Page 44 of Lost in the Moonlight

We’re safe here. We’re safe here. We’re safe here, I chanted to myself.

But it could have been someone taking pictures of Lincoln, couldn’t it? A paparazzi searching for the money shot? That thought set my stomach roiling. He must have seen the near panic on my face when he got back to me, because one strong arm went around my shoulders.

“Do you think they took our p-picture?” I choked out.

He shook his head. “No. I didn’t see a camera.”

I could practically hear his questions in my head. The same ones from yesterday. Why was I terrified? Was I running? Who’d hurt me?

“Willow, I can help. If you tell me what’s wrong, I know I can.” His voice was deep and full of promises I wished I could take him up on. I wanted to spill my guts, wanted to tell him everything, just so someone would actually know the truth of us…of me.

I dragged myself from him, stepping back. “I can’t be seen with you, Lincoln.”

His frown grew, and before I could help myself, I pushed at the little lines between his brows just like I did with Hector. I held my breath as our eyes locked. Then, I pulled my hand away, tucking it into a pocket so I wouldn’t do it again.

“Who are you hiding from? What happened to you?” Lincoln persisted.

I shook my head, backing through the gate and shutting it so a physical barrier existed between us—one I desperately needed.

“Thank you for walking me home. I think we can say Poco isn’t interested in me anymore, so we should be good from here.” I kept my voice as firm as I could, given how shaky I still felt.

“That car might have nothing to do with you, Willow. I had a run-in with some guy the other night. I think it was him.”

That didn’t help my anxiety at all. I couldn’t afford to be the center of any kind of run-ins or controversy or attention. Not even positive. With people flocking into The Tea Spot, I’d already told Hector he’d have to say he’d made the treats and the display. I’d made it seem like I was just really embarrassed…shy…but Mom had been right. I couldn’t risk some reporter, even our local one, putting my face out into the world. It wasenough to know people were enjoying what I’d created. I didn’t need more than that.

“Have you even told your mom about what happened?” he asked.

“Yes. She was grateful you walked with me, but we both knew it was just for a few days. Poco hasn’t bothered me. We’re in the clear,” I repeated.

I wouldn’t tell him Mom also thought we’d started some big romance. I’d have to tell her the truth about who Lincoln really was before she found out. And I would…after she got back from the decathlon with her students.

Lincoln searched my face with that soul-deep look that pulled back my layers.

I glanced away and then back, raising my chin. “I’m off until Sunday anyway. Mom will go with me in the morning to drop off the desserts at the café, and then, I’ll be back here working on a new piece. I’m not going anywhere for the next couple of days.”

One long finger ran along his brow before he dropped his hand to his side.

When he still didn’t say anything, the air between us almost started to broil with all the mixed emotions we seemed so good at flinging at each other. I took a step backward and said, “Stop by The Tea Spot tomorrow. Hector will have a box for you.”

He just watched me as I continued to move farther and farther away. The sadness on his face almost made me run back, grab his hand, and drag him into the house with me. But this wasn’t my fairy tale.Hecouldn’t be my fairy tale.

Before I could be tempted, I hurried the rest of the way to the cottage. I rushed inside and leaned up against the door, trying to calm my racing heart. Just as I got myself together enough to punch in the alarm code, my phone chimed.

Somehow, I already knew it would be from him.

LINCOLN: You don’t know me well enough yet, Willow. But nothing will prevent me from protecting the people I care about ever again. So, I’ll see you Sunday morning at two-thirty, if not before.

My stomach dipped and whooshed at the strength of his words. The quiet promise laid out in almost every syllable. It was so very wrong, and yet I couldn’t help the thrill that traveled through me at the idea I was someone he cared about.

Chapter Fifteen

Lincoln

THE WIND

Performed by The Fray

Just like the day before, afterdropping Willow off, I returned to the studio and the fantastical art I was knee-deep in creating. I started to fill in the image of Willow in the cemetery but stopped almost immediately because I couldn’t quite see her expression yet. Maybe because I’d seen too many on her real face. Terror. Fear. Defiance. Courage. Joy.

---