How was it possible we’d only known each other for a handful of days? I didn’t put much stock into things like fate, but I could’ve sworn there’d been some weird magnetic pull that led me to pull into that damn bar. There hadn’t been a moment of awkwardness that had me second-guessing my place by his side—no red flags that’d sent me running for the hills.
Everything was natural between us, like picking up on something we’d already started rather than discovering something new.
“What’s going through that pretty head of yours?” Lincoln asked over the roar of the engine. He leaned over and turned the radio down.
I chewed on my lip, turning in my seat to face him. He wore a faded t-shirt with Frank’s logo and a backward-facing cap. Dark aviators slipped down his strong nose as he glanced over.
“All of this is kind of crazy, don’t you think?” I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I mean, I don’t know you—notreally. You could be an axe murderer playing the long game, and I’m just your unsuspecting victim who fell for your gruff cowboy charm.”
His laugh was deep and rich, like the smell of molasses in the air. “Gruff cowboy charm? Do you think I could quote you on that? I think that’d make a great tagline to use when they talk about all my murders.”
“You know what I’m saying?—”
“What ifyou’rethe murderer?” he cut in, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. “I’ve just welcomed you into my home—my bed, no less. It’d be nothing for you to off me in the middle of the night.”
I covered my face with my hands, groaning. “Never mind, forget I said anything.”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Lincoln said, steering the truck off the road and putting it in park.
“What’re you doing?” I asked, watching the cars zoom past us on the highway.
Lincoln reached over, unbuckling my seatbelt and setting me onto his lap. My protests quickly turned into nervous laughter as his hands found my hips. My body was trapped between the steering wheel and his own. “Alright, talk to me, darlin’. What’s going on?”
My anxiety had reached the point of no return—where all rational thinking had left the station, and I was on a one-way train to nowhere good. My chest tightened, constricting against my frantically beating heart.
This was where I’d ruin it—this thing I was already terrified to lose. The man who’d been so gentle to a woman who’d been running from bad decisions. Why’d I have to open my big, fat mouth? I should’ve shoved those fears down and capped them like I’d done so many times before.
I tried to laugh, but it was hollow. “Nothing. I’m just… I don’t know. I’m just being silly?—”
Lincoln shook his head. “Now, why don’t you try again. I know you’re lying.”
I leaned back against the wheel, frustration lacing every word. “Okay, but that’s my point! How do you know I’m lying? Don’t you think that’s weird?”
“Nope,” he said without hesitation. “Why would it be?”
“Because I’m just some girl you fucked on a pool table after a four-hour conversation.”
Lincoln gnawed on the inside of his cheek, letting out a huff of breath. “That really what you think, darlin’? That you’re some fuck to me? Hell, if that’s all this was, don’t you think I’d have turned you loose by now? I sure wouldn’t be taking off work and buying you ice cream, would I?”
His hand came up, cupping my jaw. “Truth be told, I don’t have all the answers, Josie. I wish I could give you what you’re looking for. All I know is that I don’t plan to let those thoughts in your head ruin whatever this could be. We could burn out by morning. If that’s the case, so be it. But why don’t we just keep doing what we’re doing and see where it goes?”
I threw my arms around Lincoln’s neck, kissing him with all the need I struggled to put into words. He nipped at my lips and matched my fervor. The rising panic I’d felt moments ago was chased away by each pass of his lips. I rolled my neck as he trailed kisses toward my pulse.
I could feel him hardening beneath me, bucking up into my center like a man possessed. “God, Lincoln?—”
The horn blared as he pushed my back into the steering wheel. “Shit,” he said, laughing as he pulled me tight against his chest. “Well, if that friendly couple over there didn’t know what we were doing before, they sure as shit do now.”
“What?” I said, scrambling off him. I looked out of the front window, watching as a man and woman stared at us in horrorfrom the lot across the street. “Oh, God.” I sunk deeper into the seat, tucking my head into my shirt as Lincoln laughed
“Doin’ that won’t change a thing, darlin’.”
I peeked out. “How long were they there?”
“Oh, I clocked them the moment we pulled over. Would’ve moved along somewhere new if you hadn’t started talking nonsense.” His lips ticked up, warming me all over. His head rolled against the seat, chocolate eyes taking me in. “But there were more important things on my mind.”
“Is that right, cowboy?” I asked, biting my lip.
“That’s right, darlin’. Now, how about I show you my favorite spot in the mountains. There’s a real pretty view, and no one around for miles.”
