Present
Over the next couple of days I attend most of his commitments, standing off on the sidelines with Kacey while he does his thing. I like being able to see him in his element. He’s so relaxed and confident. Everyone he meets is so enamored with him and it’s no surprise. The man just has something about him that puts people at ease and lures them in. It’s fascinating to watch yet a part of me feels special knowing that I get to have a side of him no one else does. Kacey and I have become good friends as well, and I’m comforted knowing that he’ll have her to take care of him out on the road.
He took me to lunch at the Bluebird Café yesterday and showed me where he pinned his song “Roots” to the wall. It was one of the first songs he wrote when he got to Nashville. It’s about remembering where you come from but not being afraid to spread your wings and fly. It’s surreal to see where he got his start. Where he struggled to get recognized among the countless singers and songwriters that graced the infamous small stage. And unlike so many others who have traveled the same path, he still remains humble. His loyalty has always been to the music. He even goes back from time to time to play. To remind himself where he started.
Today, I’m helping Linc finish packing. He didn’t have much left to box up. The movers had done most of the heavy stuff already, but there was some personal stuff he didn’t want them touching. Like his father’s things. Most of which he kept in his office. His father’s medals from the war were displayed in a glass case, along with the folded, framed American flag from his funeral. I remember when he died, how devastated Linc was. It took him months before he would even talk to me about it.
It was music that helped him through that dark time of his life. It’s what kept him going.
Carefully, I wrap up the remaining photos in his office. There are several of him and his father when he was younger. One where they are camping. Linc’s father was a real outdoorsman, loved wildlife and nature. They were always going on camping trips. When we were younger, I even tagged along a few times. There are a few shots of his mom and dad together over the years. It’s so obvious by the look on their faces how much they love each other, and I silently wonder, as I tuck another newspaper-wrapped frame inside the large cardboard box, if people say the same thing about us.
Do they see it written all over our faces? How much we love each other, how deep that love runs?
When I turn around to grab the next picture from the shelf, my breath catches in my throat. I blink, not really sure of what I’m seeing. It’s a picture of me, taken when I was about sixteen. I’m sitting on the bed of his truck, my bare feet dangling while my hands cup the edge of the tailgate. I’m leaning forward, a half smile on my face and my hair blowing on a slight breeze. The edges look to be crinkled and worn, as if someone has spent a lot of time looking at it. Tears prick my eyes.
If I only knew then what I know now.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?” His deep baritone voice sends a shiver down my spine.
I gasp and look over my shoulder at Linc. “Jesus, you scared me.”
Linc softly kisses my cheek before slipping the picture from my grasp. He looks at it thoughtfully, a wistful smile playing on his lips as he rounds the desk to sit in the big leather chair behind it.
He holds the photo close, as if seeing it for the first time. “There are certain days that stand out the most in my mind. Like the day we met. The day I sang to you the first song I ever wrote. The day we went swimming at the lake and you lost your top. Prom.”
Exhaling a long sigh, he continues. “We didn’t do anything special this particular day. We’d been to the lake, then shared a pizza at Emilio’s, then we hung out at my house while my mom was at work. We sat on the tailgate and I played around on my guitar. It was a day like so many before, yet so different. You kept telling me how proud you were of me and how someday I would shine brighter than any of the stars in the sky. But all I could think about was how the setting sun would catch your eyes just the right way and how they would sparkle every time you smiled. How the summer wind whipped your hair across your face, the delicate strands kissing your porcelain skin. I knew I had to capture the moment or it would be lost forever. So I ran inside and grabbed my mom’s digital camera. You called me a dork, among other things, and refused to smile for me. But I did manage to get this one. Then the very next day I had it developed.” I stand in front of him, my eyes filled with unshed tears. “I’ve carried this around in my guitar case ever since. Every time I opened it you were right there, smiling at me, encouraging me. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to give up, but every time a door would slam in my face I would look at this picture and remember this day. You’re the reason I kept going. You’re the reason I never gave up.”
I climb onto his lap, draping my legs over the arm of the chair while tucking myself into his arms. “You’re not the kind of man who gives up on anything.”
“I came pretty damn close a few times, with my music and trying to make it in this crazy fuckin’ business, but I couldnevergive up on us. There were times I wanted to, fuck I prayed for my heart to let you go and move on. But it just wouldn’t. It’s like it always knew that someday we’d end up here, that there would be anus.”
I can’t speak around the knot in my throat so I snuggle closer to him. His arms tighten around me. “Hereis where I find peace.Hereis where I find the best version of myself. That only happens when we’re together.”
Lifting my head from his chest, I find his eyes. “I loveus, Linc,” I manage on a whisper, my heart overflowing with emotion. “I love you more than you will ever know.”
One hand cradles my face while his lips brush mine, tender and sweet, but it’s not long before our kisses become more heated.
Urgent.
Each stroke of our tongues is a battle of need, fighting for possession. Neither one of us can get close enough, deep enough. If it were possible to love him more, I wouldn’t think it likely until this moment.
His love heals, binds, and fills me with immeasurable peace.
His love makes me whole.
His fingers dip beneath the elastic of my shorts, gliding through my slit while his mouth dominates mine. “I love you, too,” he mutters against my lips, his fingers working back and forth. “Always.” Removing his hand, he urges me to stand up. I reach for the hem of my shirt and lift it over my head, baring my breasts to him. He leans forward and catches my hips, pulling me closer to claim one of my hard nipples in his hot mouth. I stand between his open thighs, his warm breath fanning my skin while his fingers tuck into the sides of my shorts, sliding them down my legs along with my panties. “So beautiful.” He drops hot kisses along my stomach, inching lower and lower until he’s rightthere. My head falls back and a gasp tears from my mouth when his tongue darts out with a teasing lick. “Spread your legs for me, baby.”
I widen my stance, my body eager to have his mouth on me. Linc kicks my discarded clothes aside. I can see the outline of his erection straining the loose denim and I lick my lips, desperate to have him inside of me. His hands grip my thighs, kissing and nipping at the sensitive skin in a quest to completely incinerate my blood. My fingers thread through his disheveled hair, gripping the strands to steady myself and guide him closer. His mouth covers me, tongue pressing hot and hard against the sensitive spot as he proceeds to thrust not one, but two fingers inside of me.
I sway on my feet, gasping for air.
With his mouth moving against me and his fingers working in and out of me, he takes me to the edge, teetering on the cliff of pleasure, sharp and steep. I’m almost ready to fall over. Hell, I’m ready to leap off the damn thing, but before I can, he pulls away.
I moan in frustration as he stands up and spins me around, sitting me down in the chair he just vacated. Once the warm leather embraces my skin, I sigh, grateful he had the forethought to get me off my feet before he sends me hurtling into what is sure to be a mind-blowing orgasm. He kneels down in front of me, reaching underneath to lower the chair.
I smile. “Here?”
Desire swirls deep in his eyes when he situates my right leg over the arm of the chair then leans in to press a bone-melting kiss on my trembling lips. “Yes, here.”
