Page 12 of The Pilot

Hell, Harper had a little bit of a hero worship thing going on herself when it came to Lincoln. Partly because he was so kind to her son, but mostly because . . . he was Linc.

She’d heard all the talk around town. About how he’d crashed while on a mission in the Air Force and survived a week evading enemies before he was rescued . . . all while severely injured. But that wasn’t why Harper had a mild crush on the man. In fact, that side of him was intimidating.

It was because when she looked into his eyes, she saw a familiar isolation that she felt down to her soul.

She was surrounded by people all the time, and yet she felt alone. As if no one truly saw her. Some might admire her red hair and green eyes, or even her body—thank goodness for a fast metabolism—but very few seemed interested in getting to know her as a person since she’d moved back home.

At least, not until recently. Britt Starkweather and Marit Phillips, women engaged to two of the Young brothers, had recently begun texting Harper. And she appreciated their efforts . . . but she hadn’t tried to deepen a relationship with either of them as of yet. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to, or because the women didn’t seem interested in getting to know her better.

After years of caution, Harper was just used to keeping people at arm’s length.

She felt as if Linc was a kindred soul. She swore she saw the same loneliness in his eyes that reflected back in her mirror every morning. But nothing could come of it. How could it? She would forever be the girl who’d made his life miserable in high school. If she could go back and change things, she would, but she couldn’t. What was done was done. All she could do was atone for her mistakes and move on.

And move on, she would. As soon as she had enough money saved up, she’d find a place of her own for her and Kash. Get out of Linc’s hair. He was probably already regretting asking her to move in with him.

Today at work had been tough. The closer the holidays got, the meaner customers seemed to become. If they weren’t able to use their twenty-cents-off coupon, they went off the rails. She got it, saving money was important, she knew that better than most, but screaming at the person ringing you up, who has the unfortunate task of telling you the coupon is expired, doesn’t actually help anything.

Honestly, she needed about a week off to sleep. To recharge her batteries. But that wasn’t going to happen for many reasons, two of which were that she needed the money and the holidays were practically upon them. The busiest time of year for retailers. Which meant even longer hours for her and even more stress.

But at least now she was certain that Kash would be all right. She remembered holidays in the past where she’d had no idea where their next meal was going to come from, or whether or not they were going to be evicted.

Feeling way older than her almost forty years, Harper headed for home.

No, for Linc’s house. She hadn’t had a home in way too long. Couldn’t wait to finally be able to settle into a place with her son. She had no expectations on what that home would look like. A trailer? An apartment? A tiny little house? It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that it would belong to her and Kash. A place where they could finally relax. Could decorate however they wanted.

The drive to Linc’s house was about the same distance as it was from work to her dad’s. After she parked in the driveway, she took a moment to close her eyes and be thankful for Linc’s incredibly kind and generous offer. She’d gotten to the end of her rope with her father. She loved him, of course she did, and would always be appreciative that he’d let her move in with him to get back on her feet. But the time had come for her to leave. He must’ve felt the same way, that had to be part of the reason he’d gotten even more critical recently.

Opening her eyes, Harper saw all the lights on inside Linc’s house. It felt . . . welcoming. The low temperatures were hovering around freezing, and as November turned into December they’d only get colder. The bright porch light was a beacon. It felt like a promise. A new beginning.

Just as she was about to get out of her minivan, Linc opened the front door and half jogged toward her. For a split second, Harper had the crazy thought that he was going to say he’d changed his mind and she needed to go back to her dad’s house.

“Is everything okay?” she blurted, as she remained frozen with one foot on the ground and still half in the driver’s seat. “Kash?”

“He’s good. I just came out to tell you to park in the garage,” Linc told her, pointing toward the detached building next to the house.

Turning, Harper realized one of the doors was already open. She looked back at Linc. “Are you sure?”

“Of course. Only have one car, Harper. There’s no reason for you to park outside, where your car will just get covered in snow and ice. It’ll save you some time in the morning, not having to scrape your windows. Kash and I have dinner waiting, so don’t take all day.” He nodded at her before turning and heading back to the house.

Harper stared after him for a beat, her gaze glued to his ass.

It wasn’t the first time she’d noticed that Lincoln Young was damn fine looking. They were about the same height at around five-ten, but that’s where their similarities ended. He had dark hair where hers was a deep auburn. His eyes were brown and hers were green. He was muscular, and while she had a few curves, she was underweight. He filled out the jeans he was wearing very nicely . . . both the front and back.

She felt ashamed for even noticing.

She shouldn’t be noticing the size of Linc’s dick. It made no difference to her situation. Besides, it had been so long since she’d been with a man, she should’ve forgotten what that part of the male anatomy could do for a woman. Not that she’d ever really known. All her sexual encounters had been . . . less than ideal.

Once again, her mind shied away from that topic. She wasn’t going there. Didn’t want a man, was doing just fine without one, thank you very much.

But was she?

The doubts began to creep in. From the moment she’d left Maine, she’d struggled. Maybe she should’ve just stayed here and married a hometown boy. Her life would be very different if she’d done that, for sure.

“Harper,” Linc called from the porch, sounding amused. “Stop daydreaming and go park! The food’s getting cold!”

“Sorry!” she told him, as she climbed back into the driver’s seat.

Out of all the things Linc had offered her, a parking spot in a covered garage was possibly one of the most exciting. It had been forever since she’d had the luxury of protecting her car from the elements overnight.