Now if he could figure out a way to be honest with her. To love her.
Linc smiled down at her. “We can wait to make an announcement.”
“He’s not dumb.”
“No, but his advanced stage of denial should keep him from figuring it out for another few days.” Linc folded the towel and handed her a cup to rinse.
She just sat there, holding it. “Denial?”
“About my feelings for you.”
It was as if he read her thoughts and dragged the conversation in that direction. “Which are?”
“Scaring the shit out of me.”
The bottom dropped out of her stomach. “Linc, I—”
There was a soft tapping on the door. “Everyone okay in there?”
Thea blew out a long breath, unsure if she should be grateful for the interruption or angry about it. “Looks like his denial could be wearing off.”
“Figures.” Linc put a hand on the doorknob but stopped before taking the next step. “Do you need a minute?”
She shook her head. “I’m good.”
He opened the door, and Nick stood right there with his hands braced on either side of the doorjamb. “So, what’s going on?”
“Thea’s not feeling well.”
Nick looked around Linc directly at her. “You need us to take you to the hospital?”
These two liked to throw out that option. She would have made the joke, but the concern on Nick’s face stopped her.
She rinsed then dumped the small paper cup in the trash. “I’m fine.”
“Clearly not.”
Linc exhaled. “Nick, let it go.”
“But she’s—”
For goodness sake. “Pregnant.”
There, she said it. Two down and so many people left to tell, but she could check off another one. An important one. The same one with the bug-eyed stare looked ten seconds from dropping over.
Linc’s head whipped around to stare at her. “You’re not so good at secret-keeping, are you?”
She didn’t understand the point. Not with Nick. He and Linc spent so much time together. She guessed they confided everything. While she worried about the baby and didn’t want to jinx the pregnancy, she also wanted Linc to have someone to talk to.
She skipped all that and went with the undisputable response. “He’s like a brother to you.”
Linc nodded. “True.”
Nick let out a noise that sounded a bit like a croak. His hands went into the air as if he were surrendering to someone. “Go back a second.”
“Thea is pregnant.” Linc helped her to her feet then wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. “It’s mine. We’re having a baby.”
Nick’s eyes narrowed. “But you said…”
Uh, hello? If Linc turned out to be the guy who kissed and told she might just punch him. Right here in her bathroom, in front of his best friend. She did not care.
“What did he say?” she asked, bracing for the answer.
Nick was already shaking his head. “No locker-room talk. When I asked a thousand questions, he’d only tell me you’d been together for a short time when he fired you.”
“Thanks for reminding us all of that fact,” Linc said.
Nick’s face went blank. “So, is this good news?”
Linc nodded. “Great news.”
His quick acceptance filled Thea with a soothing warmth. Rather than hold her body a little stiff and away from his, she sank into him. Let her body snuggle right up against him and felt his arm tighten around her in response.
But that only lasted for a second since Nick pulled Linc into a back-slapping bear hug. He toned down the greeting for Thea, keeping it to a half hug and kiss on the cheek. “Congratulations. Both of you.”
Before Thea could throw out a caveat, Linc did. “We’re not telling anyone.”
Nick scoffed. “Chelsea will kill you if you keep this from her.”
“Soon,” Linc said.
Thea agreed. Chelsea needed to know, and Thea planned to tell Linc to make the call. They just needed to figure out where they were first. Thea had talked with Chelsea a lot. She was smart and inquisitive and wildly protective of her older brother. She would have questions and Thea wanted to be ready with answers.
“Okay.” Nick, usually all charm and perfect moves, started jerking around and even clapped. “So, I should get out of here.”
“You don’t have to.” Thea actually meant it. Having both of them there made her feel protected and safe. She never worried about being in trouble in Skaneateles. It had to be one of the safest places around, but the pregnancy had her jumpy and unsettled.
“The way I see it, you guys have a lot to talk through, including a little case of corporate espionage. Frankly, I don’t want to be here for that.” Nick winked at her. “I’m going to head over to this inn Tim was talking about and let you guys have some time alone.”
Then there was the one thing she wanted to ask Nick. She decided to make it happen now. “Linc, you need to get your things out of the rental car.”
“Right.” He snapped his fingers. “Be right back.”
She waited until the door clicked shut to start in on Nick. “I need you to tell me something.”
“Are you really okay?”
She knew he had to have a million questions and just as many concerns. He and Linc were close, and for weeks they’d been thinking the worst of her. Linc might not think she tried to trap him but Nick could see it that way.
Instead, he looked at her with concern and wasn’t launching into a stay-away-from-him speech like some guy friends would do. She appreciated that. “Sick but fine.”
Nick shifted his weight and generally looked uncomfortable in his skin. “Good.”
She had a feeling that was about to get a whole lot worse. “We’ve always been straight with each other.”
“I thought so.”
She jumped right to the point because Linc would wander in any minute. “Who was it?”
Nick frowned. “You lost me.”
“The mole.”
This time he shook his head. “I’m still confused.”
The idea something that impacted her life in such a huge way barely registered to Nick sent her frustration spiking. She’d lost so much as a result of those charges. The lies had torn her and Linc apart. She couldn’t figure out how to forgive and forget, but Nick seemed to skip to the forgetting stage.
So, she reminded him. “You found the real culprit. I think since my reputation got dragged around in this and I have a baby on the way, I have a right to know who.”
Nick looked like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. It took a few tries. “You need to back up a few steps.”
This didn’t seem all that tough to understand. She stepped out of the bathroom doorway and into the family room. “The investigation is over.”
“True, but that’s where I get confused.”
That made two of them. She’d reasoned this through and thought she had it figured out. “Isn’t that part of what drove Linc to come up here now? He found out I didn’t steal anything.”
“Did he tell you that?”
There was no easy way to admit she’d slept with Linc and started a family with him, but they kept ignoring the biggest block between them. “I don’t—”
“You’re still the lead suspect, Thea.”
“What?”
Nick leaned back and glanced out the window next to the door. Whatever he saw had his words speeding up. “Linc doesn’t want to believe it. Fought it almost from the first. I convinced him. I did that.”
“Nick, how could you think that about me?”
“There’s evidence.” Nick shook his head. “But now with the baby… I still can’t believe Linc is going to be a dad.”
“He’s going to be a great dad.”
“I know that, but you have to admit it’s hard to take in.”
“For us, too.” Thoughts and questions bombarded
her. She waded through it all and went to the one hitting her the hardest. “Linc seemed clear on my guilt when he ushered me out of the office.”
“He was stunned but doing his job.”
“Yeah, so was I.” A sharp pain stabbed into her chest at the memory. She’d never been so mortified. She had trouble holding her head up and giving eye contact even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. “So, you’re saying my name hasn’t been cleared.”
“Linc tried. He hired another investigator to comb through the evidence and then to find you, but no. Everything still points to you.”
Hope battled with fear. If they didn’t have an answer, Linc could still turn on her…again. “I don’t understand.”
“The baby probably explains it. I’ve been trying to figure out his funk for the last few weeks. He’s been useless, Thea. Even less social life than usual and spending time working from home instead of at the office.”
Weeks. No, that couldn’t be right. The timeline didn’t fit at all. “He found out about the baby last night.”
Nick’s head snapped back. “Really?”
“But you’re saying he still thinks I’m capable of taking the confidential documents. He doesn’t want to believe it but it’s a possibility for him.” The words brought a burning ache to her throat. After all these weeks, his lack of trust made her want to fall on the floor and scream in frustration.
“No, he knows what the evidence shows. We both do, but he wants to believe you’ve been set up.”
“I was.”
“Frankly, if you did do it he doesn’t care because he clearly wants you back. That will only be magnified now.”
Her mind broke through all the hurt and confusion and headed right for that last sentence. She knew Linc wanted her. Their attraction had them both tiptoeing around their rough joint past.
Nick looked at the window one more time then his voice dropped to a near whisper. “Did you do it?”
“You know, you are the first one to ask that direct question.” So much loss, all without the one question that might have solved the problem. She did blame Linc for that.
Nick kept staring at her. “Is that a yes?”
“No, I didn’t.” It felt so good to say it.
“But you were in his desk after-hours.”
She had no idea what that meant or where it fit in. “I’m his assistant. I’m in his office and his filing cabinets all day.”
“The PI is convinced. Both of them, actually.”
“Then both are wrong, which means you still have a mole.” She wanted that guy’s name. A few hours of screaming at him over the phone and she might feel better. Might.
“Are you planning on coming back to work for us?”
The guy launched one question after another, but that one struck her as ridiculous. After everything, the betrayal and hard feelings, she knew she couldn’t work at Campbell again. Baby or no, apology or not, she had to move on professionally. “Definitely not.”
“Linc needs a great assistant to keep him in line. He wants you.”
“What about his new person?”
“He doesn’t have one. Won’t take anyone but you.” Linc’s footsteps echoed on the front porch. “And now you see my dilemma.”
She couldn’t believe it, couldn’t imagine. Linc needed someone to organize his schedule. He liked order and with the piles of work he needed the organization done for him.
She really wanted Nick to understand the truth about her. “I didn’t steal anything. I wouldn’t do that. Ever.”
Nick blew out a breath right as the doorknob rattled. “But you do love him.”
“I didn’t say that.”
The door opened but Nick didn’t even glance in that direction. “You didn’t have to.”
Chapter Fourteen
Linc knew it was time. They’d circled the issue. Took the elephant and stuffed him right in the corner of the room and ignored him. Now they needed to drag all the baggage out and dig through it.
After Nick left, Linc dropped his bag on the floor. He kept the investigator’s file in his hands and carried it with him to the kitchen. When he passed Thea, she just stood there, not moving and deathly quiet.
He dumped the papers and shifted to stand in front of her. Ducking his head, he tried for eye contact. “Are you okay?”
“Not really.” Her flat tone reinforced her words.
“Did Nick say something to upset you?” It wasn’t his style but they’d handed Nick a hell of a surprise. If he’d lashed out, no matter what came before, Linc would unload then drag Nick back to apologize to Thea.
Guilt still washed over Linc every time he thought about her last day in the office. Stealing or not, she’d deserved a private discussion and he’d denied her that. Denied them the chance to work it out fast and settle into the idea of being parents.
Damn, he would never get used to that.
Thea lifted her head. A light danced in those eyes. “Take me to bed.”
Linc shook his head, trying to kick out the fantasy that wove its way into his reality. “Did you just say—”
Her mouth stopped him. She leaned in and kissed him. Not a subtle brushing touch. Not a lingering graze. No, this was a full-on, knock-your-head-back kiss. Heat swamped him and his body revved up, ready for action.
She went to his head faster than liquor. Her scent wrapped around him and her fingers spread over his back. She tugged him closer, until every inch of her rubbed against him, and the friction caused a chain reaction—his head to his hands to his growing erection.
Damn, he wanted her. Right here, right now.
He spun her around, careful not to squeeze her too tight or go too fast. He wanted her up against the wall, on the floor, across the mattress. Hell, wherever he could get her. But he needed her with him.
The sickness and the baby brought reality crashing down on his head. He lifted his mouth and stared down into her eyes. His chest lifted on harsh breaths and seeing her fingers slip under the band of his T-shirt to touch the heated skin underneath only made his heart thump harder. It was loud enough to drown out every sound.
Somehow he found the strength to push out a few words. “Is this okay?”
The haze covering her eyes didn’t clear as she dipped her head and kissed the spot at the base of his neck. “Yes.”
Every nerve cell inside him jumped to action. Their hands swept over each other as her back hit the wall. He had his fingers under her sweater. Up and off it went, leaving behind only a thin tee with tiny straps. He traced his finger over one before sliding underneath. He shoved the tee and bra off her shoulder and peeled down the layers to unveil the top of one creamy breast.
“Gorgeous.” He breathed into the word as he lowered his head.
He kissed her soft skin and licked his tongue over her hard nipple. It wasn’t enough. He needed to see all of her. He dragged the material the whole way down, exposing her breasts and loving the look of her.
He cupped her as he lifted his head. They’d only been together one night, but he’d studied and memorized her body. He knew every inch. “Are you bigger?”
She moaned as his finger passed round and round over her nipple. “My bra is starting to feel tight.”
The fidgeting only made him keep going. “I think I like this part of pregnancy.”
“You’ll like it better when all of our clothes are off and you’re inside me.”
His head shot up and the words tumbled out of him. “Damn, I—”
He stopped just in time, but the near miss had his knees buckling. He jammed a hand against the wall to stay on his feet. He almost said he loved her. Not the baby, not the sex, but her.
There it was. Maybe it had been there from the beginning.
She walked into his life and he lost interest in other women. He kept dating, thinking he’d hit a slump, but truth was no one got him like she did. No woman made him want to open up and take risks.
He really was falling for her. Hell, maybe he�
�d already fallen. Love was new to him. He knew how he felt about Nick and Chelsea, but with Thea it was a driving need. An instinct to get closer and want to spend as much time as possible at her side.
Love. It was the only explanation for ignoring all the evidence against her and hunting for her anyway. Never in those weeks did he think about finding her so she could help him fix the stealing mess. No, it was all about finding her for him. About getting her back into his bed and his life.
He wrote his decisions off as being pathetic and guilt-ridden. Now he knew better. He could probably forgive her almost anything, which was a shock for a man who usually gave people one chance and one chance only.
She dragged her hands under his T-shirt and across his bare chest before stopping. “What’s wrong?”
“Not a damn thing.”
He would think later, assess when he wasn’t right on top of her with her mouth and those eyes messing with his head. For now he’d concentrate on feeling, something he’d blocked for so long that it rushed to his head.
He pulled her back into his arms and lifted her at the waist. Without being told, she wrapped her legs around his hips. A second later her mouth crushed against his in another blinding kiss.
Walking backwards, Linc thanked Thea’s family for building the small cottage. A few steps and the back of his legs hit the mattress. He sat down hard with her straddling his lap. This position was a favorite. He could see her face and suck on her breasts as she rode him.
She pulled back only far enough to grab the edge of her sweater and thin tee and yank them off. He watched, fascinated, as she unhooked the bra and that went next. Then she turned her attention to him. With one tug she had his shirt off.
He didn’t fight it when she gave his shoulders a gentle push. He fell back against the bed and felt a punch of need when she crawled on top of him. Skin rubbed against skin. When she fit his erection into the junction of her thighs, they both gasped.
Her hair fell down and brushed against his bare skin. She followed with her mouth.
Baby, It's Cold Outside: Men at Work, Book 1 Page 12