His coffee mug stopped midair, and his eyebrows drew together in a frown. “What?”
“This. Us,” I repeated, waving my hand between us. “I can’t do it, Lincoln. I thought maybe I could, but I was wrong. I just can’t get over what you did.”
“Edie,” he started. “If you’d just—”
“I can’t,” I said again, placing a hand over my chest and looking up at him beseechingly. “You have no idea what you did to me, how much it hurt.”
He took a single step and stopped the moment I shook my head. “Eden, I know this started wrong. But how I feel about you now….”
“I believe you,” I told him when he trailed off. “But it doesn’t change anything.” Crap. I was going to cry again. I kept my voice low to try and mask the pain in it. “I’m so tired of being used and stepped on. I’m tired of being made to feel bad about myself because of other people’s actions. For you, it started fake and turned real. For me, it was real the entire time. Then you ruined it.”
“Eden, baby. Don’t do this.”
“I didn’t,” I declared. “You did. I need you to leave.”
His whole frame locked up, and his chin tilted in determination. “I told you I was gonna keep you safe.”
“The police can keep me safe. The alarm I’ll be sure to use from now on can keep me safe. And if push comes to shove, you’re only two doors down. Please don’t make me ask again. Please. If you care about me the way you claim to, do this for me and just go.”
“I can’t—”
“Just go!” I yelled, losing what little control I had on my frayed emotions.
He didn’t make me ask again. He gave me what I asked for, he and Rocky leaving a couple minutes later.
I thought that was it. I thought it was over for good.
But I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Silly me, I didn’t realize just how serious Lincoln was when he said he wasn’t giving up.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Eden
It had been two weeks since Lincoln walked out my front door. That was all the time it took for me to go from sad and depressed to wanting to choke the asshole in his sleep.
Apparently my safety was even more important to him than I’d thought. And I found that out when I left my house later that afternoon after kicking him out to head out for one of my daily walks.
I was at the edge of my driveway when a man I’d never seen before, a man who towered over me and looked like he was strong enough to break my body in half with only his hands, stepping into my path, scaring the ever-loving hell out of me.
“Goin’ somewhere?”
My hands shot out in front of me, like I was stupid enough to believe I’d actually be able to ward him off. “Don’t come any closer, or I swear to god, I’ll scream bloody murder.”
The guys face pulling into a comically bewildered smile. “What?”
“I’ve got mace!” I shouted, shoving my hand in the pocket of my hoodie and wrapping my fingers around the tube of Chapstick I kept in there. Maybe if I held it just right, he’d really believe it was pepper spray. “One more step and I’ll spray your ass. I’m totally serious.”
The man held his hands up in surrender, his expression full of amusement as he said, “I think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot. I’m Cord, one of Linc’s guys.”
“Huh?”
“I work for him. He put me on you for today.”
My jaw nearly hit the pavement before I screeched, “He what?”
“A security detail,” the man answered with a laugh. “One man covers you during the day and another at night. He didn’t tell you?”
My mouth turned down in a serious frown as I deadpanned, “No, he definitely didn’t inform me of that.”
The man’s grin tipped further into a wide smile. “Well, sorry for scaring you. If you want, you can call to confirm it with him.”
“No, no. It’s okay.” I dropped my arm and shoved the tube of lip balm back into my pocket. “I believe you. And sorry for threatening you like that.”
“Not a problem.” One corner of his mouth trembled like he was doing his best to keep from laughing. “Never experienced it, but I’m sure that Chapstick would’ve stung if you’d gotten it in my eyes.”
Son of a bitch.
“I was improvising,” I muttered with a shrug. “Sue me.”
“I get that, honey, but next time you might want to have actual pepper spray on hand.” Whatever. “So, where are you off to?”
“Just for a walk,” I answered, skirting past him to get on my way.
“Awesome.” For some unknown reason, his long stride caught up with mine, and we started walking side by side. “I could do with a walk. Better than just sitting on my ass.”
“Uh….” My feet came to a slow stop at I turned to look up at this man who was all but a stranger. “That’s really not necessary.”
“Course it is. Orders were to keep you in my sights at all times.” Freaking Lincoln! “So… where are we walkin’? You got a particular destination in mind, or are we just gonna see where our feet take us?”
That was just the first of many encounters with men I’d never met before, and each one of those guys, while unimaginably hot, could be downright annoying when they wanted to be.
The only silver lining I had in the shit storm that had become my life was that, after the initial gossip, the residents of Hope Valley went back to treating me as they always had. I didn’t understand it until Nona filled me in that Lincoln had ripped Sue Ellen a new asshole in front of everyone at The Tap Room, effectively squashing the rumors about me and making it clear to the whole town that I was in no way a part of the crimes that had been going down.
Seeing as everyone trusted and respected him, as well as knew Sue Ellen to be a busybody gossip with an axe to grind, folks easily sided with him, claiming everything she was saying about me was born from jealousy that he’d moved on to a woman who was not her.
However, even with things back to business as usual with the residents of my little town, the men of Alpha Omega were a different story altogether.
I had three men on my detail. There was Cord, who had a penchant for running his mouth every second of every day, whether we were having a conversation or not. He talked while I tried to work. He talked during what was supposed to be my relaxing afternoon walks. He talked while I tried to read a book or watch TV. There wasn’t a time when the man didn’t talk. Sure, a lot of what he said was funny as hell, but there was a time and a place for it. And talking to me through the door of the bathroom about his girlfriend, and how things had been strained in their relationship lately and asking for suggestions on how he could make her feel better, while I was trying to pee definitely wasn’t one of those times.
Then there was West, who was my nighttime bodyguard and used my living room as his own personal trash can. The man ate like he’d been starved all his life and was making up for lost time—not that his terrible eating habits showed on his powerful frame, the stupid jerk. By the time his “shift” was over, my living room would look like a tornado had hit it. There were pizza boxes and Chinese food containers and empty bottles and soda cans littering every surface. The dirty napkins he used to wipe his mouth and face after binge eating all damn night were haphazardly thrown around the floor, and no matter how many times I politely asked him to pick up after himself, or the number of nasty looks I sent his way, nothing ever changed. He was nice, but I couldn’t help but pity the woman he finally settled down with.
And last was Marco Castillo. The man was hot as fire, with his smoldering good looks and interesting hazel eyes against his deep carmel skin. He was a powerhouse of strength and muscle. And I knew for a fact that he got that way by extreme determination and hard work. The man worked out religiously, and with the rule that I was never to leave their sight strongly in place, I was forced to tag along during his workouts. And he wasn’t content to let me just sit and watch. Oh no, the asshole actually made me j
oin in. In the past two weeks, I’d done so many burpees and pushups and crunches and squats, and run so many miles it was a wonder I hadn’t had a heart attack. I wasn’t the kind of person who liked strenuous exercise. I liked leisurely strolls and calming yoga. But Marco was a goddamn drill sergeant.
When they weren’t doing my head in, they were actually pretty funny and sweet. But now wasn’t one of those times, and what was supposed to be a quick trip to the market for a couple of items had proven to be a test of my sanity.
“You know what we should get while we’re here?” Marco asked. “Quinoa.”
I kept my eyes on the boxes of pasta in front of me and lifted my hand to rub at the twitch in my eyelid. This was his millionth suggestion in the past fifteen minutes. And when he wasn’t suggesting, he was grabbing items and adding them to my cart. Like kale and broccoli. I didn’t eat kale or broccoli.
“I don’t like quinoa.”
“But it’s a superfood. Really good for you. It’ll give you energy that lasts throughout the day.”
“Good to know,” I said flatly, snatching up a box of bowtie pasta and tossing it into the cart before I resumed my trek down the aisle. “I still don’t like it.”
“You should broaden your horizons, querida. You might be surprised.”
I jerked the cart to a stop and spun on Marco. “Is there a reason you couldn’t just wait in the car while I popped in and out?”
He smiled, and while I really didn’t want to find it appealing, seeing as he was being a pain in my ass at the moment, I just couldn’t help it. “Linc said—”
“Yeah, yeah. Eyes on me at all times. But could you at least try not to be so damn annoying? You’re a good guy, Marco, but if you mention superfoods or calories or sustainable energy one more time, I’m going to have to kill you. You’ve left me no other choice.” He laughed in return. “I mean, come on! Do I look like I eat any of that shit?” I asked, throwing my arms out to my sides.
Marco’s pale green eyes scanned me from top to toe. “You’re right. What you’ve been eating so far has done your body real good.”
My eyelids narrowed into slits of warning. “Don’t be charming.”
He smirked. “Can’t help it. Just part of my nature.”
With a roll of my eyes, I started down the aisle once more with Marco by my side. “I don’t get it,” I grumbled more to myself than him. “It’s like you guys are trying to drive me nuts on purpose. There’s no way a whole group of men who look like you can all be so damn irritating.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Marco’s face pull into a funny expression that made me pause. “What?”
“What, what?”
“What’s with the look?”
“What look?”
“That look!” I cried, pointing at his face. “You’re making a funny look. What aren’t you telling me?”
He wiped his expression clear and replied, “I’m not making a funny look.”
“You are,” I insisted. “I said something about all of you being irritating, and you totally got a funny look.”
The look I was referring to came back, and he quickly turned away, grabbing the handles of the cart and pushing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Realization finally dawned, and my head exploded right there in the middle of the supermarket aisle. “Oh my god! You’re doing it on purpose!”
“Now just calm down, querida. No need to—”
“Oh screw calm! You assholes have been driving me crazy for two freaking weeks on purpose. Why?” I demanded to know, drilling my finger into the solid wall of his chest.
“Eden—”
“Don’t you Eden me. And don’t bother with those sexy Spanish words either. You better start answering, or I’m gonna plant my size seven so far up your ass my toes will tickle your throat.”
A snort pulled our attention to the side to find Mr. Shilling standing a few feet away with a smirk on his face. “My advice? Do what she says, boy. Been married long enough to know when a woman makes a threat like that, she intends on makin’ good on it.” Then he disappeared down aisle five, and Marco and I resumed our standoff.
“So what’s it gonna be? You gonna spill, or am I going to have to ruin my pedicure?”
Marco sighed and raked a hand through his black hair. “Look, it’s not that big a deal.”
“You ever seen a grown woman throw a hissy fit in the middle of the grocery store, because you’re about to.”
If his horrified expression was anything to go on, that seemed to do the trick. “He told us to make things difficult for you, but not to go too overboard with it.”
Wait. I gave my head a shake to try and piece together my jigsawed thoughts. “Lincoln told you to do that?”
He nodded.
“But… why? That doesn’t make any sense? If he wants so badly to keep me safe that he put a freaking security detail on me, why the hell would he tell you guys to make things difficult?”
“That’s somethin’ you’ll have to discuss with him, querida. I don’t try to understand what goes through that man’s head. I just do as he asks.”
Abandoning my cart, I whipped around and charged straight for the exit.
“Hey,” Marco called, trailing after me. “Where you goin’?”
“To have a word with your boss,” I clipped over my shoulder.
“Ah hell.”
He could say that again.
Chapter Thirty
Eden
While I silently stewed and thought up a million and one ways to maim Lincoln Sheppard, Marco was smart enough to keep his mouth shut as he drove us to Alpha Omega Investigations in my car.
The instant he put it in park, I threw the door open and hopped out, stomping into the offices with all the rage of a charging bull.
“Eden? Well hey there, honey. How you doin’?”
“I’ll be better once I kill your boss,” I announced to Roxanne at the front desk. “Where is he?”
Her eyes lit with a devious smile as she pointed. “Workout room on the second level. Stairs are just over there.”
Instead of following me, Marco shook his head and went over to Roxanne, propping his forearms on her desk like he was settling in.
I found the stairs she’d indicated and took them two at a time, each footfall a heavy stomp. The music coming from the workout room went from a dull hum to a steady, discernable beat as I got closer. On any other day, I’d have stopped to appreciate Brian Johnson belting out “You Shook Me All Night Long,” but I had tunnel vision at that very moment.
The instant I reached the landing, I turned and scanned the huge open area. “You!” I shouted, my finger jabbed at Lincoln the moment I spotted him.
He lowered the bar that was extended over his head with a clack and pushed to sitting.
I heard a mumbled “Ah fuck,” but didn’t pay attention to which of the many men it might have come from as I stormed toward the weight bench Lincoln was straddling.
“You told your men to make me miserable? Have you lost your goddamn mind?”
“Damn, brother,” another man chuckled. “Looks like Castillo sold your ass out.”
I spun around and spotted Cord and West among the other men I didn’t know and glared viciously. “And when I’m done with him, I’m moving on to you.” My finger swung around to West. “You’re a pig, you know that? A disgusting, destructive pig. Thanks to you, there’s pizza sauce smeared into my couch that’ll never come out!”
He winced and reached up to scratch at the back of his neck.
My lips parted to continue my tirade, but before I could say anything else, Lincoln pushed off the bench and came at me, grabbing my arm without a word and yanking me back toward the stairs.
“What the hell are you doing?” I screeched, tugging at my arm. “Let me go, asshole.”
He kept a death grip on me as he pulled me down the stairs and through to lobby with a barked order of “No calls or visitors, Rox.”
; “Got it, boss.”
Then I was being propelled into his office, the door slamming shut behind me.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” I started right in the moment he let me go. “You have no right dragging me around like—”
His hand grabbed hold of the back of my neck and he yanked me into him at the same time his head came down and his mouth crashed against mine in a kiss so volatile and explosive that my knees gave out.
Before I could fall to the floor, Lincoln wrapped an arm around my waist and pinned me even tighter against him as his tongue forced its way past my lips. There was no give from him this time. This was all take, and damn if this kiss wasn’t just as good, if not better, than any of the other ones he and I had shared.
When he finally lifted his head, it took at least a minute for my brain to jumpstart.
“What the hell was that?” I finally managed to ask on a heavy exhale.
“Two weeks, buttercup,” he said on a growl. “Two fuckin’ weeks I’ve had to watch you at a distance, and the first words you speak to me in that time are to jump down my goddamn throat.”
I tried to step back, but his arms tightened. “Well, what did you think I’d do when I found out?”
“Exactly this,” he said smugly.
“Wait. You wanted me to come in here and blow up at you?”
“If that’s what it took to get you to stop pretendin’ like I don’t exist, then yeah. I’ve been going outta my goddamn mind for two weeks, Edie.”
“That makes two of us!” I cried. “Only mine’s all your fault.”
“It was a means to an end. One way or another, I was gonna keep you safe. I wanted to do it my damn self, but you wouldn’t allow that, so I did the next best thing, with a little added incentive to my boys to do everything in their power to annoy you to the point that you’d let me back in so I could look after you.”
Putting my hands to his chest, I shoved as hard as I possibly could. It was like trying to move a mountain. “For god’s sake,” I gasped. “Do you have any idea how insane that sounds?”
Out of My League: a Hope Valley novel Page 21