All of You (16 page)

“So you like my new coat?” I asked and struck
a pose. I placed my hands on my waist and popped a hip out.

“Are you going to give me a little show?”
Lincoln asked, eyeing me up and down. I turned and began walking
away from him with overemphasized sway of my hips, like I was on a
fashion runway.

I heard heavy footsteps approaching quickly
behind me and I turned to see Lincoln running quickly toward me. I
gasped when he reached me and he bent down, wrapped his arms around
my thighs and hoisted me up over his shoulder. I screamed playfully
while laughing as my head went upside down. Well, at least this
view is nice, I thought. I now had a prime view of his
backside.

“Put me down!” I cried between gasps as
Lincoln started walking toward his SUV and I tried to struggle
against him.

“Don’t wiggle! I’ll drop you,” he said and
squeezed my legs tighter.

“You drop me and I’m not going to dinner with
you!” I protested as loudly as I could.

He stopped walking, and I saw from my upside
down position that we had made it to his vehicle. I felt Lincoln
loosen his grip, and he lowered me down his chest until I was eye
to eye with him, my legs dangling.

“That was fun,” he said with a big grin on
his face. His smile was captivating, and I could not look away. I
locked my arms in a circle around his neck, and his face turned
serious as his eyes roamed over my face.

“Thank you for the coat,” I said to him
quietly.

“You’re most welcome, my Princess,” he said
back to me. I closed my eyes and brought my mouth to his, and we
kissed softly. Our mouths moved in unison for a long moment before
Lincoln pulled away and set me down. I had to grip his coat for
fear of not being able to stand on my own two feet, and he kissed
my forehead before helping me into his vehicle.

Chapter Eleven

I chuckled when I realized where he was
taking me for dinner. He looked down at me with questioning eyes as
we approached Patrick’s, the same bar we had been to on New Year’s
Eve. “I didn’t realize you were a regular here,” I teased.

Lincoln chuckled. “I’m not really. But I
think I’m kind of related to the owner. And they have really good
burgers.”

“Kind of related?” I questioned.

His eyes squinted, and he looked up as he
tried to work out the relation. “It’s Kennedy’s husband’s sister’s
husband,” he said slowly.

I thought for a moment. “So your
brother-in-law’s brother-in-law?”

“Yeah, I think,” Lincoln said laughing. “Does
that make sense?” he asked as we entered the bar. I nodded up at
him before looking around. It was much calmer than it had been on
New Year’s Eve and the night was still young, so we easily claimed
a booth against the wall. A young waitress brought menus and
rattled off the specials while eyeing Lincoln with interest.
Lincoln ordered a beer, and I ordered a peach sunrise, and the
waitress left to give us time to look at the menu. I quickly
scanned it but had already decided on a burger, since that’s what
Lincoln had recommended. I set my menu down and let my eyes wander
around the bar, thinking about the last time I was in here.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked, looking
back at Lincoln.

“Of course,” he answered, setting down his
menu and grabbing my hand across the table.

“When we were here on New Year’s, why was
your sister so certain we’d end up together?”

“She was drunk,” Lincoln said with a
shrug.

“Okay, but Deacon kind of acted that way too
when I was leaving.”

“You mean when you ran out on me,” he said,
pointedly.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. When I ran out
on you.”

Lincoln let go of my hand and sat back in the
booth. He ran a hand across the scruff of his chin and looked at me
with intense eyes. “Well, I told you I don’t have a lot of
friends…” He looked uncomfortable. “That includes girlfriends.”

“But I could have been just any girl off the
street. Well, really—I was any girl off the street.”

“Jillian. You were never just any girl off
the street.”

“But you know what I mean,” I pressed.

“You’re saying, had I not met you, I could
have picked up any random chick and brought her to the bar.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Jillian, I’ve never done that. I told you
I’m not the stereotypical professional athlete.”

I picked at the corner of the menu. “But what
about Mackenzie?”

“Mackenzie was a mistake,” he said and leaned
closer to me. “And if you don’t stop letting her come between us,
we’re going to have problems.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t mean it like
that.” He thought I meant I was still holding it against him that
he had been with her.

“I know what you meant. I never introduced my
family or friends to Mackenzie. We went out a few times, but that
was all. It never got serious enough for that. Thank God.”

“But you introduced me to them the first
night we met,” I stated, confused.

“Yep,” Lincoln said, nodding. “And that’s why
they knew you were special.”

“Oh.” Well, that was simple. His family and
friends acted like I was special, because… I was. I bit my lip and
tried to contain my growing smile.

“Gloat all you want, Princess. I knew you
were special from the moment I set eyes on you,” Lincoln said with
a determined look in his eyes, and my smile grew even bigger. “And
I intend on letting you know every day how special you are to
me.”

I couldn’t hold back and longer. I stood up
in the booth, leaned across it, and kissed him sweetly.

~~~~~~~~

“All finished?” Lincoln asked me, and I
nodded.

“You were right. That burger was good,” I
said, wiping my mouth with my napkin. The waitress slipped the bill
on the table, and I grabbed it and reached for my purse.

“Jillian, give me the bill,” Lincoln demanded
and held his hand out.

I looked up at him with surprise. I shook my
head and pursed my lips. “No. You just bought me a coat. I can buy
you dinner,” I said as I placed a few bills on the table.

“That’s not how this is going to work,
Jillian.”

“You’re going to pay for everything? That’s
how it’s going to work?” I challenged him.

His face softened. “I love that you want to
pay for this. But, yes, I’m going to take care of you. That’s how
it’s going to work,” Lincoln said simply and stood up. He grabbed
the bill from my hand and took it to the bar to pay. I sat in the
booth, bewildered and overcome by Lincoln’s generosity and
confidence. I was going to have to figure out how to deal with
this, but I wasn’t sure how. He was so resolute. For now I filed it
away to worry about later, and Lincoln returned to the booth.

“Ready to go?” he asked as I shrugged into my
beautiful new coat before exiting the booth.

“Thank you for dinner… and for the coat… and
for a nice evening,” I said to him as we left the bar.

“It’s not over yet, Princess.” He held the
bar door open for me, and I looked up at him with surprise.

“There’s more?” I asked with raised
eyebrows.

Lincoln smiled and nodded but didn’t reveal
what was coming. I wrapped my arm around his, and we walked to his
SUV. Once we were situated in the vehicle, Lincoln started it up
and drove no more than four blocks before turning into a parking
ramp and entering a code for the gate. I looked at him with
confusion, and he laughed. He grabbed my hand and kissed the back
of it as he circled around and pulled his vehicle into a reserved
parking stall.

“What are we doing?” I asked as soon as he
killed the engine.

“Do you know who’s playing at the arena
tonight?” he asked, looking like a kid on Christmas morning.

I shook my head. “There’s a concert tonight?”
Lincoln nodded with a smirk. “Are we going?” I asked with
excitement. Lincoln nodded again, his smile growing bigger.
“Lincoln! Tell me!” I demanded with a laugh.

“Brit Ambush,” Lincoln finally said, and I
gasped. Brit was huge right now. The current pop princess was all
over the airwaves and the tabloids. She was currently rumored to be
hooking up with the lead singer of a new band she had worked with.
“And Crime Ghosts are opening for her,” Lincoln added.

My hand flew to cover my mouth as I gasped
again. I tried to contain my scream of excitement as I undid my
seatbelt and launched myself over the center console and into
Lincoln’s arms. He laughed as he caught me, and I hugged him tight.
Crime Ghosts was a very new band, but thanks to their collaboration
with Brit and the rumors surrounding their lead singer, they had
quickly landed on the music radar and on the radio. I had heard
their stuff though, and knew their success wasn’t just a blip cause
by media frenzy. They were good.

I sat back in my seat and held my hands over
my mouth. I was in awe of Lincoln right now. This was utterly
awesome. “I can’t believe you got tickets for this! This is going
to be fantastic!” I couldn't stop from grinning widely.

“Okay, I have to admit—players get tickets to
all the events here. It’s one of our perks,” he said
sheepishly.

“Oh I don’t care! I’m just excited to see
this!” I squealed. I couldn’t contain my excitement.

Lincoln laughed. “Well, all right. Let’s get
going!”

Lincoln’s Player’s Pass let us into all areas
of the Arena I would normally not be allowed to go. He held my hand
and pulled me through the hallways of the backstage area. I was
pretty sure I saw the now-famous lead singer of Crime Ghosts
talking intimately with a pretty blond who was not Brit. Hmm… maybe
the tabloids were wrong.

We ended our long walk at a suite on the club
level. This suite seemed to be reserved for Lincoln's teammates and
others associated with the Blackhawks. There was a large group of
people of all ages milling around, chatting before the concert
started. Several of them shouted greetings at Lincoln as we walked
inside, and I saw Deacon was one of them. He immediately walked
over to us. A leggy blonde with a short skirt and a skimpy shirt
that accentuated her large chest skipped after him.

“Hey guys!” he said to us before slapping
Lincoln on the back and giving me a proper, yet slightly awkward,
hug. He grabbed the blonde’s hand and pulled her forward. “This is
Daisy. Daisy, this is Lincoln and Jillian.”

Daisy giggled and waved her fingers at us,
but her eyes lusted at Lincoln. I smiled at her in return, but
insecurity flooded through me. She was an ideal beauty, nothing I
could ever be compared to.

Deacon wrapped his arm around Daisy’s waist
and pulled her closer to him. “Daisy’s an underwear model,” he said
proudly with a wicked grin, and Daisy giggled again. Of course she
is, I thought as I looked down, feeling incredibly inadequate.

Lincoln put his arm around my shoulder and
pulled me close to him. “Jillian’s researching cell growth at
GenChem laboratories,” he said smugly.

Deacon gave me a reassuring smile, but the
look on his date’s face was anything but friendly. “That sounds…
fun,” Daisy said with a condescending tone. All eyes looked to me,
and I felt my face flush. What the hell? I thought as I cringed
internally.

“Hey, I didn’t invite you here to be a bitch
to my friends,” Deacon told his date. The change in Daisy was
instantly visible. She went from bitch to sexy kitten in less than
two seconds.

“Sorry, baby,” she purred to Deacon as she
ran a finger over her plump glossy bottom lip and pushed her boobs
against him. I wanted to puke.

“We’ll catch you later, numbnuts,” Lincoln
said to Deacon and smacked him on the shoulder before walking away,
towing me along. He pulled me to a quieter corner of the box. “You
okay?” he asked me.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“Deacon doesn’t have the best taste in
women.”

“She’s pretty,” I said with a shrug, still
feeling inadequate. Obviously it wasn’t the first time I had
encountered a girl who was a bitch for no reason, but it still
stung.

“He’s an idiot if he thinks that’s pretty,”
Lincoln said. Clearly he could tell I was comparing myself to the
model. “She’s got nothing on you, Princess,” he said, cupping my
cheek. Again I felt a wave of guilt. If he only knew what I was
hiding, he wouldn’t be saying that. I could never be an underwear
model.

Lincoln must have been able to tell I didn’t
believe him because he pulled me into a hug and cocooned my body
with his arms, holding me tight. He brought his lips to my ear and
whispered just loud enough for me to hear. “You’re beautiful.
You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” And then he
kissed me tenderly under my ear and released me. I looked up at him
with shock. Lincoln chuckled and kissed my forehead. “Do you want
something to drink, Princess?”

I placed our coats in two front-row seats of
the box suite as Lincoln chatted at the private bar while waiting
on our drinks. I leaned out over the railing at the front of the
suite and looked around at the crowd. The arena was packed. Must be
a sold-out show, I thought. I guessed our suite was the fourth one
away from the stage on the right side. We were going to have a
great view of the concert. Other private boxes lined the stadium on
our level, and I could see people in them, milling around chatting
and drinking while waiting for the concert to start. The stadium
seating underneath our level was quickly filling up, as was the
seating on the ground level. A false floor was covering the ice for
the hockey rink that usually occupied the center of the arena so
the stage and floor seating could be there tonight. I raised my
eyes up to the next level and saw the cheap seats. That’s where I’d
be if I had had to buy my own tickets—way up in the nosebleed
section. And even then, for this show, I guessed those seats were
out of my price range. Not that I would have had anyone to go with
me anyways.