Page 47 of Forever After All

Linc rubbed his chin. He was cute when he was thinking hard. There was a small wrinkle between his brows, and whether he meant to be flexing or not, his strong arms were on full, beautiful display.

“Okay. You know how we talked about not kissing a guy on the first date?”

“Yeah.” How could she forget that interesting conversation?

“Don't do anything else either. You should probably not hold his hand either. Just to be on the safe side.”

Jess tilted her head as she assessed his words. “I–”

“I’m not trying to tell you what to do. Just consider not giving him all of the benefits before you know if he’s worthy.”

Oh, Linc was trying to tell her not to have sex with the guy.

Cue her flaming embarrassment. Her throat swelled and closed as heat bloomed on her chest and face.

Now she knew what people meant when they claimed to die of embarrassment. She was definitely having trouble breathing.

Linc twisted the rag in his hands. “You know what? I’m just gonna pretend like you’re not going out. It’s better for my sanity.”

“Um, that’s not gonna happen. You can calm down.”

Linc pushed a hand through his hair and whispered, “He could be a killer. Not a mass murderer. Just a casual killer.”

Jess reached out and took the poor rag out of his clenched fist. “You have got to stop worrying. I’m going. I’m gonna eat dinner. He’s gonna take me home. And there’s a good chance that’ll be it. Plus, you forget I know how to defend myself.”

Linc nodded but kept his gaze on the floor. “Okay. I’m sorry. Have fun, but just be careful.”

Jess crouched and tilted her head to get in his line of sight. She grinned up at him and tried to transfer comforting thoughts to him. Linc was having a harder time about the dating than she was.

“I’ll be careful,” she promised.

His eyes turned to her, and his shoulders relaxed. “I know you will.”

She straightened and pointed a finger at him. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go to Barn Sour tonight and hang over my shoulder staring at my date. I can’t tell you not to go out, but I can ask.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay. But it’s not far away. You’ll call me if you need me?”

There was that pesky ambiguous word again. What constituted a need again?

“Or if you just want to,” he added, so low and husky that the words vibrated in her veins.

Oh no. She could think of quite a few reasons to want him.

This was bad. Really bad.

She wanted to call Linc. She’d always called him when she had a reason–mostly work-related–but he’d given her permission to call him if she wanted.

Did it matter what she wanted? Linc was off-limits. He was her co-worker. He was older than her measly twenty-two years. He was closed off and tough. He was honest and selfless.

This was really bad.

She wanted Linc.

Chapter13

Linc

Linc pried open another crate of supplies, but the contents were a blur.

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