Missing Linc by Kori Roberts (i can read books .TXT) 📗

“Fuck.” He shook his head. “He came all the way here to see us, and we missed him.”

He looked at Tomi, his eyes filled with guilt. “I should have recharged my phone like you

told me to do. Now he probably thinks that we don”t want to be with him because we didn”t

respond.”

“Hey.” She touched his face. “It”s not your fault. We had no idea that we would ever

hear from Linc again, much less have him travel here to talk to us.”

Tomi laid her head against Mitch”s chest. “Now what?” Mitch remained silent.

Obviously, he didn”t have an answer for that one, either.

“It”s not supposed to end this way.” Tomi hadn”t meant to say that out loud, but it

didn”t make it any less true.

Mitch kissed the top of her head. “I know,” he whispered.

Tomi remained quiet as one thought kept flashing through her mind, growing stronger,

more persistent, until it suddenly seemed like a real possibility instead of a mere fantasy.

“I can teach anywhere,” she blurted out, putting a voice to her thoughts. “When I

visited the University of Puerto Rico, they had positions available for instructors with

credentials like mine.” She looked at Mitch, watching him closely, trying to gauge his reaction to her words.

After a moment, he slowly nodded.

“I can move my personal training business anywhere as well. People still need to work

out no matter where they live. I”m sure I could always work at one of the health clubs or the

hotels until I get some new clients lined up.”

She stared at him. “Are we seriously considering this? Are we really willing to

completely change our lives around and give up everything that we have here?” Tomi could

not believe they were even having this conversation. Just this morning, she”d thought she”d

never see Linc again, and now they were sitting here, talking about moving to another part

of the world in order to be with him. It should have seemed crazy, yet the only thing Tomi

felt was the excitement and anticipation of being with Linc again.

Mitch returned her stare. The look on his face was determined, his eyes certain. “For

the chance to have Linc in our life permanently, yeah, I”m positive.”

“Good.” She grinned. “So am I.” She leaned up, and Mitch met her halfway; his mouth

covered hers, his kiss was hot and slow. “I love you, Mr. Elliott.”

“I love you right back, Mrs. Elliott.” He nipped her bottom lip, her chin. His tongue slid

along the inside of her ear. “Come on,” he whispered before he stood up, took her hand, and

pulled her up from the couch.

“Where are we going?” She followed behind him as he led her to the bedroom.

Mitch glanced back at her with a smile on his face. “We”re going to see if there are any

flights leaving this morning to Puerto Rico that we can catch.”

*

Linc sat in his office chair with his eyes closed. He”d been home for several hours, and

he hadn”t managed to get any further than his favorite place of solace, feeling so physically

and emotionally drained that all he could do was sit there and lick his wounds. The truth of the matter was that he”d completely blown his chance to be with Mitch

and Tomi. There was no use in pretending otherwise, and it hurt like a son of a bitch to

admit.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. He had

no one to blame but himself. After acting like a pussy for the past month, he”d finally grown

a pair of balls and decided to tell them the truth about how he really felt, and then he was

hurt when they didn”t feel the same way.

What did he expect them to do? He”d accused Mitch of being naive, yet he was the one

being unrealistic. Did he really think they would just welcome him back into their lives after

he treated them like shit and practically kicked them out of his house just a few weeks ago?

Linc snorted in disgust. He shouldn”t be surprised that they didn”t want to have anything to

do with him. If he were Mitch and Tomi, he wouldn”t, either. God, he was so fucking stupid.

“Christ.”

“No, it”s just me.” Linc glanced up at the sound of Pedro”s voice. He stood just inside the

doorway looking at Linc.

“How did you get in?”

“Rosa.” Of course. Linc should have known she”d call Pedro to tell him that Linc was

home. She worried over him as much as his family did.

“So, I take it things didn”t go too well.” Pedro leaned against his desk.

“What was your first clue?” Linc asked dryly.

Pedro laughed. “Well, I see you haven”t lost your sense of humor. That”s a good sign.”

He sobered. “What happened, Linc?”

Linc rubbed his hands over his face. “It”s over. They don”t want to be with me.” He

stood up from his desk and stared out the window, unable to stand seeing the pity he was

certain would be on his cousin”s face.

“Did you see them? Is that what they told you?” Linc sighed. “No, I didn”t see them, and no, they didn”t tell me that. Their silence spoke

loud and clear for them.”

“Well, I wouldn”t be too sure about that if I were you.”

Frowning, Linc turned around. “What the hell are you talk —” Anything he”d planned

to say died in throat.

“Look who I found outside.” Mitch and Tomi stood mere feet from him.

“I”ll just leave the three of you alone.” Pedro walked toward the door. “It”s good seeing

you both again.” To Tomi, he said, “I”ll let Tracee know that you”re here. I know she”ll want

to stop by and see you.” He paused and smiled. “I”ll make certain that she visits later, like

tomorrow, or maybe the day after that. I”m sure you all have a lot of…catching up to do.”

Pedro left without waiting for their response, not that anyone in the room seemed very

interested in giving him one. Their focus remained on each other instead. One moment, they

were standing still and the next, they were moving toward each other as though they were

thinking