Chapter 21
twenty-one
. . .
Brinkley
We made our way over to Cottonwood Café because the place was a rite of passage in town. And Lincoln had been avoiding it because he’d heard the rumors about the dirty old bird that worked there.
“So, tell me how we ended up with this beautiful dress and the cute boots and hat?” I asked as Gracie walked between us, with one hand in mine and the other in Lincoln’s.
When I’d stepped out of the adorable boutique, they’d been friendly, but now they appeared to be besties.
And my niece, who had been completely off when we’d picked her up, seemed to be back to her old self.
“Don’t you love these boots, Auntie?” Gracie said, kicking her foot up from beneath the frilly white flower girl dress to show the pink cowboy boots. “Links says I look very cool.”
She was literally surrounded by an abnormal amount of tulle, and she wore the cutest pink cowboy hat and boots, and my heart was threatening to explode.
I loved this little girl so much.
And the fact that this man had just pampered her the way that he had and turned her spirits around—my heart couldn’t take much more.
I was dying to know what had happened. Gracie had been upset when I’d stepped outside to take that call and now these two seemed to be fast friends, so I assumed she’d shared something with him.
“Links is right,” I said, over my laughter. “But Daddy is going to be a little annoyed, seeing as he has that whole spending rule.”
Lincoln’s head snapped in my direction. “What kind of rule?”
“I’m only allowed to get her presents under ten dollars on our outings unless it’s her birthday or Christmas.”
“When’s your birthday?” Lincoln asked her as he scrubbed a hand over the scruff on his jaw.
“It’s coming up,” she said. “It’s right after Uncle Hughey and Auntie Lila’s wedding, right, Auntie?”
“Yep. June twenty-third, baby girl. It’s my favorite day of the year.”
“Perfect. We can call this an early birthday gift,” he said as he reached for the door. Then he surprised me by leaning down and whisper-shouting to her. “But don’t you worry. I’ll get you something good for your birthday, too.”
Unbelievable.
“Like I said—you’re a softy.”
“I preferred it when you called me a rude gentleman.” He leaned close to my ear, and his warm breath tickled my neck.
Damn, this man did crazy things to me.
This last week had been a whirlwind. So much for taking it slow. Our passion for one another was as strong as our disagreements were. And we had plenty.
He was bossy as hell, and I didn’t like being told what to do.
Tonight, we were staying at my house. He’d gotten his way the last few nights, but I was putting my foot down.
“Well, looky here. It’s about time you brought the football player over. I’ve heard you’ve been everywhere in town but my place,” Mrs. Runither purred as she moved into Lincoln’s space.
It took everything I had not to laugh as his shoulders stiffened. He held on to Gracie’s hand like she was a security blanket.
“Uh, hello. I’ve just been busy.” Lincoln gave a half nod and took the slightest step backward. But Mrs. Runither didn’t miss a beat. She wasn’t about to let a fine-ass man distance himself without a fight. She moved along with him, and he startled, glancing over at me.
“There’s J.R!” Gracie shouted and asked if she could go say hello, and I told her she could. Lincoln looked very unhappy when she dropped his hand and Mrs. Runither took it in hers and intertwined her fingers with his.
This was a new one for her.
“My, oh my. Look at these hands. I like a man who knows how to handle his balls,” she said, and I nearly lost it because Lincoln’s discomfort was impossible to miss.
He tugged his hand back and shoved them into the pockets of his jeans.
“Tell me, Lincoln Hendrix. Do you like a tiger in the bedroom? Or do you prefer your women to be submissive?”
“Are you really just going to stand there watching?” he hissed at me, and I covered my mouth with both hands because this was just too good.
It wouldn’t even matter if the mac and cheese was horrible at this point.
“Mrs. Runither, I’m not sure how to answer that question, but I can tell you this,” he said, looking like his cocky self all of a sudden. “I prefer not to be asked inappropriate questions when I go out to eat.”
“Oh, he likes to play cat and mouse? You know I love a man who likes to play.” She winked at me. “Come on, y’all. Let’s get you a table so we can feed the football star. Nothing better than a well-fed man. Am I right, Brinkley?”
“I prefer to be well-fed myself; I don’t really care how much the big guy eats.” My voice was all tease.
We stopped to say a quick hello to J.R., then Lincoln scooped up Gracie and carried her to the table with us. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to help her, considering she kept tripping over her long dress, or if he was using her as a shield from the old horndog, Runither.
When the elderly woman stepped away and we’d settled into the booth, Lincoln leaned forward so only I could hear him. “I will pay you back for that. Get ready for a tiger in the bedroom.”
I whipped my head to make sure Gracie wasn’t listening, but she was too busy waving at J.R.
“Promises, promises. You made the woman’s day. It wouldn’t kill you to flirt with her.” I smirked.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, sweetheart. She’s not my type.”
“What’s your types, Links?” Gracie suddenly turned her attention to us.
“I’m looking at it.” He stared at me before leaning down and kissing my niece’s forehead.
The man was full of surprises.
We’d dropped Gracie off at Cage’s house, and he didn’t even give Lincoln any shit for buying her so many things. Instead, he praised the man and thanked him for spoiling his daughter.
When we pulled up in front of my house, I turned to him. “I think I need some fans of my own.”
He chuckled. “What are you talking about?”
“My brother. He’s always grumpy and irritated, but when you’re around, he’s ridiculously cheerful. Thank you so much for spoiling my girl,” I said in my cheesiest voice, mimicking Cage.
“Hey, don’t be jealous that your brother appreciates me and your niece called me her bestie.
Serves you right for feeding me to that piranha, Runither.
Do you know what happened when I asked you to walk with me to the bathroom and you refused to go with me?
Do you?” he said, all loud and boisterous, which made me laugh.
“She followed me. And she was grabbing at my shoulders and reached up and ran those long, creepy nails through my scalp, claiming there was a feather in my hair. I think she drew blood. She really dug her claws in there.” He leaned forward, resting his big head between my breasts.
I couldn’t stop laughing. I ran my fingers through his hair and held my phone up with the flashlight to humor him. “Um. There’s no blood here, buddy. I think you’re going to make it. How’d you get away from her?”
He whipped his head back up to look at me. “I belched in her face and said I was sick. My mother would be disgusted. But seeing as you threw me to the wolves, I had no choice.”
“Hey, if football doesn’t work out for you, I think you have a future in the dramatic arts, you big baby.” I pushed out of the car, and he did the same, coming around to catch my door before I stepped all the way out.
“I’m a big baby? I was violated. Where’s the sympathy?” He crowded me as my back rested against the car, and he pushed in closer.
“Do you need some pampering, Lincoln Hendrix?” I teased, my hands fisting in his T-shirt and tugging his mouth down to mine.
“I thought I was your dirty little secret for now. You want to kiss me in the middle of the street, sweetheart?”
Desire pooled between my legs, and I sucked in a breath. His lips grazed mine, and I squeezed my eyes closed. It was dark out, and I doubted anyone was watching.
But the last thing I wanted to do was blow up my career before it even began.
“Let’s go inside,” I whispered.
His hand moved down between us and slipped beneath my short dress. His finger pushed my lace thong to the side and dipped in just the slightest bit.
“So fucking wet.” He pulled his hand away and popped his finger into his mouth and groaned. “I guess you’ll have to wait, seeing as you don’t want everyone to know that you’re mine.”
“You’re evil,” I said, falling forward and resting my head on his chest.
He chuckled and moved so fast that I didn’t know what was happening until he tossed me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.
His hand found my ass as it moved beneath my dress again, and he jogged up to the house.
He turned around as I laughed hysterically so that I could put the key into the door.
Once I pushed it open, he carried me inside and dropped me onto the couch.
“What am I going to do with you, Captain?” I asked, teasing.
“Whatever the fuck you want to do.” He leaned down and kissed me hard before tugging me to my feet.
I started to pull him toward my bedroom when he stopped me. “Don’t you need to water the damn garden first?”
He was such a baby about the fact that we had to come over here daily to take care of it.
It may not be impressive at the moment, but someday, this garden would feed whoever lived here.
I’d probably be long gone before that happened, but I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet. Plus, my herb garden was coming along.
“Ahhh… you do care. How about I water and you weed?”
“There are no weeds because there are no plants. There are literally sticks and metal shit for the plants that have yet to grow.” He barked out a laugh.
“Oh, you’re just hilarious,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I wasn’t being sarcastic. The man was really funny. I flipped on the lights out back and reached for my gloves before pushing open the door. When I stepped outside, my mouth fell open.
There were tomatoes and cucumbers and corn. Two trees that hadn’t been there yesterday were full of avocados and lemons. There were bushes with blackberries and raspberries, and heads of lettuce were along the back wall.
“What is this?” I asked, my voice just above a whisper.
“Surprise.” He came around from behind and wrapped his arms around me. His chin rested on top of my head because he was ridiculously tall. “Now you can make whatever you want from your garden.”
I’d had a few romantic gestures in my day, but this was beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
It wasn’t about buying a fancy present with Lincoln.
Hell, he’d seen my niece hurting today, and he’d let her pick out whatever she wanted to make her smile.
And he knew that I was determined to make this garden grow, so he’d found a way to make it happen.
Beneath this broody athlete was such a tender heart, and he continued to surprise me at every turn.
One minute, he was racing me in the water during our swims and dunking my head as he sped past me, and the next, he was planting a garden for me or rocking my world.
“This is—” I turned around to look at him and threw my hands up in the air.
“Is Brinkley Reynolds speechless? All I had to do to keep you from yelling at me is put in a garden?” he teased as he moved closer.
“I’m not speechless. I’m processing.” I placed my hands on his shoulders and jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist. “You’re not too bad for a secret boyfriend.”
“Good. Maybe you should keep me.” His voice was gruff.
Maybe I should.