Page 18 of On Thin Ice (Calgary Mounties #1)

Chapter Seventeen

EMbrACE YOUR INNER ROCKSTAR

Lincoln

Well, damn.

While I swallow hard, she sits back with a little smirk playing across her lips.

“Well played.” I shift in my seat, and the smirk grows.

We each eat a few more wings while I try to work out how to respond to her last statement.

It’s rare that I’m left speechless, but now my imagination is running wild, pondering just how not-vanilla she really is.

Our drunken tumble between the sheets is still pretty hazy in my mind, but I have occasional flashbacks, and in each one, she’s moaning my name and begging me to go harder.

I can’t help but wonder how a repeat performance would go. Especially if we’re both sober. I get the feeling it would be one of the most electric experiences of my life. And that’s saying something, because I’ve had more than my fair share of interesting sexual encounters.

“What’s that look for?” she asks, breaking the silence between us as she takes a sip of her wine.

“Just thinking,” I reply, not wanting to admit where my thoughts have gone .

No good can come of a repeat performance, regardless of what little Lincoln has to say about it.

“Don’t strain yourself,” she replies with a wink.

“Funny. You’re an absolute riot.”

“Thank you. I’m here all evening.” She gives a little bow, and I laugh.

I finish my chicken wings and reach over to snag a fry from her plate.

“Hey!” She smacks my hand away. “Get your own damn fries.”

I smirk, throwing it into my mouth and chewing while I watch her finish eating. Once done, she uses her napkin to dab the corners of her mouth while studying me closely.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” she asks, leaning her elbows on the table.

“This has been fun.”

She smiles back. “Yeah, it has been. Whoever would have thought you’d be so good at dating?”

I lean back in my seat and grin. “I’m good at everything. You should have worked that out by now.”

She rolls her eyes. “Ugh, and then you say stuff like that. You hockey players and your over inflated egos.”

I shrug. “Well, when you’ve got people constantly telling you how good you are, and people throwing themselves at you everywhere you go, it kind of goes to your head.”

She nods. “Yeah, I know. And all jokes aside, you and Seth are pretty level-headed through it all. Sometimes I forget how famous you guys are.”

I pick up my glass of beer and take a sip.

“Honestly, outside of Canada and some of the US, no one knows who we are. It was great in Europe, and Seth loves it when he’s in Australia.

It humbles us. A few guys, like Dean, could use a dose of it every now and again.

I love that guy, but he is definitely the stereotypical hockey player. ”

“And I’m sure it helps that your mother keeps you in check whenever she’s around,” she adds with a grin.

I laugh, nodding. “Oh, that’s for damn sure. Mama Claire would never stand for me getting too big for my boots.”

“And speaking of - when is Mama Claire coming to town next?” she asks, and I hold back a wince.

I’ve still not told Mom about things with Adele.

I probably should, because it will only be a matter of time before someone mentions it to her and she gets all swirly at the idea of me finally settling down.

And I’ll definitely need to say something before she and my sister arrive soon.

But something has stopped me from bringing it up each time we’ve talked.

And we talk a lot, because Mama Claire, as everyone calls her, and her only son are incredibly close.

She’s kind of my hero, basically raising my sister and me alone because my father is fairly absent, despite living in the same house as us all.

I’ve never understood why she stayed with him all these years, because I can’t see any advantages of staying with the man I have absolutely nothing in common with.

If I didn’t look like his clone, I wouldn’t know he was my father, for all the interest he’s taken in my life.

“Week after next, actually. Her and my sister are coming for a weekend before her baby arrives.”

“Diana’s pregnant? I didn’t know that.” She sits back in her seat, cradling her glass of wine in her hand. “It will be good to see them both. If that’s the plan, of course?”

I nod. “Yeah, they love you and Kylie. We’ll do a family dinner like usual.”

Adele opens her mouth to respond but is interrupted by the screech of a microphone being turned on.

“Alright, alright, alright!” Buck hollers into the microphone, doing his best Matthew McConaughey impression. The crowd in the pub cheers as he bounds onto the small stage they use for live music. And Karaoke. “Are you all ready to embrace your inner rockstar?”

“No,” Adele mumbles, and I grin.

“Come on, superstar. It’s your time to shine.” She glowers at me, watching as I get up and walk to the table where they keep the iPad for the music selection.

A line has already started to form, and I wait a few minutes before it’s my turn to choose. I scroll through the songs, searching for the perfect one for Adele, knowing she’s probably glaring at my back.

Finally, I find the one I’m looking for and select it, before returning to the table.

“What song did you pick for me?” she asks, looking miserable.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Oh god. It’s something awful, isn’t it?”

“Would I do that to you?” I ask, struggling to keep from laughing when she nods.

“Yes. Yes, you would.”

I give her my cheesiest grin. “Well, you’ll just have to wait and see what I picked out in about five songs.”

“You’re a cruel man, Lincoln O’Malley.”

We sit through the preceding performances. Some of them are actually quite talented, while a few of them sound like screeching cats.

Finally, it’s Adele’s turn.

Buck glances down at the iPad. “And next up, we have Adele and Lincoln with ‘I Got You Babe’.”

Adele whips her head around to look at me. “You put us down for a duet?”

“Sure did. I could tell you weren’t looking forward to getting up there, so I figured I’d go up with you.”

She grins and we head towards the stage.

As we’re passing the tables at the front, I see a few people staring at me, and I’m pretty sure they’ve just worked out there’s a Mounties player in their midst. Buck does a pretty good job at making sure no one bothers us while we’re here though, so I ignore it and focus on making sure Adele has fun.

The music starts, and she lifts the microphone to her lips, taking a deep breath before breaking into the first lines of the lyrics.

She wasn’t joking about not being able to carry a tune, but the song isn’t one that requires too much musical talent, and I jump in to sing the male part, sounding just as bad. The smile on her face grows as I fail to hit the right key, and it seems to bolster her confidence for her next few lines.

While Adele seems a little self-conscious, I decide to take the performance to the next level, throwing in some interpretive dance moves which has the audience in stitches by the end.

Once the last words are done, I take Adele’s hand, and we bow as the crowd erupts into applause and whistles.

Her face is flushed as we return to our booth, her eyes twinkling, and I’m once again taken by surprise by how beautiful she is.

“That was actually really fun. I don’t want to do it again, though, thank you very much,” she says, reaching into her handbag, pulling out her lip gloss.

I watch with far too much interest as she puts it on, and her ruby red lips shimmer in the low lighting of the bar.

She raises an eyebrow, and I realize I’ve been staring at her this whole time.

Clearing my throat, I straighten in my seat. “We should probably look at heading off. I’ve got dry land training first thing tomorrow.”

She nods, and I slide out of the booth once again, reaching my hand out to help her up. When she places her hand in mine, my fingers tingle at her touch, and I catch her eye when she looks up at my face.

Keeping her hand in mine, we snake our way through the tables and give Buck and Naomi a wave before heading outside. Once out in the cold night air, it feels weird to let go, so I carry on holding her hand while we walk to the car, neither of us acknowledging it out loud.

We talk easily on the twenty-minute drive back to her place.

“I just realized I’ve seen you more at your apartment lately than at Seth and Kylie’s,” I say, pulling up in front of her building.

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to give them a bit more space. Can’t always be at their place, I guess. Although it gets a little lonely sometimes.” She climbs out of the car, turning to give me a surprised look when I get out as well. “What are you doing?”

“Walking you to your door,” I reply, locking the car.

“Why?”

“Because that’s what you do on a date, Addie.” I walk around the car and take her hand once again.

“Well, I know that. Just didn’t think you did.” She looks down at our entwined fingers before meeting my gaze again. “And the hand holding?”

I shrug. “In case we’re being watched, of course.”

She looks left and right. “Of course. Look!” She gasps sharply, and I look around, tensing. “Is that paparazzi in that bush over there?” Smirking, she points to the small bush beside the front door that wouldn’t even hide a squirrel.

I grin. “Yep, looks like it. Good thing we’re still playing the game.”

She shakes her head but doesn’t let go of my hand, and we head inside, catching the elevator up to her fourth-floor apartment.

“Well. This is me, I guess. I had a lot of fun tonight, thank you.”

Finally letting go of her hand, I slide both of mine into my pockets, clearing my throat. “Thank you for the great company. Who would have thought a fake date could be so fun?”

Her smile drops a little, sadness flickering across her features for a brief second before she nods.

“Yeah, who would have thought?”

We study each other for a moment, both suddenly lost for words after an evening of non-stop talking. I step closer, and she tilts her head up to look at me with wide eyes as I tuck her hair back behind her ear.

The urge to bend down and brush my lips to hers is so strong that I almost give in. She lifts her chin a little, and I briefly wonder what she would do if I kissed her right now.

But we can’t go there.

So instead, I press a kiss to her forehead and step back.

“Good night, Addie.”

She pauses, letting out a breath while she runs her gaze over my face.

“Good night, Linc.”

And I turn and walk away, but not before I see the longing in her gaze and realize that maybe we’re both in a little too deep.

But I don’t know if I’m strong enough to walk away.