Page 25 of Romance Reset
I’m glad. I want you to meet my kids tomorrow. Okay?
The three little dots appeared on the screen but then disappeared again. No response. He waited a few more seconds before adding,I know it might be rushing things, Amelia, but they’re leaving for college soon. Say yes. How about a coffee date with the kids before our lunch? London’s Lattes. Eleven a.m.?
Once again, a pause. Then the three little dots reappeared.
I’ll be there. Good night, Lincoln. Sweet dreams.
Sweet dreams. It’s what she’d tell him on the phone every night when they’d dated. The memory brought a smile to his lips as he moved into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
Amelia was fun. Always up for a good time. She smiled a lot. Laughed. Pulled him in with her beautiful eyes and made him feel like a man. She loved to travel. Her past was proof of that. The kids would be away at college in a matter of weeks. Plenty of time for him to plan a trip. Maybe when she finished her current project they could go somewhere? Do some of the things they’d talked about, dreamed about doing, before life had changed their plans?
Chapter 10
The following morning, Amelia took a deep breath that failed to steady the nerves attacking her at the thought of meeting Lincoln’s children so soon. At eighteen, they were hardly kids, but they weren’t exactly adults either. More than that, they’d lost their mother and Lincoln was just starting to date. How would they take his bringing them to meet her?
She inhaled once more and slowly released it on a five count. Nope. Didn’t work that time either. Maybe… Maybe she should cancel? Force Lincoln to wait at least a bit longer?
“Hey. Have you been here long?” Lincoln asked.
Amelia opened her eyes—when had she closed them?—and found Lincoln looking every bit as nervous as she was. Behind him stood a lankier, younger version of him she recognized with a blink. “Wow.”
Her comment brought out Lincoln’s lazy grin. “Yeah. Spittin’ image and all that.”
Brendan was indeed his father’s mirror image at that age. The younger version was curious about her, too, and she forced a smile when he continued to stare.
“Amelia, my son and daughter, Brendan and Breanne. Guys, this is Amelia.”
Pleasantries were exchanged, and while Breanne said the proper words without a hint of animosity, it was obvious she’d like to be anywhere but there. After the introductions, the trio moved to the counter to place their orders, and after paying, Lincoln left the kids there to wait on their drinks.
Lincoln approached her at the table and took the chair beside her.
“Hey. You okay?”
“You made very handsome and beautiful children,” she said, a niggle of jealousy entering her tone even though she knew she was the very reason those kids weren’t hers and Lincoln’s.
Lincoln must have caught on to her thoughts because he frowned.
“Amelia?”
“I’m fine. Nerves,” she said, shaking her head and pasting on a smile. “Sorry.”
The twins approached with cups and plates, and Brendan went back to retrieve another two plates and set them in front of Amelia and Lincoln.
“Sometimes you need to eat dessert first,” Lincoln murmured, scooting the chocolate cake toward her.
The next hour was spent chatting about colleges and dorms, with Lincoln being the dad she always knew he would be because he went into lecture mode a time or two, much to the kids’ rolled-eyed upset. Amelia tried to keep the conversation flowing by asking the kids questions so they’d talk about themselves and their activities, but Brendan seemed to be the more talkative of the two.
“Dad said you dated when you were our age,” Brendan said. “Why’d you break up?”
Amelia noted that the statement drew Breanne’s attention, and the girl shifted her focus from her plate to Amelia. “Uh, well, I was eighteen, fresh out of high school, and I had big dreams.”
“And I was eighteen, had just become guardian to your uncle, and wanted to settle down.”
“The timing just wasn’t right,” Amelia added.
“Good thing, too, or neither of you would be here,” Lincoln said with a pointed look.
“I miss Mom,” Breanne murmured. The girl’s eyes widened and she sat back in her chair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that… I just meant…”
