maybe someday that program can work, Linc, sure, but honestly, I don’t see you finding the time for anything more. Don’t you agree?” Conner laid a hand on his arm. “You’re the most tightly scheduled guy I know. Not to mention…”
“What?” Linc asked when Conner didn’t finish.
“As much as I think it would be terrific for you to step out of your comfort zone of memos, day planners and task lists, I’m just not sure launching a kid-oriented product like that is up your particular alley.”
“Because I’m not fun,” Linc replied, reading the words Conner wasn’t speaking.
“Let’s just say when I’m looking for a partner in crime for hosting a wild party, your name isn’t at the top of my list.” Conner grinned. “But I’d still send you an invitation.”
Linc let out a short laugh. If only Conner knew how far Linc had stepped out of his world of schedules and memos that night two months ago.
In his mind, he saw the image of Molly—Linc didn’t know her last name, by agreement with both of them—smiling up at him as she lay back on the pale cream-colored sheets of the Bellagio’s luxurious king-sized bed. Her dark brown hair tumbling around her shoulders, her green eyes wide and sparkling, her lithe body still tempting even after he’d spent so many exquisite moments exploring, tasting and enjoying every inch.
For one night, Linc had been someone other than himself.
“What made you propose the idea in the first place?” Conner asked. “It just came out of the blue.”
They had reached the glass corridor that connected the twin towers of Curtis Systems, and provided a stunning view of downtown Vegas. On either side of him, the city flashed a constant rainbowed heartbeat of activity. “It’s something I’ve been kicking around for years.”
A lie. But telling the truth meant opening wounds Linc preferred not to open.
Two months ago he’d looked at the date and realized it was his brother’s birthday. If he had lived, Marcus would have been twenty-six this year.
And Linc hadn’t moved one inch closer in all those years to finishing the software program that had been the genesis of everything for Curtis Systems. The first dream he and his brother had shared.
He’d sat in his empty apartment for hours, revisiting past mistakes and regrets. And then, finally, spurred by nostalgia, regrets or maybe something more, he’d gone out, headed to one of the bars in Vegas—
And ended up sleeping with a woman he barely knew.
“There’s something else, though,” Conner said. “Something you’re not telling me.”
Linc met his friend’s inquisitive stare. “I met someone.”
A flicker of surprise flashed across Conner’s face. “Great. You’ve been alone too long. So who is she? And why didn’t you bring her to the benefit dinner last week?” Conner flashed him a grin. “You hiding her in your apartment?”
“I don’t know where she is. I don’t even know her last name. And that’s where I’m leaving things.”
That one night with Molly was enough. The last thing he needed was a relationship, not just because of the distraction it would provide, but because of the expectations involved. A woman in his life would want time. Energy. And that would divide him between the company and his personal life. Right now, that was a division problem he couldn’t solve.
Conner stumbled to a stop. He grabbed Lincoln’s arm. “You had a one-night stand? You?”
“It wasn’t just a one-night stand. It was…” Lincoln searched for the words to describe that night two months ago. The intoxicating magic of the woman he had met, how she had brought out a side of him he had thought he’d lost three years ago, how she had made him forget—
Forget who he was. Forget the burdens he’d carried for so long. Forget his guilt, his regrets. Forget the Curtis empire, and its expectations. For one night, he could just…be.
“It was so much more,” Lincoln finished. “At least until I got back to reality.”
In the two months since he’d seen Molly, he had tried to forget her by pouring himself into his work. By tightening an already tight schedule, filling already full days. Developing expanded product lines, pushing his team to create newer and more improved systems than the company already had.
Yet a part of him kept going back to that night, to those questions neither of them had asked, because they’d agreed never to know the answers. Was that all this was? A puzzle he needed to solve?
“Either way, it doesn’t matter. The night’s over. In the past.” As he said the words, he cemented his resolve to keep the memory there. He had no room for a relationship right now.
He, of all people, could not afford a distraction like that. He had only to look at the empty office beside his own to remember why.
“If it’s so ‘in the past,’” Conner said, using air quotes, “then why is she still on your mind?”
“She’s not.” Linc scowled.
Conner looked at Linc. And chuckled. “Uhhuh.”
Lincoln gazed out over the city, at the miles and miles of brightly lit buildings, stucco-coated homes, and beyond that, the vast, empty desert. Vegas stuck out among all the nothingness like a wild rose in a field of plain, practical wheat. How apropos, really, of the way he lived his personal life. That one night had been an aberration—and that was the way it would stay.
Lincoln Curtis lived his life in straight lines. It was the only way he knew to maintain control. To keep himself from thinking of the promises he’d made so many years ago. Promises he had broken.
Linc pivoted away from the window and faced Conner. “The past is over, Conner. I’m all about focusing on the future. And my future is contained inside this business.”
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