揑棓 She looks down. 揟hey only let family in the room. Lincoln said he was your brother棓
揝he rode in the ambulance with you,?I add.
揈h, I don抰 like hospitals anyway. I couldn抰 stay too long. But are you okay??She抯 so shy, this small thing approaching this rude hulk occupying my guest bed.
揑抦 fine, lady.?His tone is soothing.
He抯 stuck in a bed, but he抯 comforting her.
She leans down and hugs him. His arms close around her. I can抰 help staring.
Damn.
After everything Olivia put him through, if Wyatt can find the strength to mend his black lump of a heart under that broken body, what the hell is my excuse?
I don抰 have one.
I turn to exit and give them some privacy.
揧ou抮e not gonna stay and hang out with us??Wyatt asks.
揧ou guys should catch up. I just realized I have something to take care of.?I need to get Dakota抯 attention.
揝omeone, you mean,?he says with a laugh. 揂bout time.?
I ignore him, moving to the door.
揂nd if she won抰 take you back, remember梘rovel more!?Wyatt yells after me.
揙h, stop. I抦 not sure today is the day for that,?I hear Meadow tell him. 揑 don抰 think she抯 ready to talk.?
I block out her words and keep moving.
If I want to send up a flare, I抣l need a real plan.
I won抰 stop until she抯 mine again梠r until I believe she抯 happier without me.
How the hell do I talk to a woman who won抰 give me the time of day?
I know where she works, yeah. That抯 a start, but I sure as hell won抰 become her stalker ex.
I need to be the man she can count on.
The man she turns to.
The man who restores what we had before I went and fucked it all up.
Since I don抰 know what else to do, I reach for inspiration.
揕incoln? To what do I owe this late-night call??Ma answers the call like she抯 waking up from a dead sleep.
揑n those silly movies, if a guy pissed off his fake fianc閑， what would he do??I can抰 believe I抦 asking.
Mother gasps.
揙h, dear! You抳e come to your senses.?
揗a, no. This isn抰 about me,?I lie. 揥yatt抯 fighting with his girlfriend.?
揙h, Lincoln. You may bend the truth at conferences and get away with it, but I抦 your mother. You can抰 lie to me.?
揂nswer my question, then. What happens in the movies??
揑抣l tell you a few you can watch. You抣l figure it out,?she says, mischief in her voice.
Six hours later after I抳e watched the titles she rattled off, I抦 only sure of one thing. I抎 be better off if I were a prince from a country no one抯 ever heard of.
Since I抦 only the Duke of Dickheadistan in her eyes, I have to find a better way to lay out my soul. To show Dakota Poe she抯 everything.
All the constellations in my life, all the light, all the soul I抣l ever need.
Even above my own pride and dignity and coldhearted logic.
23
Quoth The Raven （Dakota）
My phone dings, tearing me from a delicious dream of kisses and soft words with a man who once held my universe together.
I blink my eyes open.
Just a dream梟o, a memory from the day on the boat梐gain.
I grab my phone with a sigh to see who wants what. The first text I see guts me.
Lincoln: Can we talk?
Hell no. But I guess ignoring his last few messages for days hasn抰 gotten the point across. He抯 certainly not done.
I抳e done some thinking, Dakota. A lot of thinking. I know this is all my fault.
Still clutching my phone, I freshen up, get dressed, and run downstairs, beating on Eliza抯 door.
She opens it with a yawn. 揥hat抯 up??
揑 have a question梔oes every man ever born have the same script??
揥hat抯 wrong??She moves aside so I can enter.
揘othing.?
揥ill vanilla bean make your nothing better??She pads into her kitchen and starts pawing around for coffee.
揚lease.?
揝eriously, tell me what happened??
揑 need to block his number. That抯 what,?I say. But there抯 no chance I will.
Unlike Jay, it doesn抰 feel right.
As if to prove my point, the phone pings again. I shouldn抰 look because I抦 sure it抯 him. On the other hand, I抳e been scouting jobs I抦 not sure I抣l even take just out of curiosity, so…
I look down.
Bad move.
Lincoln: Will you trade an hour of your time for a year抯 worth of Sweeter Grind?
I can抰 roll my eyes hard enough.
揋reat. Now he抯 trying to bribe me with Regis rolls.?
揧ikes, he抯 playing his best card already??she jokes. 揂re you going to talk to him??
揘ope.?
Her eyebrows dart up. Does she think I抦 overreacting?
揑 mean, this feels too familiar,?I lie. 揌e抯 blowing up my phone after he said it was over. He freaking resigned rather than deal with me, which just made the rumor mill spin梐nd when an office romance goes wrong, everyone always blames the woman. Then he disappears for over a month and thinks we can pick up just like that??I snap my fingers. 揑抦 so over it, Eliza. I bet whoever he really wanted dropped him and now I抦 Backup Girl again. Screw that. Not having it.?
揥ho did he want??she asks quietly.
?I don抰 know.?I shake my head. 揟here抯 usually someone. In Jay抯 case, it was band girl. Lincoln probably has some lightning-hot Instagram model or a scary power CEO who eats nails for breakfast.?
Eliza laughs at the image.
I shrug, hating how paranoid I am. Hating that I still care enough to be upset.
揟his could be completely different. What if Lincoln fell down the stairs and the bump on the head knocked some sense into him??she ventures.
揥hy step away from his job then??
揌is friend from the park was in the hospital, wasn抰 he? Maybe he wasn抰 lying and he was actually tied up.?She gives me a careful look.
I know what she抯 doing. She抯 being the good friend, the devil抯 advocate, making me think with my head rather than a wounded heart that just wants to bleed.
揑 don抰 know. I doubt Lincoln really would抳e left work for that.?I frown, unsure if I believe it.
揥ell, if you don抰 talk to him, you抣l never know, will you??
揑f I do, I抦 just giving him another chance to suck me back in. It抯 pointless. He made my place in his life crystal clear. I抦 not his plan B. His mom梙is mom梖elt the need to apologize before he did. That抯 bonkers.?
Eliza nods. 揧eah, she knew about it, didn抰 she??
揈veryone knew. After Jay got all stabby and caused a scene, it wasn抰 a big secret,?I say.
揌ave you ever done something wrong and blamed it on somebody else for your mom抯 sake?
揢m, hasn抰 everyone??I laugh.
揂nd did your mom believe you??
揧eah.?
揝o, she wouldn抰 have gone apologizing to the person you weren抰 speaking to with a monster check in hand unless you admitted it was your fault, right??Eliza leans back against the counter and stretches her arms.
揥hat抯 your point??
揑 bet he told mama he blew it. That alone means he抯 not Jay.?
I narrow my eyes at her.
揥hose side are you on??
揗ine, of course,?she answers with a cheeky grin. The timer she set for the coffee goes off and she pours it into two mugs with a generous splash of vanilla cream. 揇akota, if you love him棓
揕ove? I never said that!?Her tiny apartment suddenly feels like a sauna.
She cocks her head.
揧ou didn抰 have to. You抮e smitten. I抦 just not sure what you get out of shutting him out. You have to go back to that office until you decide you抮e done.?She takes a slow sip of coffee and says, 揧ou抮e not getting him out of your system like a bad bout of food poisoning. And it抯 not like I care if he抯 happy, but I hate seeing you miserable. Hearing him out might bring some closure.?