The show on the screen is about a dysfunctional family. I’ve seen it before. They fight and carry on but at the end of every episode, they reunite. Make amends. Reconvene as a family. And, as I do every time I tune in, I wonder what that feels like. Even the arguments are appetizing to me because they have each other. Looking at the picture of my parents and then at my phone again, it hits me again that I only have me. I could die tonight and it would be days before anyone finds me. Pepper would probably send the police because she needed feedback for her soup.
“In, out,” I breathe, filling my lungs with oxygen and closing my eyes. As soon as they do, I see Lincoln Landry. His rugged jawline, the way those blazing eyes light up when he’s toying with me. The way his hand, large and calloused, cups his chin as he waits on me to process an innuendo, makes me shiver despite the flannel pajamas covering my body.
“I deserve a cupcake for that,” I say out loud, mentally patting my back for holding my ground against him. “Maybe two.”
There’s something about him, about the way he looks at me, that makes it absolutely clear he would be a force to be reckoned with if he had an opening and wanted in. Not that I need to, because I’ll probably never see him again, but I must keep that door closed.
As if on cue, his smirk pops in my mind. I throw the blanket off and sit my wine on the table in front of me.
“Why, God?” I say into the air. “Why couldn’t he have tormented someone else today?”
Stomping towards my bedroom, I’m going to have to take matters into my own hands. That or risk pouncing on his delectable body if I ever see him again.
Lincoln
“Hey,” I drawl as unassumingly as I can. My hand adjusts around the plastic handles of the craft store bag. It was my first and last visit there. Besides the thirty-four million paints and brushes, there are nearly as many mommy types that apparently know who I am.
I mean, of course they do, and I’m not averse to some MILF action. But all of them at once with no security? It got a little hairy for a minute.
Danielle looks up from her planner and removes a pair of black glasses. My brain is racing, picturing her lying on my bed, her hair up just like it is now in a messy pile on the top of her head and dressed in nothing but those fucking glasses.
“Can I come in?” I ask, my throat a little parched. I sit the bag on the chair in front of me and just take her in. She’s this mixture of sophistication and sex appeal, something that’s hard to pull off but she does perfectly. She could’ve stepped out of a charity meeting with one of my sisters or off a swimsuit cover, one I’d buy the fuck out of. “I’m early.”
“You aren’t early,” she smiles, standing. “You aren’t on today’s schedule.”
“Maybe not yours.” I flash her a grin that always gets me what I want. “I have an appointment with Rocky.”
“I believe I told you there are no paint supplies here today.”
“You did. That’s why I brought some.” I dip a hand into the bag and pull out three finger paint kits. “See? One of my best traits is that I’m always prepared.”
“Maybe I was wrong about you.”
“Why is that?”
“You keep alluding to these best traits of yours, and they’re things like preparation. Maybe I overestimated you.”
It takes a full three seconds for me to find my voice. I’m not used to being on this side of the conversation. “Preparation is half the battle, Ms. Ashley.”
“And the other half is follow-through.”
“Trust me, babe. I follow through. There’s nothing I like better than executing so well it knocks everyone else out of the game. Driving home the win. Being so fucking good that my name is the only one they remember.” I pause a second to watch her react. “If you would like to see my best attribute, I’d be more than happy to demonstrate.”
“I’m sure you would,” she says breathily. “But you know, I also have strengths.”
“I bet you do,” I breathe.
“One of them is the same as yours.”
“I have little doubt,” I nearly growl, the bag crunching under my fist as I squeeze it in anticipation.
“I’m prepared . . . to have you escorted out of here.”
My face falls.
Hers lights up as she laughs at my reaction. “I’m just kidding,” she says, scooting her chair back and standing. “You can stay. But only because I said so.”
“Oh, is that how it is?” I laugh.
“Uh-huh. I call the shots. This is my domain.”
“Hey,” I say, holding my hands in the air, “I’m fine being dominated. I think it’s sexy. However you want it.”
“You’re ridiculous,” she laughs, but the ripple in her breathing betrays her. The candy apple red silk shirt stretched over her breasts nearly pops the buttons on the up-rise. It’s hot as hell. “I have to say, I’m impressed you came.”
My brows pull together as I try to make sense out of that comment. “Why is that?”
She smiles softly, her features relaxing. Gone is the little vixen that gives me shit. This is another side of her, one that will probably be harder to forget. Vixens are a dime a dozen. This side of her? It’s not.
“We have celebrities in here often, making promises to the kids,” she tells me. “Most don’t follow through. I didn’t expect to see you here today.”
Her words are full of a pain I can’t identify. But it’s there. That I’m sure of.
“I’m not sure what most people do,” I tell her, “but I honor my word. Thank you for letting me come by today.”
“You didn’t give me a choice.”
“True,” I grin. “But you could send me away, and you aren’t.”
She starts to speak but catches herself. After reassessing her words, she smiles. “You’re right. I’m not. But can you answer something for me?”
“Sure.”
“Why are you here, Lincoln? You just come by and tell a child you’ll be here the next day like you have nothing else to do. I know what your schedule must look like, and I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that you showed up.”
Shrugging, I laugh. “Maybe I don’t have anything better to do.”
“I doubt that.”
“Maybe I like kids.”
That makes her smile, which makes me smile.
“Maybe I wanted to see you too,” I offer cautiously.
Instead of responding, she walks by me, indicating with the crook of her finger for me to follow. A few minutes later, I find myself sitting at a table across from the one and only Rocky. He starts jabbering away about the Muggies, and before I know it, I’m wearing a streak of white paint and Danielle is nowhere to be found.
We paint for almost an hour, joined off and on by other little people. The kids are a riot, but I keep looking for Danielle. She never appears. Finally, after painting every farm animal I can think of, I’m relieved to see Rocky’s eyes get heavy.
I hold up his last picture, a blob of red and yellow. If I had a few beers in me, the thing in the center might be a baseball. Maybe. But probably not. Looking at my new buddy out of the corner of my eye, I grin. “You think I could have this? It would look awesome in my house.”
“I don’t know,” he says, yawning. “My mom really likes my paintings. I don’t want to make her sad.”
“You know what?” I stand and place the paper in front of him. “Always take care of your girl. And your mama is always your girl.”
His big eyes peer up at me. “Do you have a mama?”