I crept up the staircase, checking over my shoulder every other step, waiting for someone to question my presence and throw me out of the house.
I’m sorry. I got lost. That was the best excuse I’d have. It worked for their real staff, right?
As soon as I reached the second floor, a voice echoed down the hall to the left.
Shit.I bolted up the next flight, and my heart was hammering by the time I hit the landing. I barely had a chance to catch my breath before someone grabbed my wrist.
I stifled my scream with my free hand.
“I didn’t think you would come.”
I stared at Lincoln’s perfect face and questioned every single decision I’d made for the last month.
He was the heir to this grand estate. I was the help, at least for today. This couldn’t be more cliché if we’d tried.
“I can’t do this.”
His gaze intensified. “Stop.”
I held up my hand to silence him when the treads on the stairs creaked. “Someone’s coming,” I whispered.
Lincoln wove his fingers into mine and pulled me down the hallway to the right. There were so many doors, but he knew exactly where he was going. He pushed open the fifth on the left and shut it behind us.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said I can’t do this. Not here. We’reinyour parents’ house.”
His lips skimmed my collarbone. “Technically, it’s my grandfather’s house.”
“Minor detail. Also, I’mworking.”
He pressed a kiss on my hammering pulse. “No, you’re on a break because I haven’t gotten to see you in a week and I’ve fucking missed you. What were you doing that had you so busy?”
He missed me.I hated that I loved hearing those words so much, but I couldn’t deny the tendrils of warmth snaking through me.
“Working. Saving up money. That’s what normal people do.”
“There’s nothing normal about you.” Before I could sputter an outraged retort, he continued. “You’re extraordinary. Incredible. The most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”
“You just want to get laid.” I rolled my eyes, even as I soaked up the compliments.
Lincoln pulled away and his hazel gaze intensified. “That’s not what this is about.”
I tilted my head to the left. “Really? So if I told you we weren’t having sex anymore, you’d be totally okay with it?”
“No. But it’s notjustabout the sex. It’s you and me and the fact that spending time with you is the best part of my day, week, month, and fucking year. You make me smile and laugh and enjoy life. I didn’t want to come back to Gable. I didn’t want to make a life here. But you changed that.”
Sometimes I hated that he was so sweet, and that the things he said turned my barriers to rubble before I could reinforce them. Whatever argument I was planning to make faded away as I ran my fingers through his dark hair and tugged his mouth to mine.
“Just kiss me. I missed you too.”
His eyes lit up at my admission. It was the first time I’d said anything like that.
“Fucking finally.”
His lips crashed against mine, and I got lost in the kiss. I twined one leg around his hip and pressed against him. My nipples peaked against my bra, and I wanted him.
Even though I told myself how much I hated the forbidden aspect of our meetings, there was something about it that was undeniably hot. The thought of getting caught terrified me, but it also increased the urgency a thousand times over.
Lincoln’s palm slid along my hip and beneath my cut-off shorts. “Fuck. No panties today?”