One More Kiss (Forsaken Sons Book 1)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  “Wow!” she laughed, feeling the air breeze through her helmet. “This is great!”

  “I won’t say it,” he teased. Riding like this was thrilling! And deliciously intimate. Shockingly so!

  “You won’t say what?” she asked, grinning so wide that her teeth dried out.

  “I won’t say ‘I told you so’.”

  She laughed, unconcerned and just enjoyed the ride. She kept the speed under twenty-five miles an hour, so it wasn’t as if they were flying. She knew that Lincoln drove the bike faster around his private track. But this…she was shocked by how much she loved this! She loved feeling the breeze in her face and hair, even through the helmet.

  He took her down to the track, which allowed her to practice turns. That was a bit more complicated than a straight driveway, but he was right there, helping her when she overcompensated.

  An hour later, he helped her drive the bike back to the garage. When the motor shut off, there was an almost deafening silence and she held very still. Now that she wasn’t concentrating on driving, she was painfully conscious of Lincoln pressed against her.

  No, that wasn’t quite true. She’d been conscious of him behind her the whole time. But now, she was intimately conscious. She could even tell that he was conscious! She could feel his awareness against her bottom and…!

  He pushed the kickstand into place and steadied the bike, then stood up. They took off their helmets and Kinsley stared up at him. He stood by the bike and she…she wanted him to come back to her. She wanted to feel the warmth of his body surround her again. She felt suddenly bereft. As if she’d lost a part of herself when he’d stood up.

  Slowly, Kinsley climbed off the bike, blinking nervously as they stood staring at each other. For a long moment, she wanted to throw herself into his arms and feel those strong arms around her. She wanted to lift up onto her toes, kiss him, and finally find out what it would be like to be kissed by Lincoln.

  “I need to go,” she announced abruptly. Turning on her heel, she rushed over to the side of the warehouse where she’d left her purse before they’d driven the bike down to the track. “Thank you for the lesson,” she said, not looking at him. Because if she looked at him, she wasn’t sure she could hold herself back from…doing something embarrassing.

  Employer! Boss! Those words didn’t seem to make a difference in the way she felt just now. She wanted Lincoln. She wanted him with an intensity that she wasn’t sure how to handle. Never in her life had she been this attracted to a man. Add in the adventure on the motorcycle and she was about to do something incredibly stupid.

  Before walking away, she remembered her manners and turned, looking up at him.

  “Goodbye. And thank you again for dinner last night.” With those polite words uttered, she hugged her purse to her chest and hurried down the driveway towards the warehouse building. As she rounded the corner, Kinsley turned and looked over her shoulder, wanting just one more look at Lincoln. She didn’t expect him to be there. Hoped that he wasn’t. And even if he was still there, he was probably putting his motorcycle back in the garage or doing something else.

  But when she looked back, he was staring at her, his hands fisted on his hips.

  Lincoln watched Kinsley hurry away, his body throbbing, aching to bury himself in her heat. As she looked back at him, he willed himself to remain still. She was practically engaged. She was running away from him. Damn it, he wanted her. Logic had no effect on his lust. He needed her. Not merely in a sexual way, but there was definitely that component. No, Lincoln needed Kinsley for more than just sex. When he’d woken up this morning, he’d struggled to get over his irritation that he wouldn’t see her today. He’d tried to lose himself in tinkering with one of his projects, but when she’d walked into his workroom, that had been the end of his ability to even mildly concentrate.

  Now, watching her walk away when he’d thought she was about to do…something, maybe kiss him…his body ached even more. He wanted to go to her, to stop her and ask her what she’d been about to do. There had been a look in her eyes, a light or maybe an intent...whatever. It had startled him. He’d wanted to pull her against him and tell her that, yes, she could do whatever she wanted.

  Instead, Kinsley had turned and walked away from him. Correction, she’d run away from him.

  He’d stood there, watching her, rooted to the spot where she’d left him, his body aching harder with every step she took away from him while he admired every sexy, delicious inch of her.

  Then she’d turned, looked back at him. A moment later, she’d disappeared and he still stood there, watching as her car drove away down the street.

  “Damn it!” he muttered. Rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, he looked around. “Damn!”

  Putting the bike back into the garage, he secured everything, and walked up the path to his house. Still, he wasn’t sure what to do. He desperately wanted to call her, tell her to come back here so they could explore the seemingly explosive tension that surrounded them.

  Instead, he flipped the switch on his fireplace and tried to read. Unfortunately, nothing managed to hold his interest. His main interest was Kinsley. Kinsley and her soft, blue eyes that emanated warmth, happiness, and understanding.

  He remembered the moment when she’d told him about the private investigator. Who the hell was trying to find him? What the hell was going on? Why was his father, a man who had not just abandoned his mother when she’d needed him the most, but who had demanded that his mother “get rid of the baby” which was himself? Why had he cropped up now?

  Walking into his home office, he picked up the phone and dialed a number. “Hey Ben,” he greeted his lawyer. Yeah, it was Saturday afternoon. But Lincoln paid the man enough for him to be there when he needed him. And this issue definitely qualified.

  “What’s up, Lincoln?” Ben asked in greeting.

  “My assistant has been approached by a private investigator that claims to represent my father.”

  “Your father? I didn’t know that your father was still alive.”

  “I didn’t know either. I’ve never spoken to the man.”

  “Do you think that someone is trying to get to you? Asking for money?” Ben asked.

  “I don’t know. But it all sounds pretty suspicious.”

  “I agree. I know of a really good private investigator myself. Let me look into this and I’ll get back to you as soon as I have more information.”

  “Sounds good,” Lincoln replied. “Thanks.” He hung up. With that task done, he wandered through his house, trying to think of something to do. He considered cooking dinner, but even though he’d skipped lunch, he wasn’t in the mood for food. If Kinsley were here, he’d definitely make something for her. Hell, he’d enjoy cooking something new and interesting if she were sitting on the other side of the counter, talking to him with those big, blue eyes of hers watching his every move. Or even better, if she cooked with him. He could imagine getting tangled up in the cooking process, kissing her as he moved from one place to another. Hell, he could easily imagine lifting her up onto his big countertop and making love to her right there in the kitchen!

  Such was not to be, he told himself firmly. The woman was engaged to be engaged. And Kinsley wasn’t the kind who would cheat on her boyfriend, no matter what a wimpy ass Carl might be.

  Chapter 11

  Kinsley paced her apartment that evening, waiting for Carl to come by. He’d called earlier this afternoon, only moments after she’d returned home. So, she’d been startled and vulnerable. Immediately, she’d invited him over for dinner and started cooking, making an elaborate meal to make up for her lack of control this afternoon. Yes, she’d literally almost thrown herself into Lincoln’s arms and demanded a kiss!

  But as she’d chopped and sliced, heating up the special sauce for the pasta, Kinsley knew that she’d had a moment with Lincoln. And no matter the fact that that moment could never, ever, happen again, she also knew that she’d nearly cheated on Carl. That w
as bad!

  And since she had feelings, very strong feelings, for Lincoln, Kinsley knew what she had to do. The only moral thing, the right thing, to do was to break things off with Carl. Yes, they had a very long history together. And yes, only this morning, she’d thought that she was going to marry Carl. She had everything planned out, right down to the number of flowers in the centerpieces for the tables.

  But after this afternoon, after realizing that her feelings for Lincoln had evolved into something more than just a friendship, she accepted that she couldn’t keep seeing Carl. She had to break things off.

  So when the doorbell rang that night, right at six o’clock, Kinsley was almost in tears.

  “Hey honey,” Carl said, stepping into her apartment. “Something smells delicious!”

  He bent to kiss her and Kinsley couldn’t pull away. But she turned her face so that he kissed only her cheek.

  Immediately, Carl noticed the difference and looked at her curiously. “What’s wrong? Have you been crying?”

  Kinsley looked up at him, wishing that she could feel the same intensity for Carl that she felt for Lincoln. If she’d never met Lincoln, she never would have known that these kinds of feelings were possible. She would have gone her whole life, perfectly content with Carl. They would have had a beautiful wedding with bridesmaids in lovely pink dresses holding blush pink roses. She’d walk down the aisle in her beautiful, pearl encrusted wedding dress carrying blush pink peonies and roses with evergreen accents and everything would have been lovely. The steak or salmon dinner at the reception, with the pink rose centerpieces would have been a wonderful celebration of their future together. Kinsley knew that she wanted two children, a boy and a girl. She’d name the boy Martin and the girl Emily and they would have played soccer and taken ballet classes. She would have taught them to play the piano, just as her mother had taught her. The piano would have been in their living room in the house with four bedrooms, the fourth bedroom with the white coverlet and crocheted blanket that she’d already designed, but hadn’t started because she compulsively kept making new hats.

  “Oh honey!” Carl said, seeing the tear slip down her cheek. He kissed the top of her head and gently pulled her into his arms.

  They were soft arms, she realized. Not hard and firm. Not comforting. Damn Lincoln for spoiling her beautiful, perfect future! She’d honestly thought she loved Carl. And in a sense, she had. Still did. But Kinsley didn’t feel overwhelming passion for him.

  She felt that way for Lincoln.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, pulling out of his arms that weren’t “right” and moved into her kitchen. “I didn’t sleep well last night. I think I’m just overly tired.” Kinsley didn’t mention that his touch made her feel as if she were cheating, betraying Lincoln now. When the reality was, she was cheating with Lincoln! No, they hadn’t cheated physically. But mentally, she’d been thinking about Lincoln, all the while blithely planning to marry Carl.

  He followed her into the kitchen, watching her as she lifted the pot of boiling water and pasta off of the stove, carrying it to the sink where she dumped it all into a colander. The steam rose up, causing her cheeks to flush red for a moment and she breathed in the steam, trying to calm herself down.

  “Need some help?”

  She smiled at him, thinking not for the first time that Carl really was a nice man. “Would you pour me a glass of wine? I got a Chianti I wanted to try.”

  “Chianti?” he asked, moving over to the table and peering at the label. “We’ve never tried a Chianti before. What made you try something new?”

  She shrugged. “Oh, well, I was standing in front of the shelf of wines and a clerk assumed I was lost. He recommended the Chianti with the spaghetti. So, I thought I’d be wild and adventurous…” she paused, thinking of her afternoon lesson on the motorcycle.

  Shaking her head, she pushed that thought aside. She was with Carl now. It wasn’t polite to think of another man when she was with her boyfriend.

  “So anyway, I thought, why not?”

  He laughed as he poured two glasses of wine. “Well, I like a bit of adventure,” he told her, handing one to her. “Here’s to new adventures!” he toasted, then clinked her glass.

  Kinsley hesitated for a long moment, wishing that she could just spit it out. But the words wouldn’t come. This was Carl. They’d been together for so long! How could she break his heart like this?

  Somehow, Kinsley managed to make it through the meal. Carl’s calm, casual conversation helped enormously, but the whole time, she was dreading what she had to tell him.

  A half hour later, Kinsley still wasn’t able to banish Lincoln from her thoughts. “Is everything okay, Kinsley?” Carl asked.

  She looked up from her plate, startled. “Of course. Why do you ask?”

  He looked down at her plate. “Well, you’ve barely eaten anything. And the dark circles under your eyes say you aren’t exaggerating about your lack of sleep.” He took her hand, his thumb sliding over her knuckles. In the past, Carl’s touch had been reassuring. But now, it felt…wrong.

  It felt as if she were cheating on Lincoln!

  Oh, good grief! How could this mess have spiraled out of control so badly, so quickly? What was she doing? How could she have been almost engaged to one man only to feel a deep, intense connection with another man? And in one night?

  No, that wasn’t true. It hadn’t happened in one night. Her feelings for Lincoln had been growing every day. Every moment. Working for Lincoln, seeing how hard he worked, how he was trying to make the world a better, safer place, made her heart soar.

  Also, she’d been aware of him as a man since that first day. And that awareness had only increased. This afternoon, she’d discovered what true desire was. And she didn’t have it with Carl.

  Carl was warm and soft and comforting. He was a friend. Not a lover.

  When that thought popped into her mind, she was shocked. She removed her hand from Carl’s, refusing to allow herself even the slightest comfort.

  Carl blinked, alarmed that she’d cringed away. “What? What just happened?” he asked, his brown eyes wide with hurt and confusion.

  Kinsley buried her face in her hands, sobbing with desolation. “I can’t do this anymore, Carl. I’m so sorry!”

  He moved around to the other side of the table, kneeling beside her chair. “Honey, what can’t you do? What’s wrong?”

  She pulled her hands away, clasping them together on her lap as she looked down at him. “I can’t marry you,” she whispered through lips so numb they could barely form the words.

  Carl blinked at her, stunned, his mouth open. “Not marry? But…?” He shook his head slightly. “What’s going on? Where is this coming from? Are you upset because I teased you about the wedding plans?”

  Kinsley sniffed, because she had been hurt by his words last night. “I was angry about that. But that’s not what this is about.” She stood up and moved across the room. “I just…I realized that, although I love you Carl. I really do!”

  He followed her, reaching for her. “I love you too, Kinsley. So, what’s the problem?”

  “I love you,” she repeated firmly, her eyes pleading with him to understand. “But I’m not in love with you. There’s a difference.”

  He pulled back, his face blank, like she’d just slapped him. “You…you aren’t in love with me? But…what about your plans? I mean, you had the wedding all planned out. You…You’ve even bought your wedding dress!”

  She nodded, the tears streaming down her face now. “I know that. I know! And believe me, it’s breaking my heart!”

  His expression shifted from confused and hurt to angry. “So, if it’s breaking your heart, then why are you doing this? You had plans, Kinsley! We were going to have a future together!”

  She nodded, understanding his anger. “I know. I know and I don’t really understand what happened.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, pacing back and forth. Then he turned, glaring d
aggers at her. “I know what happened! It was that bastard! Your new boss, isn’t it?”

  “What?” she gasped, horrified. But even though her feelings for Lincoln were intense and confusing and…inappropriate, that only showed clearly why she couldn’t marry Carl.

  “Carl, this has nothing to do with Lincoln. It’s about how I feel for you.”

  “Don’t even try that on me, Kinsley! Before Friday night, we were fine! Everything was fine! You had a plan and I was fine with your plan. Then we have dinner in that bastard’s house and now you want him. What was it? Does he have more money? Is that what you’re after?”

  “NO!” she gasped, disgusted by his accusation. “And you know me better than that!”

  He threw his arms in the air. “That’s the thing, Kinsley! I thought that I knew you! I thought we had it all worked out and we were going to have a great future together!”

  She nodded. “I know. It’s just…!”

  “Stop!” He snarled. “Just stop right there! This is crazy, Kinsley! You can’t just…throw away everything that we had together. It doesn’t make sense.”

  No one agreed with him more than she did. But she couldn’t deny her feelings for Lincoln.

  “And yet, you’re standing there, looking lost and confused when I’m the one trying to make sense of this insanity?”

  Kinsley lifted her eyes, silently pleading with him to understand something that she didn’t fully understand herself. “I know that this doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

  He lifted his hand, palm out, stopping her from saying anything more. “NO! This isn’t happening!” He took a deep breath. “We’re not breaking up, Kinsley,” he declared. “I’ll admit that I’ve been a bit slack in the romance department lately. But that’s just how relationships go.” He looked around, shaking his head as if trying to come to terms with everything. “I’m going to go home now. We’re going to let things cool off. We’re not breaking up, but we’re going to…” he trailed off, obviously searching for words.