morning and realized that they still had not responded, he headed to the airport alone,
finally admitting to himself just how devastated he truly was.
Chapter Seventeen
Tomi rolled over and reached for Mitch, finding only empty space next to her instead.
Her eyes blinked open, and she stretched, smiling when she felt the tenderness in her body,
knowing it was the result of the lovemaking marathon she”d indulged in during the previous
day.
Her smile broadened. God, just thinking about the things he”d done to her yesterday
made her wet all over again. No one ever loved her body, her mind, her very soul, the way
this man did. Well, she could think of one man who came surprisingly close, who could
make her body throb, her heart race in ways she never thought possible with anyone other
than Mitch.
Tomi refused to go there. Thoughts of Linc already invaded her mind on a regular
basis. Voluntarily thinking about him only made things worse.
Her thoughts turned to Mitch again, always trying to make sure she was okay, always
willing to do whatever it took to make sure she stayed that way. She knew he worried about
her, especially since they”d come home from Puerto Rico. The feeling was mutual for her as
well. This thing with Linc had been hard — harder than either of them would ever have imagined. Some days, it felt as if the pain and longing would never go away. There was
nothing worse than wanting, needing someone so bad, and not being able to have them.
Thankfully, they had each other, and no matter how much she would like to have Linc
in their life, Tomi had no regrets that it was just Mitch and her. Even in her wildest dreams,
she could not have imagined a better, stronger, more caring man to spend her life with than
Mitch. He was, by far, the best thing that had ever happened to her.
She climbed out of bed and went in search of the source of her current state of wedded
bliss. Finally, she found him in the living room, sitting on the couch, staring at his cell
phone.
The look on his face stopped Tomi in her tracks. “What is it?” She finally convinced
her feet to move and went to Mitch, sitting next to him on the couch. “What”s wrong, baby?”
He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no words came out. Finally,
he held the phone out to her. Tomi looked at him questioningly as she took the phone from
his hand.
“Press number one.” Tomi did as he instructed and put the phone to her ear, listening
to the familiar voice on the other end. For the next several minutes, she sat with her mouth
open, barely able to believe what she was hearing. When the message ended, she played it
again, needing to make certain that she wasn”t imagining this, trying to be sure that she
hadn”t misunderstood when Linc said he was there for them, dying to know that she wasn”t
just dreaming that Linc said he loved Mitch. Loved her.
After replaying the message twice more, Tomi finally disconnected the call and looked
at Mitch. “I…I…”
“I know.” Mitch took the phone out of her hand and set it on the table. “That was my
reaction as well.”
“I just can”t believe he came all the way here to New York to see us.” This city held so
many memories for Linc, and most of them were bad. Tomi knew that. She”d discussed it several times with Linc. The fact that he would disregard the promise he made to himself
about never returning here in order to see them again was more shocking, more humbling,
than she could express.
Mitch”s hand slid around her shoulders, and she automatically leaned her head against
his shoulder. “I guess the real question is whether this changes anything between him and
us.”
Tomi thought about telling him that it didn”t change anything between them, she had
everything in her life that made her happy. She thought about saying many other things, but
they all would have been lies, and they both knew it. She opted for the truth instead.
“When we first went to Puerto Rico, I thought we”d never need a third person in our
lives again. Then we met Linc, and suddenly I found it hard to imagine our life without him
in it. Don”t get me wrong, the way he treated us in the end was incredibly shitty, and how I
felt afterward was even worse, but I stopped being angry with him a long time ago. I won”t
pretend that I don”t wish every single day that things had turned out differently with him
and us.”
Tomi stared into his eyes, praying that she wasn”t hurting him with her admission, but
refusing to be anything but honest about how she felt.
“God knows I love you, Mitch, more than I can even begin to articulate, but it doesn”t
change the fact that since we came home, I feel…incomplete, like something”s —”
“Missing.” Mitch finished her sentence for her. There was no judgment or anger in his
voice. He pulled her tighter against him. “I know what you mean. I think we both know that
something is Linc. Although he acted like a complete dick the last time we saw him, and
despite the fact that I”m still more than a little pissed off at him, I won”t deny that I love him
as much today as I did last month.” He cupped her face with both hands. “I suspect you do as
well.”
Tomi nodded. “I do.” “Then, there”s only one thing left to do.” He picked up his cell phone and replayed the
message, writing down the number Linc left.
Tomi watched anxiously as he called the hotel, silently hoping that Linc was still there.
From Mitch”s conversation, though, that clearly was not the case.
“He”s already gone, isn”t he?” she asked when Mitch disconnected the call. When he
nodded, she said, “What about his cell phone? Maybe he hasn”t left the city yet.” She waited
while he dialed that number as well.
Mitch sighed. “His voice mail is full. I can”t leave him a message.” He looked as
disappointed as she
