Her legs dropped open as his finger slid inside her. She tried to say his name but she could barely remember it or her own.
“I told you.” He pressed a kiss against her and let his tongue snake out to lick her. “Now I’ll show you.”
An hour later Linc stepped out of the shower. He heard a weird grumbling noise and rushed to throw on a pair of jeans. It took him another few minutes to find a shirt. He glanced into the bedroom and saw a pile of covers and Thea rolled into a tight ball.
She needed sleep. Since he planned to make love to her again, it was a good idea for her to get some rest now. Thinking about joining her made him smile as he closed the door.
In the family room, the rumbling noise grew louder. He opened the front door and watched a snow plow clear the end of the lane by the house. Nick’s rental car followed close behind.
Doors opened and Nick, Tim and Becky spilled out of the car. They didn’t talk or even look at each other as they approached the house. Linc didn’t know what caused them to venture out in the bad weather or what put the drawn expressions on their faces, but he knew it couldn’t be good.
He stepped back, waiting to usher them inside and spied Thea in the bedroom doorway. She wore sweats and a T-shirt, and if he guessed right, no bra. He was very much in favor of anything that got him to her body quicker.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around her waist.
“No clue.”
Just then the threesome climbed up on the porch and came inside. Linc still couldn’t believe they were there. “How did you get here?”
Nick took off his jacket and shook his head, sending water droplets flying. “We’ve been waiting for the plow to dig out this lane. It’s close to the last one on the list.”
Last? “I thought the roads were impassable.”
Nick snorted as he came into the family room. “This is central New York. Ten inches isn’t that big of a deal here.”
Interesting in light of Thea’s insistence they were trapped inside. In bed.
Linc’s gaze went to her. “You lied to me?”
“For a good cause.” She gave him a so-sue-me look.
Having his woman lie to keep him in bed was just about the best part of the trip so far. Ranked up there with the love admission from Thea and news about the baby. “Nice.”
“Becky?” Nick said her name but nothing else.
It wasn’t until that point that Linc noticed how Tim and Becky hovered right by the door with their jackets on. They didn’t touch and Tim’s smartass comments seemed to be gone.
Whatever bad thing brought them here had to do with those two. “What’s going on?”
“I did it.” Becky’s voice trembled as she said it.
Linc had no idea what she was talking about. “What?”
She swallowed then swallowed again. “Tim wasn’t showing an interest and then this guy in a bar…”
“One of Tanner’s guys,” Nick added.
The pieces clicked together in Linc’s head. Becky. Tanner. An admission of guilt.
Son of a bitch, he’d been looking in the wrong direction the whole time.
“He paid attention and we went out.” Becky looked down at her gloves as she turned her hands over. “He asked for some numbers and one night Thea was in your office and I knew about the video and that I might be able to use it.”
“How?” Linc barked out the question.
Thea looked at him. He could feel the heat of her gaze on his cheek. He didn’t look. Couldn’t. If she showed any sympathy for Becky he would fucking lose it.
“I’m the office manager, so I saw the invoice,” Becky said.
That would teach him to delegate any responsibilities. Linc vowed that would be the last time. “You were the office manager.”
Thea pushed past Nick and stood right next to Linc, facing Becky. “What are you saying?”
“I watched the video and saw the combination and password you entered.” Becky’s gaze bounced up to Thea’s face then back down again. “I used them to access everything I needed.”
“You set me up? I thought you were my friend.” Thea took another step.
Keeping her safe was all that mattered, so Linc put a restraining hand on her arm. Last thing he needed was Thea lunging for Becky. Though it was tempting to let someone do it. From the way Tim stood there with his arms crossed and his face pale, didn’t look like he was the one.
Becky shook her head. “This was never supposed to happen.”
No fucking way was Linc believing that. “You absolutely did mean to steal from me.”
“But I regretted it immediately and tried to fix it. I’d been talking with Bryan—”
“The Tanner guy,” Nick said, filling in the blanks again.
“He laughed at me.” Tears ran down Becky’s face and she wiped them away. “It was all a game to him. He used me.”
Thea’s mouth dropped open. “But you let me get blamed.”
Becky shook her head. “I’ve been trying to find the evidence to clear your name.”
“You’ve been telling my how awful Linc is. You’ve been sending me texts up here and insisting he doesn’t care about me and arguing about how I need to get rid of him.” Thea grabbed onto Linc’s arm as her chest rose and fell on hard breaths.
He welcomed the hold because it kept him from moving in and throwing Becky out. “Unbelievable.”
Thea’s hand shook. “You’re the one who told me to leave town and come up here. To make sure Linc didn’t know where I was because he wanted to sue me.”
“Another damned lie.” And that one almost made Linc’s head explode.
Becky sobbed. “I wanted to fix it.”
“No.” This time Thea pointed at Becky. “You’ve been trying to keep me away from Linc so we didn’t compare notes.”
So much for thinking Thea would rush to coddle Becky. Linc was relieved because there was no way he could have tolerated that. Not after what Becky’s actions had done to his relationship with Thea. He’d lost nine weeks of her pregnancy and all that time with her.
He still wasn’t sure how they’d put it all back together. They loved each other, but he didn’t know if it was enough for her. And now that it was clear Thea didn’t do anything wrong…Linc tried to shake off the guilt but it fell over him like a blanket.
“Becky, enough. Tell the truth,” Tim said, speaking up for the first time.
“Okay, yes. I did try to separate you while I worked on fixing the mess. I am so sorry.” The pleading in Becky’s voice tore through the room.
Linc didn’t give a shit. “You’re fired.”
Thea turned around. He saw for the first time the green around her mouth. She looked ready to drop. One more thing he blamed Becky for.
But he wasn’t backing down on this. “Don’t even ask, Thea. She is fired. Hell, Tim might be fired.”
Becky’s eyes widened. “He didn’t know about any of this.”
Nick nodded. “I think that’s true.”
“Thea, please believe me. If I had known how you felt about the boss.” Becky rushed forward but Linc blocked her direct path to Thea. “I didn’t know you were sleeping together. Then he came after you up here, which is so unlike him.”
“And the guilt finally knocked you over.” Tim’s voice grew stronger that time. Angrier, as if he just realized the extent of his girlfriend’s deception.
Thea shook her head as she leaned against Linc. “I don’t believe this.”
“Please forgive me.” Pain radiated off Becky as she her gaze roamed around the room.
“Hell, no.” Linc was not letting Thea take this on. Becky needed to own her mistake and walk away.
Thea slipped back until half of her body balanced against Linc’s side. He was happy to shield her.
“I can’t even think right now,” Thea said.
“I’m guessing we should leave you two alone.” Nick grabbed his coat again and headed for the door. “I’ll put the
se two on a plane and stick around for a few days.”
Thea held on to the back of Linc’s sweater, pulling it tight across his chest and stomach. “Wait, I don’t understand any of this.”
“She stole and when she realized the evidence pointed to you she didn’t come clean.” Linc’s rage came spewing out. He couldn’t hold it back or block it, so he let it fly in Becky’s direction. “Do you understand what you did? I love her and you… Get out.”
Thea’s fingernails bit into him through the material. “Linc, stop.”
“We should go.” Nick pointed at the door and nodded when Tim opened it.
Becky hadn’t moved from her spot. “Thea, please just give me a chance to explain.”
“Not today, Becky.” Nick’s hands wrapped around Becky’s shoulders as he moved her toward the porch. He glanced over her head at Linc. “I’ll be at the inn and you have my number.”
Chapter Sixteen
Thea stood there staring at the closed front door. She ran through the admission and the evidence. It all made sense now. Becky got lonely and did something epically stupid. Fell for a pretty face and a convincing voice. It happened and when it did this time, Thea was in the wrong place and the wrong time and became collateral damage.
She reasoned it through but that didn’t make Becky’s involvement and everything that happened any easier to accept. She heard a bang and looked over to see Linc slamming mugs on the counter. Looked as if he wasn’t taking the news any better than she was.
“I’ll let her explain.” The words spilled out of Thea. She didn’t even know she was thinking them. But as soon as they were out they seemed like they formed the most important sentence she’d ever uttered.
He balanced his palms against the counter and gave her the side eye. “Why?”
“Because that’s what you do with people you care about.”
Linc stood up and faced her. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
Everything. The most important thing.
“You never let me tell my side.” The hurt poured through her, and she had to get it out before it poisoned what they had and her feelings for him.
His eyes widened. “You’re blaming this on me?”
She did. To an extent, she really did and she hated that. “You jumped to the conclusion I had stolen from you.”
“Because I was stunned and hurt.” He smacked a hand against the counter, making the mug clank together. “Damn it, Thea, I’d fallen for you and I thought you betrayed me. That it was all some sort of game to you.”
She wasn’t afraid. Even as his anger raged and their fight brewed and grew, she knew he would fight fair and with words. The guilt and frustration were plain on his face. She guessed he was also battling a severe case of bruised ego.
The person he’d hired to run his office had screwed him. The PI had led him done the wrong path. It was a lot for a guy like Linc to take in.
But he’d keep in control. She counted on that and didn’t doubt it. It’s what allowed her to push him even further.
And she had to. They couldn’t just rumble over this and pretend it never happened. “But it wasn’t a game for me. I didn’t even understand what was happening.”
“How was I supposed to know that?”
The walls shook from his yelling. Then the silence came. For her it was an ah-ha moment. “I believe you just proved my point.”
His head dropped and he stared at the floor. “I didn’t know what to think but I still wanted to find you and be with you.”
“So?”
He glanced up, pinning her with his pained gaze. “To me that was huge. Do you understand my life? My past? I’m not one to forgive and move on. With you I convinced myself betrayal didn’t matter.”
From the strain she heard in his voice to the words he said, her heart nearly burst. He looked ready to fall to his knees. Like he’d been ripped in two with his inside spilling out.
It was sick and maybe a little wrong, but the words punched through her defenses. They gave her hope that they could get around this wall.
He wiped his hand over his face. “Do you want me to leave?”
The conclusion stunned her. For a second she couldn’t say a word. “Did I say that?”
He came to her then. With his hands on her biceps, he pulled her body tight against his. “Look, I know I’ve tripped my way through this. If you need time, I’ll give it to you. I’ll fucking hate it, but I’ll do it.”
His pleading tore her apart. So did the thought of losing him when they were this close. “You’re leaving me?”
He glared at that. “Hell, no. I’ll go into town and figure out a way to rent the place next door.”
She had to smile over his gruffness and the way he shouted each word as if it broke out of him. “How is that giving me space?”
“I love you and that baby we made, so I am not going far.” He dropped a quick kiss on her mouth. “That’s the reality.”
Every word he uttered put another crack in the terrible wall between them. He broke down the barriers keeping them apart by offering her more than hope. He was handing her a future. She didn’t know if he even realized it, but he peeled back the layer and exposed what was in his heart.
And it changed everything. Healed the wounds. “You have an office back in DC.”
“My life is here. With you.” He lowered his forehead and balanced it against hers. “You stay, I stay.”
“You’ll run a multimillion-dollar company from a cottage in central New York,” she said, pointing out the obvious.
The idea didn’t seem to faze him. He shrugged it off. “If that’s what it takes.”
“To do what?”
“Prove that I love and trust you.”
Light spilled through her now. He thought he had to win her back, but truth was she was already his. Always his. “I already know that.”
His grip tightened in her arms. “You do?”
“We suck at communicating about most things, but not that.”
“Do you forgive me?” His mouth went to her ear.
Much more of that and all talking would stop. He knew just where to touch, to lick, to get her mind wandering back to the bedroom.
She bit back a groan. “Yes, do you forgive me?”
He raised his head again and hit her with an intense blue-eyed gaze. “For what?”
“It took two of us to get in this mess.” When he started to talk, she put a finger over his lips. “I’m not talking about the baby. This is about the stealing. I could have insisted you talk to me but I ran away.”
“I wasn’t in a position to listen.”
“But you are now, which is why we should finish off our romantic week in central New York before we go home and get ready for the baby.”
She put it out there and waited. It was the last roadblock, the one hurdle left. He would either balk or embrace, and the knot in her stomach told her she wasn’t definite on which one he’d pick.
He smiled. “Home?”
When the heat moved into his eyes, the knot slipped open and the tension whirling through her spun away. “It’s wherever you are.”
“I’ll buy you whatever you want.”
The man knew the right thing to say at the right time. She didn’t need a new house or anything except him.
Well, maybe one thing… “We can do whatever you want so long as we keep the bed small.”
He nodded. “I have come to see the benefits of a small mattress.”
The deep rich sound of his laugh washed over her, and she hugged him tight. “I do love you.”
“And I love you.” He pressed a hand against her stomach. “And you.”
“Becky?”
“No, Thea.” The laugher left his voice. “I will do anything for you but forgive her.”
“But—”
He buried his face in Thea’s hair. “I almost lost you because of her.”
Thea didn’t know how to forget that or how she could trust Becky agai
n, but she hated the idea of harboring bad feelings. “I want you to let it go.”
He lifted his head. “Meaning?”
“She gets a neutral reference and you don’t try to mess with her in any way.” Thea wanted his conscience clear and the stolen documents out of their lives. He could easily lose the bid, and she didn’t want him spinning into a new bout of anger.
“That’s really what you want?”
It’s what they both needed. She was sure of it. “Yes.”
“Fine.”
The quick acceptance had her head falling back. “You’ll do it?”
“For you, anything.”
Her world shifted again. Everything aligned and came into focus. She loved this man and with him she could build a life. Her parents would have loved him too.
“If you’re willing to do anything.” She traced a finger along his jawline. “Let’s go into the bedroom and get working on that.”
He lifted her off the floor. “Is there any doubt why I love you?”
She felt so light and free. “There better not be.”
“Never.”
About the Author
HelenKay Dimon is a former divorce attorney turned full-time romance author. She has sold over thirty novels, novellas and shorts to numerous publishers, including Kensington, Harlequin and Berkley, Avon, Samhain and Carina Press. Her nationally bestselling and award-winning books have been showcased in numerous venues and her books have twice been named “Red-Hot Reads” and excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine. But the best part of the job is never having to wear pantyhose. You can learn more at her website, www.helenkaydimon.com or email her at [email protected].
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© 2010 HelenKay Dimon
Even before her bad marriage ended, Lauren MacDonald lost everything—her job, her friends, her self-esteem, and her sexual appetite. Now that she’s finally free, she’s struggling to regain control of a life her ex did his best to destroy.
Baby, It's Cold Outside: Men at Work, Book 1 Page 14
