MOLLY picked at her dinner, pushing the chicken from one side of the plate to the other, piling the risotto into a mountain that she knocked down again with her fork. She was sitting in Sparkle, the beautiful, plant-draped, sun-kissed rooftop restaurant at McKendrick’s with Alex and Serena Benjamin, who had begged off from attending a political fundraiser with her new husband, Jonas, to come to dinner instead. Molly knew she should be excited to be reunited in person with another of her best friends, but she couldn’t seem to find the energy.
“What gives, Molly?” Alex asked. “You’re not exactly the life of the party tonight.”
“Are you feeling okay?” Serena asked, concern filling her green eyes. “You’ve hardly eaten a bite.”
Molly put down her fork and pushed her plate to the side. “No. Yes.” She sighed. “Maybe.”
Alex and Serena laughed and exchanged a glance.
“No. Yes. Maybe,” Alex repeated. “That’s like saying everything all at once. What are you, sick?”
“No. Yes.” Molly let out a breath. “I mean, I’m fine, I’m not sick, but—”
“That has to be the weirdest answer ever,” Serena agreed. “The only time I know of when a woman feels awful but is totally cool with it is when she’s pregnant and there’s no way…” Serena stopped talking. Stared at Molly.
Molly swallowed hard. A weak smile wobbled on her lips. She put out her hands and shrugged.
“Molly?” Alex said.
“You’re not. Are you?”
Molly nodded. “I just found out.”
Alex and Serena both exploded in cries of joy, drawing Molly into twin hugs so fierce Molly nearly couldn’t breathe.
“Two months?” Alex said. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us. How did this happen? I mean…” Then the lightbulb went on. Her jaw dropped, her eyes widened. “Two months ago we were here. In Vegas.”
Molly nodded again. She had to tell them. These women were two of her best friends. Eventually she would start showing, and the questions would start. She had to come up with answers. How could she possibly tell people—strangers, casual friends, oh, God, her mother—that this pregnancy was the result of a one-night stand? But with her best friends, she could—and should—tell the truth. After all, they’d been there, and they, of all people, would understand.
Molly took a deep breath, then plunged forward with the story. “Remember the second night we were here, how we all kind of went our separate ways?”
Serena nodded. “You and I went to one of the bars at the Bellagio, but then you said you had a headache and you were going back to our room.”
“I did. And I was. But as I was leaving I stopped in another lounge, this wonderful piano bar, thinking maybe a glass of wine would help me feel better.” Heat filled Molly’s cheeks. “And while I was sitting there, I met someone.”
She could see it all over again, as if she were in the Bellagio’s Baccarat Bar right now, the lights dim, the pianist playing jazz music softly in the background. And then, when she’d been about to leave, Linc had taken the seat beside her, and changed everything. “He slipped onto the stool next to me and ordered a bourbon on the rocks. He was handsome—really handsome—but that wasn’t what intrigued me.”
“What?” Serena leaned forward, her green eyes wide beneath a fringe of auburn hair.
“It was his eyes,” Molly said. “When I looked at him, he looked…” She searched for the right word to describe the Linc she had met that night, the one word that could capture the reason she had decided to flirt with him, and later, sleep with him. “Lost.”
Alex had pushed her dinner aside, too, the three of them engrossed in the conversation instead of the meal. “Lost as in needing a GPS system or some other kind of lost?”
“Like he was searching for who he was.” And oh, how she could relate to him. To the year she had spent married, thinking she’d made the biggest mistake of her life, then the two years after the divorce, looking for her footing again. That was what she had felt, too. Lost, trying to find out who she was and what she really wanted in life. She thought she’d known—until the last couple of months. “So I started talking to him.”
“You started talking to him?” Alex repeated. “You? The woman who gave us a stern lecture about not talking to strangers the whole way down here?”
Molly laughed. “Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was being in Vegas. Maybe it was seeing what happened to Jayne when her engagement broke up so disastrously and I just sort of had this carpe diem moment, but, yes, I introduced myself, and mentioned that I was a kindergarten teacher in town with friends for the weekend.”
“How did you go from that to…?” Serena gestured toward Molly’s belly.
“We found out we had a lot in common.” Or at least, she’d thought that at the time. The man she had met that night had been so much more relaxed, looser. Happier. Not so buttoned-down and scheduled. Had it been the alcohol? The setting? Or something else? Something real? “And there was an attraction there. A really big one.”
She could still feel the desire that had sizzled between them. The breathless anticipation that had caught in her throat after the first time they’d kissed and she’d wondered when he would kiss her again, touch her again. Her mind painted a crystal clear picture, as if she was there now and Linc was a breath away from touching her.
“And you decided to act on that attraction with a perfect stranger?” Alex said, interrupting Molly’s thoughts. “That is so out of character for you, Molly.”
“I know. Which I guess is why I did it. One minute I’m talking to him, the next we’re holding hands, then kissing, and before we know it we’re getting a room upstairs. I wanted to…” She let out a long breath and looked past her friends, down the Vegas strip, not seeing the flashing neon and endless sea of twenty-four-hour businesses, but seeing instead the person she’d been for that one night. Someone other than dependable, predictable Molly, who did the same thing every single day, and hadn’t seen anything good come out of it except a bad marriage and a worse divorce. “I wanted to see what it would be like if I acted on my impulses. Just once.”
“And how was it?” Serena asked, a devilish grin crossing her lips. “Acting on your impulses, I mean.”
Molly sighed. “Wonderful.” Amazing. Incredible. There weren’t enough adjectives in the thesaurus to describe that evening. The way he’d taken his time, made her feel like the only woman in the world. She’d felt treasured, special, beautiful. The night had been hot and passionate, yes, but at the same time oddly romantic.
“So…where is Mr. Wonderful? Does he know about the baby?”
“He’s here, in Vegas.” Completely not the same Mr. Wonderful as that night, but Molly didn’t add that. If she did, she’d probably cry, and she refused to shed one tear over Linc. She had too much to look forward to right now with the baby. “And, no, he doesn’t know. I’ll tell him. Soon.”
Alex sat back and eyed Molly. “I get the feeling you’re leaving out part of the story. Maybe the most important part. Like what happened when you got to Vegas and reunited with super-hot guy from the bar.”
“Nothing happened. When I saw him again, he wasn’t…the same as when I met him before.” She toyed with her drink. Her appetite had deserted her, replaced by the bitter taste of disenchantment. She’d pictured such a different scenario than what she’d gotten upon her arrival in Vegas. That’s what she got for reading so much fiction. “I just need time to decide what to do.”
“I understand that.” Serena fiddled with the wedding ring she wore, and Molly wondered how things were going between Serena and Jonas. There’d been an obvious chemistry with the couple, but that didn’t mean their marriage of mutual convenience was going to work out.
At the same time Molly had been with Linc, Serena had been marrying Jonas, a total stranger, in one of those chapels of love. She’d agreed to stay married to him, though, and help him in his run for mayor of Las Vegas, so maybe things weren’t all bad. Although Serena didn’t have that same happy glow as Alex.
Molly wanted to ask, and started to, but Serena’s face brightened and she spoke before Molly could. “Well, I think having a baby is exciting, even if it’s with Mr. Wrong. I know you’ll figure out the right time to tell him, Molly. And maybe when you do it’ll change everything.” She reached over and drew Molly into a hug. “Either way, no matter what, a baby is a happy thing. A blessing. So I say we celebrate with some chocolate cake!”
They ordered three desserts and toasted the pregnancy, and for the first time since she’d seen those two pink lines Molly began to feel a swell of happy anticipation. That was the best part about having such good friends—they were there when she needed them, and they could help her see past the gray skies to the sunshine waiting on the other side.
Linc begged off early from the business dinner, pleading a headache, and had Saul drive him home. In reality, he’d been in no mood to conduct business since he’d walked out of the R & D room yesterday. Lord knew he’d done his best to concentrate, putting in extra hours, heaping more onto his “To Do” list, accepting every meeting request that came his way. But it hadn’t helped.
Every time he looked at a spreadsheet, every time he answered an e-mail, every time he picked up his phone, he saw Molly’s face, heard Molly’s voice, caught the scent of Molly’s perfume.
Last night, his dreams had centered around her. His mind had replayed that night they’d met, starting with the first time their hands had collided, skipping forward to when he’d leaned over and kissed her, and a surge of desire had rushed through him.
There’d been another kiss after that, a third, a fourth, each ratcheting up the heat level until it became pretty clear they were crossing the boundaries of what was acceptable in a public place. At the same time, they’d both said the words “get a room,” and as fast as he could lay down his credit card they were in a suite at the Bellagio.
Not that they ever noticed the elegant décor. It had been a frenzy of kicking off shoes, shedding shirts, pants—their clothes leaving a Hansel and Gretel trail all the way to the bed. And only then, when he finally had Molly’s sweet, silky body against his, did he pause to take the time to taste her skin, to shower her with kisses, to slow the tempo enough to enjoy the beautiful woman in his arms.
To make the night unforgettable.
Considering how vividly those moments still starred in his memory, that goal had definitely been accomplished on his end. Many times over.
Molly. He knew he shouldn’t, but he wanted to see her again.
The town car slowed to a stop outside the Hamilton Towers building, right behind a taxi. Linc was home, as much home as a penthouse apartment in a city that never slept could be. Another night alone—one he’d probably spend going over reports, drinking a glass of bourbon, then falling asleep far too late before getting up far too early. Linc thanked Saul and got out of the car. At the same time the door of the taxi opened—
And Molly emerged, as if he’d conjured her up simply by thinking about her. She wore a knee-length black dress that outlined her every curve, and reignited the very desire he’d been trying so hard to ignore.
Ever since she’d arrived in Vegas, he’d tried to pretend he hadn’t been affected at all by her reappearance in his life. When in truth, he’d been lying to himself. He’d been very much affected.
He just couldn’t—and shouldn’t—do anything about it. He’d made a promise, but damned if he could remember it whenever Molly was nearby.
She turned and saw him. “Hi, Linc.”
“Seems we finished our dinners at the same time.” He wanted to ask her where hers had been, but more, who she had had dinner with, but he couldn’t find a way to do that without seeming like an overprotective father or jealous boyfriend. And he was neither.
Molly drew her wrap tighter around her shoulders. “Goodness, it’s chilly in Vegas when the sun goes down.”
“Here.” He slipped off his suit jacket and swung it over her shoulders, allowing his hands to linger just a second.
“Thanks.” She smiled up at him. “Much warmer now.”
He was, too, but not because of what he was wearing—because he was never going to look at a suit jacket the same way again. Molly’s curvy figure gave his tailored coat a whole new look. One he wasn’t going to forget anytime soon.
Linc started walking beside her into the building. He held the door for Molly, brushing off the doorman’s attempt to get it first. At the elevator, he pressed the button for up. He should let her go home, allow the evening to end without any further interaction. She was his employee now.
Nothing more.
And that was exactly what he wanted, what he’d been telling himself he needed. Except…
That yawning hole he’d felt two months ago had returned with a vengeance, and he found himself craving what Molly had to offer. Lightness, fun, an opportunity to be someone else for just a little while. To let go of the burdens he’d carried for so long.
What would it hurt, just tonight? One more night, he told himself. Just one.
Linc turned, putting his back to the elevator. “I have a crazy idea. Are you game for something…different tonight?”
A smile curved up one side of her face, the smile he remembered from when he’d first met her, and that craving roared even stronger in his gut.
“Something different?” She considered. “What are you proposing?”
“A little bit of Vegas not everyone sees. Something off the tourist track.”
She hesitated a moment, her head cocked, studying him. “Okay. I’m game.”
“Good.” Once outside, Linc hailed a cab, since he’d already sent Saul home for the night. “Let’s tour a little of the city first.” He gave the driver some directions, then sat back beside Molly as they drove down the streets of the city.
Having lived in Vegas for most of his life, Linc had, of course, seen the city a thousand times at night. But he had never seen it through Molly’s eyes. The sun had set, and as darkness gathered over the streets, the ubiquitous lights brimmed with life, reflecting off her face in a bright, happy rainbow.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said as they drove.
“In its own way, yes.”
“I mean, you expect it all to look tawdry, but the colors are gorgeous.”
Like you, he wanted to say, but didn’t.
“Stop here,” he said to the driver. “And wait for us.” He got out, took Molly’s hand and led her down a wide street lined with busy casinos, shops and hotels, all housed under a giant canopy.
“This is amazing,” Molly said. She stopped walking, spinning a little to take it all in. Linc turned with her, allowing Molly’s wonder to rub off on him. The emotion was as sweet as dessert, and as rarely indulged, at least in his life.
He had the strongest urge to kiss her, to take her in his arms again. Instead, he cleared his throat and started reciting every fact he could think of. “This is Fremont Street, one of the most famous landmarks in Vegas. The canopy covers about a quarter-mile tract. Above you are 12.5 million synchronized LED lights—”
Molly pressed a finger lightly against his lips. “I love the information, Linc, really, I do, but just for one minute let’s enjoy it.”
He opened his mouth to speak, nearly kissing her finger. Oh, that was trouble. “Uh…sure.”
She smiled. “Enjoy it,” she repeated.
They stopped and looked up at the kaleidoscope of animations and videos marching across the canopy, which changed every few minutes, zipping from images of space to shorts about alien battles. Linc found himself laughing with Molly—enjoying the frenetic, skyward show. After a while, they started wandering among the shops.
She held up a clock shaped like a giant pair of dice. “This, I think, is totally you, Linc.”
He grinned. “Oh, yeah?”
“Absolutely.” She turned it right, left, her face a mask of seriousness, but he could see her biting her lip to keep from bursting into laughter. “Exactly what today’s CEO needs to stay on time.”
A moment later they walked out of the shop, with one dice-shaped clock in tow. “Now we’ll have to get you something suitably Vegas.”
She grinned at him. “And what would that be?”
He faked as if he was reaching for a glow-in-the-dark martini glass, and instead picked up a teddy bear emblazoned with the logo of a nearby hotel. “This.” He danced the bear in front of her, grinning. “It’s warm, fuzzy and available to cuddle. A perfect Vegas memento.”
Molly knew Linc meant the item as a joke. That he didn’t see the hidden meaning in a small stuffed toy. But still, the image of Linc bending over a crib, handing their baby the same small white bear, sprang to her mind. She turned away, afraid he’d be able to read her thoughts on her face. “Oh, yeah, perfect.”
“You don’t like it?”
“No, no, of course I do.” But the words rang false, no matter how cheery a spin she put on them.
“Maybe you’d rather have some of these Elvis sunglasses?” Linc held up a pair of amber shades, and gave her another smile. She said something that passed as a joke and moved on to the next tacky souvenir.
She should have told him. She’d had an opening, a moment she could have said something, but let it pass. Of course, they were standing in the middle of a busy store, on their first real “date,” if she could even call it that. Probably not the best time to drop the pregnancy bombshell.
They left the store and started heading back toward the taxi. “You feeling okay?” Linc asked. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine.” But she wasn’t.
“Do you want to see one more place? Something a little different?”
“Sure.” Anything to get out of here. Away from the teddy bear and all that implied.
Lincoln Curtis should know better. He had, after all, tried the relationship route once before. He’d come within inches, in fact, of walking down the aisle. Even briefly toyed with the idea of becoming a father, having the whole American dream of two-point-five kids and a house in the suburbs.
Then Marcus had died, his life had fallen apart, and he’d realized he was better off staying right where he was—behind a desk.
Except, every time he looked into Molly’s deep green eyes, he forgot the reasons why he’d made those resolutions. He was rocketed back to that night in the bar, and a part of him—a part he thought he’d managed to bury—came to life and said he deserved a life, if only for a moment.
The part that forgot the legacy he had taken on, one he had managed so badly thus far. The promises he had made to his parents before they died. To his brother, then, after Marcus was gone, to his brother’s family. One of these days, he vowed, he would get all of that right. Getting distracted by a relationship wasn’t going to help.
That’s what he told himself. Twice.
“Where are we?” Molly asked, as the cab pulled away.
“It’s my friend Harry’s place. He opened it a few years ago. It’s not your typical Vegas tourist place, and I thought you might like it.” Linc gestured toward the sign above the bright blue door, which Molly could read now that they were under the exterior lights.
Harry’s Underwater Experience:
Guaranteed to Thrill and Amaze.
“Underwater Experience?” Molly asked. “We’re not scuba diving, are we?”
Linc laughed. “No. It’s not that adventurous. Just a lot of interesting fish. And an interesting owner.”
“An aquarium?”
Linc shrugged. “Of sorts. Harry’s got a unique sense of humor, and it shows here. I think you’ll like it.”
Molly smiled and marveled at Linc’s choice of destination. Of all the places he could have named, this probably wouldn’t have made the list. Once again, Lincoln Curtis had surprised her. Before Molly could ask him any more questions, Linc had led her inside the busy lobby, and drawn her over to the glassed-in ticket booth, which was framed by dozens of cartoon aquatic animals. “Harry, you have room for two more?”
The wizened old man behind the ticket counter looked up from counting change and gave Linc a wide grin. “Linc! Long time no see! I was beginning to think I’d never get you in here to see my new leopard sharks.”
Linc laughed. “I’m a bit busy, Harry.”
“Excuses, excuses.”
“It’s not an excuse, it’s a job,” Linc said, giving the older man a friendly grin. “Somebody’s got to steer the ship.”
“One of these days, you’ll be my age, and you’ll be wishing you took more time off when you were young.” Harry shook his head. “Anyway, you’re here now, and with a beautiful lady at that. Let’s enjoy the night!” He threw up his hands, then came out from behind the ticket booth. “You two go right on in. Be sure to see my gorgeous new sharks. They’re babies now, but when they get bigger, boy, they’re going to be the stars of this place.”
Linc and Molly thanked Harry, then walked down a long, dark hallway, lit only by the blue light reflection of the tanks at the end. The light bounced off the walls, giving the hall an eerie quality. Families crowded the space around them, chatting happily. Friendly drawings of neon cutout cardboard fish decorated the walls, with cartoon bubbles above their heads, filled with corny knock-knock jokes that Molly could hear the kids in the aquarium repeating, with much giggling. There were miniature seahorses and whales for seats and benches, plastic eels serving as lights and conch shells holding brochures. The entire space had been designed in a fun, friendly manner, clearly oriented toward children.
Molly loved it. Every inch. And she hadn’t even stepped inside the main aquarium yet.
“Why are so many children here at night?” she asked Linc.
“Vegas is a 24/7 city. That means there are round-the-clock daycare services, and parents who want a place to go with their kids when the other half is rolling the dice. This gives them a fun, entertaining place to go with the little ones.”
“Oh,” Molly said. “Makes sense.”
The hall spilled into a forty-by-sixty-foot room, entirely encircled by glass, giving the visitor the sensation of stepping into the center of a fish tank. It reached three stories, magnificent in layers of brightly colored coral. On one side, a mini sunken galleon dominated the center of the tank, while on the other several treasure chests were piled beside a trio of smiling skeletal pirates. More friendly skeletons peppered the tank in various poses—waving at guests, dangling from a fishing line, pretending to scuba dive.
It was the kind of place every kid would love. The kind she would have loved to bring her students to see. Molly gasped. “This is incredible.”
Linc grinned. “I told you. Harry loves his fish.”
She spun in a circle, taking in the slow-moving sea turtles, the friendly puffer fish, the schools of silvery fish, the shy eel ducking into a dark hole at the bottom of the tank. The aquatic world was in constant motion, an underwater rainbow of activity.
Around them, children swarmed through the room, darting up to the glass to point out a bright blue fish to their mom, or to follow the path of a yellow one. Carrying above it all was the sound of laughter and the excited chatter of children having fun. Molly’s hand strayed to her abdomen, and her attention dropped from the aquatic sights to the familial ones.
Would she someday bring her child to a place like this? Point out the lazy loggerhead sea turtle making a meandering circular journey? Explain why the stingray glided so effortlessly through the water? Give a quick lesson on why eels had an electric charge?
She glanced over at Linc, who had paused to watch the massive sea turtle mosey past the glass wall. Was he thinking the same thing?
“This is a great place for kids,” she said to Linc.
“I guess so. I’ve never brought a child here.”
“I think that’s the best way to see this place, don’t you? Through a child’s eyes.” She gestured toward the children all around them. “Look at how excited they are. Harry clearly geared this place toward little ones.”
Linc “mmm-hmmed” her.
Not much of an answer. She tried to read his face, but couldn’t. Frustrating.
“Well, I can imagine myself bringing my own children here someday,” she said, hoping that statement would open a conversational door with Linc. At the very least, a ditto.
“I can see you doing that, too,” he said.
Nothing about himself, she noted. Not a word about whether he was interested in children or not. He couldn’t have said less if he’d not said a single word. She wanted to drag the answers out of him, but suspected even a tow truck couldn’t do that.
Somehow, she needed to get Lincoln Curtis to open up. Needed to get him to be more conversational. She was here, after all, to get to know him, and thus far she knew exactly…zero. Clearly, what she was doing so far wasn’t working. She was going to have to get more creative, and fast, if she wanted answers from Linc.
Beside her, a little girl strained to see the tank, her head bopping left to right, but her view was blocked by the taller children in front of her. Molly bent down, smiling at the cutie-pie beside her. “Want to scoot in front of me, sweetie?”
The blonde pixie grinned. “Tank-u.”
Molly made way, then lowered herself to kid level. “See that up there?” She pointed to a squat yellow-and-brown-striped fish swishing his way past them. “That’s a striped burrfish. Did you know they can drink a whole bunch of water, to puff their bodies out, like pufferfish do?”
The girl gasped. “Really?”
Molly glanced over to see if Linc would join in, become part of the conversation, but he was keeping his distance. Because he wasn’t into kids? Or because he figured she had it all under control? “Uh-huh. They do it to scare off other animals, and when they do, those little spikes on their backs—see those?” Molly indicated the fish again. “They become really pointy and scary and say ‘Don’t mess with me.’”
The little girl giggled. “I bet he looks silly when he’s all blowed up.”
“I bet he does too. Lots of animals do silly things. That’s what makes them so fun to learn about.” Molly stepped back, making room for the child’s mother to join them. She had a baby in a stroller, and another child holding onto one of the handles. She gave Molly a harried but grateful smile.
“Thank you for letting her in there to see the tank,” the woman said. “Anna loves the aquarium.”
“Me too,” Molly said, shooting Anna a grin. “Enjoy the rest of the fishes.”
“Thank you!” Anna trotted off, her hand in her mother’s, chatting the whole time about what she’d just learned.
Linc gave Molly an approving grin when she returned to his side. “You’ve got a great touch with kids.”
“Thanks. It’s always great when they learn something—and even better when they’re excited about it.”
“Hopefully the software we’re developing will do the same thing.”
Back to work talk with him. Perhaps, though, that might be a way in to other avenues. “I think it will. I can see kids getting all charged up by the taste of information they get from playing the games in the program. Afterward, they’ll want to know more.” They wandered past tanks of jellyfish, glowing in the dark as they floated weightless through ebony water. “We could include things like links to aquariums and zoos. Encourage them to get out there and put that knowledge to use.”
“That’s a great idea.” Admiration shone in his blue eyes. “That’s exactly why I hired you. Because you really know this market and how to reach these kids. Then again, you work with them all day. I wouldn’t know the first thing to say to one.”
She laughed. “Kids are easy. They don’t expect you to be a conversational giant. Just find something they’re interested in—fish, sports, food—and comment on it. They’ll take it from there, most times.”
Linc shook his head. “You’re talking to someone who spends his days talking computer code and spreadsheets with a bunch of people in suits. Not exactly the kinds of topics five-year-olds are interested in. Besides, I don’t do well with kids.”
“But you were a five-year-old once, right? And you’ve been around some, too? Nieces, nephews?”
“Yes.” He gestured toward a doorway at the other side of the room. “Want to go see the sharks?”
A door had shut with Lincoln Curtis, and Molly wasn’t sure why. As she followed him into the next room, she tried again. “Do you come from a big family?”
“No.”
Well. A one-word answer wasn’t the response she’d expected. She’d hoped to start a conversation, not bring one to a halt. How was she supposed to get to know her baby’s father if he threw up a wall every time she tried to get personal?
It wasn’t like she was asking for his social security number, just the basic kind of information people shared every day. Well, she wouldn’t give up that easily. She was a lot more persistent than a few short sentences.
“Do you have a brother? Or a sister? I’m an only child, but always wished I had siblings.”
“Harry said the new leopard shark exhibit is amazing,” Linc said instead. “That might not be as crowded. Let’s head over there.” He let out a gust of frustration as a large group of children—probably a field trip from one of those daycares he’d mentioned—crossed in front of them in a screaming bunch. “I’m not a big fan of…crowds like this.” He took her hand and zig-zagged through the maze of parents, strollers and three-foot-high bodies.
“I bet it’s a big difference from what you’re used to at work,” she said. “But, believe me, when you’re around kids long enough, they grow on you. You get used to the noise, the mess, the energy.”
Like you could get used to ours, if you tried. You’d love your own, surely.
“Well, that’s not something I’m planning on doing in my future.”
The statement slammed into Molly, and her step faltered.
Not planning on in his future.
Did he mean he didn’t want to have children? Ever? Or just for now?
What would he say if he knew she was carrying his baby? Would he tell her he wanted it? Or would he walk away? Her fingers splayed across her still-flat belly, and she decided she wasn’t ready to find that answer out. Not yet.
They emerged from the congestion of the main room into a smaller, darker room that faced one large tank, surrounded by a leopard-print frame. In the center of the tank of sharks sat a statue of a leopard, like an overgrown aquarium ornament. Linc chuckled. “Leave it to Harry to add a sense of humor to his exhibits.”
Clearly she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Linc, not in the area of personal topics. Either he didn’t want to open up because the aquarium was so crowded, or more likely he didn’t want to open up to her. Because that would mean developing a relationship, and he’d made it clear two months ago that he wasn’t interested in that.
Then, she’d been glad.
Now, not so much.
Because of the baby, she told herself. Only because of the baby.
And yet…she wondered why Linc would bring her here, if he had no interest in her on a personal level? Why ask her to go on what would be considered a date by most anyone else? Why work toward developing something with her if he wasn’t the kind of guy who wanted the full life, with a wife and kids?
She considered asking him. Thought better of it.
Lincoln Curtis was, after all, the exact opposite of the kind of man she wanted. Despite that one night, he was a man who lived by a schedule. Who, like her ex-husband, seemed to like everything in neat little rows and columns. After what he’d said tonight, there would clearly be no room in his life, either, for the messy chaos a child would bring.
She didn’t need that again. Nor did she want to get wrapped up in someone who had stated over and over that he wasn’t interested in children.
Been there, made the mistake. Got the T-shirt.
“Interesting fact about leopard sharks,” Molly said, taking a couple steps closer to the tank. Talking about aquatic animals was a much better topic than talking about them. Or the lack of them. “They don’t hunt, per se, but researchers have observed pairs of them swimming in the opposite direction of a school of fish. Each shark will take one flank of the school, just open their mouths, and eat to their heart’s content.” She turned to Linc and smiled. “Not a lot of work, but a lot of reward.”
“The fish don’t catch on?”
Her fingers danced against the glass. “That schooling behavior is pretty ingrained. Follow the leader…straight into the shark’s mouth.”
He chuckled. “Sounds like corporate life.”
She watched the sharks and thought about the world Linc inhabited. Was that what had made him so jaded against the idea of children? Or was it something else, something in his past? “That world is so different from teaching kindergarten.”
“Well, you’re smack-dab in Corporate America now.” He turned to her. “You never really told me what made you want to give up the world of small children—” he gestured toward the group of them now swarming into the room like a bunch of bees “—for corporate life? You could have just as easily stayed in San Diego and looked for another teaching job rather than coming out here to work for a software developer.”
“Even though I plan to apply for new teaching jobs for next term, I thought while I’m waiting it would be nice to try something new,” she said, treading carefully with her answer. Skirting as far away from the truth as possible. “And your proposal sounded really interesting.”
He paused to study her. “I’ve told a half a dozen people about that software program, and most of them told me I was crazy. That it was a waste of company resources and time.”
She shrugged. “I’m not a number cruncher like you are, but I think anything that inspires learning isn’t a waste of resources.” She gestured toward the children darting in and out of the room, their excited voices rising as they noticed the “dangerous” sharks. “Take Harry’s aquarium. It’s probably not the biggest money-maker in Vegas, but look around you. These kids are excited. They’re learning. And Harry loves this place. That’s a return on investment that you can’t measure by a profit and loss statement.”
He didn’t say anything for a long time, simply watched her. She grew uncomfortable under his inquisitive gaze, sure he could read her every secret. Then Harry’s voice came on the loudspeaker and announced closing time, and broke the tension between them. The room began to empty out, disappointed children reluctantly leaving.
“The children aren’t the only ones learning a thing or two,” Linc said quietly.
They were alone, the only sounds coming from the muted bubbling of the water in the tanks. Blue lights played across Linc’s features, making him seem darker, more mysterious, and giving his eyes an almost mischievous tint.
“Who else do you mean?” Her breath caught on the words.
He took a step forward, closing the gap between them. “Why did you really come to Vegas, Molly Hunter?”
She turned her face up to meet his. Opened her mouth to tell him the truth. Closed it again, unable to get the words past her throat.
“Was it because we had unfinished business?” he asked, his voice low and as dark as the room. He reached up, caught a tendril of her hair in his hand, then let it slip through his grasp. “Because I think we do, don’t you?”
She nodded, intoxicated, wrapped in his spell all over again.
Had she really ever escaped it?
No, she hadn’t, and she was fooling herself if she thought she had. A hundred times—no, a thousand times—since that night, she’d pictured Linc, imagined him kissing her again, thought of how his hands had felt on her body, remembered the electric feel of his body against hers.
Her breath caught, her heart raced, and she waited, her gaze locked on his. Waiting. Anticipating. Longing. Wanting him.
He lowered his mouth toward hers, slowly, oh, so slowly, and she could see the future. Lincoln Curtis would kiss her. And she would do what she had done two months ago.
Fall for him.
And make the biggest mistake of her life.
Twice.