Guilty As Sin (Sin Trilogy#2)

“Clothes, Cricket. Let’s focus.”

“I don’t know. A dress, maybe? You know if Lincoln’s picking the place, it’s going to be fancy as shit.”

She’s probably right.

“Can you make Hunter ask him where we’re going?”

“What is this, middle school? Ask him yourself. He’s your boyfriend.”

“Lincoln Riscoff is not my boyfriend.”

“Oh, so this is middle school, because you’re denying the obvious. Have you not noticed that you’re staying in a fancy penthouse suite, and it’s all because of him? Oh, and then there’s the fact that he’s letting us get married at The Gables for free because of you.”

Someone might have reached out of my closet and slapped me across the face for how shocked I am in that moment.

“What?”

“Hunter told me that Lincoln arranged it so there’s no cost for any of it. Which means we get an open bar!”

Leave it to my cousin to be more worried about an open bar than the important point at hand.

“For free? Everything?”



“Hunter was pissed when he thought Lincoln was going to run you out of town, and Lincoln promised to fix it. Ergo, free wedding. Did I get that right? I’ve always wanted to say ergo.”

Again, leave it to Cricket to get off topic.

“Why didn’t Lincoln tell me any of this?”

“I don’t know. You were probably too busy arguing or avoiding each other. Either way, I don’t care because he can’t take it back now, and Hunter’s mom is off my back about them picking up the tab for the whole wedding and making me feel like I’m broke as a joke. Which I still am, but at least she can’t shove it in my face as much anymore.”

I stand in front of the closet in silence while I try to make sense of all this. How I should feel about the fact that Lincoln is effectively absorbing the cost of my cousin’s wedding.

“Whit? You there?”

Her whistle yanks me back to the conversation at hand.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m just . . . processing.”

“I was surprised too, but I’m not letting him take it back. Which means you better wear something sexy that says you’re going to put out tonight and won’t look skanky in the morning when you have to put it back on again. Because if I had to guess, there’s a one hundred percent chance of you getting laid in the forecast.”

Cricket has no idea that Lincoln and I have already been down that road again, and with the connecting door, there’s no need for concern about the walk of shame. That is, if he’s still staying in that room tonight. He could always stay in mine . . . Part of me likes the idea of not being the one to sneak out in the morning.

“Okay, gonna lose you. See you at six. That’s when he told us to be at the bar on your floor. You better not be late!”

Her phone cuts out, and she’s gone.

Six at the bar? We’re having dinner up here?

I think of Lincoln’s promise that we wouldn’t have to worry about the press, and I suppose that makes sense. He’s going to close off the floor, and we’ll have it all to ourselves.

But that’s all way less important than the fact that he’s paying for my cousin’s wedding. Yes, Hunter is his best friend, but Lincoln wasn’t paying for their wedding before I came back into the picture. What the hell does that mean?

I toss my phone on the bed and go back to staring at the closet. I don’t know what to think about anything when it comes to Lincoln, so I try to worry about the one thing I can control—what I wear.

I grab a black wrap blouse, a pair of white linen pants, and cute strappy flats.

Done.

Simple.

Classy.

I glance over at the phone and wonder how hard I want to look like I’m trying . . .

Screw it. I need all the confidence I can get tonight.

Three minutes later, I have Gabi’s assurance she’ll be up at four, and I’m going to look like I didn’t try at all to be drop-dead gorgeous.

Cricket was definitely right about one thing. There’s no chance I’m going to bed alone tonight.





38





LINCOLN





“ARE YOU SHITTING ME? You have got to be shitting me! That’s a helicopter.” Cricket stares at the chopper on the roof as Hunter pulls her against his side.

“He’s not shitting you, babe.” Hunter glances over his shoulder at me with an eyebrow raised, but I’m not worried about responding to him. All I care about is Whitney’s reaction.

Her glossy pink lips are pressed together, and her gorgeous blue eyes dart back and forth between the chopper and me.

“Really?” she says, just loud enough to be heard over the quieting engine.

“Problem?”

She straightens her shoulders and lifts her chin, smiling at me. “I guess it’ll do.”

As Whitney walks toward the helicopter, my eyes are glued to her ass in those white linen pants. Sweet fucking Christ.

I hurry after her and help her into the bird. “You’ve flown in one before, I take it?”

“A few times.”

For some reason, it pisses me off that I’m not able to give her a first because she’s already done and seen so much. Then again . . . I think about the place I picked for our date, and after what she said about going places but not really experiencing them, I’m pretty confident tonight will be at least one thing she’s never done. Hell, I’ve never done it either, and it took me over twenty-four hours and a lot of favors to pull it off.

Cricket and Hunter climb into the seat that faces us, and Cricket is practically bouncing as Hunter helps her with her harness. From the smile on his face, I might actually have redeemed myself with my friend.

Whitney has her harness buckled before I can offer assistance.

“Everyone ready?” the pilot asks.

As soon as I give the word, the rotors start.

“Where are we going?” Cricket asks over the noise.

I point to the headset. “Put it on so you can talk.”



Hunter grabs both of them and positions one on her head.

“Where are we going?” Cricket repeats herself.

I glance at Whitney. “It’s a surprise.” Her brows go up. “Don’t worry, I think you’re going to like it.”





39





WHITNEY





I HAVE ABSOLUTELY no idea where Lincoln’s taking us, and I’m not sure how I feel about surprises. Ricky never bothered to do anything special unless it was something for himself, but I have a feeling that Lincoln has pulled out all the stops to set up whatever is happening tonight.

As we lift off the roof, it’s impossible to tamp down the excitement buzzing through my veins. Maybe I do like surprises after all.

The pilot’s voice comes over the headsets as he speaks to the tower, and as soon as he goes quiet, Cricket claps her hands.

“This is so cool!” Her voice is high-pitched in my ear.

One thing is for sure—Lincoln scores extra points for making my cousin so happy. I hate that me coming home for her wedding has turned into such a disaster, but Cricket would never hold it against me.

Karma, on the other hand . . . All I can picture is her on the phone, telling that reporter as many horrible, embarrassing things as she could. After Lincoln left my room, I told Aunt Jackie everything that had happened, including about Karma taking the woman’s card. Jackie promised she’d talk to her and would do everything she could to make sure Karma didn’t call her.

“You okay?” Lincoln asks.

I nod and force all thoughts of Karma and the press from my mind. Tonight, I’m going to relax and enjoy and not worry.

Lincoln gestures out the window. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

I look through the glass, and the gorgeous view of the river and mountains from above takes my mind off the chaos swirling inside me.

It’s epic. The perfect moment to just be. Maybe even the perfect moment to find the peace I’ve been searching for.

I lose track of time of how long we’re in the air as I soak up the gorgeous scenery beyond the chopper.

Mountains, forests, rivers, and lakes roll out below us, along with the occasional little towns. We swoop so low over one peak, I see animals galloping.