Читать книгу Wicked Pleasures - Tori Carrington - Страница 14

LINC WAS SWEATIER when he finally returned to Regina’s apartment than after his morning ten-mile run when the air temperature was at least twenty degrees hotter. He let himself into her apartment, tearing into the box of condoms he’d just purchased as he strode toward her bedroom. He should probably climb into the shower first, but…

The hell with a shower.

He stopped in her bedroom door. She was right where he’d left her. Beautiful, bare…and fast asleep.

For the second time that night, he let out a string of curses.

This was not happening…

He stood in the doorway for a long moment, taking in the way her hand rested on her upper thigh, the curve of her breasts, the sound of her soft snores.

He knew she’d been on the job since early that morning. He also knew she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. And, of course, worry over what had or had not happened had probably worn her out on top of the physical stress.

He thought about catching that shower and then climbing into bed next to her, rousing her from sleep. But considering they barely knew each other, he decided that wouldn’t be much better than taking advantage of her while she was intoxicated.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn.

He quietly put the half-opened box of condoms on her nightstand and then reached to push a soft curl from her brow before covering her with the top sheet. She was so out of it, she didn’t move a muscle.

Moments later he stood outside her door, battling back the urge to go back inside. He thought of a handful of phone numbers he could call, but no matter how much he wanted release, he only wanted it with the woman sleeping in the apartment behind him.

Another run, maybe. Yes. And a nice, long, cold shower…

TWO DAYS LATER, Regina tightened her boxing gloves and then gave the punching bag another one-two whack. Over the past year and a half, she’d taken nearly every self-defense class available. Then, at the health club she’d joined, she’d stumbled across boxing classes. The physical activity made her feel better somehow. One of the pros suggested it was like aiming darts at a picture of someone unlikable…but better. She agreed.

Especially now.

She still couldn’t believe it had happened again. She’d woken Sunday morning to find herself pretty much in the same position Linc had left her, a box of condoms on the nightstand along with a note: “Didn’t want to wake you.” He’d signed it simply “L” and included his phone number.

She’d beat the pillow down and then gone to the gym to do a better job on a punching bag.

She couldn’t even allow herself to entertain the idea of calling the number he’d left so she might apologize.

At this point, she wouldn’t be surprised if he never wanted to see her again.

She lost focus and the bag swung and hit her in the shoulder, nearly knocking her off balance.

“You’re supposed to hit it, I think, not the other way around,” Vivienne said from the doorway of a connecting room filled with other fitness equipment where the majority of club members worked out.

Regina caught the bag and then wiped the sweat from her brow with her bare forearm. “Every now and again I like to let it think it stands a chance.”

“Speaking of hitting things, you ready to hit the showers?”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

Thankfully, Vivienne hadn’t mentioned Friday night again, both of them back into the regular workweek swing of things. Viv was a paralegal at a midsize law firm, and Regina had attended classes in the morning, then worked the lunch shift at the diner. They met three times a week at the club, depending on their schedules.

She’d debated telling her friend about Linc’s visit to the diner Saturday night, then decided against it. There was no sense saying anything if she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to see him again.

She grimaced as they walked to the showers. Besides, she didn’t want to chance her friend’s asking to be included in any future goings-on.

“Oh, he’s new,” Viv said, openly appreciating a guy lifting weights as they passed.

Regina gave an eye roll as she untied her right glove with her teeth and then pulled it free. “You’re impossible.”

“No, I’m single.” She put her arm over Regina’s shoulder. “And so are you. Now, where are we going to eat afterward…?”

“HEY, EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT?”

Linc stared at where Jason Savage stepped in front of the crosshairs of his semiautomatic rifle, blocking the target. He swung the weapon so it pointed toward the dirt of the Lazarus training grounds.

“Shit, Savage. I could have shot a hole the size of Colorado in your ass.”

The first rule in arms safety was never to step into the path of a loaded weapon. What in the hell was his friend and business partner thinking? Of course, Jason had always run more on guts than strategy. Thankfully, he had the natural ability to pull it off.

His friend grinned. “Yours is about the only gun I’d dare step in front of.”

Linc unloaded the weapon and slid the ammo magazine into his back jeans pocket. Jason walked with him toward the main building.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Jason said. “Oh, wait. Of course you didn’t answer my question. You never answer my questions.”

“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…