Page 36 of Lost in the Moonlight

“You weigh, what? A buck ten? You’re nearly half my size, Willow. You get close enough to stuff that plastic riff-raff in Poco’s throat, and he’s going to be able to do a lot more to you than this.”

My entire being throbbed as adrenaline crashed through me, and yet it still wasn’t in fear. This had everything to do with him pressed up against me and the warmth of his breath as it brushed the shell of my ear, sending goosebumps over my skin.

“I stopped before I hurt you,” I said, voice shaking from the desire humming in my veins. “I would have taken him by surprise and then run like hell.”

Lincoln’s face dropped into my hair, and I swore he inhaled before whirling me around so I was facing him. My wrists werestill caught in his hands, our bodies were still aligned, and I felt every hard and sinewy muscle of his touching mine. His eyes were dark and hooded, and those beautiful lips were set in a serious line I knew he meant to be disapproving, but all I could think about was what they’d feel like if I kissed him.

Which was ridiculous. And far more dangerous than Poco. Because this complicated man, who’d had me on a roller coaster from the moment we’d met, could easily ruin me…and Mom. He could destroy everything we’d built here with one careless, misplaced snapshot.

I pushed against the solid wall of his chest, and he let me go but stayed close enough that his arms still brushed mine. We stared at each other, breathing erratically, the air full of want and need and fear and sorrow.

I swallowed over the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat and said, “Thank you for worrying about me, but we’ve both made too much of the entire situation.” When he started to protest, I interrupted. “I won’t be walking to work tomorrow anyway. I’ll have all the samples with me, so Mom will drive me.” Debate warred over his face, and I did my best to reassure him one final time. “I promise I won’t walk by myself.”

He stepped farther away, and the loss of his heat allowed the cold wind to slice through me.

He called out a series of seemingly random numbers that I didn’t quite understand, and my obvious confusion made him raise a brow and growl, “Take out your phone, Willow. Put my number in so if anything changes, you can call me. I’ll come whenever you need.”

My heart leapt wildly. It wasn’t wise to add him to my phone. Too much of a temptation. And yet, when he repeated the numbers, I still did it with trembling fingers.

When I looked back up from saving the information, he’d disappeared.

? ? ?

I’d intended to take a nap, but for the third day in a row, I couldn’t. My mind raced with memories of everything that had happened. Not only the alarming moments but the heady, forbidden ones. My mind lingered excessively on Lincoln, taunting me with a low throbbing deep in my belly at the thought of the many ways he’d touched me.

The result was that by the time Mom got home from school, I’d prepped as much of the baking as I could without shopping and was waiting anxiously with my list in hand. While I could have borrowed the car and gone without her, I was also ready to get out of my head. Ready for the distraction of company that wasn’t Lincoln’s.

Even though Mom had to be dragging after a long day on her feet, she didn’t even hesitate when I asked her to go to the restaurant supply store with me.

“I told you Hector would like your miniatures,” she said proudly as we drove.

A fuzzy warmth settled inside me, allowing me to meet her happy look with one of my own.

Shay had sent me a picture of the line in the café that had continued all afternoon. Even if most of it was due to the extra credit the professor had offered, I hoped it meant they’d come back for actual samples tomorrow.

“What are you going to do if a reporter shows up?” Mom asked.

My mind immediately went to Lincoln and the press who would eventually find him here, so my voice shook a bit when I asked, “What do you mean?”

“Hector texted me and said kids were posting pictures on Bonnin’s social media pages and that they’d flocked to the store to get a look at your piece. I bet someone fromTheCherry Bay Gazettewill pop by.”

“You’re texting with Hector?” My excitement over that single nugget of fact shoved all the other concerns aside.

Mom looked away sheepishly, and it made me want to raise my hands in the air in a fist-pounding moment. I wondered if Shay knew our work had paid off and that our parents werefinallystepping in the right direction.

“He’s proud of you. Just like I am,” she said. Pleasure bloomed inside me again. Even when I was little, Mom had never held back her compliments or her love, just like Dad never had. She’d always supported me in whatever I’d wanted to do and hadn’t even batted an eye when I’d dropped out of Bonnin to attend culinary school. She’d been proud of me for following my dreams, especially when we both knew how short life could be—specifically,mylife.

We pulled into the parking lot of the supply store, and I reached for the door handle before her words stopped me. “Were you ever going to tell me about Poco?”

I swallowed over a lump that instantly formed in my throat with regret at holding something back from her. I wanted to be mad at Hector for telling her before I’d had the chance, but I was also too happy that they were texting for any real anger to take hold.

“It was nothing, Mom,” I said because I’d convinced myself it was true.

“Some guy intervened?” she asked.

The lump grew. If she’d been worried about a reporter showing up over my desserts, how much more would she worry if she knew I was spending time with the president’s son?

“Our new neighbor heard us arguing in the cemetery yesterday before work,” I said quietly.

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