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“Who you dated to get over whomever you were trying to forget…”
He stared at me with a slack jaw and then he scrubbed a hand over his face. With a resigned sigh, he confessed, “I heard she’s getting married. That’s why I got it into my head to fly all the way to Hawaii to win you back. I… wasn’t thinking clearly…”
“Oh, Lincoln…” I shuffled closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m a fucking idiot,” he hummed. “I’m so sorry for the way I blew up at you and Jamie when my heart wasn’t even in the right place. I just thought that if she’s getting married, then surely I can get out of the past and find my happiness too.”
My heart constricted. I always knew he was in love with another woman, but I never pried. “You can still find happiness, Lincoln. You will. You deserve it.”
He hung his head and grunted in response. However, in true macho fashion, he shoved away his emotions and focused on mine. Turning to me, he said. “So do you. I know it’s awkward for your ex to ask what happened between you and your current…”
I snorted. “Hella awkward.”
He gave me a sheepish smile. “I’m asking because I genuinely care about you and Jamie. I think I need to tell him that. Let him know I’m no longer pissed.”
“Well, what have you been waiting for?”
He lifted a shoulder and smirked. “I thought I’d let him suffer a bit more for going after my ex-girlfriend. He broke the bro code.”
“Lincoln.” I swatted his arm, and he chuckled. I then instantly plunged back into despair. “Then again, perhaps he deserves to suffer.”
He raised an eyebrow in askance.
“I met his fiancée,” I sighed. “I know about your bro code or whatever, but you could have given me a heads-up that Jamie was just looking for a good time before he tied the knot. Why didn’t you say something?”
Lincoln’s features twisted into confusion. “His what?” His laughter boomed. “Char, I’d know if my best friend was engaged. Jamie Winchester has been running in the opposite direction from that kind of commitment since I met him… until you, anyway.”
I sat taller. “What…? But… that woman.”
Lincoln stroked his chin. “If by fiancée you mean the woman his father has been trying to convince him to marry, a woman he’s never even exchanged a word with…”
I sucked in a breath. Lincoln said he had yet to speak to Jamie, and I believed him. He was no liar. So Jamie didn’t commission Lincoln to come here and lobby for my forgiveness. Plus, Lincoln seemed genuinely lost.
“What the hell happened, Char?” he asked.
I dropped my head into my hands. “I walked away from Jamie because I thought he was playing me. I thought he was engaged. Damn it! I knew there was something off about that woman.”
I mean, if I found out that my fiancé was cheating on me with another woman, I’d be livid. Gwendolyn Calloway had been too calm, detached even, for someone who was supposedly hurt about her lover’s affair. I told Lincoln everything and then he set the record straight.
Jamie had never been in a serious relationship until me and had only considered doing what his father demanded in the far future. However, he met me…
“Jamie is head over heels for you, Charlotte,” Lincoln said.
“How do you know? You’ve been avoiding him… us for months.”
He combed his fingers through his hair. “I’m not blind. Even in Kohala, I saw how he looked at you. And he’s no cheater. I’ve known him for over a decade. Jamie is one of the most loyal people you’ll find.”
I fell back against the couch’s cushions and covered my face. I felt terrible and stupid for running without hearing Jamie out.
“What am I supposed to do with this revelation, Lincoln?” I asked, uncovering my face.
He scoffed and stared at me as if I’d gone insane. “You can call Jamie and you two could talk…”
I felt like he wanted to add duh!
I threw my hands up. “Okay… so Jamie isn’t really a cheating asshole. He’s incredible, and I really love him.”
“But?”
