Unclaimed (23 page)

She was hesitant for only a moment
and then nodded into my chest.  “Yeah.”  There was that soft voice again.  I squeezed her tightly one last time before I let her step out of my arms.

“I have to run back to the shop,” I said as I ran my
finger through my hair again.  “Real quick.  I kind of just ran out when you called.  I’ll follow you.  It will only take a second and then we can do dinner.”

“
Uhhh…sure,” she was a little hesitant about going to the shop with me but I was afraid that if I told her we could just meet up later she’d back out.

“Alri
ght, I’ll follow you,” I said.  We got in our separate cars headed toward the shop.

Prudence

I called Lincoln because when my tire had blown and I realized there was no way I was going to be able to change it on my own he was the first person that popped into my head, so I went with it and called him.  I’d been afraid he wouldn’t answer or wouldn’t come but he’d dropped everything and came running.

I
wasn’t sure why I called him.  Maybe I was testing him.  I wasn’t sure but if it was a test he passed with flying colors.  Maybe I just wanted to see him and it was a perfect excuse or maybe he’d always be that person for me.  The one you called when you needed someone, that person you could always rely on.  Maybe he was just that person for me, my other half.  I loved him but was I wasn’t sure if I was willing to put myself out there and risk everything.

In the span of time it took him to change my tire he had been my knight in shining armor and rescue
d the damsel, me, in distress.  He had been ready to kill my roommates when he had thought they were kicking me out although he tried to hide it from me.  He even held me while my pregnancy hormones reared their ugly heads and I cried.  I hated crying but I did it all the time now.

He h
ad offered me a place to live.  He was even willing to kick his friends to the curb.  It would just be the three of us in his house: me, the baby, and him, like a family.  It was so tempting.  To live with Lincoln, not just as roommates but as more, to be an actual family.  I hated to admit it myself but that was what I really wanted.  That was what I had hoped for all along.  The big question was, was I ready for that?  Was he?  Could I trust him with my heart again?  Forget all the hurt and pain?

S
o I accepted his dinner offer.  It was step in that direction, a baby step, but a step.

I’d managed to avoid the shop since the Bett
y incident at Lincoln’s house.  I just couldn’t do another scene like that one.  My heart couldn’t take it.

H
ere I was walking into a place I avoided at all cost for months.  I don’t know what I expected, a naked Betty throwing herself into Lincoln’s arms the moment we walked through the door.  I don’t know but it didn’t happen.  It was the same as it always was: music blaring, people lingering around, some working with the constant buzz of the tattoo guns, some just hanging out.  I loved it here.  There was a strange peace here.  It was Lincoln.  Maybe that’s why I found it comforting and frightening all at the same time.

“I’ll only be a minute,” Lincoln said as he left me standing in the lobby a
nd headed to the back.  Jonas was there in seconds wrapping me up in his giant, thick arms.

“Hey
Lovely,” he said.  “How’s it?” he asked.

“Good,” I said and tried to smile up at him and he just laughed at me.

“Uh-huh,” apparently my good was not convincing enough for him.

“Come entertain me while I clean my station,” Jonas said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards his work area
and I took a seat on his stool.  He was the first chair on the right.  Where Lincoln was the last chair on the left.

Jonas was easy to talk to and I was enjoying myself while Lincoln did whatever he needed to do f
or the world’s longest minute.  I expected to feel like I was on display, I was Lincoln’s ex, his baby’s mama after all, but I didn’t.  It felt like any other day I used to come in here.  I felt like I belonged here.

“You flirting with my girl?” Lincoln asked as he rolled up on a
rolling stool right behind me.  His legs were on either side of me.  I instantly tensed.  My girl?

Lincoln didn’t touch me but his closeness
affected me.  I wanted to lean back into him, let him run his hands up my legs like he had a hundred times before.  And I wanted to slap him.  I was not his girl, not any more.

“I hadn’t realized you had earned that title back yet,” Jonas said putting him in his p
lace as he scowled at Lincoln.  Jonas was Lincoln’s best friend but I had gotten to know him over the last few months.  He had been hanging around with Skyla a lot.  I wondered if Lincoln knew that.  For some reason I doubted it.

Jonas and I became
decent friends.  He was very big brotherish, especially after he found out about the baby.

Lincoln tensed behind me and rolled back a little
putting some space between us.  He didn’t say anything to Jonas but I was sure he was glaring at him.

“You ready?” h
e asked me quietly.  I nodded and he grabbed my hand to pull me towards the door.  When we started to leave Jonas swooped me up for another one of his giant bear hugs, hugging me tightly against him.

“Give him a chance,” Jonas said quietly into my ear.

I just shrugged.  Lincoln never let go of my hand making the hug rather awkward.  As soon as Jonas let go of me Lincoln was tugging me back towards his side.  Lincoln was almost acting jealous.  He was scowling at Jonas. Jonas, on the other hand, was smiling like an idiot.  Jonas was purposely trying to make Lincoln jealous.

I rolled my eyes and l
et Lincoln tug me to the door.  Men.

“So where do you want to eat?”
Lincoln asked when we stepped outside.  “We can go to Fay’s,” he offered.  Fay’s was my favorite restaurant this side of town.  I always got a salad.  They made the best salads.

I turned my head away and felt my cheeks star
t to burn.  Damn. I was blushing.  That had gotten worse since the baby, if that was even possible.  Lincoln reached over and ran his knuckles along my cheekbone.  “Why are you blushing Lovely?” he asked.  I didn’t miss the husky tone of his voice.

“Can
we go get burgers?” I asked.  Lincoln raised an eyebrow at me, fighting back a smile.  I never asked for hamburgers.  I was a salad girl to the end.  Well, was anyway, not so much anymore.

“You want a hamburger?” he
asked and I blushed even more.  I tried to look away but Lincoln wouldn’t let me.

I nodded. 
“Apparently our baby is a carnivore,” I teased.  “All I want is a big juicy, greasy, cheeseburgers with no pickles because pickles smell awful,” I shared.  He laughed at me and pulled me into his arms after I shared my crazy pregnancy stuff with him.  It was nice to finally share this with him, nothing important but something baby related.

“I
f my little fairy and baby want a burger minus the pickles then that’s what they are going to get,” he kissed the top of my head. I couldn’t help but sigh into him.  He could be perfect.

Chapter 20

Lincoln

Dinner with Pru had gone exceptionally well.  We had a great time.  It was easy and light like things had been before I let my own insecurities and self-doubt destroy us.  She let me touch her, hold her hand.  I was even able to steal a few forehead kisses but that was as far as I was willing to push my luck and I knew I was pushing it.

I enjoyed her company even without sex or the prospect of it, althoug
h I would have been up for it.  Under different circumstance we could have been friends but as things stood I didn’t want to just be her friend.  She was my everything.  I wanted to be hers.

But I was starting to realize that we had rushed straight
into a physical relationship.  We had gotten to know each other but it had always ended up in sex.  Maybe it would be good for us to slow down and become reacquainted with each other before we brought sex back into the equation.  As hard as that was going to be, I could do it if it meant she would trust me again, love me again.

I hadn’t heard from
her since we had gone out.  It had been three day, three very long, drawn out days.  Each time the phone rang I dove for it only to be disappointed when she wasn’t on the other end of it.  I thought about calling her but I was trying to give her space, to do this on her timetable.  I knew she was scared of what would happen if she let me back in and I broke her heart again.  It was obvious.  Plus, Skyla had told me as much.

So I was trying to not to push her, let her do this on her terms, come to me because she had to come to me but I didn’t kno
w how much longer I could wait.  I had made the choice to get her back and I wanted her now.  I had to make her see that I wasn’t going anywhere, never again.  I loved her.  She was my forever.  But I had broken her heart so I would let this happen on her terms.  It was my fault we weren’t together now in the first place.

I waited and waited for her to come to me,
call me, ask me for something.  I was going out of my mind in the process.  Patience was not one of my strong suits.  Since I couldn’t call Pru I called Skyla, a lot.  I was probably driving her crazy at this point but she never said anything about it.  She was more than supportive.  She’d tell me how Pru was and even little things that I knew Pru would be angry over because Skyla was definitely violating some friend code or something but I guilted her into it.  I convinced her to tell me because it was in the best interest of her friend.  I needed to know because I loved her and wanted make her happy.

So Skyla was my little spy. 
She told me how Pru was doing, what she had done that day, even though I realized that Skyla didn’t always know the truth.  But she knew that Pru loved me.  She had told her and that she was scared.  That was enough to give me hope.  It was the reason I was giving her space.

My ph
one rang and I reached for it.  It was my day off.  I was back to taking those.  I was lying in my bed.  I had gotten up and gotten ready just in case Pru called but then collapsed back on top of it waiting like a lovesick boy for her call.

I didn’t
look at the caller ID.  It wasn’t going to be Pru and my heart was just going to fall when I saw someone else name.

“Hello,” I snapped as I shoved the phone against my ear.

“Lincoln?” it was Pru.  I shot up in bed.  Her voice was quivering slightly.  Was she crying?  Had she been?  She sounded scared.  Why?

“Pru?  What’s wrong?” 
Before she even answered I was off my bed and searching for my keys.

“There is this huge spider. 
It’s like man eating big,” a sob broke through.  “And it’s just staring at me.”  I could hear the fear in her voice.  She was truly terrified of the spider.  I knew she had a fear of spiders but I had never actually seen it in action.

“Are you at
home?”

“Yeah,” she answered and anot
her uneven breath escaped her.  She was really frightened.

“I’m on my way.” 
I disconnected the call then regretted it.  I should have kept her on the phone until I got there like those 911 operators.  Too late.

I wanted to laugh.  I wanted to cheer. 
It was a spider that got her to call me.  I was never so thankful for a nasty bug in my life.  I was going to be the best damn spider killer there ever was.  I’d save her from that damn spider.  I’d take any opening I could get.

Prudence

I came downstairs, dressed, and ready to go nowhere.  I had the apartment all to myself.  I desperately needed some quiet.  I needed some time to be alone with my thoughts and my all over the place feelings.  Every time I turned around there was someone to listen and be supportive.  I was thankful but I knew they were all secretly hoping I’d forgive Lincoln, especially Skyla I was pretty sure she was giving him daily updates but I didn’t mind because she was just trying to do right by both of us.  We had put her in an awkward position.

I finished my breakfast of coffee, the only caffeinated cup I allowed myself for the day, when I s
aw a movement under the couch.  I thought it was a mouse.  How had we gotten a mouse?  It was dark under there and about mouse size so I grabbed the giant shovel Maggie kept in the broom closet for reason unbeknown to me and went to evict the little squatter.  I had no fear of mice.  I just didn’t want to live with one because where there was one, others always followed.  My plan was to open the door and just guide it out. It could squat in someone else’s home.

W
hile I was grabbing the shovel my so-called mouse had come out.  It was not a mouse.  It was a giant wolf spider.  It was the size of my hand.  I hated spiders and this one was more evil than most.  I was trapped standing at the edge of the kitchen shovel in hand.  It was blocking every exit except the kitchen window and since I lived on the second floor and was pregnant that was not an option.

I tried to cling to the wa
ll.  I could just scoot around it and flee.  Someone else could deal with this bad boy.  I’d hide in my room until someone else came home.  Good plan.

T
he spider didn’t like my plan.  He just stood there and stared at me.  If I shifted so did he, in the same direction.  I was in a standoff with a spider, the Godzilla of spiders at that.  There was no escape.  I took a step, so did he.

My heart was racing as I started to panic.  I really, really didn’t like spiders.  I wanted to close my eyes
and pretend the spider wasn’t there but I was afraid of what that spider would do if I did.  I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself at least a little.  It didn’t work.

So I quickly formed plan B.  I called Lincoln.  I even started crying while I was on the phone with him.  He was on his way. 
I was so glad that I had grabbed my phone before I went to deal with the mouse.  Why I wasn’t sure but I was thankful now.

I felt like a fool calling a man to run over and kill a spider for me but t
hat’s exactly what I had done.  I was frozen in fear, with a death grip on the shovel while the spider continued to back me farther into the corner.  He was going to eat me or lay baby spider eggs in my ear.

Suddenly the door bur
st open and Lincoln surged in.  He would kill the spider.  I briefly wondered why our front door was unlocked but I was thankful for it.

He was
out of breath.  He’d run up the steps.  His eyes found me first before landing on the spider.

“Jesus Christ,” he said when he saw the gigantic spider in the middle of the living room.

He didn’t even hesitate.  He headed towards it to step on it.

“No don’t
kill it,” I screamed.  For some irrational reason I suddenly didn’t want the spider to die.  He put up a good fight.

Lincoln looked at me confused.  I know, crazy person here. 
He grabbed the broom from the open broom closet and brushed him out the front door. Spidey went without a fight.

Once it was out the door and off the stoop he shut the front door and headed over to me.

“Hey,” he said gently and he squatted down in front of me.  I must have looked a mess because he was talking to me far too gently.  Somewhere in the middle of this I had slid to the floor.  “Can I have this?” he asked softly as he started to peel my fingers off the shovel I had forgotten I was still holding.

I let it go.

“Why do you have a giant shovel?” he asked as he eyed the shovel curiously, relaxing a little.

“Maggie got it.  Don’t know why,
” I explained, still a little frozen in fear.  He reached over and brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

He smiled his l
ittle half smile that I loved.  “Okay, but why are you holding it?”

“I was going to evict a mouse.”

“There’s a mouse?” he almost screeched and jumped up so he was no longer squatting to look around shovel in hand.  I finally broke out of my crazy fear and started laughing.

“It’s not funny,” he said. 
“Where’s the mouse?”  He looked seconds away from jumping up onto a chair and screaming like a little girl.

“It
wasn’t a mouse it was a man eating spider.”  I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.

He relaxed. 
“You were going to butcher a mouse with a shovel but couldn’t kill a spider?”

“Did you see that thing?  Spiders are disgusting.  They have too many legs.  It’s unnatural.  Nothing needs that many legs. 
And those giant eyes see everything.  That was a highly trained attack spider.  You saw it.  It was freakishly large.  And I wasn’t going to kill the mouse. I was just going to kick it out,” I explained. Lincoln pulled me into his arms to hug me and kissed my forehead.  I melted into him.  It felt so good in his arms, so right.

“Okay wel
l I’ll take care of the spiders.  You can take care of the mice,” he teased and I could feel his warm breath against my ear causing desire to crash through me.  Another pregnancy thing, I was horny all the time and Lincoln only made it worse.

I laughed and held him.

“And the boogers.  I don’t like boogers,” he clarified.

I laughed again.
  Who liked boogers?  I looked up at him and he was smiling down at me.  He brushed a wild strand of hair out my face.  My pulse started to race and my breath hitched.

“Thank you,” I said so quietly I barely heard my own words.

“You’re welcome,” he said.  His voice had become low and husky too.  “Anything you need I’m here for you.  For the both of you.”

And I knew he meant it.

Lincoln

I meant every word. 
I was just waiting for her to believe me.  I guess I had killed that trust by leaving her and then ignoring her for months but I was here now and that had to count for something.

“Anything?” she asked in a soft, enticing tone
I hadn’t heard in a long time.  I knew that tone.  She looked away from me and down at her feet and could see her starting to blush the softest pink.  My favorite blush.

I put my finger under her chin and guided her face back up so I could see her eyes but she refused to
meet my gaze, instead she stared at my chest.  I didn’t like when she tried to hide from me.  I wanted her to know I meant it.

“Anything,” I said softly. 
“I will run out in the middle of the night if you are having a craving.  Take you to doctor appointments.  House hunt.  Buy you maternity clothes.  Scratch your back.  Rub your feet.  Anything,” I said again.  “Kill spiders,” I teased.  I wanted to lean down and kiss her plump lips.  She looked amazing.  I never thought of a pregnant woman as sexy but damn, she was sexy.

She li
fted her eyes from my chest.  I could see the desire there.  I hoped I wasn’t wrong because I really wanted it to be there.  I held her against me with one arm and used the other one to lightly run a trail along the side of her arm.  She trembled.  Her cheeks turned a delicate pink.

I was pressing my luck and I knew it but that didn’t stop me.

She had grown quiet.  She was watching my fingers bush along her arm while biting her lip.  I knew that bite.  I knew that look.  My lovely little fairy was horny.  She wanted me and I wanted her.  I had never wanted anything more.

God she was beautiful.

“Pru?” I asked as I let my thumb graze the side of her breast.  I waited for her to push me away.  She didn’t.  Her head fell back and she was already breathing heavy.

“Pl
ease,” she begged and I froze.  Please what?  Please stop?  Please don’t?  Please more?  What was this?  Did she really want this?  Did she want me to touch her?  I needed her to say it.  I didn’t just want to make an assumption and lose any progress I had made.  I knew that look but I needed to hear the words.  I didn’t want her to regret it.  I didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding.  No room for me to misinterpret anything.

She opene
d her eyes when I didn’t move.  I raised a questioning eyebrow at her.  I needed permission.