Page 46 of Good Girl’s Guide to Love (Guide to Love #4)

linc

I don’t know which football scheduling god to thank, but I’m praying to them today, because due to our game schedule to start the season, we have a light day today. Just walkthroughs and film sessions. Which is good, considering I barely slept last night.

I mean, how was I supposed to when all I could see every time I closed my eyes was Ainsley licking my dick like a lollipop?

The answer is I didn’t. I stared at my ceiling all night, thoughts of Ainsley with my cock in her perfect mouth. The mouth I wanted to kiss the other night more than I wanted my next breath.

“I don’t think I’ve ever…”

I should’ve hung up then. Actually, I should’ve hung up when I realized that I was baby- dialed and was listening to a conversation that was not intended for my ears.

But apparently I’m a glutton for punishment.

Because while I now know entertaining facts, like that Dr. Dipshit is a crier and can’t handle a blow job, I also know that Ainsley has been severely, and I mean severely, underappreciated in her relationships.

When I heard the sadness in her voice as she was admitting to her sisters the disappointment she had sexually in her past relationships, it broke my heart for her.

How could a woman that good, that beautiful, not know what it was like to see fireworks?

Have excitement? It kept me up all night.

All I could see every time I closed my eyes was Ainsley coming apart by my fingers. My lips. My cock.

Me.

I couldn’t get the images out of my head. I took a cold shower. Well, I did after I jacked off in said shower. I tried to watch that damn show she has me hooked on. Hell, I even tried to read football plays. Nothing worked.

I’ve never been baffled by something like this.

I don’t know how anyone who calls himself a man could be with a woman like Ainsley and not want to make sure she sees stars.

If she were really mine, she wouldn’t know a day without them.

She wouldn’t be able to leave my orbit without knowing how beautiful she is, inside and out. Because she is. She deserves the world.

A world I can’t give to her. I know that. But I can give her something else.

I can give her the stars.

I came up with that idea around five in the morning. I’d always felt like I was getting more out of this arrangement than she was. Maybe this is how I even the playing field?

That is, if she wants it. It’s her decision. But I did promise that I'd be the best fake boyfriend I could be. I feel like offering orgasms should be part of my duties. .

Which is why I’m here at her work, dinner and a sweet tea in hand.

I aimlessly wander the halls of labor and delivery for a second—the floor layout is much different than the others that I’ve visited here—but when I finally find my way to the nurses' station, it’s not Ainsley’s blonde hair I see. Instead, it’s a bad hair piece.

Oh! A bonus treat…

“Dr. Dipshit! Fancy seeing you here.”

He turns around, his face morphing into disgust at the sight of me.

“Kincaid.”

“Aw, you remember my name.” I croon as I lean against the desk, putting my delivery on the counter for him to see. “I’m honored.”

I watch as his face turns red. Man, it doesn’t take him much to make him mad. Oh! I wonder if I can make him cry? It can be like a couples activity that Ainsley and I share.

“What are you grinning about?” he spits out.

“Don’t you worry about it, buddy,” I say condescendingly, giving him a slap on the back. “Have you seen my girl? I haven’t talked to her all day. So I brought her dinner for us to share.”

If his face was red a few seconds ago, it’s about ready to explode now. “She’s not your girl.”

“Huh, that’s funny,” I say as I pull out my phone. “Then what’s this?”

I’ve never been so thankful for Katie sending me an article as I was driving over here. It’s of pictures from our date this past weekend, but the headline is new:

How Linc Kincaid and his new woman spent their weekend off.

“If she’s not my girl, then why is US Daily writing articles that she is? You know, my coach’s wife is an editor there. They wouldn’t print lies, especially about Fury players.”

Except they are, because we’re so damn good no one knows it.

Dipshit does his best to puff out his chest and step up to me. I might not be originally from the south, but I’ve been here long enough to know when a “bless your heart” is best used.

Bless his heart…

“I don’t know what you have on her, or why she’s doing this,” Dipshit spits out. “But this can’t go on forever.”

“Oh, but it can,” I say. Sometimes I scare myself with how good of a liar I am.

Or how easily I’m able to pretend that what Ainsley and I have is real.

“Do I deserve a woman like Ainsley? Hell no. She’s too good for me, so that I agree with you on.

But I know when I have a good thing in front of me.

And unlike some people, I know that I’d be a fucking fool to throw it away. ”

Dipshit’s jaw ticks before a nurse steps up to us. “Dr. Ainsworth? You’re needed back on your floor.”

He nods his head at her before she takes a step back, but not before sending me a knowing wink. I don’t know who this nurse is, but she’s about to get added to the drink and food delivery list.

“Ainsworth? You mean her name would’ve been Ainsley Ainsworth? Oh, absolutely the fuck not.”

He was just about to walk away before he turns back. “Not would. Will. She’ll come back to me. Just you wait. You’re going to fuck this up, Kincaid, just like you’ve fucked up everything else in your life. And when you do, I’m going to be waiting. Just you see.”

“I beg to differ, my man.” I step up close to him, my height towering over him even more. “Get it through your head. She doesn’t want you. And she’ll never have your name. But Ainsley Kincaid? Now that has a ring to it.”

We stare at each other for another second before I feel a familiar, and calming, hand on my arm. “Is everything okay here?”

Ainsley’s sweet voice cuts through the testosterone that was just flowing between me and Ainsfuck.

I really should learn his name…

“Everything’s fine,” I say, throwing my arm around her shoulder and bringing her in so I can kiss her temple. “Isn’t it, Doc? Nothing to cry about, is there?”

He stares at me for another beat before looking to Ainsley. He doesn’t get the joke, but the way she stiffens in my hold, she knows exactly what I’m talking about.

“Everything’s fine. I have to get back to my floor.”

He storms away, and just as he turns the corner, I step in front of Ainsley. “Surprise!”

The color is draining from her face, and I’d bet all the money in my wallet that her brain is spinning out of control trying to figure out how she’s going to explain the phone call last night.

“Yeah, surprise,” she says quickly, speedwalking around the nurse’s station to grab one of her three water bottles. “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“What kind of surprise would it have been?” I turn to her coworker, who I’m now more certain than ever made up that important need back on Dr. Dipshit's floor. “I’m Linc Kincaid. Ainsley’s boyfriend.”

“Oh, I know who you are. We all do.” She says with a knowing smile. “I’m Liza.”

“Nice to meet you, Liza. I’m sorry I didn’t bring you anything, I didn’t know your order. Next time.”

She waves me off. “No need for that. As long as you keep making this girl smile like you have been, that’s all I need.”

“I do what I can,” I say as I look at Ainsley, who is doing her damnedest to not make eye contact with me.

“Hey, Liza, I know my girl here is busy, but I brought her some dinner and wondered if I could sneak her away for a break? I know she’s working late tonight, and I haven’t gotten to see her in a few days. ”

“I can’t, Linc,” Ainsley quickly says. “You know, there are…babies. And mothers. And babies. Just so many babies.”

“No, there aren’t,” Liza says with a shake of her head. “No mamas are about to go into labor. You go eat dinner. I’ll call you if something happens.”

Ainsley narrows her eyes at my new best friend. “Liza, I really shouldn’t leave you?—”

“Girl, it’s fine. You’re already working extra hours to cover today. You can take some time. I’ve got you covered.”

“You’re the best, Liza,” I say, leaning my elbows on the top of the counter of their expansive desk. “Are you sure I can’t bring you back something?”

“Maybe a Cherry Coke?”

I pat the top of the desk. “You got it. And thanks with the Doc back there.”

“I didn’t even have to meet you to know I liked you better,” she says. “Now you two kids go have fun.”

“Thanks, Liza!” I grab our dinner and drinks and when I turn around, I see Ainsley all but sprinting down the hallway. Damn, she can move.

“Get in here,” she says as she opens a door to what seems to be a staff break room.

“Wait! Is this the sex break room?”

She rolls her eyes as she stands in front of me, hands on her hips. “This is labor and delivery. There is no sex break room.”

“I’m actually kind of glad about that,” I admit as I put down our takeout containers and drinks. “But enough about that. I hope you’re hungry. I have chicken tenders, coleslaw, Texas Toast, and they threw in some banana pudding because they’re big Fury fans. I told them?—”

“Why are you here, Linc?”

Apparently Ainsley has bypassed the speechless, surprised stage to a panic stage of some sorts.

“Can’t a boyfriend bring his girlfriend dinner?”

She gives me a raised eyebrow as she sits across from me. “He can. But your timing seems suspicious.”

“Nope, nothing suspicious,” I say, a little tease in my tone.

“Since you told me Dipshit was bothering you at work, I wanted to come up here. I also needed to eat. Since you were working late, and I have light days on Mondays, I thought this would be the perfect way to kill a few birds with one stone.”

She tilts her head to study me as I hand her one of the carryout containers. “That’s it? No other reason?”

I should be the nice guy and let her off the hook. Tell her what I heard. But what’s the fun in that? “I don’t know, Ainsley. What would another reason be?”

Our stare down is intense. She knows I know. I know she knows I know. But there’s one thing about me, and it’s that I hate to lose. Especially this fun little game of cat and mouse.

“Is it because…” Ainsley’s words trail off.

“Because what?”

She bites her lip so hard it might start bleeding. She wants to ask. I can see it in her eyes. Sure, she might still be the shy girl I first met, but every time we’re together, I see her breaking out of that shell a little more.

“Last night…my sisters…oh, you know what. Never mind.”

“I don’t think so.” Ainsley tries to turn away from me and start digging through our now-lukewarm chicken tenders, but I don’t let her.

I pull my chair closer to hers, turning her so she’s now facing me.

I make sure to pull her in so close my legs have to spread to put her into my orbit.

I nearly get lost in her sweet, floral, scent, but I push it aside, because I need this more.

“Use your words, Ainsley Mae. You can do it. Do something scary and ask me what you want.”

The blush on her cheeks is instant. God I hope she agrees to what I’m proposing just so I can see what else I can do to make those cheeks pink.

“Did you hear the conversation with my sisters?”

I take her hands in mine. “I did.”

“How much?”

Once I figured out what was going on, I knew I was entering midway through the conversation. But I know what I heard. And that was enough for me.

“I heard that Dr. Dipshit didn’t deserve a woman like you. That you have been massively neglected for a very long time. And that, if you want, I can be the man to change that.”

I feel her hands go limp in mine. She hasn’t blinked. Was that the best way to approach this? Probably not. But Ainsley needs decisiveness, so why not rip off the sexual Band-Aid?

“What do you mean?”

I take a breath, because I might’ve just dropped that bomb, but I want to make sure I get this right. “I know I probably shouldn’t have listened last night, so I do need to apologize for that.”

Ainsley shakes her head. “I mean, my niece called you without me knowing, so there's honestly nothing to apologize for.”

Oh, now that makes more sense. “Remind me to buy her a really good Christmas present this year. Because I’m glad she did.”

“Really? You wanted to hear my horrible, and minimal, sexual history?”

“Not for the reasons you’re probably thinking. Ainsley, you are too beautiful of a woman—too good of a woman—to doubt yourself like the way I heard you talking last night. I hate that these schmucks who call themselves men have made you feel anything less than the incredible woman you are.”

“Linc, I?—”

I put my finger in front of her mouth. “No, let me finish. Because I have a feeling you’re going to try and dismiss the words I just said.

But please don’t. I know you’re not the kind of girl to sleep around.

You’re a commitment girl, and that’s admirable.

So I know this probably isn’t something you’ve ever considered doing.

And you’re probably going to tell me to go to hell for suggesting it. ”

“That would require me saying that word.”

I can’t contain my laughter. God, this woman…she really is something else.

“All I’m saying is that if you want to feel those fireworks—if you want to know what it can be like—then let me help you.”

She doesn’t say anything. Which is what I expected. She’s surprised, so she’s quiet. That’s how Ainsley operates. And a proposal like this might put her into a coma.

“Just think about it.” I bring her hand to my mouth and give the top of her hand a gentle kiss. “Whatever you’d want to do, whatever you’d want to explore, let me be the one to show you what it can be like.”

I stand up, ready to leave, so that way she doesn’t have to sit in shock in front of me, but I’m barely up before I feel her pull on my hand.

“Why?”

She’s now standing, her blue eyes big and questioning.

“Because I can’t give you forever. But I can give you this.”