Page 44 of Rush

“For waiting for me.”

He felt her smile against his chest. “You were worth the wait.”

Chapter Sixteen

“You’re not going to get me to change my mind.” Nora plastered on an exasperated expression and hoped this time her words would sink in.

She’d been having the same discussion with Linc about Colt’s charity event for three straight days. Nora wasn’t sure if he was just that stubbornly persistent in wanting to get his way or if he thought relentless badgering would change her mind.

FYI, it wouldn’t.

He started listing his usual arguments. “It’ll be fun.”

Standing on a stage performing in front of hundreds of people did not sound like fun. She walked over to the refrigerator, throwing over her shoulder, “No it won’t,” before opening it.

“It’s for a good cause.”

That was true but she had a sound argument so would stick with that. “And the people are paying to see you and your teammates, not me. The charity will make money whether I’m there or not.” She buried her head in the crisper, pulling out lettuce, tomatoes, and a cucumber.

“Sophie will be upset if you don’t do it.”

She closed the see-through drawer with her toe then nudged the fridge door shut with her hip. That one was his weakest defense and had Nora rolling her eyes. “She couldn’t care less.” She dumped her load on the counter and reached for the cutting board.

“That’s not true. Just this morning I told her you didn’t want to do the act with me and she started crying.”

She tore her gaze away from the lettuce she was shredding into a bowl to look over at Linc who stood leaning against the counter in his usual stance. Man, he looked sexy with his arms crossed over his chest making his muscles bulge and pulling his tee shirt tight with his legs kicked out in front of him and crossed at the ankle. She mentally slapped herself out of her daydream and got back on topic. “She did not.”

“It’s true. Big crocodile tears.”

Lips pursed, she eyed him. He wasn’t above stretching the truth to get his way. Unfortunately for him, he had a tell. But fortunately for her, she knew what it was. She dropped her gaze. Yep, his index finger was tapping. A sure sign.

Her lips tipped into a small smirk. “Liar.”

She turned back to the counter, her smirk turning into a smile at his heavy sigh and picked up a tomato to dice.

His arms came around her waist, pulling her against his hard length and his head dipped close as he whispered in her ear. “If you agree, I’ll do that thing with my tongue you like so much.” His voice shifted into a low growl. “Every night for a whole week.”

She stilled, the knife falling from her slack fingers, clattering as it hit the hard-plastic cutting board. That was a new tactic. And a low blow. Her whole body heated just thinking about it, and she responded, voice throaty, “Make it two and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

A deep chuckle vibrated in her ear. “Agree.” She spun in his arms catching his eyes gleaming with mischief and his small grin. “You’re a tough negotiator.”

She reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re just used to getting away with murder.”

His lips came within a fraction of hers. “I guess I better start getting used to being putty in your hands.”

Then he was kissing her and, little did he know, for that, she would have done anything he asked in that moment, no bargains made.

***

The next afternoon, Nora was already regretting her agreement when Linc came home after his workout carrying a large box.

“What’s that?” she asked, following him into the living room.

He set the box on the coffee table and started ripping open the top. “Karaoke machine. I thought we could use it to practice our act.”

He looked like a kid at Christmas as he pulled a large speaker, decorated with a bunch of high-tech looking buttons, and two microphones out of the box.

“I thought we were lip syncing?” She didn’t sound nearly as panicked as she was actually feeling at the thought of singing in front of a large crowd. She’d need to work on that.

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