The waves of her climax exploded just as the ocean gives itself over to the tide. His back stiffened as he shuddered and pulsed deep inside her core. They were silent, with him still deep inside her, for a long time.
He rolled to his back and pulled her onto his shoulder. She’d wanted this three-day affair, had convinced herself that she could walk away and not miss him. She’d been mistaken. Oh, she’d get on that airplane and fly out of his life, but leaving him might be the most painful experience of her life.
“How’s the twitch?” His voice was soft, sleepy and erotic.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” In the dark, a smile crept across her face. She felt nothing in either eye except the sweet pull of complete exhaustion. Relaxed in his arms, she’d savor every minute they had together.
****
Samantha woke to the aroma of some kind of amazing and unfamiliar coffee. She stretched her arms overhead as memories flooded her mind. Linc had been both passionate and considerate, something she hadn’t had in a long time. She pushed herself up and found him standing in the doorway wearing nothing but his underwear and holding two steaming mugs.
“Good morning.” He strode across the room. “You ready for a jolt of caffeine?”
“Morning.” She pushed her tangled hair away from her face. “Is that a warning?”
“I learned to like strong coffee while I was undercover in New Orleans. The chicory is an acquired taste.” He handed her a mug. “I hope you like it.”
Samantha held the cup under her nose and breathed deeply. “It smells wonderful. Thank you.”
Linc sat at the foot of the bed, sipping his coffee. “What would you like to do today?”
“I don’t know.” She wrapped the sheet around herself and sat next to him. “We don’t have to go to work?”
“Not until later. If you’re up to it, I’d like to do my own search of Charlie’s house to see if those jerks missed anything. After all, we disturbed them, so maybe they weren’t finished.”
“Sounds great to me.”
“Afterward, you pick what we do.” Linc stood, walked to his closet, and then slid open the door. “What time are you leaving Sunday?”
“Nine-fifteen. I booked a morning flight.”
“No good.” He pursed his lips as if deep in thought.
“No good?”
“Why don’t you call and see if you can get a later flight. What’s going to happen if you don’t get there until late Sunday?” He tossed a pair of jeans on the bed, leaned down and traced the edges of her ear with her tongue.
“Absolutely nothing.” She’d barely managed a whisper. The affection in his gaze took her breath away. Standing, she wrapped the sheet around her body and almost ran to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Reality had slammed into her hard. More romance than she’d experienced in her lifetime waited on the other side of the door. Could she accept it for what it was? Didn’t she deserve to grab hold and enjoy every minute? She splashed her face with cold water, stared into the eyes of the woman in the mirror. Damn right she did.
A knock on the door snapped her mind back to reality.
“Sam, you all right?” Linc voice was thick with concern.
“I’m fine. I’ll be right out.” Drying her face, she opened the door, walked into his arms.
“Talk to me, Sam. Something happened.”
“You’re right, something did.” She tiptoed up and kissed him. “If you’ll excuse me again, I need to call the airline.”
He scooped her up in his arms, swinging her in a circle. Laughing with him came easy. She was glad she’d decided to stay.
“Use my phone, all the numbers are programmed in.” He went to the living room and returned with his cell.” He handed her his phone with the flare of a sommelier presenting his wine list and then left the room.
It cost her two hundred bucks to change her flight from early morning to eleven-fifteen at night. For once, money wasn’t a constraint. She felt decadent, a little wild, and a lot out of character. No one who knew her would believe she’d be so irresponsible as to sleep with a stranger. Well, he was almost a stranger. Lucky for her, today was Friday, leaving her three more glorious days and night to play. She was staying and enjoying this amazing man.
“Done,” she said. She stopped in front of a mirror and instantly burst out laughing.
“You shouldn’t do that without me,” Linc called out from the other room. “Laughter should be shared.”
Should she tell him that she’d just grown up a little, and was taking a chance for the first time in her life? Maybe not. She turned on her heels and walked to the doorway. “I forgot to comb my hair.”
“I take great pride in your hair in how your hair looks. I’ll gladly take credit for mussing it up last night.” He shook his head and smiled. “Holy shit, Sam. If you looked any sexier, we’ll never leave the apartment. They’d find our dead, emaciated bodies stretched across the bed.”
“But we’d die happy.” Her ego soared as he turned his back, adjusting himself.
“Yes, we would.”
“Now let me dress and do something with my hair, so we can get going.”
“You got your flight changed?”
“To Sunday around midnight. I’ll hate us both Monday morning.”
“I’ll make it worth your while.” His eyes slid down her torso, back up to her face. “I’d say you look good enough to eat, but you’d blush, and then I’d take that sheet off you. So, off you go.” He held up his hands in a surrender position.
She stood on her tiptoes and nuzzled his neck. “I seem to be racing against time.”
“Then let’s not waste any more of it.”
She ran to the bathroom and quickly dressed. She wet and braided her hair and then secured it with a ponytail holder. “I do need to swing by the hotel and change clothes.”
Linc opened the front door. “After you.”
Samantha led the way to his car and within minutes, they were flying down the freeway. The morning sun warmed her, the roar of his car hypnotized her, and with her head lolling back on the headrest, she decided this was the most perfect day ever. She rested her open hand between them, smiling when he intertwined his fingers in hers.
He released her, saying something she didn’t understand over the rushing wind.
“Say again?”
“Your phone. It’s ringing.”
She checked and found two messages. “Ham wants me to call.”
“We’re almost to your hotel.” Linc pulled up to the front door of her motel and waved off the valet. “I’ll be parked over there.”
“You’re not coming in?”
“Not if we’re really going to Charlie’s.” Linc’s smile was full of sexy insinuations. “I’ll give you some privacy while you call Ham.”
“Like I have any secrets left for you to uncover.” Samantha laughed and got out of the car. “Be right back.”
She flew through a shower, dressed in shorts, a pullover top, and slipped her feet into her new sandals. Her hair had survived riding with the top down, so she left in the braid.
Then she paused to call Ham. She listened intently as he went over the appraiser’s findings. Her heart pounded in her chest. Numb, she ended the call and hurried outside. He must have been watching for her because he immediately drove to meet her. She hopped in, pulled Linc’s face to her, and then kissed him long and hard.
“If I had to take a wild guess, I’d say your talk with Ham brought good news.”
“I’m dying to tell you, but let’s go on to Charlie’s. I don’t want to repeat my conversation over the roar of the engine.”
“You look like you’re about to pop, so we’d better hurry.” He glanced at her several times on the drive but never asked a single question.
The minute they were parked in Charlie’s driveway, she exploded. “The appraisal is already back.” She swallowed a couple of times. “Let’s go in. You need to be sitting down.”
“I figured it must be something good. You’re glowing.” Linc hopped out, jogged around to give her a hand, and then lifted the crime-scene tape so they could get in the house.
She tugged him to the couch and then waited for him to sit. She didn’t join him, preferring instead to pace.
“I’m down.” He waved his arm to demonstrate. “Are you going to tell me the good news?”
“The Cage. The house. The entire estate is valued at over six million dollars.” Her mouth had gone dry again, not a drop of saliva was available to wash down the lump in her throat. “How can that be? The Cage isn’t the fanciest or the busiest place in the area. No way can it be worth that much. I don’t get it.”
“Aside from Charlie’s portfolio, you have to consider California land values.” Linc pushed himself off the couch, placed his hands on her shoulders, and stopped her pacing. “Facing the ocean? We’re talking location, location, location. That property is prime real estate. Charlie had been refusing to sell for years.”
“But what difference does it make who pays the salaries?”
“Think about it. There wouldn’t be any salaries. They wouldn’t have jobs to go to. That building and a bulldozer would’ve met within days of the ink drying. Condos, shops, who knows what would be built, but The Cage would be gone. Charlie didn’t want that to happen.”
“If that’s true, he should’ve talked to me about it.” Her resentment flared once again, because he’d never contacted her.
“You’re trying to punish a dead man.”
“I get that the restaurant had been Charlie’s dream, but it should have been to reconnect with Nana and find his son. That makes it hard for me to care about what he wanted.”
Linc tipped her chin up. “Don’t misunderstand. I’m thrilled for you. You’ll never have a minute’s worry. Things of the things you can do with that much money.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m not trying to ruin your good mood.”
“I know.” She offered a smile of reassurance. “We won’t let it interfere with the weekend.”
“Deal. I’m going to search everywhere. Pull off the vent covers, things those two thugs might not have done.”
“I’m going to look around, too.” A little more in control of her emotions this trip, she took a closer look at the neighborhood her grandfather had lived in. She’d seen pictures of palm trees in magazines and on television, but had never imagined how beautiful one would actually be. Fronds swinging in the breeze, massive barrel shaped gray trunks standing stately, like sentry’s protecting the homeowners from harm. Manicured lawns and tall shrubs gave the area a quiet, reserved feel. The plant she and Linc had watered was stressed again. She’d water the poor thing again before they left today.
Tears brimmed as she fought back a twinge of resentment toward Charlie. He wasn’t going to ruin her perfect weekend, so she pushed her feelings under the surface and went back inside. “I need to help. Tell me what to do.”
Linc replaced a vent cover he’d removed from the wall. “Pick a room and look everywhere: open boxes, suitcases, check under the bed. I’ll take a look in the garage.”
“I’ll be in the bedroom.”
“My favorite room,” he said. “If you need me, I’ll be in the garage.” A low, sexy laugh echoed behind him.
Working in silence, Samantha picked through the contents of shoeboxes that had been opened and left scattered across the floor. She read through outdated service contracts and a few newspaper articles about her father and his time with the fire department. She picked up pictures from Charlie’s army days and put them in an empty battered suitcase. She even searched the pockets of the few suit jackets. She had started out of the room when, on an afterthought, she lay flat on the floor and looked under the bed. A plastic tote was just within her reach. It easily slid out for inspection. When Linc came looking for her, she’d separated her findings in to neat stacks.
“What’d you find?” He sat cross-legged in front of her on the floor. She handed him a stack of old photographs and watched as he thumbed through her grandfather’s life.
“I didn’t look at them all. He had a lot of pictures of me after I was in college. Proof if he’d wanted to reach out to me, it would have taken only a phone call.” She sighed as disappointment and resentment washed over her. “I’ve spent enough time on him. He didn’t care to know me, and the feeling’s mutual.”
“This isn’t why I came in here.” Linc dropped the pictures into the plastic tote, stood, pulled her to her feet, and then tugged her out of the room.
“Where are we going?”
“I have something to show you.” He led her through the living room and kitchen then out the door into the back yard. “The garage didn’t hold anything interesting; his pickup, which I searched, and a lawnmower, an old tire, plus a few yard tools. The storage building back here was padlocked, so I cut the lock off. When I opened the doors, I found this.” He finished removing a tattered cover from an old car.
“Wow. That’s quite the antique. It wasn’t mentioned in the will.”
“Sam. This is a 1961 Ford Fairlane. Don’t you get it? Didn’t you say that was the year your grandmother was sent away? This could be the car Charlie drove when he and your grandmother were dating, when they were teenage lovers. Did he keep this car all those years? That would’ve required storing it while he was in the Army. That alone should tell you something.”
“Do you think it’s the same car?” Still, he had a point and her curiosity was peaked. She needed a closer look, so she walked all the way around it. She’d inherited an appreciation for cars from her dad. He’d have loved this car, with its concave grill, rounded body and the huge round taillights. Charlie, or somebody, had taken good care of it, because there wasn’t a spot of rust on it.
“Son of a bitch. Stay where you are.” Linc whirled around and ran into the house.
Samantha was checking out the interior of the car when Linc rushed back in with a stack of photos. Dropping the pictures on the hood, he fanned them out before picking through them.
“It’s in here. I saw it just minutes ago. Got it.” He handed her a yellowed snapshot.
“Oh my God.” Blood rushed to her head and tears flooded her eyes. “How did I miss these?” She dug though the other pictures and found two more of Nana and Charlie standing beside a car identical to the one in this shed. One shot was of the couple facing the camera, two happy, smiling teenagers with their arms around each other. They were staring into each other’s eyes in the other two. Something close to forgiveness tugged at Samantha’s heart. “They looked so much in love.”
Linc’s hands slipped around Samantha’s waist as she stared at the two young people and saw the affection they had shared. Her heart filled with pain, pushing at her chest as she turned in his arms, facing him. The pictures moved her, but it was the look in Linc’s eyes that amplified the excruciating ache.
For a split second, Linc’s face bore the same tender expression as Charlie’s. Then he blinked, and it disappeared. He looked away, denying her. She felt a shift in their short-lived relationship. A break had formed between them.
“I thought you’d want to show them to Ruth.” Linc’s tone was flat, cool, spoken without emotion. The look in his eyes spoke volumes. What was the feeling that he refused?
“I will. They’ll mean the world to her.” Samantha helped him replace the cover and waited while he closed the door to the storage shed.
Her life had too many unanswered questions. Maybe her grandmother had been right; time to drop the subject and move on.
CHAPTER 13
Samantha had planned to ignore Linc’s attitude change, but by the time she entered the kitchen her curiosity had won out. “What happened out there?”
Linc backed up, and pushed himself up to where he sat on the kitchen counter. He studied her as if considering whether or not to answer her question. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. It was as if you turned th
e switch to Off. We were engaged in a conversation, actively talking, and then we weren’t. Who was she? Who was the woman from long ago who left such a mark on your heart?”
“What makes you think I want to talk about the women in my past?” he asked.
“Because when you asked, I told you about my past.” She stood her ground.
“It’s not one particular woman. It’s any woman.”
“Bullshit.” She surprised herself at the use of the word, but it applied to his behavior.
Linc hopped off the counter, took her by the hand and led her from the kitchen to the living room. He seated her on the couch and pulled the chair around in front of her, sat facing her with their knees almost touching.
“You’re right. It was a bullshit answer. I’m going to answer your question. It’s always been my personal belief that you can’t be a member of law enforcement — and a good husband. Not a good one. I’ve seen men and women who couldn’t think of anything except getting home. And that’s the best way to end up wearing a toe tag. Working with those types, depending on them to watch my back? They scare me to death.”
“I believe you,” she commented. “Sort of. I don’t buy it a hundred percent. You tried it once, didn’t you?” she asked mildly.
Linc looked thoughtful. His mind seemed to wander, maybe to another place and time. Before he answered, he cleared his throat and nodded solemnly. “Yeah. It worked for a while.” He laughed through a sneer. “Then she decided it didn’t. My fault. I wasn’t invested enough.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out. You deserve to be loved.” She tried to smile but failed miserably. Her heart ached for him and the self-inflicted loneliness he must feel inside.
“Sam.” The harsh angles on his face softened. He reached out and ran his fingertips down her cheek. “Don’t feel sorry for me.” He shifted uncomfortably in the chair before pushing it back and sliding off on to his knees in front of her. Smiling at her, he put his hands on her knees and pulled them apart. He inserted his body between her legs, wiggling them wider as he edged in closer. “No regrets or recriminations, right?”
Till The Dead Speak (Killer Affections Book 2) Page 12
