Variable Onset by Layla Reyne

Author:Layla Reyne [Reyne, Layla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2020-05-03T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Lincoln was freaking out. At how fast the flicker of attraction between him and Carter had ignited into a roaring fire, at how much he genuinely liked Carter Warren, at how much he wanted to kiss him again, at the nagging reminder of how much his last real relationship had hurt his family.

Real.

And then there was that. How much of this with Carter was real? How much of what Lincoln felt for Carter and vice versa—how much of the chemistry between them—was owed to Mr. and Mr. Polk? To the temporary rings on their fingers? What would happen when they left Apex and returned to their real lives? The undercover thing put a whole other wonky layer of confusion on top of what was already confusing. Maybe he and Carter’s chemistry would be self-contained to Apex and the Polks. This could just be a random hookup.

But that’s not what this felt like at all. It felt like a second chance at a missed connection, like the time for them was finally right. Lincoln didn’t date agent trainees, no matter how attractive they were, and when Carter had cursed his lecture hall all those years ago, Lincoln had been in no position, professionally or personally, for any relationship. His focus had been on teaching and fatherhood. But now he had those two things under control, and Carter was no longer his student.

Except they weren’t compatible. Messy versus neat. Nomad versus homebody. Class clown versus the shy kid at the back of the class. Young with a headful of dark curls versus over the hill with more silver in his blond every day. Maybe if they were both thirty-two some of that could be worked out, but they weren’t. Lincoln was set in his ways, and he liked his life just fine without the complication of a relationship. He’d settled on that after the romantic flameout with Adam. Uprooting his and Elena’s lives, and Gabby’s and Trina’s roles in them, didn’t seem worth it.

Even for someone so insufferably handsome. Someone who didn’t seem the least bit fazed by Lincoln’s family. Who kissed like he’d been given the best gift of his life. Who had respected Lincoln’s professional and personal boundaries. Who Lincoln was in a unique position to help. Carter had said last night that he would love to settle down but that he needed to find out who he was first. If Lincoln helped him do that, would Carter want to settle down...with him? The hours Lincoln had stayed up last night looking into missing persons and accident reports from thirty-two years ago had nothing to do with what he wanted the answer to that question to be.

“Hey, L.” Carter tapped his foot under the table. “Where’d you go?”

Down a path he had no business traversing on only a single cup of coffee. “Sorry, was just watching the coverage.” He pointed at the television above Flour Power’s kitchen pass-through. The national news station was running split-screen footage of Oliver

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