Page 26 of Romance Reset
“It’s okay,” Amelia said before Lincoln could say anything. Given the flash of upset on his face, Amelia tried to stop a scolding before it began. “Of course you miss your mom. You have some big changes coming up in the next few weeks, and I’m sure she would’ve loved to have been here for them. To help you.”
Brendan glanced at his watch and pushed his plate away.
“I’m supposed to meet the guys on the pier to fish. Bree, you coming or not?” Brendan asked. “Jax’ll be there.”
Amelia watched as the girl struggled to decide, every thought racing across her face and marring her beautiful features.
“You don’t have to go, sweetheart,” Lincoln said. “Jaxon and Bree broke up not long ago,” Lincoln informed Amelia.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Amelia said to the girl, her heart tugging because of the emotion so readily apparent on Breanne’s face. “You’re welcome to keep us company.”
“No. Thanks, though. It was nice meeting you,” the girl said to Amelia.
“You, too. It was lovely to meet you both,” Amelia said.
Lincoln told the kids to be careful, and Amelia watched as the twins left the coffee shop. Lincoln had said once that they were similar in looks but different in personality, and she could certainly see that was the case. Brendan was his father made over, while his sister was a mixture of Lincoln and, Amelia guessed, Breanne’s mother.
“Okay, fess up. What was that look about earlier? The statement about the twins when we first got here?”
Oh, when would she ever learn to keep her mouth shut? “You caught me.”
“I did. Now what was it?”
“Honestly?”
“Always.”
“It was a moment of regret.”
“Regret?”
She struggled to maintain eye contact and, in the end, had to look away. “That they weren’t mine, Lincoln. I looked up and this gorgeous man and his beautiful children walked in and all I could do was sit here and think,What if I hadn’t… It got me, you know? That was the look. Regret and… the shoulda, woulda, couldas—even though we both know it probably would’ve been a disaster.”
She braved a look at Lincoln and caught the shock rolling over his face before he smoothed his wrinkled forehead and used his fork to poke at the cake remaining on his plate.
Amelia watched as he set the fork down and turned toward her, braced his arm on the back of her chair.
“What about now?” he asked. “We’ve had a few dates. Shared a few kisses. You’ve met my kids. The past is the past, but what happens now?”
She knew why he asked the question. Why he demanded an answer from her. He’d put himself out there once. Asked her,beggedher to marry him. She’d hurt him in the worst way and now he was wary. Even though this was only their third date, she had a feeling Lincoln was as drawn to her as she was to him, but he was afraid of getting too close.
Amelia lifted her hand and lightly touched his cheek, loving the way the stubble felt beneath her fingertips. “I think… I’d like to know what I’ve missed out on all of these years. You?”
His gaze searched hers.
“I think I’d like that, too.”
She watched how his gaze lowered to her mouth and held, the visual caress every bit as tantalizing as the kisses he’d mentioned.
Amelia bit her lip and dared ask the question in the back of her mind. “Um, I suppose I should tell Marsali not to fix me up anymore?”
He turned his face into her fingers and kissed them, his gaze back on hers.
“You should. I plan to do the same.”
Amelia felt the sting of tears but blinked hard, blaming stress and her upcoming cycle for the sudden rush in response to his words, in addition to the stress of the film schedule on her calendar. “Then I guess that’s what comes next.”
Time. She needed more time before they broached the subject of whatever came afterthis. She wanted to now but there was a process. A protocol? The words were there on the tip of her tongue but how would he react? Dating, engagement, marriage, babies. That was the order of things. Because asking a man to father a child on their third date wasn’t exactly covered in social skills, and they couldn’t rush something so precious.
