Page 65 of Forever After All

She looked around the kitchen. Other than Linc’s tools, everything was clean. “I could have fixed the dishwasher. I just haven’t been home a lot lately.”

Linc put his tools on the counter. “Are you ever home much? You always work long hours.”

“I like the long hours, but Jameson said they’d be a little less now that we have Thea. And he’d planned to hire another ranch hand before the season specifically to keep the stables clean and stocked.”

“I’m sure you could have figured it out on your own, but I didn’t have anything else to do. Besides, you were getting your beauty sleep.”

Jess playfully kicked the side of his leg. She wasn’t the princess type, especially not Sleeping Beauty. Linc never looked at her like she was a pretty princess. In fact, he treated her like an equal in most situations. He saw her need to do the work, and he let her do it.

Tonight, he’d been taking care of her instead, and that wasn’t like him.

“I’m okay, you know. The doc said to take it easy for a few days, but I’ll be fine.”

Linc leaned back against the counter, propping his hands on the edge. “I know. You just scared me.”

She’d been scared when she hadn’t been able to fight the dizziness or exhaustion, but what did it mean that he was scared? This was one of those times when she wished she understood other people. If she didn’t know her own emotions, how could she interpret anyone else’s?

Linc cleared his throat and stood. “Want to watch someJeopardy?”

Jess sighed, thankful that some things never changed. “It doesn’t come on for another half hour, butFamily Feudis on. Want to share popcorn with me?”

“It’s a deal.” Linc went to the pantry and found the popcorn.

“I’m gonna change clothes.” Remi had brought her jeans and a flannel shirt to wear home from the hospital, but if she dozed off on the couch watching game shows again, she wanted to at least be sleep ready.

Linc walked into the living room at the same time she did. Carrying a bowl of popcorn, he looked like the answer to all of her prayers.

He gestured to the couch, silently asking her to choose a seat first.

Forcing his hand was fair play, wasn’t it?

Jess sat in the middle of the couch and pulled a blanket over her legs as she curled them onto the seat.

Now what, buddy?

Without hesitating, Linc took the seat on her left, resting his arm on the seat behind her and positioning the bowl between them.

Hmm. So he didn’t have a problem sitting close to her. Interesting, but what did she do with that information?

She found the remote and turned to the local channel that favored game shows in the evenings. Her head was still foggy, and she might not guess any of the right answers, but she’d try her best if Linc would hang around a little longer.

“Any more dates on the horizon?” Linc asked.

“Nope. The season is about to start, and I won’t have time to date anyway. Plus, Bethany started back to work this week, and she told this horror dating story at breakfast on Monday. The guy invited her to his place after they went out–”

“Do I want to hear this story?” Linc interrupted.

“Just listen. And he showed her his pets. He sells exotic pets online, and he had whole rooms full of spiders and snakes!”

Linc’s brows furrowed. “That’s a real thing?”

“Apparently. She said the house smelled terrible, and she had to call her sister to come pick her up.”

“Did she know about the pets before she got to his place?”

“I’m guessing she didn’t. She said he tried to sell her a tarantula the whole time. He said they made good practice pets.”

Linc’s eyes widened. “I think a fish is a good starter pet. I’d rather not fall asleep anywhere near a pet that could eat my fingers off.”

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