Page 48 of Lillian

“Do you have an appointment?” She doesn’t look up as she asks me.

“No, but he’s expecting me.”

“Name?”

“Lillian Frasier,” I tell her, and the furrow in her brow relaxes.

“Ah, yes. Okay. Right here. He’s got your name on his list of approved visitors.” She stands up and leans over the desk, looks down the hallway on my left, and points to the end of it. “His office is at the corner of this hallway on the left. Room 612. If his door is closed, he’s probably on a call so just knock.”

I give her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

At the end of the hall, it looks like his door is open, and I breathe a sigh of relief that I don’t have to interrupt him. I walk in the room and stop dead in my tracks at the number of men in the room. None of which are Lincoln.

There are four men standing around a coffee table near floor-to-ceiling windows across the room from a big, mahogany desk. Most of the office is neat. There are stacks of paperwork on the coffee table and on the desk, but the room itself is tidy.

“Umm,” I mutter, and it’s enough to get their attention. Quickly, I lean back out and confirm I’m at room 612. “Is this Lincoln’s office?”

“You’re in the right place,” a big, older, burly-looking man says. The other three look at me with various degrees of surprise or confusion. I shift on my feet a little.

“Is he busy?” I ask slowly, waiting for anyone to say something. A younger blond man, probably close to my age, walks up to me with a cocky, flirty smirk on his face.

“He’s busy right now, but I’m free,” he says and extends his hand. “I’m Tyler.”

I shift Grace around, who has been quietly tucked against my shoulder this whole time, so I can take his hand in mine. “Lillian.”

He looks me up and down in a way I’ve seen before at bars or on dates. But this man is so far from my type it makes his facial expressions almost comical. “Pleasure,” he purrs, and I swear, lifts my hand like he’s going to kiss it.

I can’t hold it back anymore, and a laugh slips free. The three guys standing behind him grin at my response, but Tyler looks disconcerted and drops my hand. I slap it across my mouth.

“I’m sorry,” I laugh behind my hand. “But that was bad.”

“What was bad?” a deep voice says from behind me as a hard body presses against my back. “Hey, beautiful,” Lincoln says as he places a hand on my waist and kisses my cheek.

“Linc!” Grace yells in delight when she sees him and starts wiggling in my arms to be put down. When Lincoln holds his hands out for her, I pass her over.

“Hey, munchkin. Missed you this week,” he tells my daughter as he takes her from me, and she throws her tiny arms around his neck.

“I missed you,” she giggles, still hugging him tight.

I’m too busy smiling at the pair of them to notice how quiet the other guys have gotten. When Lincoln turns to the four other men in the room, so do I.

They’re all staring at Lincoln incredulously. Probably wondering why there is a strange woman in his office with her four year old kid, and why Lincoln is talking to her like they’re best buds.

“What was bad?” Lincoln asks me again, looking at Tyler and then the three other guys that start to walk toward us.

I just shrug and grin at the way Grace stays snuggled up in his arms. But the big burly one answers Lincoln’s question.

“Tyler trying to flirt with Lillian.”

Lincoln glares at Tyler with enough animosity that Tyler throws his hands up and takes a step back.

“Hey, I didn’t know you two were together, man. You were single two days ago.” Part of me wants to cringe at the unintentional jab because we have started moving very fast. But Lincoln looks unbothered by it, so I do my best to shrug it off, too.

“She’s in my office, dumbass. Who did you think she was?”

“Dollar!” Grace blurts out, pulling away from his shoulder and sticks a finger to Lincoln’s cheek. “Mommy, he has to give me a dollar.”

“Yes he does,” I smirk at Lincoln.

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