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I lift a shoulder. “He’s all right.”
He smirks at me then grabs me by my waist and hauls me into him. “I’ll show you funny.”
Sam fans herself on the other side of the counter. “Okay, okay. This well is dry over here, so kindly take it to your own bedroom if you’re going to PDA all over the house.”
“Apologies,” Lincoln says with a grin, and he lets me go—much to my dismay. “What do I need to know about you?”
He slides out one of the stools at the counter and sits. I lean forward on the counter beside him, and Sam mirrors the way I’m standing.
“I’ve got a seven-year-old son named Cade. He’s classmates with Jonah, and they’re best friends. Jolene and I met in a mom’s group when the boys were babies. We both left the mom’s group years ago but keep up on the gossip of our peers. I’m an ER nurse but I get to make my own schedule, so I usually do three-tens a week and Jo picks up the slack with the boys when I’m on—unless Cade is at his dad’s, in which event I pick up weekend shifts so I’m not sitting at home missing my kid.” She shrugs. “That pretty much sums me up. What about you?”
He glances at me. “Uh…I’m a head coach in the NFL. I played three years and an injury sidelined me.” If he catches Sam’s narrowed eyes at that, he ignores it. “I took the coaching route and it’ll benefit me greatly to have someone consistent on my arm at events, which tells me what we’re doing will be a mutually beneficial arrangement. But I still think we should lay out some terms before we attend any events together. To that end, I’ve put together a contract.” He slides the folder across the counter toward Sam and nods at her as if to say go ahead.
“Before I look, can I ask why having a consistent date would be to your benefit?” she asks.
“Well, it’ll fend off at least half the women who see me as Vegas’s newest bachelor.”
“And the other half?” she asks.
He shrugs. “No moral code. They won’t care if I’m seeing someone. They wouldn’t even care if I was married. But I can handle them, and if it cuts the crowd in half, I’ll take it. It’ll open the door for the focus to shift to the season rather than my personal life.”
She narrows her eyes at him a beat, but then she flips open the folder and scans the front page before she glances up at me. “Did you do this?” she asks.
“Do what?” I ask, completely dumbfounded as to what she’s asking.
“Put him up to paying me. I don’t want your money, Lincoln. I said I’d do it to help out my friend, and I’d prefer to leave it at that.” She folds her arms over her chest emphatically.
He shakes his head. “Consider it an advance on the things you’ll need to date someone like me. You’ll need designer clothing for events and expensive jewelry. Sometimes you’ll want to hit up a salon before the event. And to be perfectly honest, I will occasionally need you on weekends, and I’ll need you at games, which could put a wrench into your working hours. This will make up for the loss of work while also giving you the means to purchase whatever you might need for events.”
“I didn’t realize dating someone like you meant I had to spend so much money.” She shrugs as she purses her lips.
“You don’t. Well, not your money, anyway. And if there’s any left over, consider it payment for your time.”
“We agreed this was mutually beneficial. I don’t like the idea of taking your money if I’m benefitting in other ways.” She gives him a pointed gaze.
“Please, Samantha. If you don’t want to spend it, put it in a college fund for Cade.”
“It’s Sam,” she grits out, and I reach over to touch her arm. She glances at me and must remember that this was her idea in the first place. I get that she’s been working hard to make a life for herself and her son, but this could be a nice boost to give her some breathing room, too. She heaves out a heavy sigh. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” he says curtly. “There’s other information in that folder, including a nondisclosure agreement, a calendar of upcoming events, and additional terms.”
She nods as she flips through the papers, scanning them, and she digs through the drawer beside her, finds a pen, and signs at the end without thinking twice about it.
I didn’t see the number on the top page, but it must’ve been pretty decent if she’s signing off so easily.
She glances up at him. “Are there, like, any exes I can interview or anything so I have a better idea of what I’m getting into?”
He chuckles and nods at me. “You’re looking at her.”
She rolls her eyes. “You can’t be serious. It’s been like…what, twenty years? You can’t honestly tell me you haven’t been with anybody in that time.”
“That’s not what you asked. I don’t have any real exes because I never took the time to get involved,” he says a little flippantly.
I watch the two of them like I’m watching a tennis match.
“So how do you have time now?” Sam points out, clearly coming to my defense.
I nearly jump in to say I can fend for myself, but I also sort of want to hear the answer to that.
