Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
LINCOLN
Ipulled into my driveway and killed the engine. I could hear Rocky barking and pawing at the front door, but I had something to take care of first.
Jogging across the street, I headed for Nona’s house, taking the porch steps in a leap before knocking on her front door. I waited… and waited, then knocked again.
When she finally opened up, I could tell by the look on her face that Eden had filled her in on everything.
“What do you want?” Hostility rolled off her and slammed into me with the force of a tidal wave.
“Where is she?”
“Pfft,” she snorted, “like I’d tell you. Now get the hell off my porch.”
My hand shot out to catch the door as she tried to slam it in my face. “Nona, please.” She allowed it to open a little farther and leaned against the jamb, watching me speculatively. “I need to find her. She’s not answering any of my calls.”
“Can you really blame her?” she snapped, pain for her friend stark in her eyes.
“You didn’t see her after what you did. She’s not hurt, Lincoln, she’s destroyed.
You did that to her.” My chest squeezed so goddamn tight I couldn’t pull in a full breath.
“She’s been through so much, and she finally, finally thought she had something good with this town and with you, and in one fell swoop, you took that all away.
Do you have any idea how much she liked you?
Of course not.” She answered her own question with a bitter laugh.
“If you did, there’s no way in hell you would have played her the way you did.
The fact that she could even open herself up to you after what those assholes she calls her family put her through all her life is a testament to just how strong she is.
But I’m not sure she’ll be able to let this one go. ”
“Look, I might have started this whole thing wrong, but I swear, Nona, it turned into something very, very real. I need to find her so I can tell her that.”
“Well I’m glad you were smart enough to appreciate the light you were lucky enough to have her shine down on you,” she replied with heavy sarcasm, “but that doesn’t excuse your fuckup, and it certainly doesn’t undo the damage you caused.
There are consequences to actions, Lincoln.
You know that. These are yours, and you’ll just have to deal with them ’cause I’m not telling you where she is.
She needed time to clear her head, and I’m not gonna let you disrupt that. ”
I rubbed at the back of my neck, failing to loosen the tension that had been coiled there the past few days.
I could read it on Nona’s face that I wasn’t going to get any answers out of her.
All this conversation had done was make me feel like the biggest asshole in the world.
I knew I hurt her, felt that particular blade sink deep into my gut when she looked at me back at the station, but understanding just how bad was pure torture.
My voice was low with defeat as I asked, “Can you at least tell me she’s safe?”
Nona hesitated for a second before nodding. “She is.”
That was going to have to be enough for now. I moved to start back down her porch steps.
“Wait.” When I spun back around with hope filling my lungs, she let out a sigh and brushed her red hair back from her forehead. “She’s probably going to kill me for telling you this, but I can’t stand that hangdog face of yours. She’ll be back tomorrow. No idea what time, but there you go.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Fix this,” she ordered. “She’s one of the best people I know, and I don’t want to lose her. So you make this right, or I swear to god, I’ll rip you a new one, Lincoln Sheppard.”
She slammed the door in my face, but that was okay. At least I knew when Eden would be back.
And I could get down to doing what people had been telling me to do all day—fix what I broke and get my woman back.
Eden
Four days surrounded by nature and its abundance of beauty had done wonders to help center me after being thrown so off-kilter.
I’d hike all day long and set up camp somewhere different each night.
The views were inspired, allowing me to wipe my mind clean of all the bad swirling around inside of it.
I wasn’t sure I was ready to go back to the real world yet, but adulthood waited for no one, and I had edits I needed to get back to if I wanted such things as heat and food.
Plus, I was in desperate need of a shower.
I managed to brush my teeth thanks to bottled water, but bathing hadn’t been an option, unless I wanted to freeze my ass off in an ice-cold lake, and die of hypothermia out there all alone, and with all the hiking, I was starting to get ripe.
The hikes were beautiful, but the chilly temps and heavy winds had beaten at me, and I was physically drained.
I waited until late in the afternoon before making the hour-long drive back to Hope Valley, hoping Lincoln would be settled in for the evening and wouldn’t spot me getting home.
The thing that pissed me off was that the closer I got to town, the more that nagging ache in my chest that came with missing him grew.
I didn’t want to miss him, I didn’t even want to think about him, but apparently that wasn’t an option.
My eyes shifted to his house of their own accord as I drove past, and a pang of longing stabbed at my chest. I jerked my gaze away quickly, pulled into my drive, and turned off the car, then hopped out and went to the trunk to get my pack.
I barely had a chance to shut it before a familiar bark froze me in place.
“Shit,” I muttered, turning just in time for Rocky to pounce.
It was impossible not to laugh as the exuberant pup jumped all around me like a squirrel on crack.
“Hey, bud. How you doing?” I crouched down so he could get a few licks in.
“I’ve missed you too, monster.” He shoved his snout against me and sniffed everywhere he could reach.
“I know, I know. I stink, but four days in the woods’ll do that to you. ”
“So that’s where you’ve been.”
At the sound of Lincoln’s voice, my entire body broke out in goose bumps.
I slowly lifted my head and stood, against Rocky’s wishes.
Lincoln was dressed in a pair of black running pants with two thick white stripes along the sides, and a black long-sleeved Under Armour shirt that hugged every single one of his muscles.
A thin sheen of sweat coated his forehead, and his hair was damp from the run he’d obviously just been on.
Just seeing him hurt like hell.
“Uh, yeah,” I answered, wishing I’d had the foresight to at least slap on a bit of mascara, not that it would have helped much. “I’ve been hiking and camping for a few days. To clear my head.”
His green eyes shined with warmth as he stared at me with a soft expression on his face. “Did it work?”
“For a while,” I answered honestly on a whisper. “Then the real world creeped back in.”
“Edie.” His voice was as gentle as his face, and it cut me down to the quick. “Darlin’, we need to talk.”
He came closer and reached out to touch me but stopped when I took a step back.
“Lincoln,” I said on a sigh that felt as heavy as the weight I was carrying around on my shoulder. “I’m exhausted and dirty. I need a hot bath and my bed.” Reaching up, I combed my fingers through my hair and pressed them deep into my scalp. “Please. I can’t do this with you right now.”
His face hardened with determination. “I’m not goin’ anywhere, Eden. I’m gonna get you to hear me out one of these days.”
Letting out a slightly hysterical laugh, I tilted my head back to the heavens and declared, “For Christ’s sake, Lincoln, there’s nothing to talk about! You’re off the hook. The job’s done. You don’t have to pretend anymore.”
“You think I was pretending?”
I should have taken the sharp edges of his words as warning, but I was exhausted and filthy and weary down to my very bones.
“Well I didn’t. I mean, you’re pretty damn good at it.
” I laughed with self-deprecation. “You know, I actually thought it was kind of sweet that you wouldn’t sleep with me when I propositioned you.
I thought maybe you were too good to be true. Turns out you just weren’t interested.”
All the air was forced from my lungs when Lincoln moved, crushing me between the trunk of my car and his body as his mouth crashed down on mine.
My lips parted on a startled gasp and his tongue invaded while one of his hands fisted in my hair, holding on tight as he took the kiss as deep as it could possibly go.
My back bowed as he pressed in so close that every inch of our bodies touched from thigh to shoulder.
His other arm wrapped tightly around my waist and held on for dear life as we kissed.
It wasn’t a battle for dominance; each stroke of our tongues was a give and take.
His hips shifted, and when I felt his growing erection against my belly, a needy moan slipped from my lips. He was all too glad to swallow it down.
My hands came to his shoulders, not to push him away, but to hold on as I lost myself in him all over again. It was beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I never wanted it to end, but I wasn’t sure I could survive this much longer.
Before I had a chance to break the kiss, Lincoln pulled away and rested his forehead against mine, his chest rising and falling like he’d just run a marathon at a full sprint.
“That feel like pretend to you?” He pushed his hips harder into me. “Does this feel like I’m not interested?”
“Lincoln.” My voice came out as a ragged whisper.
“I’ve been goin’ out of my goddamn mind not being able to get to you, not knowing where you were.” His arm at my waist flexed, and his fingers in my hair clenched. “Not being able to touch you.”
He finally released me and took a step back, and I had to press into the car to keep from slumping to the ground.
“I fucked up,” he stated, his tone and expression full of so much contrition that it as hard for me to breathe.
“I hurt you, and you’ll never know how much I regret that.
But I can’t regret agreeing to work with Hayes, ’cause that led me to you.
” Oh god. He was killing me. “I’m not giving up, Edie.
And I’m not going away. What you felt between us, I felt that too.
It’s not pretend, baby. It’s very fucking real, and I’m not willing to let that go. ”
My eyes burned with tears I was trying desperately not to let fall. “Linc, please.” Those two words cracked, letting the tumultuous emotions I was feeling seep through. “I really can’t do this right now.”
“That’s all right,” he said softly. “I can give you that for now. But this isn’t over, darlin’.” Grabbing the back of my neck, he pulled me close and pressed his lips to my forehead. “Get some sleep. Try to relax.”
Then he let out a sharp whistle to Rocky, and the two of them headed home.
I couldn’t peel my eyes away as I watched them retreat, my fingertips pressed to my swollen and bruised lips.
I didn’t have the first damn clue what I was going to do next when it came to Lincoln Sheppard.
What I did know was that my shower just turned into a long bubble bath… with a bottle of wine.