Baby, It's Cold Outside(26)

She turned over and threw an arm across Linc’s chest. “We’re trapped.”

He almost jackknifed awake. “What?”

“We have about a foot of snow.”

He slipped his arm from behind his head and wrapped it around her, bringing her in tighter to his side. “Are you kidding?”

The number was close enough and a foot sounded like a lot, enough to keep them stranded while they worked this all out. “Nope.”

“Good thing we have food, heat and a bed right here.” He kissed her forehead. “And with a hot woman at my side, what else do I need?”

Honesty and trust, but she wasn’t about to go into that now. “I think I need something.”

His eyebrow inched up. “Like what?”

Excitement rumbled inside her. She felt the now familiar stirring as her body whipped into a frenzy. “Do you really not know?”

He pushed up on an elbow and hovered over her. “We’ll let’s see what I can figure out.” He folded the sheet and blanket down, exposing her breasts and dipping his head to kiss them.

Her fingers slipped into his hair. “That’s a good start.”

His body moved down, taking the covers with him. By the time he reached her stomach, he’d shoved them past her knees. When he rubbed his cheeks against her belly, the stubble tickled her skin and tears pushed against her eyelids.

“Linc.”

“I love you.” He pressed one last kiss then he traveled lower.

Her shoulders pressed back into the mattress as a warm breath blew across the tops of her thighs. She wanted his mouth and his hands. Being with him made her wanton. For him, just for him. And he didn’t fight it. If anything, he reveled in the way she touched him and tried to keep him in bed.

Her legs dropped open as his finger slid inside her. She tried to say his name but she could barely remember it or her own.

“I told you.” He pressed a kiss against her and let his tongue snake out to lick her. “Now I’ll show you.”





An hour later Linc stepped out of the shower. He heard a weird grumbling noise and rushed to throw on a pair of jeans. It took him another few minutes to find a shirt. He glanced into the bedroom and saw a pile of covers and Thea rolled into a tight ball.

She needed sleep. Since he planned to make love to her again, it was a good idea for her to get some rest now. Thinking about joining her made him smile as he closed the door.

In the family room, the rumbling noise grew louder. He opened the front door and watched a snow plow clear the end of the lane by the house. Nick’s rental car followed close behind.

Doors opened and Nick, Tim and Becky spilled out of the car. They didn’t talk or even look at each other as they approached the house. Linc didn’t know what caused them to venture out in the bad weather or what put the drawn expressions on their faces, but he knew it couldn’t be good.

He stepped back, waiting to usher them inside and spied Thea in the bedroom doorway. She wore sweats and a T-shirt, and if he guessed right, no bra. He was very much in favor of anything that got him to her body quicker.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

“No clue.”

Just then the threesome climbed up on the porch and came inside. Linc still couldn’t believe they were there. “How did you get here?”

Nick took off his jacket and shook his head, sending water droplets flying. “We’ve been waiting for the plow to dig out this lane. It’s close to the last one on the list.”

Last? “I thought the roads were impassable.”

Nick snorted as he came into the family room. “This is central New York. Ten inches isn’t that big of a deal here.”

Interesting in light of Thea’s insistence they were trapped inside. In bed.

Linc’s gaze went to her. “You lied to me?”

“For a good cause.” She gave him a so-sue-me look.

Having his woman lie to keep him in bed was just about the best part of the trip so far. Ranked up there with the love admission from Thea and news about the baby. “Nice.”

“Becky?” Nick said her name but nothing else.

It wasn’t until that point that Linc noticed how Tim and Becky hovered right by the door with their jackets on. They didn’t touch and Tim’s smartass comments seemed to be gone.

Whatever bad thing brought them here had to do with those two. “What’s going on?”

“I did it.” Becky’s voice trembled as she said it.

Linc had no idea what she was talking about. “What?”

She swallowed then swallowed again. “Tim wasn’t showing an interest and then this guy in a bar…”

“One of Tanner’s guys,” Nick added.

The pieces clicked together in Linc’s head. Becky. Tanner. An admission of guilt.

Son of a bitch, he’d been looking in the wrong direction the whole time.

“He paid attention and we went out.” Becky looked down at her gloves as she turned her hands over. “He asked for some numbers and one night Thea was in your office and I knew about the video and that I might be able to use it.”

“How?” Linc barked out the question.

Thea looked at him. He could feel the heat of her gaze on his cheek. He didn’t look. Couldn’t. If she showed any sympathy for Becky he would fucking lose it.

“I’m the office manager, so I saw the invoice,” Becky said.

That would teach him to delegate any responsibilities. Linc vowed that would be the last time. “You were the office manager.”

Thea pushed past Nick and stood right next to Linc, facing Becky. “What are you saying?”

“I watched the video and saw the combination and password you entered.” Becky’s gaze bounced up to Thea’s face then back down again. “I used them to access everything I needed.”

“You set me up? I thought you were my friend.” Thea took another step.

Keeping her safe was all that mattered, so Linc put a restraining hand on her arm. Last thing he needed was Thea lunging for Becky. Though it was tempting to let someone do it. From the way Tim stood there with his arms crossed and his face pale, didn’t look like he was the one.

Becky shook her head. “This was never supposed to happen.”

No fucking way was Linc believing that. “You absolutely did mean to steal from me.”

“But I regretted it immediately and tried to fix it. I’d been talking with Bryan—”

“The Tanner guy,” Nick said, filling in the blanks again.

“He laughed at me.” Tears ran down Becky’s face and she wiped them away. “It was all a game to him. He used me.”

Thea’s mouth dropped open. “But you let me get blamed.”

Becky shook her head. “I’ve been trying to find the evidence to clear your name.”

“You’ve been telling my how awful Linc is. You’ve been sending me texts up here and insisting he doesn’t care about me and arguing about how I need to get rid of him.” Thea grabbed onto Linc’s arm as her chest rose and fell on hard breaths.

He welcomed the hold because it kept him from moving in and throwing Becky out. “Unbelievable.”

Thea’s hand shook. “You’re the one who told me to leave town and come up here. To make sure Linc didn’t know where I was because he wanted to sue me.”

“Another damned lie.” And that one almost made Linc’s head explode.

Becky sobbed. “I wanted to fix it.”

“No.” This time Thea pointed at Becky. “You’ve been trying to keep me away from Linc so we didn’t compare notes.”

So much for thinking Thea would rush to coddle Becky. Linc was relieved because there was no way he could have tolerated that. Not after what Becky’s actions had done to his relationship with Thea. He’d lost nine weeks of her pregnancy and all that time with her.

He still wasn’t sure how they’d put it all back together. They loved each other, but he didn’t know if it was enough for her. And now that it was clear Thea didn’t do anything wrong…Linc tried to shake off the guilt but it fell over him like a blanket.

“Becky, enough. Tell the truth,” Tim said, speaking up for the first time.

“Okay, yes. I did try to separate you while I worked on fixing the mess. I am so sorry.” The pleading in Becky’s voice tore through the room.

Linc didn’t give a shit. “You’re fired.”

Thea turned around. He saw for the first time the green around her mouth. She looked ready to drop. One more thing he blamed Becky for.

But he wasn’t backing down on this. “Don’t even ask, Thea. She is fired. Hell, Tim might be fired.”

Becky’s eyes widened. “He didn’t know about any of this.”

Nick nodded. “I think that’s true.”

“Thea, please believe me. If I had known how you felt about the boss.” Becky rushed forward but Linc blocked her direct path to Thea. “I didn’t know you were sleeping together. Then he came after you up here, which is so unlike him.”

“And the guilt finally knocked you over.” Tim’s voice grew stronger that time. Angrier, as if he just realized the extent of his girlfriend’s deception.

Thea shook her head as she leaned against Linc. “I don’t believe this.”