d like a big wedding. My mother and father will walk me down the aisle and I will be wearing a white
dress with pearls on the bodice. My fiancé will be wearing a dove grey morning suit.”

  “Not a tuxedo?”

  Kinsley shook her head emphatically. “Nope. Tuxedos are for evening weddings. I’m marrying at two o’clock in the afternoon. A morning suit is more appropriate.”

  A dark eyebrow shot up, but he didn’t say anything.

  “Also, I want to be married in April.”

  Obviously, she’d surprised him again if his comical expression was any indication. “Not June?”

  She finished off the first half of her sandwich and grabbed her soda. “No. I don’t like the heat and June is too risky.” She sighed as she leaned back against the chair. “So, in order to get married in April, I’ll need Carl to propose in June.”

  “Have you chosen the ring?”

  She stared at him as if he’d just announced he was flying away. “Of course!”

  “Of course,” he replied with a chuckle. “What does your ring look like?”

  “Emerald cut solitaire. That’s it, just a simple solitaire diamond.”

  “Platinum or gold?”

  “Platinum.”

  “And the flowers for the wedding?”

  She knew that he was teasing her, but Kinsley didn’t care. She had her wedding all planned out and it was going to be beautiful! Absolutely, perfectly beautiful! “Peonies and soft pink roses with evergreen accents.”

  “And the bridesmaid dresses?”

  “Pink! Definitely pink. But my friends can pick out the style of their dress. And I’ll pay for the dresses,” she added. “I would feel too guilty asking my friends to buy a dress that they’ll wear only once.”

  “I thought that bridesmaid dresses were something that could be worn to other events.”

  Kinsley laughed, rolling her eyes as she shook her head. “Oh, that’s what every bride says to appease her guilt and her friends. Unfortunately, the truth is that bridesmaid dresses are appropriate only for weddings. It is a rare thing when someone can wear their bridesmaid dress to another party.”