Vegas Pregnancy Surprise (11 page)

“There’s a pool at Hamilton Towers?” He tried to think if he’d ever journeyed to the courtyard, or for that matter anywhere past the lobby of the building and his apartment. He’d simply moved in—or rather had the movers handle the move—because he’d been, surprise, surprise, at work. What other amenities had he missed in the building?

She laughed. “You haven’t noticed the pool? It’s amazing. All set in this grove of palm trees and boulders, like a cozy lagoon hideaway.” She tossed him another teasing smile. “Very decadent.”

Right now, the word
decadent
was swirling around something other than the pool in Linc’s mind. His gaze focused on her smile, then the tease in her eyes, and the desire he’d tried so hard to ignore charged through his veins, undeniable, unstoppable.

He gave up trying to resist the insistent urges pounding inside him and captured Molly’s waist in his hands, pulling her against him. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened in a little O of surprise. Their legs swished together under the water in a sensuous, slippery dance that brought back every memory of the night they’d spent together.

Want roared through his veins, hammered in his head. His grip tightened around her waist. He wanted more than what they could do in the water—he wanted to be back in the Bellagio, with nothing but hours ahead and Molly lying beside him, smiling that incredible smile.

“I think this is pretty decadent,” Linc said. “Don’t you?”

“Yes,” she said, the word escaping her on a breath.

“And something we probably shouldn’t do.”

“Yes. It could lead to…complications.”

“Exactly.” But right now, he didn’t care about the complications. They seemed a million miles away. His hands slid along her waist, and then up her back, along silky, soft skin, drawing her even closer to him. “Let’s complicate things, Molly,” he said, then he stopped worrying about what he shouldn’t do, and did what he wanted to do.

And kissed her again.

Somewhere, Molly had lost track of her good intentions. She’d thought she knew what she was doing when she’d asked Linc to take the day off. Thought she had a good plan when she’d dragged him to Lake Mead with a day of outdoor adventures planned.

Instead, she found the one taking the adventure was her heart.

Oh, this was so not the plan.

But as Linc kissed her again, she couldn’t seem to find the wherewithal to get back to the plan.

Or, for that matter, remember what it was.

Coupled with the whisper of the water against their skin, the entire experience only heightened her desire for him, raised the attraction she’d felt that first night to a whole new level. Her hands gripped his back, clutching at the muscles bunching beneath his skin as he moved to hold her tighter, pull her even further into his embrace. Her breasts crushed into his chest, but she wanted more, wanted him to touch every inch of her, to take them back to that night they’d spent together.

God, she wanted him. She’d always wanted him.

His tongue slid into her mouth, dancing with hers, stoking an already burning fire. One of his hands danced up her side, setting every nerve on fire, then came around to cup her breast through the thin fabric of her swimsuit. She arched against him, wanting more, wanting nothing more right now than for Linc to tug off the skimpy top and end this constant need for him. His fingers snaked beneath the fabric and captured her breast, roaming across the sensitive nipple. She moaned, pressing her pelvis to his, to the unmistakable erection that told her he was just as affected as she was. Rational thought disappeared. Their legs tangled in and out as they trod water, bobbed up and down. Every beat of her heart, every breath she took, began and ended with Linc’s touch, his kiss.

Then he pulled back just long enough to murmur her name against her mouth in a ragged breath, and she thought she would come completely undone. She was falling for him—oh, God, she was falling for him in a huge, huge way.

“God, Molly, what are we doing?” he said, his voice hoarse, his body hard and tense. Everything within her wanted to touch him, to take them back to where they had been two months ago.

Because she had never forgotten how amazing that night had been. How Linc had made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, just by the way he’d taken the time to kiss her body, lingering with his touch, his mouth, over every inch, before finally bringing her complete satisfaction.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, dipping her head into the curve of his neck, trying to quell the fire in her veins, the furious beating of her heart. Trying like heck to find some sort of a coherent thought.

What was she doing? This wasn’t where she wanted to go. What she had intended to do.

But, oh…for just a moment, she wanted this and more.

She’d come to Vegas, fully intending to return to San Diego alone. And yet every minute she spent with Lincoln Curtis she got more and more wrapped up in him, even though she knew—

The minute she told him she was carrying his baby—that he was about to become a father—he would turn his back on her as surely as her ex-husband had. Hadn’t he already made that clear, over and over again?

Linc did not want children of his own. And he surely wasn’t going to want this one.

The baby. The baby comes first.

The reality slapped her out of the muddled fog of desire. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I…I can’t do this.” Molly slipped out of Linc’s arms and drifted away from him, heading for the boat. She hoisted herself onto the platform, then stood, letting the sun warm her skin as the water dripped off. In a second, Linc was behind her.

“What is it? Did I say something wrong?”

“No. I just…I remembered I have someplace to be.” She wasn’t any better at lying than she was at sticking to her original intentions. She turned away so he wouldn’t see the deception written all over her face, and climbed back into the boat.

Linc followed, picking up a towel to mop at his face and arms. “Someplace you have to be? Now?”

She nodded, keeping her face averted by using her towel to dry her hair, and making sure to keep the long beach towel hanging over the front of her as she did so. She should have thought before she bought a two-piece swimsuit that the style would expose her stomach to his gaze.

She’d noticed him staring at her. Had he seen that she’d put on some weight? Noticed the slight bulge in her belly? If he had, he hadn’t asked. “I have a couple of friends in Vegas and I completely forgot I agreed to meet one of them for an early dinner. I’m sorry, but we need to cut this short.”

He considered her for a long moment, as if trying to decide whether to confront her on her story, then finally let it go. She thought she saw a flicker of disappointment in his features. “I suppose that’s just as well,” he said, his voice colder than the water had been. Whatever might have happened between them was over now. She’d accomplished her goal—alienating Linc. She drew no satisfaction from winning that battle.

“I really should get back to the office,” he continued. “They’ve probably sent out a search party for me by now.”

“Back to reality, huh?”

“Always. I might be able to escape for a minute, but in the end…” Linc paused to look out over the calm waters of Lake Mead for a moment before returning his gaze to her. “I’m still the boss and that means my priority is always the business first—”

“And a personal life second,” she finished, recalling what he’d said to Harry in the aquarium.

A lesson she’d do well to remember.

For her sake, and the baby’s.

M
OLLY
curved into Linc’s arms, pressed against his warm chest, satisfied and happier than she could ever remember feeling. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, then slid a hand down her back, the message clear.

He wanted her. Again.

She smiled, thrilled and flattered. Who could have known that this man—a stranger—could awaken such incredible feelings inside her? That someone she didn’t even know could make her feel so beautiful, so desired? Could erase the years of doubt implanted by Doug, who had made her feel like she wasn’t enough. Not perfect enough, not right for his rigid life.

That her desire for more, for a marriage that fulfilled her needs, too, was ridiculous.

Linc tipped her chin to meet his and kissed her, long, hard, with no doubt about what was to come next. More of the same long, leisurely passionate lovemaking they had already enjoyed. They hadn’t slept a wink that night—and she didn’t care.

She wanted only to enjoy him, to enjoy this exquisite feeling again and again and—

Ringing. Something was ringing. What on earth?

Molly awoke with a start, and sat up, disoriented at first. Where was she? Not in the bed at the Bellagio, which was what she’d been dreaming. Not in her bed at home in San Diego.

Oh, goodness. She’d fallen asleep on the desk in the Research and Development room. It had to be the result of the long day in the sun, coupled with the pregnancy—making her tired and sending her hormones into overdrive.

Causing that extremely vivid dream.

The ringing continued, and Molly looked around, confused for a second longer before she realized it was coming from her computer. Jayne! She’d forgotten to call Jayne on the video phone. The two of them had been chatting almost daily, conversations Molly looked forward to because they kept her connected not just with her friend, but with her life back home. She clicked on the video chat software, answered the call, and loaded the Web cam, straightening her hair as she did, and hoping like heck she’d erased all visual traces of that sexy, detailed dream.

Of Linc.

Jayne’s face filled the screen. “Hey, Jayne, nice to see you!” Molly said.

“You, too! How you feeling?”

“Fine. A little tired.” A few days ago she’d told Jayne about the baby on the way. Like Alex and Serena, Jayne had been overjoyed, yet worried about her friend.

Molly sat back in the chair in the R & D office, glad Roy had already gone home for the day and she had the room to herself. Right now, all she wanted was to be alone. It had been two hours since she’d returned from Lake Mead, and she’d done nothing but try to avoid Linc.

She’d lied about having to meet a friend. Lied about needing to get out of there. Lied because he’d gotten too close, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

“How are things with the baby’s father?” Jayne asked, her movement slightly slowed and exaggerated because of the video conference connection between Molly’s computer at Curtis Systems and her desktop back in San Diego, where Jayne sat with Rocky on her lap.

Molly sighed. She toyed with the baby journal beside her, still just as blank as ever. “Complicated.”

Had Molly really thought she could work for Linc—the man she had spent one incredible night with—and not be reminded of the time she’d spent in his arms? Had she really thought being his employee would allow her to gain access to his personal life? That he’d just open up to her, as if she were his best friend?

She should have done this differently. Just told him straight out that she was pregnant and seen what happened from there.

“Does he know about the baby yet?” Jayne asked. Rocky’s ears perked up.

Molly shook her head. “I haven’t found a way to tell him yet.”

“Moll, you have to. You can’t just let something like that wait. I mean, he’s going to figure it out in a few months anyway.”

“I know, but…” She let out another long breath. “I’m afraid of what he’ll do when I tell him.”

Jayne laughed. “What, something really terrible, like marry you?”

“Yeah.” She could see that in Linc. The overwhelming urge to do the honorable thing. Except that would put her right back where she’d already been before—married to a man who was her complete opposite. A man who’d only married her because it was the right thing to do, not because he loved her, or because he wanted to form a family with her. She and Linc may have shared an attraction, okay, an amazingly hot attraction, but clearly they wanted different things for their futures and their lives.

She wanted the kind of happy marriage her parents had had for thirty-plus years. They had been in love, and it had shown in every gesture, every word. That was what Molly wanted, not a business partnership, which was the kind of thing she could see Linc proposing.

“Or worse,” Molly continued, “he could not want the baby.”

“You’ll never know if you don’t talk to him.”

Molly drummed her fingers on the desk. She knew that. And yet she kept putting off telling Linc the truth. At some point, she had to tell him. He deserved to know. It was the right thing to do—for him and for the baby. And if after she told him he wanted nothing to do with her or the baby, then that was his loss.

She would have at least done the right thing.

And she was okay with that, she really was. At least, that was what she told herself.

“I know. I just need some time.” She put the baby journal into her tote bag, then set the bag on the floor and forced the thoughts of Linc out of her mind. She had done enough thinking about him for one day. Definitely enough, especially after that dream. “So tell me, how are things in San Diego? Are you taking good care of my garden? How’s Rocky?”

“Garden is, umm…okay,” Jayne said. “I’m no green thumb, but nothing has died yet.” The two women laughed. “Rocky’s fine. Missing you, I’m sure, because he sits at the door every day, waiting. I think he thinks you’re going to walk through that door at any minute.”

Molly laughed. “Hey, Rock, I’ll be back soon. I promise. Ask Auntie Jayne to give you extra treats.” Rocky woofed.

Jayne scratched behind the Jack Russell’s ears. He let out a satisfied groan and settled against Jayne’s chest. “Oh, hey, I almost forgot to tell you. An invitation came in the mail for you. Do you want me to open it? In case it’s something important you might need to come home for?”

“Sure.” Molly watched as Jayne held up a thick peach envelope. She heard the sounds of the paper tearing, a card being withdrawn.

Then Jayne gasping. “Uh, Molly, I’ll just throw this away.”

“What? What is it?”

“You…you don’t want to know.”

“No, seriously, go ahead. Tell me.”

Jayne hesitated, then turned the card to face the computer screen. It took Molly a second to process the image, and when she did—

Her stomach clenched. She couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t. He hadn’t.

But the proof was there, in a blissful black-and-white photograph.

Dr. Douglas Wyndham was marrying a woman named Lisa Jenkins in two weeks. That news didn’t hit Molly as hard as what else she saw. In Lisa’s arms—

A brand-new baby boy.

Jayne lowered the picture, and sent Molly a sympathetic smile. “He’s a jerk, you know that, don’t you? One, for inviting you, and two, for leaving you. If there’s a king of jerks, it’s him.”

“I can’t believe…” Molly shook her head. “He said he never wanted children.”

“Maybe he still doesn’t. Molly, you’re better off without him.”

“Oh, I agree.” And as she said that, she knew she was over her ex-husband, and though the thoughtlessness of his inviting her to his wedding hurt, she had no second thoughts about divorcing him. “I just never expected him, of all people, to change his mind.” The invitation, and the image of Doug with a baby, stung. All those dreams she’d had for so long, crushed in a marriage that had suffocated her—and now he’d gone and created that with someone else.

And here she sat, finally having the baby she’d always dreamed of—

Alone.

If only Linc was—

Well, he wasn’t. Once again, she’d chosen badly.

Hadn’t Linc made it clear at least a half a dozen times in the conversations they’d had that he wasn’t interested in children? That he had no time in his life for a family? That his priorities always—always—came back to work?

No matter how much Molly might wish the image on that card was of Linc, herself and their baby, that wasn’t to be. And the sooner she accepted it, the sooner she could move forward.

Alone.

Tears stung at the back of Molly’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Instead, she changed the subject, asking Jayne about her job. For the next thirty minutes she and Jayne shared a chatty conversation, the kind only good friends could have, about nothing and everything. Jayne talked to her about where the baby’s crib would go, what color she was thinking of painting the baby’s room, all happy, future plans. By the time Molly was ready to disconnect from the videophone she felt much better about the entire situation. She should have known her friends would understand. They’d be there to support her, no matter what.

“I gotta get going, but promise me you’re going to tell him.”

“I will,” Molly said.

“And no matter what,” Jayne said. “You know me, Alex and Serena are always here if you want to talk. Or shop for baby clothes.”

Molly laughed, then said goodbye to Jayne. After she hung up, she placed a hand on her abdomen. Inside, a life grew, too small to see yet, but soon it would announce itself. “Hey, baby,” she whispered, and as she did a thread of connection seemed to grow between herself and the tiny person she had yet to meet. “Soon, I’m going to tell your daddy all about you. And I hope he’s as happy to hear you’re on the way as I am.”

Linc managed two hours of work. With Herculean effort.

The entire time his mind kept replaying the day with Molly. From the minute she’d “kidnapped” him to the second she’d said goodbye in front of the office as soon as the town car slowed to a stop. She hadn’t, as he’d expected, headed to the right when she entered the building, which would have led to the parking garage and her rental car.

No, instead he’d seen her disappear into the recesses of the building, and suspected she’d gone over to R & D to work. To avoid him, he was sure.

The question was why. Why she’d lied, and why she had cut their day short.

A day that had been, in his mind, perfect. When she’d first proposed the idea of ditching work and running off to Lake Mead, he’d thought she was crazy. Thought the guilt about leaving his desk for so many hours would eat him alive.

It hadn’t. Instead, he’d returned to his office refreshed, recharged, and except for being completely distracted by the mental image of Molly in a bikini, and ongoing thoughts of kissing her, he’d been ready to get back to work. Maybe Molly was right. Maybe he could afford a day off here and there.

Then his gaze strayed to the photo on the corner of his desk. Marcus, with his wife, his two children. Guilt slammed into Linc all over again, and he decided no. His job was here, providing for the fatherless children of his brother.

Keeping his promise.

Not getting involved with a woman who personified two-point-five kids and a house in the suburbs.

Yeah, if that was so, then why did his mind keep going back again and again to the memory of her in his arms in the water? To how wonderful it felt to touch her again? To kiss her?

Conner popped his head into Linc’s office. “Hey, Linc, you still here? I thought you took the day off.”

“I did, but I came back. You know me. Can’t stay away from this place.” Linc let out a laugh, but it scraped past his throat.

“Figured that.” Conner held up a folder. “I have next year’s budget projections for you. I was going to leave them on your desk, but since you’re here, do you have a few minutes before the meeting at five?”

Another meeting. Another round of facts and figures. On any other day Linc wouldn’t care. He’d simply move from task to task, checking them off on his list with satisfaction. Today, despite feeling energized by the half day off, he couldn’t have cared less if he accomplished one thing or twenty. Because, no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, there was one detail that he had left unsettled, and until he had that cleared up, he knew his concentration was going to be shot to hell.

Conner entered Linc’s office, clearly expecting Linc to say yes, and started to hand the folder to his boss. Linc put out his hand—and pushed the folder back. Working was pointless, at least for now. He hadn’t accomplished half of what he normally did in the last two hours and he sure as hell wasn’t going to do much better in the next two.

“You know, I think I’m going to leave early today,” Linc said. “I have some other…unfinished business to attend to first. Let’s reschedule the meeting for tomorrow. Let everyone go home, have dinner with their families, rather than try to cram one more meeting into the day.”

Conner’s jaw dropped. “Leave early? I didn’t think those two words were in your vocabulary.”

“They’re not.” Linc grinned. “I just have something…else I want to do tonight. Trust me, I’m not changing into a slacker. Tomorrow will run like normal.”

“Oh, I always have hope you’ll change, at least a little. I’m an optimist, always an optimist.” Conner shot him a smile, then backed out of the office. “I’ll reschedule. And let you get out of here. Hopefully to do something fun.”

As soon as Conner was gone, Linc shut down his computer and headed down in the elevator. He reached for the lobby button, hovered over the
L
, then pressed the number six instead.

On the sixth floor, he headed for the R & D room. Chances were, Molly wasn’t even here. That she had indeed gone out to dinner with her friend, that he’d been wrong about her going back to work. But he couldn’t leave without knowing for sure.

Without asking her why she had left so abruptly.

But, no, the door was open. He saw Molly gathering her things, about to leave. He could easily walk away, let the day end as it had. Or not.