Page 95 of Whistleblower

She flashes me a teasing smile, trying hard to hold back her laughter.

“Good boy.”

THIRTY-FOUR

EDEN

A sleepy-looking Linc joins me in the kitchen well past sunrise. I smile to myself, knowing I wore him out last night—hardly letting him sleep. I am a greedy girlfriend indeed.

“Good morning, you.” I blow him a kiss that’s pointless because it takes him about two seconds to cross my tiny kitchen and wrap me in his arms.

“I borrowed your toothbrush,” he says playfully.

“You monster.” I try to keep a straight face but fail. Chuckling, I continue, “Maybe… I could keep a toothbrush at your place…and you could keep one at mine?” I eye his ensemble. He’s wearing his collared shirt from the night before, halfway buttoned up, and his suit pants. “And possibly some comfy clothes,” I add.

Linc kisses my forehead before fetching a mug from my cabinet. “Or you could just move in with me,” he says over his shoulder.

“What?” My high-pitched shriek makes him turn around.

“What?” he asks, bewildered. “We’re spending every night together anyway.”

“Yeah…but…it’s…I…”

I rack my brain trying to come up with a better excuse for my dramatic reaction. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I remind myself that Linc has never been in a relationship before. Calling me his girlfriend is probably equivalent to taking a blood oath in his eyes. I may need to walk him through this.

“In a normal relationship, you date for a long time, get to know each other, and then, just when things are going great, you fight about something really stupid and break up. You spend a couple of weeks apart, heartbroken, and when you realize that nothing is more important than the two of you being together, you ditch all your problems, make up, declare your love, and then you take the plunge, move in together, and live happily ever after.”

It’s incredibly bizarre how Linc’s eyes are locked on me as he pours coffee into his mug. I’m convinced it’ll spill over, but even without looking, he knows exactly when to stop. “Isn’t that a lot of extra steps to get to the same result?”

“Well, yes,” I say, sipping from my mug. “But—”

“And don’t you get to know someone by spending more time with them?”

“Technically.” I draw out the syllables, suspecting that I’m headed into a trap.

“Do you want to date other people?” he asks.

“No.”

“Do you feel like you can talk to me?”

“Yes.”

“Is the sex up to your standards?”

I scowl. “Exceeds expectations.” Aka exceeds my wildest, dirtiest dreams.

“Mhm, okay.” He lifts his brows, a knowing smirk taking over his face. “Do you like sleeping next to me, and waking up with me around?” I nod in annoyance, seeing where he’s going with this. “And you feel safer when I’m with you?”

“Yes,” I grumble.

“Hm.” He shrugs casually before taking a sip of his black coffee. “Well then, you’re right. Moving in together sounds ludicrous.”

I glower at him. “This glib side of you is new. Where’s all the brooding?”

Linc winks at me, with a cheeky smile. “Something last night must’ve put me in a good mood,” he says over his shoulder as he settles into my couch.

Me…living with Linc. Is that so crazy? I try to remember when I would begin to think about moving in with past boyfriends, but the funny thing is, at the moment I can’t even remember their names. Linc’s cast such a huge shadow over every man I’ve ever been with, I guess I’m officially in uncharted territory. It’s not like I have any friends or family left to tell me I’m being crazy and moving too fast. And even if I did… Would I listen?

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