On the Shore (Cottonwood Cove, #3)(59)

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.





twenty-two





Lincoln





“So, is this how you two spend your days?” my mom asked as she set the plates down with sandwiches and chips, placing a large bowl of fruit in the center of the table.

My mom and Brinkley had hit it off when they’d met yesterday. The only problem I had now was that Brinkley wouldn’t stay the night at the house with me while my mom was here. Nor was she okay with me sneaking over to her place last night because she said my mother would know I had left. She didn’t want to make a bad impression.

What about the fucking impression she was making on my dick?

Sure, I’d gone without sex for weeks before I’d met her.