Wicked Pleasures (7 page)

W
HAT IN THE
hell was he doing?

Linc had spent the day juggling his Lazarus duties with tailing Regina and felt as raw as an overworked piece of meat. Right now she was covering the dinner shift at the diner and due to get off soon. He was heading to her place, where he planned to add a motion sensor to the other equipment he’d already installed.

He gripped the steering wheel so tightly he had to consciously loosen it for fear he’d snap it clean off.

Last night had been…incredible. But having hot sex with Regina was the last thing he should be doing right now.

Yeah? Easy to say that now that he’d spent all night doing it.

He could virtually hear his back teeth grinding together. With the break-in interrupted yesterday, it was a pretty good bet that Billy Johnson was already plotting ways to finish the job. He had the bedroom yet to search.

And that angered Linc all the more. What had Johnson planned to do once he’d completed going through the living room while Regina was asleep?

The possibilities brought his blood to the boiling point.

Damn it, he should have told her. He should have let her in on the fact that her ex had broken out of prison. Better she should be aware and prepared than continue allowing her to stumble around in the dark a moment longer.

His reasons were purely selfish at this point. While he might have explained away his duplicity before as a business matter, now…well, now that Johnson was in the area and had made his first move, Regina’s ignorance placed her in greater danger.

And once she did know? What would she do? What would the revelation that her ex was not only in her area, but after her, compel her to do? Would she run yet again?

The idea sent something awfully similar to fear stabbing through his chest as clean as an ice pick.

Then there was what Johnson might have up his sleeve to consider. Once he discovered Regina didn’t possess what he was looking for…

He had no doubt physical confrontation would be next.

Linc thought of Regina’s mother lying in a medically induced coma halfway across the country and tightened his fists on the steering wheel again. He tried to find comfort in the thought that there was still one step Johnson had yet to take—finish his search of Regina’s apartment—before he reached that point. But the knowledge was of little consolation.

Linc had to put all this together to make a workable resolution. Now.

And pray that it didn’t end up with his getting kicked out of Regina’s life.

Life?

No, her bed.

He parked his truck and then let himself into her place with the spare key she’d given him so she wouldn’t have to leave the door unlocked again. Not that she could do that anymore, not with the system he’d installed. If she didn’t lock the door, it would automatically lock within two minutes of being closed. That was another reason she’d insisted he take an extra key, and he’d suggested she have a copy made to keep elsewhere, say, in her locker at work, just in case she accidentally locked herself out.

The instant he entered her place, he felt different. The tension coiling his muscles eased a bit. Merely being surrounded by her things, her scent, made him feel better. Even without her there, he could at least sense the anticipation that she would be soon.

He dropped his duffel on the floor and went to the kitchen to put away the bag of groceries he’d picked up. Sandwich fixings, juice, eggs and a loaf of bread.

His cell rang. He glanced at the display. It was his aunt.

“Hey, kiddo,” she said when he picked up.

He smiled slightly. He’d tried asking her once to stop calling him that, considering it had been a long time since he’d been a kid. She’d told him that to her, he would always be the quiet little boy who stole her heart, so he might as well prepare himself to hear the endearment when he was sixty, granted she lived long enough to still be calling him that.

“Hey, yourself, Aunt Rose. How are you doing?”

“I’m good. Better now I’ve heard your voice. There was a ruckus up the block last night. A fire. They evacuated everyone on this side of the street and fire-truck lights made it feel like day instead of night. But so long as my place is still here, and my plate of fried chicken still on the counter, I figure everything’s good.”

Somehow she always made him feel as if he’d just left her place after a big meal. He could almost smell her fresh biscuits baking in the oven. “Glad everything’s okay. Anyone get hurt?”

“No, no. Thank goodness. But Val is shopping for a new place. Told her that’s what she gets for leaving her curling iron plugged in. Anyway, she’s bunking with me until we can get her set up somewhere else.”

“A curling iron?”

“Mmm-hmm. She swears a girl never knows when she’ll need a quick curl. Learned her lesson the hard way.”

He chuckled and then said, “Sorry I missed your call last night.”

“Apology accepted. So long as there’s a good reason for it.”

He looked around the apartment, but didn’t comment.

“You know, like a girl?”

“I’m too old for girls.”

“A guy is never too old for girls.”

“Good point.”

A pause and then, “Okay, what’s her name?”

He moved into the other room to get his equipment out of his duffel. “What’s whose name?”

“Boy, I know you better than you know yourself. Who is she and when do I get to meet her?”

Considering his aunt hadn’t met anyone he’d dated since he was in high school, he had to give her credit for never losing faith. Hell, it was all he could do to get back home for a visit every few months. He couldn’t imagine arranging for someone to go with him.

Or at least he couldn’t before.

Now…

“That serious, huh?”

“What?”

“Whenever you go quiet, it means something important.”

“I’m always quiet.”

“Yes, but not in this way quiet. Is she pretty? I bet she is.”

“She looks just like you, Aunt Rose.”

That made her laugh. “Lord, I hope not.”

“I told you the woman I end up with would have to be just like you, or else she wouldn’t be worth having.”

Silence. As much from her as from him.

Had he really just said what he had? Did he consider Regina his girl?

He dry washed his face with his hand, hoping his aunt had missed the slipup, even as he knew she wouldn’t. Not in a million years.

“What’s her name?” she asked. “And when are you bringing her home to meet me?”

He looked around, for a moment forgetting what he was there to do. “Look, Aunt Rose, I’m on a job. I’ve got to run.”

“Don’t you dare hang up this phone, Lincoln,” she said.

“I don’t want to. I have to.”

“Promise you’ll call me later.”

“I promise I’ll try to call you later.”

A long sigh and then, “Fine. But be prepared to share something when you do, kiddo. You can’t leave an old woman hanging like this. It’s not good for the heart.”

He chuckled. “You’re not old and your heart’s fine.”

They said their goodbyes and he pocketed his cell phone just as he heard voices outside the front door. He was getting to his feet when Regina entered, her friend Vivienne on her heels.

R
EGINA WAS SURPRISED
to see Linc inside her apartment. If she’d known he was there, she wouldn’t have invited Vivienne over for a late supper.

“Linc,” she said softly.

She recovered her composure, but she was sure it wasn’t in time for Viv to catch it.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Her friend made no attempt to disguise her open appraisal of the man standing over a duffel full of equipment.

“Viv,” Linc said. “How are you?”

She stepped farther inside and around him, still giving him the once-over. “I think the applicable question here is how are you? If I were going by looks, I’d say fine. Very fine, indeed.”

Regina gave an eye roll, her friend’s flirting rubbing her the wrong way.

Linc cleared his throat and met her gaze. “I stopped by to install those motion sensors I told you about.”

“Oh,” she said.

“Mmm…motion sensors.” Viv hooked a finger under the short sleeve of his black T-shirt and tugged. “I could suggest a few motions the three of us might make.”

“Viv!” Regina was aghast.

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Linc said.

Regina nearly sighed with relief. Then she realized how rude it was to allow him to go just because her friend couldn’t behave herself.

“No, no. Please, finish,” she said. She raised a bag. “I brought a few rib eyes from the diner. Stay for supper?”

“Mmm…yes. He can be dessert.”

Regina grabbed her friend’s arm and maneuvered her into the kitchen. “Actually, I’m going to have you make dessert.”

“I’d much rather have him.”

As soon as they were in the kitchen and she’d put the bag down, out of Linc’s earshot, she said, “What are you doing?”

Viv appeared amused. “What do you mean what am I doing? I’m taking up where we left off the other night.”

“Yeah, well, stop it.”

Viv looked her over, but in a different way than she had Linc.

Regina wasn’t clear why she hadn’t told her friend she and Linc had been seeing each other. She’d even left out his involvement last night, saying only that she’d had a security system installed, mentioning nothing about who had installed it.

Scratch that. She knew exactly why she hadn’t told Viv about Linc: because of exactly what was happening now.

“Wait a minute…” Viv said. “You two have been seeing each other?”

Regina turned toward the bag and took out the paper-wrapped steaks she’d gotten from the diner.

Viv came to lean on the counter next to her. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Regina shrugged. “I don’t know. It never came up.”

“Never came up.” Viv crossed her arms and leaned closer. “I hope that’s the only thing that never came up.”

“God, you can’t help yourself, can you?” Regina laughed.

“Sorry, it’s just the way I’m made.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “So, how…big is he?”

I
F SHE’D HOPED
her talk with Vivienne during dinner preparations would help defuse her friend’s outrageous behavior, she’d been sadly mistaken.

Dinner was awkward at best. Regina was convinced Vivienne couldn’t help herself when it came to good-looking men. Which might explain why she couldn’t seem to keep female friends. She complained that when ever her friends hooked up with a steady guy, they stopped talking to her. Could this be one of the reasons?

Regina knew a bit of Viv’s past, but not nearly enough to pass judgment, nor to help her in any meaningful way. She should probably make an effort if she hoped to give their friendship a good shot at making it over the hurdle that seemed to doom her other friendships.

As it was, it was all she could do to keep Viv from climbing into Linc’s lap to demonstrate why she thought it was a good idea that the three of them revisit the other night, preferably without alcohol and with sex.

It got so bad halfway through the meal, Linc made a show of checking his cell phone and excusing himself from the table, saying he had to leave.

Regina got up to see him out.

When Viv moved to do the same, Regina caught her shoulders where she sat in the kitchen chair and held her in place. “I’ve got this. Stay and finish your meal.”

“I’d much rather see if I can sample some dessert.”

“I’d much rather you didn’t.”

Thankfully her friend finally seemed to take the hint and stayed where she was. Still, Regina wasn’t taking any chances. Rather than saying goodbye to Linc inside the apartment, she stepped outside with him, soundly closing the door behind her.

“Shit,” she said as the bolt automatically hit home. “I forgot my keys.”

Linc jingled his.

She smiled.

“Looks to me like your friend has a few issues,” he said quietly.

She searched his face, looking for a trace that any of the attention Viv had bestowed on him was welcome. “Well, you did come home with both of us the other night.”

He nodded and looked down at their feet.

The thought was a sobering one for her, as well. It was easy enough to forget when the two of them were alone together. But with Viv present…well, it cast whatever might or might not be happening between them in a slightly different light.

Slightly? An entirely different light.

“I’m not done installing the motion sensors,” he said.

She looked over her shoulder at the closed door.

“I was thinking maybe you could come stay the night at my place tonight,” he said.

The idea made her heart dip low in her chest.

“You know, just to make sure you’re safe.”

She smiled. “Is that the only reason?”

His eyes were full of naughty suggestion.

And if it weren’t for her friend inside the apartment, and the reminder that they had started out as a three-some that had ultimately continued in a twosome…

“I think I just want to be by myself tonight.”

She wanted time to think.

He seemed to search her face with the same intensity with which she’d looked into his moments earlier.

“I’m not sure how I feel about that,” he said.

She squinted at him.

“The security system isn’t fully functional right now.”

“And the chances someone’s going to break into my apartment again so soon after the last time?” she asked, amused.

He fell silent.

“Look, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. Thank you for all you’re doing…”

“No thanks necessary,” he said.

She briefly bit her bottom lip. “I just think it’s a good idea if I get some sleep tonight. If we
both
get some sleep tonight.”

He chuckled at that, and awareness spread like warm honey throughout her stomach. A moment longer and she was pretty sure she might change her mind.

P
ROBLEM WAS
, L
INC
had no intention of getting any sleep. Worse, he wouldn’t have Regina’s luscious body next to him to keep him awake.

He climbed into his SUV and drove around for a while before heading back and parking up the street from Regina’s apartment. She’d given him a lingering kiss that had left him more than a little hot and bothered before he’d unlocked the door so she could go back inside.

Vivienne…

He cursed under his breath. If anything were capable of cooling him off, it was thoughts of her during dinner. She’d been almost vulgar in her come-ons, as about discreet and subtle as a ten-dollar whore. Oh, he’d dealt with her type often enough. But by the horrified expression on Regina’s face, he got the feeling that she not only hadn’t, she hadn’t known her friend was capable of the behavior.

Of course, Vivienne had been oblivious to it all. Which had made her naked advances all the more awkward.

Damn.

He settled back more comfortably in the chair…comfortably being a relative term. He didn’t like the brassy redhead monopolizing Regina’s time.

Of course, if it hadn’t been for Vivienne, the two probably wouldn’t have met.

Then there was how close he felt to something resembling jealousy.

Was he jealous of Regina’s friend?

Yes, he realized, he was. He’d be envious of anything that took her time away from him.

New to him.

He watched a car come up the street behind him and slow its speed. He picked up his advanced cell phone and focused on the plate. Local. It pulled to a halt near Regina’s building and someone got out of the passenger’s seat. A woman. The car continued and Linc watched as the woman walked to a house across the street and let herself in.

One of Regina’s neighbors. An art-gallery secretary who lived in the three-bedroom house with her husband and one child. He watched through the open front window as the six-year-old boy launched himself into his mother’s arms and the husband got up from the sofa to welcome his wife home.

Surveillance of this nature required not only watching the subject in question, but also the people who surrounded them, as well. Someone like Billy Johnson wouldn’t hesitate to use any of Regina’s neighbors in order to gain access to her. Up to and including those she worked with at the diner.

In fact, this morning he’d figured he’d put more man-hours into this case than he had any in recent memory, up to and including the assignment around the missing girl in Florida. Of course, then, because of his status as an ex-FBI agent and his continuing contact with the Bureau, he’d acted more as a liaison and worked as part of a team. He was on his own on this one. Which is how he preferred it. At least when it came to Billy Johnson.

He wished the escaped con would slip up, show his face and let Linc nab him already.

And once he did? Would Regina still want anything to do with him?

He rubbed his face with his hands, the question tailing him like his shadow day in and day out.

She said she’d felt responsible for Johnson. How would she feel if she knew he was the one to send him back to prison? While Linc was confident she didn’t harbor any romantic feelings for the man, the other almost maternal instincts tended to be a little more deeply ingrained.

Then there was the little matter of his own dishonesty.

Little?

At this point it was coming to resemble the Rocky Mountains behind him.

He sighed and shifted in the seat again, watching Regina’s living room window, tracking the two shadows there as they moved from the kitchen to the sofa and chairs. What were they talking about? he wondered. Of course, all he’d have to do to find out was switch on the receiver to the listening devices he’d installed his first night there. But he had a feeling he wouldn’t want to hear what they were saying.

And he certainly didn’t want to know what Vivienne was saying.

“Damn,” he said aloud.

This was going to be a long night…