Rush (Eligible Receivers #3)

Chapter Twelve

After a full week of living under Linc’s roof, Nora had discovered many things about her new “fiancé.” First, the man hated doing laundry and would let it pile up until either she or the cleaning crew who came in once a week did it for him. He hated most vegetables but ate them anyway. He hated losing when they played Candyland. His favorite color was blue. He liked a wide mix of music. He preferred vanilla ice cream over chocolate.

And, when it came to her, the man was a walking contradiction.

He’d made it clear where he stood on having any type of real relationship with her, but his eyes and body language told a completely different story. Any time they were in the same room, she’d catch him staring. And yeah, she was a virgin and all, but she wasn’t that naive. The man was begging to get caught and he never looked away without his eyes heating and a devilish smile tilting his lips.

When they were in public and held hands, it wasn’t just a casual linking of fingers. He’d rub his thumb over hers with a slow purposeful intent. Or when he kissed her, before pulling away, he’d sweep his tongue across her bottom lip. And she very well knew bystanders and photographers could see neither of those things. So why did he do it?

His actions were confusing.

They were distracting.

They were maddening.

But worst of all, they left her wanting.

***

“What do you feel like for dinner?” Nora stood in front of the open refrigerator, gazing in.

Linc still brought home lunch every day but she had gotten into the habit of cooking most nights.

She felt Linc come up behind her, his heat at her back a sharp contrast to the cold at her front. He placed a hand on the handle right above hers and leaned in until his head was right next to hers but was careful not to touch any part of her.

With the way her body reacted, you would think his hands were all over her.

“What have we got?”

She forced herself to concentrate on the contents in the fridge. “Let’s see. I can make tacos or hamburgers.” They had a package of ground beef and all the fixings for both.

“Tacos.” He pushed away and she lost his heat.

She refused to think about how much she missed it by instead concentrating on gathering ingredients and piling them on the counter.

“Anything I can do to help?”

He asked that every night and she always gave him something to do to keep him in the kitchen. “You can dice the tomatoes and shred the lettuce.”

He pulled a knife from the drawer and the chopping block from behind the sink and got to work while she put the meat in a fry pan, moving it around with a wooden spatula and watching it brown.

She was just adding the seasoning packet to the meat when she felt his eyes on her.

Again.

She’d had enough. Time to call him out. “Why do you do that?”

He looked down at the lettuce he was tearing then back at her, a small line now between his eyes. “Do what?”

“Act as though we’re more than we really are.”

He tossed the last bit of lettuce into the bowl then turned to lean his hip against the counter, crossing his arms in a relaxed pose. “You’re gonna have to walk me through that.”

It would be so much easier if she knew how to explain. On the surface, to the casual observer, it would seem like he was doing nothing wrong while in actuality what he did made her feel hot and bothered. But she couldn’t very well tell him that.

“You’re always looking at me.”

His brows rose. “I’m not supposed to look at you?”

Well, when he said it like that, it did sound ridiculous. “It’s not that you look, but how you look while looking.” She stirred the meat—maybe a bit too aggressively because a chunk flew out of the pan to land under the back burner. She’d need to remember to wipe that up later.

He uncrossed his arms, standing up straighter. “And how exactly do I look?”

She flicked the knob on the burner, turning it off and threw down the spatula. It made a mess on the stainless-steel surface that she’d need to clean up later too, but at that moment, she didn’t care.

Taking a page from his playbook, she leaned a hip against the counter next to the stove and crossed her arms over her chest—only her pose wasn’t relaxed. “Like you’re hungry and I’m dinner.”

He tipped his head back and laughed. And man, was it a beautiful sight. So much so, she almost forgot what they were talking about.

Almost, but not quite.

“This isn’t a joke. You don’t have the right to look at me like that or invade my personal space like you constantly do. I’m your employee. Only your employee. It’s what you wanted. You can’t have it both ways. Either you want things strictly platonic, or you want us to be more.” Her heart pounded as adrenaline coursed through her veins. It felt good sticking up for herself. “What we’re doing here isn’t some game you can play to your advantage and totally disregard my feelings. If you can’t follow your own rules, maybe I need to leave and go back to Oz’s.”

That instantly sobered him. “No.” He pushed from the counter, taking a step toward her but then stopped as if just remembering not to get too close. “You can’t leave.”

Her back stiffened. His expression looked panicked, but that couldn’t be right. “Why?” Her heart pounded harder in her chest, waiting on his answer.

“Because.”

When after a few seconds he didn’t elaborate, she prompted, “Because why?”

“Because…” He ran a frustrated palm over his close-cropped hair. “Because Sophie likes you here.”

“And that’s the only reason?”

He turned back to the counter, practically giving her his back, and picked up the knife, slicing through a tomato. “Of course. Why else?”

Why else indeed. Heart deflating even though she had no business feeling disappointed just because she didn’t like his answer, she turned back to the stove. Then she mentally added another layer of bricks to the wall surrounding her heart. That sucker was getting so tall, pretty soon not even a professional mountain climber would be able to scale it, let alone a six-foot-three football player.

***

Nora opened her eyes, blinking away their rough, sandpaper quality after a restless night. It was Saturday so she wasn’t officially on duty, but after her disappearing act the night before, she wanted to check on Sophie.

Oh, who was she kidding? She wanted to see Linc too.

After their very revealing talk, Nora wasn’t sure where Linc’s head was at, but hers had been in the clouds during their very silent dinner after which Linc took Sophie to get ice cream. She’d been invited to join, of course, but had declined, taking the easy way out to hide in her room.

Never in her life could one person produce within her such a wide range of emotions. From joy to anger, her feelings for Linc ran the gamut and would usually change at the drop of a hat. The man was charming, intelligent, and sexy as hell. But on the flip side, he could be cocky, bossy, and frustratingly infuriating.

In a nutshell, the man made her emotionally exhausted.

And left her with a buildup of sexual tension.

Kicking off the covers, she got out of bed and made her way to the door, poking her head out. All was quiet upstairs so she quickly took the few steps to the bathroom she shared with Sophie, emerging fifteen minutes later freshly showered and wrapped in a towel.

She didn’t escape back to her room undetected. Linc was leaving his room just as she stepped into the hall. They both froze in unison, the length of Sophie’s bedroom the only distance separating them.

Nora noticed Linc’s gaze flick down her body for the briefest of moments before flying back up to make eye contact. “Morning.”

Clutching her pajamas to her chest to keep the towel in place, Nora responded, “Good morning.”

“I was about to make breakfast. French toast.”

“Sounds good.”

Awkward silence covered the distance between them.

She broke it by saying, “I’ll get dressed and come down to help.”

“Thanks.” He dipped his head and continued to the stairs, jogging down them.

Nora watched for a few seconds then hurried to her room. She appeared in the kitchen less than five minutes later, wet hair in a ponytail and having thrown on shorts and a tee. “What can I do?”

Linc stood in front of the stove, flipping French toast with a spatula. “I’m just about done here, but you can heat some syrup in the microwave.”

Nora got busy not only heating the syrup but also setting the table and the food was dished up by the time she finished.

Silence filled yet another meal. Oblivious to the tension, Sophie attacked her food and Nora couldn’t help but smile at the little girl’s gusto.

When she finished eating, Linc wiped syrup off her fingers and face with a wet napkin. “Why don’t you go watch TV while I clean up. Then we’ll take a trip to the ducks and feed them the rest of the bread. Okay?”

In answer, Sophie ducked under the table and crawled out from beneath it, running into the living room.

“It’s good to see her eat so well,” Nora said, cutting into her own French toast and swiping it through the syrup on her plate.

“It is. She’s improved in so many areas. Now I just wish she’d start talking.”

“She will. Just give her more time.”

Linc nodded then pushed his cleaned plate away. “Listen, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Happy to talk about anything, Nora set her fork down. “Okay.”

“Next Saturday is the team’s Super Bowl ring ceremony. It’s a big deal. Everyone will be bringing their wives and girlfriends.” He raised an eyebrow. “And fiancées.”

Nora pushed her own plate away and picked up her coffee cup. “I get it. You need me to come.”

“After last night I wanted to make sure you’re still on board with the plan.”

“As long as we’re both on the same page and stay there, I am.”

His head dipped. “You made things very clear last night.”

“Good.” She took a sip of her coffee then set the mug down.

“So, you’ll go?”

Her lips curved into a smirk. “I’ll pencil it into my busy social calendar.”

Linc chuckled. “Thanks. You’ll need a dress.”

Her smile fell. “How fancy is this shindig?”

His expression turned sheepish. “Black tie fancy.”

Well, she definitely didn’t have anything like that hanging in her closet.

As if reading her thoughts, Linc said, “I’ll pay for it, of course. And shoes and whatever else you may need.”

What she needed was help. Looked like she was going on another shopping trip with Emerson and Ivy.