“I got an e-mail from Tracee today,” she said quietly.
Mitch paused. “Oh, yeah?” He kept his voice casual. “How is she doing?” One of the
good things that they”d brought home with them from Puerto Rico was a new friendship
between Tomi and Tracee. They exchanged e-mails with each other several times a week.
“She”s good. She”s trying to take a few days off to come and visit before my classes start
in a few weeks.”
She smiled, but her eyes remained slightly sad. He knew that look. He”d seen it a lot
lately. It had been a month since they had last seen Linc, and despite everything he”d said, everything he”d done, she still missed him. Hell, they both did. And that really pissed Mitch
off.
Every time he looked into Tomi”s face, every time he saw the tears that she tried to
hide from him, it made him so fucking furious that he wanted to hop on a plane to Puerto
Rico, march back to Linc”s house, and bust him right in the face. It wouldn”t solve a damn
thing. Mitch knew that, but it sure as hell would make him feel better.
It wouldn”t be so bad if they both didn”t still love the bastard so damn much, and time
definitely had not done a thing to lessen the way they felt about him. If anything, it made it
worse.
In the short time they”d known Linc, they”d developed feelings for him that were
deeper than they even realized. It wasn”t until they returned home and tried to get back to
normal that they truly understood what an impact Linc had had on them and their life. It
made their relationship with Alec seem insignificant in comparison.
Mitch held Tomi a little tighter, remembering how much she suffered when Alec left.
At that time, he”d sworn to Tomi, as well as himself, that he would never allow her to go
through that again, never watch sadness and sorrow eat away at her and nearly tear them
both apart. And he was willing to do whatever it took to keep that promise.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” His tongue traced along her ear.
She moaned. “Nothing. Why?”
“Well, it”s Friday, which means I don”t have any clients scheduled, and I thought we
could spend the entire day in bed, alone, with no distractions, doing horizontal workouts.”
He sucked on her earlobe. “How does that sound?” Mitch whispered.
“Mmm.” Tomi shivered slightly. “That sounds perfect.”
Mitch began to undress her, his hands moving over her familiar curves, exposing
smooth brown skin for his touching, tasting, and teasing pleasure. “Speaking of which,” Tomi began, “you might want to recharge your cell phone. I tried
to reach you several times today, but your calls kept going straight to voice mail.”
Mitch chuckled. Damn, she knew him so well. “I know. My battery died early this
morning.”
“Here” — she unclipped it from his belt — “I”ll plug it in for you so it can charge.” Mitch
stopped her before she could walk away.
“Don”t worry about it.” He took the phone from her and placed it on the desk, pulling
her into his arms again and unfastening the front closure of her bra to expose her breasts. “In
fact, we should turn off all the phones.” He bent and sucked a nipple between his lips before
he picked her up and carried her toward the bed. “The only voice I want to hear for the next
twenty-four hours is yours screaming my name.”
*
“Madre de Dios.” Pedro”s voice barely registered with Linc. He was only distantly
aware of his cousin speaking softly to someone else before he began moving around the
room. Finally, the smell of coffee filled his nose.
“Here.” Linc felt the cup press against his mouth. “Drink this.” His eyes felt fused
together, and he struggled to open them. Pedro”s blurry image appeared in front of him, and
Linc absently took the coffee from his hand and swallowed several huge gulps, ignoring the
burn of the strong, hot liquid as it flowed down his throat.
Sighing, Pedro sat across from him on the leather couch in his office, silently watching
him as he drank, refilling his cup once he finished. Linc had no idea how long he”d been
there. The bright sun shining through his windows confirmed that it was morning, and from
the look of his rumpled clothes and the empty bottle of rum on his desk, he”d obviously slept
there — again.
It”d become the norm for him lately. Drink until he couldn”t remember his former
lovers, couldn”t feel his pain, and then pass out in his chair. After he”d had his third cup of coffee, Linc felt the fog finally lift. Pedro seemed to
notice it as well.
“How are you feeling?” he asked quietly.
Linc snorted, rubbing his eyes as his hangover kicked into full gear. “How do I look?”
In spite of all the coffee he”d drunk, his throat was dry, his voice raw.
Pedro nodded. “I see your point.” He set the nearly empty coffeepot on a nearby table
before standing and walking over to Linc”s desk and holding out his hand. Inside were two
aspirin, which Linc gratefully accepted, washing them down with the remaining coffee in his
cup.
“How did you find out?” Linc asked as Pedro had a seat in the chair in front of his desk.
He didn”t bother to explain what he meant. He was certain that Pedro would understand.
“Lorna called and said that she hadn”t seen you in a few days. I didn”t worry about it
too much. I figured you probably needed some time because of…well…you know. Then,
Rosa called today when she found you in here.” He paused. “You ready to talk now?”
Linc didn”t respond. There was nothing for him to say that wasn”t already glaringly
apparent. He hadn”t left his house in days, he only ate when he absolutely had to, and he
couldn”t sleep unless he was unconscious. He didn”t need a mirror to know that he looked a
mess and probably smelled even worse. It was safe to say he was completely falling apart.
“Well,” Pedro began after a long silence, “since you don”t want to start, I will.” He
shook
