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“No, it’s not a date. He’s just a friend.”
She arches a brow. “He?”
“Well, now it’s getting interesting,” Devlin says, folding his arms over his chest. “Seems our Tate finally met a man.”
“You, hush,” I scold him and he grins. I haven't said a word to anyone about Lincoln yet so there will be hell to pay when he walks in and she recognizes him but I don’t even know what I would say. We’re friends but also…not.
“Yes, he.”
She turns to Devlin with a wide grin on her face. “Oh, this is about to get good, y’all.”
“You’re an instigator,” I tell her, shaking my head as I grab a plate off the pass through and set it in front of Devlin.
“And yet you still give me plenty of ammunition.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault?” I ask, laughing and she nods before her mouth falls open, her gaze locked on the door. I don’t even have to look. It’s clear from her expression alone that Lincoln just walked in.
“Hey, Darlin’,” he says. His deep voice washes over me and goose bumps race across my flesh.
“Oh, shit.” Shaun laughs as I suck in a breath and spin around.
“Lincoln.”
“You ready for lunch?” he asks, his gaze dropping down to my lips for a brief second before he meets my eyes again. God, I would give anything to feel him press his mouth against mine.
“Yeah,” I whisper before glancing over my shoulder and yelling, “I’m going on break, Rog.”
His hand pokes out of the door and he waves, giving me the go ahead so I grab two menus and step out from behind the counter.
“Follow me.”
A whistle sounds behind us and I shake my head, resisting the urge to flip Mia off. It would only add more fuel to her fire and possibly make Lincoln think this lunch is more than it is. Not that I even know what it is.
After he came into the gas station yesterday, I spent most of my shift thinking of all the reasons that I should avoid any kind of relationship with him and basically it came down to two things. First, he’s obviously a player and while he seems to be putting in the extra effort to woo me, I’m not naive enough to think that he’d want more than one night with me and two, with Mom’s death, this is the worst time for me to be getting into a relationship. I can’t deny that he affects me, though. More than anyone has in years.
“You’re not going to wait on yourself, are you?” Lincoln asks as we sit across from each other in a booth and I shake my head.
“No, I’m sure Mia will be by in a second. Not like I could keep her away if I tried.”
He arches a brow. “Oh? Why’s that?”
“‘Cause she’s nosy as hell and she remembers you from the other night.”
“You mean the night you verbally assaulted me?” he asks, a smile playing at his lips and I roll my eyes.
“Let’s not be dramatic and you totally deserved it.”
Barking out a laugh, he takes one of the menus from the table and opens it. “Did I now?”
“Yes,” I reply with a nod. “I’m only mean to people who are rude to me and you, sir, were very rude.”
“All right, maybe I was a little bit off that night but it’s only because I was so nervous about talking to this gorgeous woman.”
I point a finger at him, shaking my head. “If you’re talking about me, stop it and if you’re not talking about me, also stop it.”
“Why?”
“Because if you are talking about me, friends don’t talk about each other like that.”
