She nodded and Linc disappeared into the bedroom, which gave her a chance to prowl the compact living area. A leather sofa and chairs matched the furniture in Linc’s office; the tables and built-in bookshelves were also made of teak.
Leather-bound books: Twain’sHuckleberry Finnpressed against Ayn Rand’sAtlas Shrugged,Aldous Huxley’sBrave New World,and a book of poems by Lord Byron. She wondered if he’d actually read them, had a hunch he had.
There were photos on the shelves, not many. A good-looking man with slightly longish black hair and high cheekbones wearing a driver’s racing suit stood next to Linc, their arms draped over each other’s shoulders, both of them grinning.
Had to be Linc with his partner, Beau Reese.
Reese was broad-shouldered, but leaner than Linc, not as muscular, and a few inches shorter, still a very tall man, and extremely good-looking.
Her gaze wandered to a different photo, this one of a younger man wearing military camouflage. She had no idea who he was, but . . . She studied his amazingly handsome face, picked up on the small cleft in his chin.
She didn’t know who he was, but she was sure he and Linc were related.
“That’s my brother,” Linc said as he walked up beside her, smelling faintly of cologne. “Josh is a Marine serving in Afghanistan.”
“I didn’t know you had a brother.”
“Half brother,” he said. In a navy Armani suit with very fine pinstripes and a snow-white, French-cuffed shirt, he looked amazing, and completely remote, no longer the biker or the virile half-naked man she’d seen in her living room that morning.
“I didn’t know it either until five years ago,” he said. “Josh dropped me a note. He said he’d known about me for a while, but he wasn’t sure how I’d feel about a younger brother showing up out of nowhere. I’m pretty sure Josh believed I’d think he was after my money.”
“Did you?”
“I had him thoroughly vetted, of course. Josh is one of the good guys. He’s a special operations sniper who’s been serving his country for years. Our old man was a drunk. He treated my mother like a punching bag until I got big enough to stop him. She got cancer and died and my old man took off. Apparently he conned some other woman into taking him in and got her pregnant. At least he had the balls to marry her before he took off again.”
“Oh, Linc.”
“Giving me a brother was the only good thing my old man ever did for me.”
Her heart went out to him. He had so much now, but he’d grown up with so little.
He glanced down at the heavy gold Rolex he was wearing on one thick wrist. “Listen, I’ve got to go. Millie knows you’re in here. She’s my assistant. She’ll set you up at one of the desks or you can work right here. I’ve got meetings for the next couple of hours. We’ll take a late lunch, work a little longer, then head back. If that’s okay with you.”
“That’s fine.” As he turned and walked away, disappearing back into his office space, a heavy weight settled on her chest. She was out of her depths here. As if she’d tumbled down a rabbit hole and couldn’t wake up.
It wasn’t the wealth that intimidated her. She’d met a lot of wealthy men while working in Delta first class, had gone out with more than a few.
It was Linc himself, the confident businessman she had only caught a glimpse of at the funeral. The man who ran a billion-dollar corporation.The man who was as comfortable in a two-thousand-dollar suit as he was in a pair of jeans.
She had never been more grateful to be wearing an expensive designer suit.
A soft knock sounded at a door she hadn’t noticed across the living room. When she walked over and opened it, a petite brunette stood outside.
“I’m Millie,” the woman said. “Welcome to Tex/Am Enterprises.”
“I’m Carly Drake. Nice to meet you.”
Millie smiled. “Linc doesn’t usually bring anyone into his private suite. You must be special.”
“Special circumstances, more like.”
“Okay. Let’s get you settled. Linc has meetings going on in his office. We set your laptop up at one of the desks, or you can work in here if you’d rather.”
She’d rather see what went on in a company this size. She might even learn something. “The desk is fine.”
It was actually a cubicle, large and fairly open. She could watch the comings and goings and still get some work done.
The place hummed with activity, nicely dressed men and women moving around, all walking briskly, relaying information, going in and out of the conference room. No one entered Linc’s domain.
