She caught the woodsy undertones of his cologne. In an instant she had an image of him from that night—simple pin-striped button-down shirt open at the collar, sleeves rolled up. But more than the way he’d dressed, she remembered the way he’d kissed, a kiss that had set her on fire in a way she never had been before. He’d taken his time, his lips drifting slowly over hers, his hand cupping her jaw, as if he was—
“How did you find me?” Linc asked.
“It, ah…” Molly drew her attention back to the present, her face hot “…wasn’t that hard. There aren’t that many software companies in Vegas employing a man named Linc, at least according to Google. I didn’t know, however, that you owned Curtis Systems. I thought…” Her voice trailed off.
“Thought I was just a worker bee.” A smile crossed his lips and he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, but his phone rang, cutting off the sentence midstream. Linc let out a sigh, checked the caller ID, then apologized to Molly before answering the call. She heard him debating something about an architectural design for several minutes before he ended the call. Almost as soon as he hung up, his phone started in again. Linc sighed, then glanced at Molly. “Do you mind if I tie up a few loose ends before we go to lunch? This will only take a minute, I promise.”
“Not at all. I understand.”
He answered the first call, then placed several others, most of which Molly could tell from her one-sided interpretation were about cancelling the next few scheduled meetings and delegating responsibilities to other people within the company.
Linc didn’t waste a single second. He powered up the laptop, working both that and the cell at the same time, in record time. She heard him run down several task lists, make at least a dozen different decisions, review several accounting issues with his comptroller, and all without becoming stressed or overwhelmed. If anything, Linc seemed to thrive on the stress of his job, as if heaping more things on his plate made it easier for him to carry.
What a stark contrast between her simple world of five-year-olds learning colors and numbers and Linc’s of multi-million-dollar deals and corporate wrangling. Finally, he hung up, and closed the laptop. “Sorry about that.”
“A CEO’s job is never done and all that?” she said.
“Something like that.” Linc tucked the phone into the holster on his belt. At the same time, the town car slid to a stop in front of an Italian restaurant with a bright red awning and several outdoor bistro-style tables. Linc stepped out of the automobile and offered a hand to Molly.
When her hand slipped into his large, familiar grip, that same electric jolt she remembered ran through her. Almost as quickly as he touched her, he released her.
Because he’d felt the same thing? Or because he was only being polite?
Molly decided not to ask. She had her priorities—to gain a job, as well as information for the baby. Besides, hadn’t she learned her lessons with Doug? Long-term relationships and her didn’t go together well. The last thing she needed was involvement with yet another man who didn’t share her vision for the future, and already she would wager a guess that workaholic high-powered exec Lincoln Curtis wasn’t looking to settle down in a little bungalow in San Diego with a kindergarten teacher and a baby.
She refused to feel disappointed. She hadn’t come here with some happily-ever-after in mind. She and the baby would be just fine on their own, regardless of whether Lincoln Curtis ever wanted anything to do with her in the future.
A minute later, they were seated at a private booth in the back of the restaurant. “Would you like some wine?” Linc asked.
“Uh…no, thank you. I’ll just stick to water.” She shifted in her seat. “It’s early yet.”
“You’re right.” He didn’t say anything more about the wine, and she was sure he hadn’t guessed her real reason for turning down the alcohol. Warm garlic bread-sticks arrived with the water, then the waiter disappeared, leaving them alone.
Molly willed her queasiness to subside, and it did—just a little—with the bread. But still, she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to eat.
“So…why now?” Linc asked. “Why come see me today, after two months?”
A flush invaded her cheeks. Did he know? Did the pregnancy show on her face? Had someone told him?
She shook off the thoughts. She was just being paranoid. Linc’s question was legitimate, expected even.
She could tell the truth. She could tell him that she had thought about his eyes, his touch, a hundred, a thousand times since that night, but that would entangle the two of them together all over again, and Molly was far from ready for, or interested in, that. Especially when the feeling didn’t seem to be reciprocated.
“I didn’t come here to resurrect anything,” she said, deciding the best course of action was to lay everything straight. Immediately. Before anyone got the wrong idea, or the train got derailed any further. “I came here because I was interested in that software program you mentioned.”
Linc leaned back and draped an arm over the back of the booth. “I can’t believe you remembered that.”
“I thought it sounded so interesting. Interactive, inspires reading, while also teaching children about the great outdoors. Something that combines electronic learning and spurs interest in nature activities at the same time.”
That had been one of their first conversations, and part of what had perked her interest in Linc. They’d started out talking birthdays, which had led into her job, then into how frustrated she was with kids being so sedentary and not tuned in with their environment, which had segued into Linc’s software idea. Before she’d known it, she’d been wrapped up in his eyes, his voice, then his touch.
He’d been so excited about the software design, as if it was something personal. She’d enjoyed listening to him talk, and found his enthusiasm wrapping around her, too.
“That software…it was just an idea,” Linc said. “My company doesn’t really handle that kind of thing. We specialize in security packages for large corporations. Fraud prevention, hacker prevention, that kind of thing. The other program…that was a dream.”
“Sounded like you were pretty serious that night.”
“I…” He paused. “A long time ago, I used to think that was the kind of company I wanted to run. The kind of software I wanted to manufacture. But that’s not where the money is, and when you run a business you have to be practical. In fact, I ran the idea past my team recently, and they shot it down.”
Shot it down? He wasn’t going to do it?
She’d come all the way to Vegas with an insane plan. Clearly, she hadn’t thought it through enough. Or she’d completely misinterpreted what he’d said that night. She’d thought Linc had been serious about developing this software, and thus thought she would be the perfect one to help him implement the program, while at the same time getting to know her baby’s father.
She’d invested everything in this one option—with no backup plan. That alone was proof she still wasn’t thinking straight when it came to Lincoln Curtis.
It had to be the pregnancy hormones. Otherwise, why was she making such hasty choices?
“You have no plans to develop the program?” she said.
“I’d love to…someday.” His gaze went to some far-off place, and he didn’t say anything for a second, before he returned his gaze to her. “Why?”
Someday? She needed someday to be now.
She buried her attention in the menu. “No reason.” Then she gave up studying the list of pastas and insalatas. “It’s just…you sounded so excited when you talked about that program. It was as if that