Wicked Pleasures

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“Everything’s fine.”

Savage opened the door for him and he passed through. “Right. And if it wasn’t, would you cop to it?”

Linc stared at him.

“Didn’t think so.” Savage followed him to the arms room. “I think that’s the longest I’ve ever seen you spend on target practice.”

Linc hadn’t noticed the time passage. He’d merely experienced an intense urge to squeeze off a few rounds. To make himself feel useful.

And to stop thinking about how a certain sexy female had looked sleeping in her bed naked.

“Needed to put the time in,” he ground out.

Jason wasn’t known for asking a lot of questions. Especially ones he wasn’t likely to get answers to. Which made his asking this one stand out.

Was his agitation that obvious?

Since Saturday night, when he’d left Regina asleep alone in her bed, he’d thought it a good idea to take a step back. And he had. He watched her as she went to work at the diner. He’d followed her to the library. And he’d tracked her remotely via his cell phone when he couldn’t be near her.

Speaking of which, she should just be finishing up at the gym. He checked his cell. She was still there, but she wouldn’t be for long.

“Hey, I was hoping to talk to you about something,” Savage said, leaning against the prep table where Linc cleaned his weapon before putting it away in the rack against the wall.

“Shoot.”

“Dangerous word to use, considering.”

“Considering you stepped in front of my barrel, you mean?”

“That, too.”

Linc cracked a smile.

He waited for Jason to get around to whatever he had to say.

Finally, his friend cleared his throat. “Look, you know everything that went down in Florida…”

Linc squinted at him.

It had been a great trip for the company, in that they’d found a crucial piece of information that kept the search for little Finley going. It had been bad, though, in that Savage had slept with Megan, a Lazarus partner who was another partner’s girl.

“Anyway, things haven’t exactly been, well, the same since…”

His words trailed off.

“Go figure,” Linc offered.

Jason nodded his agreement. “Yeah. Which is why I’m thinking of maybe pushing up the date on opening that satellite office in Baltimore.”

Linc finishing wiping down the M16 and placed it in the rack behind him.

“I haven’t talked to anyone else about it. I thought I’d run it by you first, you know, see what you thought.”

Linc faced him and crossed his arms over his chest. “How soon you talking?”

“Tomorrow too soon?”

They certainly had the resources for the expansion. Business income had already overshot their original forecasts by four hundred percent, and the next three months looked to double that again.

He checked his cell.

“Am I keeping you from something?” Savage asked.

Boy, he was really slipping when it came to keeping his thoughts to himself. First at the firing range, now with checking his cell phone. Of course, here he was surrounded by others trained in the art of observation, but he had the feeling he’d be just as transparent to an outsider.

“There’s somewhere I need to be,” he admitted.

Jason quirked a brow. “Need help?”

“I got it.”

Jason pushed away from the table and slapped him on the shoulder. Savage was one of the few men Linc allowed such familiarity. Others risked physical injury even thinking about making such a move. “Well, think about what I said.”

Linc gave his friend his full attention, considering the implications of his suggestion. “You’re serious about this?”

“I’m serious about it.”

Linc nodded. Then it seemed to him it was only a matter of time before it would happen…

7

REGINA CURLED HER legs under her on the love seat and called her mother again; again, there was no answer.

She left a second message and then sat for a long moment wishing she’d gone ahead and gotten that cell phone for her mother last Christmas. At least then, she’d be able to text her. Or if she was out somewhere, she could still reach her. Her mother was active, what with her job at the supermarket and volunteer work. But it was after ten on a Monday night. Where could she be?