Page 24 of The Pilot

“No.”

“Okay. Can I do anything to help?” she asked.

“You’re doing it.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“You’re here. With Kash. Keeping my mind occupied on other things.”

“Except I’m not here much,” she said with a small laugh. “I’m always at freaking work.”

“But you are. You’re up here,” Linc said, lifting a hand to tap at his temple, before lowering it once again to hold her against him.

“Oh.” Harper didn’t know what to say to that.

Wait—yes she did.

“You are special, Lincoln Young. You always have been. I think that’s why I was so willing to go along with my girlfriends all those years ago. Because even when you were a gangly teenager, more angles than muscles, I knew deep down that you were going to be someone. Do great things.

“I had goals, but they felt superficial compared to yours. I knew you wanted to be a pilot, that you wanted to go into the military. What did I want? I wanted to be famous. To be a model. So I did my best to bring you down. But you didn’t let me or my friends crush your spirit. You left Rockville and soared, literally. While I crashed and burned. And now, as an adult, you might pretend to be a hermit, but you actually have a way of drawing people in. Of making them feel comfortable and safe.”

“You feel that way?”

Harper licked her lips again. Scared to admit what she was feeling. But she wanted to be honest with this man. “Yes.”

“Good.”

“Good?” she asked.

“Yeah, good,” Linc repeated. “Because I like being the person who makes you feel that way.”

Harper’s fingers tingled. Hell, her whole body was tingling. She felt as if they were on the verge of . . . something. Something important.

But she was scared to make any kind of move. What if she was wrong? What if Linc was just being Linc . . . protective and concerned, in a friendly way and nothing more? She’d be mortified if she did what she couldn’t stop thinking about doing—namely, leaning forward and putting her lips on his—only to have him reject her.

“Harper?” he whispered, leaning forward a fraction of an inch and pressing the pads of his fingers into her lower back.

“Yes,” she told him, giving him the consent she hoped he was clearly asking for.

The gleam in his eyes as he closed the distance between them sparked an immediate fire deep within Harper. A fire of desire she hadn’t felt for years, if ever.

Her fingers tightened on his nape as his lips brushed against hers.

It was a fleeting caress. Too quick. Too light. Not even a kiss, really. And still she let out a small moan. Felt his hips twitch against hers at the sound.

She was a giant ball of nerves right then. Feeling more than she had in forever.

“Mom?”

The sound of Kash’s confused and sleepy voice jerked her back to the present.

God. What was she doing?

The last thing she wanted was to ruin the good thing she had going on here. If she started something with Linc, and he decided he was done, she and Kash would have nowhere to go. Well, they could go back to her dad’s house, but that would be less than ideal . . . and include a resounding “I told you so” from Victor.

Harper took a step back—or tried to, but Linc’s hands on the small of her back wouldn’t budge.

“Your mom got something in her eye, Bud. I was just trying to see if I could find anything in there,” Linc said smoothly. He’d put a bit of distance between them, but they were still standing way too close. Harper was grateful for his quick thinking, disappointed though she was that they’d been interrupted.