“Oh, God,” I groaned, covering my mouth with my hand. “You need to put me down.”
Of course, the stubborn ass didn’t listen. He just walked briskly toward the door. I found my key in my purse and handed it to him, and he pushed the door open and carried me to the bathroom.
I pointed at the door. “Thanks for everything. You can go. I’m okay.”
I dropped to my knees and unleashed the tsunami from my stomach.
I heaved over and over just as the faucet turned on, and I glanced up to see Lincoln wetting a washcloth.
“I told you to leave!” I shrieked as the tears fell down my face.
I didn’t think there was anything left in my body at the moment, so I flushed the toilet and leaned against the wall, burying my face in my hands.
Could there be anything more horrifying than vomiting exorcist-style in front of the hottest guy on the planet?
He bent down, his hand finding my chin and forcing me to look up. He used the warm compress to clean up my face and then moved to sit beside me on the floor as he wrapped an arm around me.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Why can’t you let me be miserable by myself?” I sniffed.
“Because I want to have something to tease you about when we get home.” His tone was dry, but I felt his body quake beside me.
I chuckled and groaned at the same time. “I hate you.”
“Hate you, too, sweetheart.” He pulled me against his chest, and his fingers stroked the side of my face, moving down to my jaw.
It felt so good. I couldn’t push him away if I wanted to.
Well, until round two hit.
And it did.
I spent the next several hours violently heaving into the toilet.
I dozed off somewhere along the way, after nothing but bile was left in my body.
I didn’t remember how many times I’d gotten sick. I only remembered the beautiful man who’d stayed in the bathroom with me until late into the night.
He’d ordered ginger ale up to the room and forced me to take a few sips.
I didn’t know when it had all stopped or how I’d gotten into this bed.
But when I opened my eyes, there was a tiny glimpse of sunlight coming through the crack of the blackout curtains.
I looked down to see I was wearing the hotel robe, with my bra and panties on underneath. My hair was pulled into some sort of messy bun on my head, and I didn’t remember doing that.
I sat forward and glanced around. My stomach felt so much better, and the nausea was gone. My stomach grumbled with hunger pains. My gaze caught on the large shape beside my bed, and I blinked a few times to make out what it was. Lincoln was lying on the floor with a pillow and a very small bath towel draped over his shoulders.
“Hey,” I whispered, and he jumped up as if a fire alarm had just gone off. He was on two feet and reaching for me.
“You okay? Are you sick again?” His voice was groggy, his blond hair going in every direction.
“No. No, I’m fine. I feel great, actually. You didn’t need to sleep in here.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s fine. I slept great.”
I laughed. “You’re such a liar. You slept with a bath towel on the hard floor.”
“Hey, you threatened a cameraman for me yesterday. The least I could do is stay with you while the demons who invaded your body found their way out.”
I covered my face and chuckled some more. “You’re a good friend, Lincoln Hendrix.”
“Just to the ones who count.”
“Was that a compliment?” I teased, bumping my shoulder with his.
“If you tell anyone, I’ll deny it.” He turned to look at me, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “But yeah, it was meant as a compliment. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I am. I’m actually starving.” I pushed to my feet and walked to the bathroom to quickly brush my teeth, as I realized my breath was probably horrific.
“Let’s get showered and go grab some food,” he said.
“Don’t we have to catch a plane soon?”
“I pushed it back a few hours. I wasn’t sure how you’d be feeling this morning.”
I was startled by his kindness at times.
“Can I order one of everything on the menu?” I wiped my face with a clean washcloth and turned to face him.
“That’s a sure way to get sick again. Let’s start with a normal breakfast and see if you can keep it down.”
I smiled and nodded in agreement. “Fine. Hey, how’d I get in this robe, Captain?”
His eyes widened as he scanned my body. “You were covered in vomit. You started tearing your clothes off in between heaves, so I grabbed the robe and wrapped it around you. I didn’t see anything that I haven’t seen when we were swimming. Scouts honor.”
“I wasn’t worried about that. I just hoped I didn’t embarrass myself any more than I already had by vomiting profusely in front of you.”
“Nope. I just didn’t know one tiny woman could have that much green slime in her body,” he said.
I chucked the washcloth at him and pointed at the door. “Go get cleaned up. I’m going to take a shower.”
He nodded and walked backward toward the door. “A shower sounds good.”
His heated gaze locked with mine, and my entire body tingled.
As he pulled the door open, he told me to be ready in thirty minutes.
I let out a long breath and turned on the shower.
My attraction to this man was undeniable. But acting on it would be foolish.
There was a reason that I had a no-dating policy when it came to professional athletes.
I’d always dated men that were safe.
My last boyfriend, Kaeran, was a real snooze fest, and my siblings had had a field day with his name.
But at least there was no risk there of getting hurt. I’d always been cautious with men. I’d never been that girl that got all hung up on a guy.
I preferred it to be the other way around.
To stay in control in that area of my life.
But when I was with Lincoln, I didn’t feel like I was in control.
It terrified me and excited me all at the same time.
I let the hot water beat down on my back, and I thought about the fact that I was the lucky one who got to write his story.
But our time together would eventually come to an end, and the thought had my stomach churning all over again.
Because I didn’t want this time to end.
“My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach,” I said as I leaned back in my chair.
“It’s good to take it slow.”
My phone vibrated on the table, and I reached for it. My family was probably wondering what happened to me, as I hadn’t talked to anyone since yesterday morning.
To my surprise, it was an email from Sports Today. I gasped as I read the message from their editor, whom I’d submitted the story to on a total long shot. This particular magazine had never responded to anything I’d submitted.
They were the gold standard of the sports news world.
“Oh my gosh, Lincoln,” I whisper-gasped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sports Today is the top sports magazine in the industry. I sent them a submission regarding the article I’m writing about you, as well as a few past articles that I’ve written, so they could see my work. I explained all that we would be covering over the next few months,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief.