28. Arden
28
ARDEN
I wasn’t sure who to give my best Benny glare to, Denver or Quentin. Quentin was a douchebag for sure, but it was Denver who kept allowing him into my space.
“Arden,” Quentin practically cooed. “It’s so kind of you to spend your time teaching these…little ones.” He said little ones as if it tasted bad. “But shouldn’t you be focusing on your work?”
My annoyance shifted into anger territory. “You say that as if you have any say in how I spend my time.”
Denver started coughing, his face flaming. “Arden,” he hissed.
I sent him a scathing look that had him shutting his trap immediately.
Quentin simply laughed. “Such fire. Would be interesting to find out what it takes to break that spirit.”
I gaped at the man opposite me. He hadn’t seriously said that, had he?
“You know what I think would be interesting,” a low voice said behind me. It was a voice I recognized, but it was completely devoid of emotion .
Quentin’s gaze flicked up to Linc’s. “What’s that, Mr. Pierce?”
He’d obviously done his homework on Linc—and likely me. That made me uneasy. More than that. It freaked me the hell out.
Linc moved so he stood beside me, his arm pressing against mine, telling me he was there without suggesting I needed his protection. “I think it would be interesting to find out just how quickly I could snap your arm in two. Perhaps break a finger or three.”
Quentin chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound. “You know, Mr. Pierce, I heard that someone’s trying to dismantle your empire. I don’t think you need another enemy.”
I stiffened. What the hell did that mean?
But before I could say anything, three tiny figures stomped into our circle. Benny was first, crossing his arms and glaring up at Quentin and Denver. Izzy was next, her little fists balled as she scowled at them. And finally, Gracie. She was nervous but didn’t let it stop her, and I admired that most of all. Brutus followed behind, baring his teeth at Quentin.
“You make Miss Arden mad. Leave,” Benny demanded.
Linc chuckled next to me, and Benny turned slightly at the sound. Linc held out a fist. “My man.”
Benny gave him a knuckle bump.
“This camp has a no-meanies-allowed rule, and you’re meanies,” Isabella informed them.
It was my turn to start coughing as I tried not to laugh.
A hardness settled into Quentin’s eyes, one I didn’t like one bit. “Clearly, your parents have neglected to teach you manners.”
“You mean yours didn’t,” Benny shot back. The kid had a point.
Quentin’s gaze flicked to me. “I’m going inside to make a bidding strategy. I can’t wait to have your pieces in my home, Arden.”
Nausea swelled. Him owning my art felt like him owning a piece of me. And that was almost more than I could take.
Quentin turned and strode inside. Denver turned to me, and I saw the anger stewing below his normally placid expression. “We’ll talk about this later. ”
Fire surged, and I knew my eyes blazed as I glared at him. “You’d better believe we will.”
Then Denver went hurrying after his meal ticket. My nausea intensified. Because as much as it sucked that Quentin was here and being creepy, it sucked more that Denver was throwing me to the wolves.
A hand curved around my elbow, a gentle reminder that I wasn’t alone. “You okay?”
I sighed and looked up at Linc. “I don’t want that creep to have my art in his house.”
A muscle in his jaw fluttered. “Understandable.”
“And I think I’m going to have to fire my friend.”
Linc’s expression softened. “Is he really your friend if he’d put you in that sort of situation?”
That was a good question.
Tiny arms went around my waist, and I looked down to find Gracie hugging me. “I’m sorry, Miss Arden. But it’s good you have Mr. Linc to protect you. He’s real big.”
One corner of my mouth kicked up. “I am lucky, aren’t I?”
Benny sighed. “I guess he’s okay.”
Linc grinned at the little boy. “Does that mean we’re besties now?”
“Too far,” Benny grumbled, stalking away.
Isabella smiled at Linc. “Don’t worry. Sometimes, he just needs a snack. He’ll get over it.”
Linc glanced at me. “Get that boy some cookies before I end up with a shiv in my spine.”
I burst out laughing, and Brutus barked happily at the sound. “Cookies, it is.”
Everything hurt. I swore even my hair felt a little abused. And I was in shape. I trained with Kye weekly. I rode my horses almost daily. And my work was physical on top of it. Yet there was nothing like an entire day wrangling tiny kiddos.
Hands landed on my shoulders as I stretched, kneading the knots there. “You okay?” Linc asked.
“I will be if you keep doing that forever,” I mumbled.
“I could be convinced.”
“I’m not above a little sexual coercion.”
He chuckled. “Good to know.”
“It’s exhausting, isn’t it?” I asked, looking around at the destruction left in the kids’ wake. Hannah, Isaiah, and Farah were getting them off to their parents while Linc and I were handling clean-up duties.
“I think this has convinced me I don’t want six kids. I think three is good.”
I whirled, gaping at him. “You want six kids?”
“Want ed ,” he corrected. “I’m good with three now.” He paused for a moment. “What about you? You want kids?”
My palms instantly started to sweat as my heart rate picked up. “I’m not sure,” I croaked.
Linc studied me in that assessing way of his, the kind of look that peeled back the layers in search of understanding. “Not sure or scared?”
My fingers went in search of something—anything—to hold on to. They found one of the threads on my favorite jeans and began to twirl it. “Why do you have to see so much?”
He shrugged. “I pay attention to the things that are important. And you’re important.”
I pulled the string tighter, cutting off the blood flow to my pointer finger. “I don’t know if I’d be good at it. I can’t even tell my family I love them. I freak out about weird things. I don’t know if it’s fair to saddle a kid with that.”
But it didn’t change the fact that I wanted it. I wanted a chance to do things differently than my parents had, to focus on the right things, and make sure my kids knew that happiness didn’t come from having more but from the people you surrounded yourself with.
Linc reached out, taking my hand and unwrapping my finger. “ I watched you today. You have a gift when it comes to children. You reach them. You make them feel seen. If you decide you want to have some one day, they’ll be the luckiest kids in the world because you’re their mom.”
My throat constricted, a burning sensation surging. “Thank you.” The words were barely audible, but they were there.
A throat cleared.
I jerked at the intrusion into such a private moment. When my gaze found the reporter hovering in the courtyard, my annoyance doubled.
“Yes, Mr. Levine?” I clipped.
He didn’t seem put off by my tone. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
He wasn’t wrong, but that was my prerogative. “I told you I don’t do press.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You said you’d go on background.”
“No, I said you could hang around if I was on background. There’s a difference.”
He huffed out a breath. “This article won’t be half as good without your involvement.”
I shrugged. “Oh, well.”
“You’d chance fewer donations because you’re shy?” Sam challenged.
I barked out a laugh. “Mr. Levine, I’m a lot of things. Shy isn’t one of them.”
That had him assessing me with new eyes, and I almost cursed. This was why I didn’t like having reporters around. There was always the chance that I’d slip up, and they’d see something they shouldn’t.
“I think Arden has made herself clear.” Linc stepped in, gesturing Sam back toward the doors that led to the gallery.
“Crystal,” Sam said, the single word tight as he sent Linc an annoyed look. “I know the way.”
I sighed as he stalked away. “What is it with grown men having tantrums today?”
Linc wrapped his arms around me. “I don’t know, but I think I’m on that list, too. ”
“You?” I asked, tipping my head back.
“Vicious, you’ve ruined me. I think I was jealous of a seven-year-old today.”
A laugh bubbled out of me. “I promise you don’t have to worry about Benny.”
“Losing it over you,” Linc whispered.
I stared up at him, taking that in. Knowing I wasn’t alone helped somehow. “I feel the same way. You freak me out, Lincoln Pierce.”
He grinned down at me. “I’m taking that as a compliment.”
I rolled my eyes. “You would.”
He patted my butt. “Come on. Let’s clean up and get out of here. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I’m going to deck the next person who’s rude to you, and I don’t need to get sued.”
My lips twitched. “Fair enough.”
We got to work restoring the courtyard to its original glory. It took us over an hour, but doing it together made it fun. By the time we made it to my truck with Brutus in tow, we were both starving. We decided to go for more burgers, and after a pit stop at The Pop, we headed home.
I tried not to let it freak me out that it felt more like home with Linc there. As if he had some sort of grounding force. I shoved all those feelings down and punched in the gate code to Cope’s property before heading toward the guesthouse. “I need to check one thing in my studio.”
It was a lie. I just needed a minute to catch my breath and still my rapidly beating heart.
“Sure,” Linc said easily. “I can get dinner set up.”
It was so normal. So not me.
“Okay,” I said. “The code’s the same.” I didn’t want to look too closely at the fact that I hadn’t changed it after the night he’d stayed on my couch, or that I felt comfortable with him having it.
I pulled to a stop between the house and the workshop. Linc slid out and whistled to Brutus. “You wanna come with me, boy? I’ve got your burger.”
Brutus looked between us, and I smiled at him. “Go on. ”
I watched as they headed for my house. They fit, the two of them. And they were clearly fond of each other. That only made me more nervous.
It was as if I was at war with myself, wanting more yet being terrified of it.
I headed for the studio. I’d just take a second, a moment to reel it all in and stuff it away until I could paint it all out. Punching in the code, I stepped inside and flicked on the light.
I froze. Not a single breath or movement. Maybe my heart stopped, too.
And then I screamed.