Lincoln Wells was in a good mood. It had started with the Lieber case—small little corporate outfit that had gotten over its head, but then, that was to be expected. Happened all the time, those old school cable and phone companies that couldn’t keep up with the speed of technology. Lieber fell behind and Lincoln got assigned to the case, making sure that they stayed well behind.

“Jessie,” he called to his assistant through the open door, just as he closed his laptop and whistled, packing away his files in the soft lambskin case Ellis had given Lincoln as a five-year anniversary gift. “Did the housekeeper make it to the cabin?” He didn’t wait for her to answer, smiling to himself when he imagined Lily stretched out and half naked in a small bikini on his cabin dock. He’d been waiting for the opportunity to be alone with her, and thank God it finally had arrived. Besides, Lily being away from the office left things open for him. It made her vulnerable, just the way he liked his women.

Jessie came into his office and fidgeted. She always did that and it irritated Lincoln. Calm the nervous hand shaking, he thought to himself, barely passing a glance her way as he dug in his desk drawer for the laptop charger. “Make sure you have the housekeeper text me the second Lily makes it to the cabin. I want everything pristine for our visit.”

It was the “our” in his sentence that brought out the stretching smile, that and the recurring image of Lily half naked. An alarm rang on his cell and Lincoln pulled the phone from his pocket, noticing with little thought that Lily should have made it to the cabin well before now. But then, Lincoln had been tied up in the mess her absence caused and hadn’t had much time to call the housekeeper or the driver from the service.

He frowned, realizing it had been much too long, nearly five hours and still no call. “Did the driver check in? Or the maid?”

Jessie stilled the annoying fidgeting long enough that Lincoln stopped his packing to watch her. When she went on gawking at him, he pinched the bridge of his nose, releasing a long exhale that got the woman speaking.

“I’m sorry, sir, but Miss Campbell canceled the ticket.”

“She…what?” The damn woman only stared back at him, pulling on her collar like she worried he was going to pounce on her. For two years Jessie had been his assistant and she still acted like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown anytime he stared at her. Another long, slow breath and Lincoln relaxed, shoulders drawn down, hands in his pockets. When he spoke again, he took care to keep his tone level, calm without sounding like a coward. “Jessie, are you saying Miss Campbell did not use the ticket you scheduled for her?” The woman nodded and a small twitch moved under Lincoln’s left eye. “Did she give an explanation? Maybe she decided to go to the cabin later on in the weekend, or maybe next week?”

“No…” Jessie cleared her throat, pulling her hands behind her as though the fidgeted had started up again and she didn’t want Lincoln to know. “Her assistant, Sarah, she informed me that Miss Campbell declined the ticket and would be spending her…the vacation time…in Hawaii, sir.”

“Hawaii?”

“Yes…yes, Mr. Wells. I believe that is where Miss Campbell grew up.”

“I know where she grew up!” Lincoln snapped, balling his fists tight as Jessie watched him. There was a flush of color painting her cheeks and he tried to contain his disappointment and the fresh wave of anger that bubbled inside him. Lincoln didn’t have the energy to pacify her. “I’m aware where Miss Campbell grew up.” Behind him, Loyola Avenue was dark with only the rush of headlights and the dim, yellow streetlight illuminating the pavement. He looked out of the window, head shaking as he tried to regroup.

Lily had made no promises, but Lincoln had believed he’d convinced her. No one said no to him, especially when he did them favors. He’d had his assistant make the travel arrangements. Everything was waiting for her.

The issues with the pictures, with all the drama and worry they caused the partners should have been enough to convince Lily to accept Lincoln’s offer. She didn’t need to know he’d planned to join her. She wouldn’t mind, he was sure of that. Maybe being out there on the lake, secluded from the worry caused by those pictures and their own hectic schedules, would give Lily the opportunity to remember what could have been; what had almost been between them before she brushed him off. Him, of all people. And there were other opportunities Lincoln planned. The ones involving what she knew about her client’s next move. If he could find that out, and use it to his advantage, the junior partnership would be his, not Lily’s.

But all that opportunity was gone now. Disappointment and a hefty amount of frustration clouded Lincoln’s mind, made his throat tighten and his jaw tense. “That’s…all, Jessie. Thank you.”

He heard the swift click of her heals against the tiled floor, and then his office door shut. “Son of a bitch,” he said aloud, grabbing his cell to scan through the messages he’d missed while he ran the deposition. Two from his mother, one from his client just before they’d met and then another that came just before seven a.m. That typically was the time set for long flights out of Louis Armstrong International.

“Clever.” And it was. If Lily wanted to avoid the effort he’d have made trying to convince to forget about Hawaii and head to the mountains, then it would have been the perfect time to text him. She’d know his schedule, it mirrored hers most days. She must have known he’d be in meetings and by the time he’d read her message, she’d be flying toward the Pacific.

“Very clever.”

Lily had made things difficult. She’d kept her distance, kept their relationship platonic, and Lincoln understood why. It was hard for a woman, he imagined, trying to make a name for herself in a business that was made for men. But damn if he wasn’t tired of her pushing him away. He’d worked hard to keep up the pretense. He’d worked harder than he ever had with getting this woman and Lincoln Wells wasn’t a man who had to work hard for women at all.

Thoughts of Lily on the beach, her skin wet from the salt water, glistening in the hot sun ruffled that anger and the burn of frustration he felt coiling in his gut shifted, aided by his imagination and the challenge he knew she’d laid at his feet. That had to be it. Lily was playing a game, and Lincoln always won anytime he found an opening.

He crossed his office, opening the door to call a quick “Jessie?” He managed an easy laugh when she jumped, swiveling in her chair to stare at him. “Get on the phone. I need my travel agent and a first class ticket to Hawaii.”