Page 65 of Where We Found Our Home
I pull out my phone to find Lincoln has finally answered the text I sent him earlier.
Me: You know… you’re the one Eddie is shooting off the road and trapping in burning buildings. Shouldn’t you be the one with the bodyguards?
Lincoln: Whatever do you mean?
Me: Do not play dumb with me sir
Lincoln: Ooh sir. I kinda like that
Me: Don’t try to get me all hot and bothered when I’m trying to yell at you
Lincoln: LOL but you’re giving me Blanche vibes with ‘hot and bothered’ so now I’m really getting started
Me: Impossible man
Me: But seriously this is what I didn’t want, Linc. To be a burden
Lincoln: Would you still feel like a burden if I told you this wasn’t even my idea? That the guys insisted on doing this when I told them I was confident he was here
Me: It would depend
Lincoln: On?
Me: On if that’s true or just bullshit so I won’t yell at you
Lincoln: I don’t bullshit, Angel. Everyone loves you as much as I do. They wanted to do this.
Lincoln: Don’t worry, Dom is never far from me on shift so I’ve got a bodyguard too.
Ummm, record scratch. What? Did he just tell me he loves me in a text?
Should I… should I address that?
Me: I…I have short-circuited
Lincoln: Do you need a factory reset?
Me: Ha! I think so
Does he not realize he said it?!
Me: Ummm welp okay then. Are you coming to Sasha’s soon?
I decide that I will not address this over text. This requires a face-to-face conversation. He’s fucking good. I’m so twisted up over him mentioning the word love that I forgot to be mad about the bodyguard thing.
Lincoln: Yep. Shift change is in a few minutes. I’ll shower and head over.
Me: See you soon
I toss my phone face down on the table, still baffled.
Thirty minutes later, he walks into Sasha’s and flashes me that damn smile that makes me want to rip all his clothes off. What an ass. I swear I’m going to make him buy me my panties from now on since he insists on making me soak through mine every day. He raises his brow at me, and I know he’s asking if I need a refill. I told myself I had enough caffeine today, but if I’m going to sit here with him and not address the “love” comment, I think I need a fix. I nod yes, and he goes up to Sasha to order. Two hours later, Carter comes in to pick Nevaeh up for her karate class, and she’s sad to see her babysitting duties come to an end, but I promise her she’ll have another shift soon. Now that I only have one Cole family member to entertain I can go back to my writing. Lincoln doesn’t mind just sitting with me while I get my work done.
Lincoln is rubbing my shoulders when we hear glass shatter. Everything happens in slow motion. Lincoln’s head snaps to the source of the noise as he grabs me and rolls us to the floor, managing to cover me completely without crushing me under his body weight. He yells for Sasha as a few patrons behind us scream and take cover. Lincoln takes off to see if he can catch the violator or at least get a direct visual. I run over to Sasha to make sure she’s okay. Her phone is poised to call the police, but her hand is shaking. I offer my hand in comfort which seems to ground her enough to connect the call.
Lincoln returns a minute later and eyes the brick that was thrown through the window before making eye contact with me. I can feel the anger radiating off of him, but his eyes are soft with worry. He stalks over to me and I crash into his arms.
“You okay?”
