AllFreeNovel
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Knowing Lincoln is out of town makes me feel safe in heading to the Gridiron for a late lunch on Sunday.
I know the Aces brass likes to frequent this place, but it won’t be him if he’s with his family. Thank goodness for that.
Plus my mom texted me to let me know my parents are having lunch at two there today, and since Jonah is still at his dad’s, it feels like a better offer than chilling around the house by myself worrying about my kid.
They’re sitting at the bar when I walk in, a diet Coke in front of my mom and a mimosa in front of my dad.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” my dad says defensively when I walk in and eye his drink, and I giggle.
“Then I’ll take one of those, too,” I tell the bartender, and she gets to work on it while I give each of my parents a hug. “It’s five o’clock on the east coast, right?”
My parents laugh, and my dad scoots over a stool so I can sit in the middle.
We catch up and chat for a bit, and I order my favorite salad once the bartender drops my drink off in front of me.
“How’s the new job going?” my dad asks.
“It’s been fairly quiet so far,” I admit. “The offices across the street officially open back up for the season in about two weeks, and then I’ll be much busier. I’ve been doing some player profiles and getting ideas down for stories to use this season.”
“Good for you,” he murmurs, and we all enjoy our food before my parents call it an afternoon.
I, on the other hand, order another mimosa and retire to a corner booth with my laptop. The Wi-Fi here is strong, and I still don’t really feel like going home and being alone. I text Sam, but she’s working today, so I’m on my own.
I bury myself in work. I’m pounding out a good story, totally immersed in it when the door opens and a beam of light falls across my table from outside. I glance at the clock on my screen. It’s nearly seven already, and my eyes lift to the offending beam of light as the door closes behind the woman who just walked in.
I’ve never seen her before around here—not that that means anything. Lots of people come and go from this place, and I don’t know everyone who has ever eaten here—but something about her catches my attention.
She’s beautiful—long blonde waves fall to the middle of her back, and she glances around with big doe eyes as if she’s looking for somebody. She looks at me in her sweep of the room, but I’m just another face she doesn’t recognize.
She must not see her companion because she takes a seat at the bar and says something to Alex. He nods and gets to work on her order, and I force my eyes back to my screen so I can finish up what I’m working on before I call it a night and head home.
But the door opens again a few minutes later, another beam of light pulling me from my task, and I glance distractedly in that direction again.
Only this time, my eyes stay trained on the man as he glances around the bar.
His eyes land on me much like the last woman who walked through the door, but he doesn’t move on once he spots me like she did. Instead, he freezes in place for a beat, as if he’s surprised to see me in my own damn bar. And frankly, I’m surprised to see him here, too. I thought he was out of town. I thought he was with the rest of the horrible members of the Nash family.
I guess he’s back.
A tremor of something travels up my spine, and I feel like it’s going to push me into action to confront that jerk when I see the blonde woman approach him.
His eyes don’t leave mine for an extra beat, and I can’t stop watching them as he greets her with a smile.
She links her arms around his neck, and he sets a hand on her waist as he leans down and presses a quick kiss to her mouth.
I draw in a sharp breath as my eyes stay trained on them.
When he pulls apart from her, he glances over her shoulder back toward me again. He catches me watching them, but I can’t seem to make my eyes move away from the trainwreck.
“Can I get you anything else?”
A voice says something to me, but I’m in a fog as I stare at Lincoln and his…girlfriend? Wife? Escort? Ex? Baby mama? It’s a mystery. As far as I’m aware, he doesn’t have a girlfriend or wife. But I also don’t know anything about him anymore. She appears to be more than just an acquaintance, but that’s all I know.
For now.
He leans down to murmur something in her ear, his eyes still on me across the bar, and it’s…unsettling.
The woman tosses her head back and laughs, a sweet tinkling laugh I can hear all the way over here, and I force myself to look away when I hear my name.
