Page 10 of Beautiful Exile

4

LINCOLN

I watchedthose perfect berry lips part in shock as I climbed out of my SUV, the mental dots connecting as I strode toward the woman who, through a process of elimination, I now knew was Arden. And then the heat settled in—that smoky flare of fire in her gray-violet eyes. Anger might have put it there, but that didn’t make the burn any less beautiful to watch.

“You knew who I was,” Arden accused.

I held up both hands in mock surrender. “Not at first. I was just going to the gym—one my good friend here always talks about.” I glanced at Cope. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

He tried to cover his laugh with a cough. “Sorry.”

“He snuck up onme,” Arden defended.

Cope pinned her with a stare I recognized: a big brother exasperated with his little sister. “And how loud was your music?”

Pink hit the apples of Arden’s cheeks, and it somehow made her look even more beautiful. “Notthatloud.”

“Not sure it qualifies as music,” I added.

She glared in my direction, and Cope chuckled as he shook his head. “Pierces your eardrums, huh?”

“Like someone took an ice pick to my skull,” I agreed.

“You two clearly have no taste.” Arden turned to her brother. “I need to get back to work, and you need to get off your feet.”

Cope’s face twisted with a hint of annoyance. “I’m fine.”

“And I will be, too.” She moved into his space, stretching up onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. “Be safe, please. I like you in one piece.”

“I’ll do my best,” Cope said. “But you might want to know something first.”

“What’s that? You gave the other half of your house to the starting line of Seattle’s football team?” Arden called, walking backward away from us both.

“Sutton’s going to marry me.”

It was like some invisible force hit Arden, causing joy to slide over her features. But it was joy laced with pain. And I couldn’t figure out where the pain had come from.

“You’re gonna have a beautiful life, Copey,” she called and then turned, jogging away, her giant dog trailing behind her.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she headed toward what I assumed was her art studio. Cope never shut up about the sister who lived in the guesthouse on his property and made captivating art that people clamored over. But he’d conveniently left out the fact that she was the most stunning human being on the planet. Figured.

Finally, I forced my gaze away from where she’d disappeared and glanced back at my friend. “Big news, huh,Copey?”

“Oh, fuck off,” he muttered.

I chuckled. “Seriously, I’m happy for you, man. You more than deserve this.”

Cope’s gaze moved from me to the pasture that currently held the two people he loved most in this world. “I didn’t always believe that. But thanks to Sutton, I’m starting to.”

Hell, if that didn’t hit me right in the solar plexus. I honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever known a love with the power to create change likethat. I loved my little sister, Ellie, fiercely, but it was a protective love. My mom had done her best, but the tyrant who ran our household had crushed her spirit over the years. The beautiful memories I had of her were coated in an acid that made them hard to endure. And the man I should’ve calledDadsure as hell didn’t love anyone but himself.

“Linc? You okay?”

I blinked a few times to clear away the memories that felt like a combination of smoky tendrils I couldn’t quite grasp, and shards of glass I couldn’t clear away fast enough. “I’m good. Just happy you found this.”

His expression eased a fraction. “Then maybe that will put you in a good enough mood to do me a favor.”

“Cope. You’re letting me stay in your house while I work on building mine. I’ll do whatever you need.” The moment he’d offered up his stunning mountain oasis, I’d jumped at the chance. Not that I couldn’t afford to rent something while we got the project started, but whatever I found wouldn’t be this close to the siren’s orbit.

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