Page 4 of Good Girl's Guide to Love
He holds out his hand, which completely engulfs mine, as he helps me up from the floor. I lost a hold of my lunch box and one of the tumblers I was carrying, but before I can reach down for them, Linc already has them scooped up.
“Here,” he says, his voice a little lower. “You’ll probably need these before you leave, car, go.”
My cheeks are suddenly on fire, which means that sensation has caught up to my body.
“Thank you,” I whisper. It might not be a big sentence, or a loud one, but at least it makes sense. I’m unreasonably proud.
“No need for thanks. I’ve never been so happy to run into someone in my life.”
I think my eyes jump out of my head when his words hit me. I mean, I’m still trying to gain my balance, but still. Who says things like that? No men that I know. Then again, the men I’m normally attracted to don’t have a full sleeve of tattoos and could probably be bench-pressed by this man.
I know I should say something, even if it’s my one-word sentences, but before I can, a beautiful blonde woman bounces up next to Linc, cell phone in hand, interrupting our moment.
“Hey, Linc, you need to get going,” she turns to me, a smile as wide as can be. And it’s as fake as the fullness of her lips. I might wear rose-colored glasses, and I always want to see thegood in people, but I was also in a southern sorority. I can spot a fake smile a mile away. “I’m so sorry. We need to get going. You know, visit the patients and all. But if you want an autograph, I’m sure I can get you one.”
“No, that’s fine. Sorry to hold you up.” I return the smile, maybe not as fake as hers, but it’s close.
I turn to walk away, making sure I check my surroundings before I take a step. But just as I take a step, I feel Linc’s hand on my elbow, stopping me in my tracks.
No, actually, his touch literally shocked me into place and now I’m feeling tingles.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. Sorry again for running into you. But thank you for coming to visit these kids. You’re making their day.”
The tingles are just about gone, and then Linc smiles. Just a small one. But enough to send the tingles straight to my stomach.
“That’s funny. Because you just made mine.”
My jaw drops slightly as he sends a wink my way before walking off. I watch him go, really unsure if that all just actually happened.
But if it didn’t, and this is some sort of dream, then I never want to wake up.
2
linc
“Holy crap! You’re Linc Kincaid!”
I laugh as I step into the hospital room of a teenaged boy. Maybe thirteen, if I had to guess? He’s not as young as some of the patients I visited earlier, but he still has something youthful about him, despite the wires and machines that are surrounding him.
“In the flesh. But since you know my name, wanna tell me yours?”
“Caden.”
“Nice to meet you, Caden. You a Nashville Fury fan?”
He nods as he grabs a Fury snapback hat from a bedside table and waves it at me. “Hell yeah, I am! I never miss a game.”
I laugh at his language, but only because it sounds like me at his age when I started pushing the boundaries of what I could say and get away with. My poor grandmother didn’t know what to do with me.
“That’s awesome. Can I see that hat? I don’t know if I’ve seen one of those before.”
I have. I think I might even have it. But if I’ve learned one thing about kids in visits like this is that they love telling peopleabout stuff. And if this boy wants to talk to me about hats, well then, I’m all ears.
“My parents got it for me for Christmas a few years ago,” he says. “I wore it every game of the playoffs. And they won the whole thing!”
“Then it’s a good luck charm,” I say with a smile as I take a seat next to him.
