On the Shore (Cottonwood Cove, #3)(22)

“You’re serious?”

“Do I strike you as a joker?”

“No. But I don’t know why you care so much.” I shrugged.

“What? I thought this was small talk.” He took another pull from his drink and smirked.

“He asked to take me home, and I turned him down. I was very clear that I was only interested in friendship. My cousin’s husband, Hawk Madden, had already warned me long before you stormed the castle.” I rolled my eyes.

“Hawk’s married to your cousin?”

“Yep.”

“Now that’s a stand-up dude. I’ve met him several times, and he’s a great guy.”

“He said the same about you, which is shocking.” I chuckled.

We sat in the quiet for a few minutes, and he devoured his banana. I peeled mine back because I was feeling better. I put the tip in my mouth, and as I was taking a bite, his heated gaze locked with mine.

Holy banana balls.

Had eating a banana ever felt this sexy before? But I couldn’t help myself; I slowly slipped it into my mouth, pausing before I took a bite.

Enjoying every moment of torturing him.

My tongue swiped out along my bottom lip, and I didn’t miss the way his hands fisted on the table as he watched me.

Getting under Lincoln Hendrix’s skin was my new favorite thing.





eight





Lincoln





We’d been in the gym at Drew’s house for over two hours, and she’d watched me work out and typed a few things into her notes app on her phone. I was fine with her sharing the details of my workout. It wasn’t completely traditional.

I was old-school in a lot of ways. Growing up with no money, I’d trained hard in the alley behind our dumpy little house. I used to work side jobs for neighbors, mowing their lawns, washing their cars, and digging holes in their backyards for plants and trees. All those skills had made me stronger when I was a teenager.

So, I still jumped rope every single day, just as I had as a young kid.

Sure, now I did it inside a fancy gym. But I didn’t need it. I could train anywhere, under any conditions.

I did my upper-body workout, which I did four days a week in the off-season. I ran, I swam, I biked, I lifted, I jumped, and I pushed myself every single day as hard as I could.

Music was bellowing from the speakers, but she didn’t seem to mind. She appeared to be interested in my routine. I hoped letting her in on this side of my life wasn’t going to bite me in the ass.

But so far, having someone to run part of my workout with wasn’t a bad thing. And seeing the way her eyes scanned across my biceps as I continued my reps long after my arms were burning, pushed me on. There was respect there, and I felt it.

After another hour, I dropped on the mat on my back and groaned.

Another day in the books.

She walked over to my phone on the bench and turned the music down before coming over to sit on the mat a few feet from me.

“How often do you push this hard?” she asked.

“Six days a week in the off-season. It’s my time to build and strengthen before the season starts. I always give myself one day to recover.”

“It’s impressive.”

I sat forward so we were facing one another. “I’m sure you’ve pushed yourself, being a collegiate athlete.”

“Yeah. We definitely did. It was a lot of work. I miss it sometimes. But I still run a couple of days a week and swim when I’m home.”

Thoughts of Brinkley in a bathing suit flooded my mind.

“You can join me on my swims. I’ve been cross-training a few days a week.”

“Sure. Seeing as now you’ve made me your training partner, when does the actual interview start?”

I smirked. “I knew you were going to ask that.”

“Don’t get a big head. I’m a reporter. It was sort of inevitable that I’d ask.”

“All right. Three questions today. Make them count.”

“I can ask anything?”

“Like I said, I’ll answer what I’m comfortable with. If you ask a question that I don’t want to answer, I’ll just tell you to move on to the next one.”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m going to record this, so anything that’s not on the record, just be sure to say that so I can make a note later when I type up our conversation.”

“Fair enough.” My jaw ticked, and I prepared for the worst.

“Why do you look so uncomfortable?”

“I don’t like talking about myself outside of football.”

I’d never been one to put myself in vulnerable situations, and for whatever reason, I didn’t feel like I was in complete control over this interview.

“Then we’ll start with football.” Her lips turned up in the corners the slightest bit, and her gaze locked with mine. She held up the phone to show me that she was hitting the record button. She said the date and the time, and her demeanor changed in that moment. Her shoulders squared, and she let out a long breath. She took her job seriously, that much was clear.

“Did you know that you wanted to play football when you were young?”

She’d thrown me an easy pass, and I appreciated it.