Chapter 13
thirteen
. . .
Brinkley
I was probably the luckiest woman on the planet at the moment. We’d been taken to a private room at the hotel restaurant, and I was seated at a table with some of the best players in the NFL.
Lincoln sat beside me, and Brett Jacobs was on the other side of me.
Lenny Waters sat directly across from me.
Pete Garner, the Thunderbirds kicker who also happened to be the best kicker in the league, sat next to him, and Terry Langley, one of the best linemen in the league, was seated at the head of the table.
We’d laughed and talked, and they’d grilled me about how I had gotten Lincoln to hire me to tell his story. Everyone knew the man was tightlipped and guarded his privacy fiercely.
I’d held my own, telling them about his training, and they razzed him about me racing him on our runs most days. I’d only had a few bites to eat because my stomach had felt a little off since I’d had lunch at the café near the offices while Lincoln was at his meeting.
I hoped I wasn’t coming down with anything, but I was doing everything in my power to push it away.
“You didn’t eat much. Are you okay?” Lincoln leaned close to my ear and whispered. His lips grazed my skin, and chills ran down my back.
I glanced around to see everyone deep in conversation.
“Yeah. Just feeling a little off.” I shrugged like it was no big deal. His gaze was laced with concern as he studied me.
“You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine,” I said, forcing myself to look back at the guys who had just finished another round of cocktails.
I’d passed on the alcoholic beverages, and I was grateful because I was feeling queasy, and any amount of booze would probably have me hurling right now.
The bill came, and Lincoln quickly signed it, letting the guys know he was calling it a night. Everyone got to their feet, and each one of these large men took turns picking me up off the floor and hugging me goodbye.
Brett spun me around, and I thought I was going to vomit, but I did my best to hide it and chuckled.
We waved our goodbyes and headed toward the elevator.
I was sweating profusely now, and I tucked my lips between my teeth and breathed in slowly through my nose.
Lincoln closed the space between us. “You’re definitely sick, sweetheart.”
“I think I might have food poisoning. I haven’t felt right since I ate that sandwich at the café.” I bent over my knees and groaned. My stomach was cramping, and I couldn’t stand up straight any longer.
He bent down in front of me. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
His hand moved to my back, making little circles and soothing me in a way I didn’t even know would be comforting.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I said, fighting the tears that were threatening to fall.
This was so embarrassing.
“If you need to be sick, just let it out.”
“I can’t puke in the elevator or the hallway,” I said, feeling panicked.
“I’ll get it professionally cleaned. Don’t worry about it.”
The elevator was taking forever. Of course, we had to be on the top floor. I crouched down when the cramp hit me so severely that I couldn’t stand up.
When the doors opened, I looked up, unsure how I was going to move.
Lincoln’s hands moved beneath my thighs and around my neck, and he scooped me up effortlessly.
I buried my face in his neck and breathed him in.
Turns out, pine and sandalwood were my favorite anti-nausea medicine.
At least for the brief few seconds, until the next bout hit me like a tidal wave.
“Oh, God,” I groaned, covering my mouth with my hand. “You need to put me down.”
Of course, the stubborn ass didn’t listen. He just walked briskly toward the door. I found my key in my purse and handed it to him, and he pushed the door open and carried me to the bathroom.
I pointed at the door. “Thanks for everything. You can go. I’m okay.”
I dropped to my knees and unleashed the tsunami from my stomach.
I heaved over and over just as the faucet turned on, and I glanced up to see Lincoln wetting a washcloth.
“I told you to leave!” I shrieked as the tears fell down my face.
I didn’t think there was anything left in my body at the moment, so I flushed the toilet and leaned against the wall, burying my face in my hands.
Could there be anything more horrifying than vomiting exorcist-style in front of the hottest guy on the planet?
He bent down, his hand finding my chin and forcing me to look up. He used the warm compress to clean up my face and then moved to sit beside me on the floor as he wrapped an arm around me.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Why can’t you let me be miserable by myself?” I sniffed.
“Because I want to have something to tease you about when we get home.” His tone was dry, but I felt his body quake beside me.
I chuckled and groaned at the same time. “I hate you.”
“Hate you, too, sweetheart.” He pulled me against his chest, and his fingers stroked the side of my face, moving down to my jaw.
It felt so good. I couldn’t push him away if I wanted to.
Well, until round two hit.
And it did.
I spent the next several hours violently heaving into the toilet.
I dozed off somewhere along the way, after nothing but bile was left in my body.
I didn’t remember how many times I’d gotten sick. I only remembered the beautiful man who’d stayed in the bathroom with me until late into the night.
He’d ordered ginger ale up to the room and forced me to take a few sips.
I didn’t know when it had all stopped or how I’d gotten into this bed.
But when I opened my eyes, there was a tiny glimpse of sunlight coming through the crack of the blackout curtains.
I looked down to see I was wearing the hotel robe, with my bra and panties on underneath. My hair was pulled into some sort of messy bun on my head, and I didn’t remember doing that.
I sat forward and glanced around. My stomach felt so much better, and the nausea was gone.
My stomach grumbled with hunger pains. My gaze caught on the large shape beside my bed, and I blinked a few times to make out what it was.
Lincoln was lying on the floor with a pillow and a very small bath towel draped over his shoulders.
“Hey,” I whispered, and he jumped up as if a fire alarm had just gone off. He was on two feet and reaching for me.
“You okay? Are you sick again?” His voice was groggy, his blond hair going in every direction.
“No. No, I’m fine. I feel great, actually. You didn’t need to sleep in here.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s fine. I slept great.”
I laughed. “You’re such a liar. You slept with a bath towel on the hard floor.”
“Hey, you threatened a cameraman for me yesterday. The least I could do is stay with you while the demons who invaded your body found their way out.”
I covered my face and chuckled some more. “You’re a good friend, Lincoln Hendrix.”
“Just to the ones who count.”
“Was that a compliment?” I teased, bumping my shoulder with his.
“If you tell anyone, I’ll deny it.” He turned to look at me, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “But yeah, it was meant as a compliment. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I am. I’m actually starving.” I pushed to my feet and walked to the bathroom to quickly brush my teeth, as I realized my breath was probably horrific.
“Let’s get showered and go grab some food,” he said.
“Don’t we have to catch a plane soon?”
“I pushed it back a few hours. I wasn’t sure how you’d be feeling this morning.”
I was startled by his kindness at times.
“Can I order one of everything on the menu?” I wiped my face with a clean washcloth and turned to face him.
“That’s a sure way to get sick again. Let’s start with a normal breakfast and see if you can keep it down.”
I smiled and nodded in agreement. “Fine. Hey, how’d I get in this robe, Captain?”
His eyes widened as he scanned my body. “You were covered in vomit. You started tearing your clothes off in between heaves, so I grabbed the robe and wrapped it around you. I didn’t see anything that I haven’t seen when we were swimming. Scouts honor.”
“I wasn’t worried about that. I just hoped I didn’t embarrass myself any more than I already had by vomiting profusely in front of you.”
“Nope. I just didn’t know one tiny woman could have that much green slime in her body,” he said.
I chucked the washcloth at him and pointed at the door. “Go get cleaned up. I’m going to take a shower.”
He nodded and walked backward toward the door. “A shower sounds good.”
His heated gaze locked with mine, and my entire body tingled.
As he pulled the door open, he told me to be ready in thirty minutes.
I let out a long breath and turned on the shower.
My attraction to this man was undeniable. But acting on it would be foolish.
There was a reason that I had a no-dating policy when it came to professional athletes.
I’d always dated men that were safe.
My last boyfriend, Kaeran, was a real snooze fest, and my siblings had had a field day with his name.
But at least there was no risk there of getting hurt. I’d always been cautious with men. I’d never been that girl that got all hung up on a guy.
I preferred it to be the other way around.
To stay in control in that area of my life.
But when I was with Lincoln, I didn’t feel like I was in control.
It terrified me and excited me all at the same time.
I let the hot water beat down on my back, and I thought about the fact that I was the lucky one who got to write his story.
But our time together would eventually come to an end, and the thought had my stomach churning all over again.
Because I didn’t want this time to end.
“My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach,” I said as I leaned back in my chair.
“It’s good to take it slow.”
My phone vibrated on the table, and I reached for it. My family was probably wondering what happened to me, as I hadn’t talked to anyone since yesterday morning.
To my surprise, it was an email from Sports Today. I gasped as I read the message from their editor, whom I’d submitted the story to on a total long shot. This particular magazine had never responded to anything I’d submitted.
They were the gold standard of the sports news world.
“Oh my gosh, Lincoln,” I whisper-gasped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sports Today is the top sports magazine in the industry. I sent them a submission regarding the article I’m writing about you, as well as a few past articles that I’ve written, so they could see my work.
I explained all that we would be covering over the next few months,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief.
“What did they say?”
“They said they wanted the story, and they were impressed by my writing samples. They want to discuss this with me as soon as possible as well as possibly doing something full time together in the future.”
“Look at you. Way to go after what you want. I think they are all going to be fighting over you, sweetheart.” He winked, and my stomach did these weird little flips.
“So, how will this work? It sounds like you know where you’re going to play next year,” I whispered as I glanced over my shoulder. “I’m guessing you won’t want to wait to announce it. And we haven’t really discussed how it would all work after the story breaks.”
He leaned back in his chair and ran his hand over the scruff on his jaw. “Well, I can’t really be the reason you lose another gig, can I?”
“I mean, I have part of a story to write, but I think there’s a lot more to dive into.”
“Agreed.” He leaned forward and reached for his orange juice. “You can break the news on where I’m playing and tease an upcoming story that you’re writing, as well.”
I tried to keep my smile from taking over my entire face, but I knew I was failing miserably.
“Okay, I’ll just ask you a few more questions on our flight home about why you’re choosing the Thunderbirds, and then I’ll write up your announcement tonight. You can obviously look it over, and then you just say when you want the story to go public.”
“I think it’s time. And then we’ll resume work as usual.”
“Sounds like a plan, Captain.” My teeth sank into my bottom lip.
I was thrilled, even if a few more weeks with this beautiful man were going to be deliciously torturous.