Page 21 of On Thin Ice (Calgary Mounties #1)
Chapter Twenty
ABOUT TIME
Adele
Another day, another trip in Lincoln’s Porsche. Only this time, we have company.
“So, Adele. Lincoln tells me you’re dating.” Claire says, turning in the front seat to face me as soon as I slide into the back beside Diana.
Freezing in the process of buckling my seatbelt, I turn my wide-eyed stare towards Lincoln, who nods while his mother’s focus is on me.
“Um… yes?”
“Well, it’s about time. I’ve thought you two were perfect for each other since the day I met you.”
Diana scoffs beside me, rubbing her very pregnant stomach while she pulls a face. “You say that about every person you see Lincoln with, Mom.”
“No, it’s true! I have a sixth sense for these things, you know.”
Lincoln pulls away from the curb before I can escape.
I was positive Lincoln agreed we weren’t lying to our families .
Well, you haven’t been exactly truthful with your parents, either. The traitorous voice in my head reminds me, but I shoosh her. I’d honestly meant to say something, but Mom hasn’t brought it up since that day in the office, so I just decided to leave it until she asks again.
“So, how long are you guys in town for?” I ask, hoping to distract Claire and Diana by getting them to talk about themselves.
“Just the weekend. We wanted to catch a game as well as do a little baby shopping. But don’t change the subject, missy. I want to hear how this all happened.”
I shoot Lincoln a panicked look in the rearview mirror. We really need to come up with a backstory.
“We’ve just started spending more time together since we got back from Tahiti, and one thing led to another,” he pipes up.
Okay, let’s go with that, then.
“Didn’t you have a fiancé? Or am I remembering that wrong?” Diana asks.
I nod, waiting for the familiar guilty pang, but it doesn’t come. “Yeah, I did. Ben Cosgrove.”
“Ben from school?” Diana flicks a glance towards her brother before returning her attention to me, her blue eyes narrowing.
“Yeah. But they broke up, and Ben’s moved on, so don’t be all weird, Di.”
Thank god he’s here, because I was ready to crawl under the seat under the heat from her gaze.
“But surely, he’d be upset that you’re now dating his ex, Lincoln? When did you guys break up?”
“Diana don’t ask such personal questions. They are happy together, and that’s that,” Claire interjects, and I give her a weak smile just as Milo sticks his head over the back of the seat and licks my cheek.
“Oh hello, little buddy!” I turn to stroke his head, grateful to have him to comfort me.
When Lincoln said we were doing family dinner, I didn’t know it was going to turn into the third degree, otherwise, I probably would have stayed home.
Although, if I’m honest, I was looking forward to it.
Or, more accurately, looking forward to seeing him again.
My insides have been doing a little dance ever since we watched that movie together last night, the memory of him sliding his hand up and down my calf while he focused on the screen, like it was something we do all the time, had me hot and bothered all damn night.
“I’ve been following that account you’ve set up for Milo. I can’t believe how many followers you have already!” Claire says, watching as I snuggle into Milo’s cheek.
“How many followers does he have?” Lincoln asks, looking at me in the rearview mirror with a raised eyebrow.
We’ve not talked about it much since that first game, as I figured he was happiest pretending social media didn’t exist, so Sarah and I have just been dealing with it all ourselves.
“Um, one million?”
“One million?!” He turns to look at me, his eyebrows up near his hairline.
Claire tuts, smacking him on the arm. “Eyes on the road!”
He turns back around. “Seriously, Milo has one million followers?”
“Yeah. I think the first few thousand were just there to ogle the hot hockey player who was hitting pucks around, but turns out, your dog is super popular,” I say, noticing his smirk in the mirror.
“Hot hockey player, huh? ”
“Yeah, Seth was in the video,” I reply, giving him a cheeky grin as he narrows his eyes.
Claire laughs, while Diana just shakes her head.
“You two are hilarious.” Claire beams at me before looking back at her son.
This could get dangerous. I can already see her hopes rising with every passing second.
Once we arrive at Seth and Kylie’s, Lincoln leads the way inside, and while Seth is greeting Diana and Claire, I pull the insufferable man aside.
“I thought we weren’t lying to our families?” I say, keeping my voice low.
He rubs the back of his neck. “Well… Mum kind of saw the Milo videos and jumped on it, so I just ran with it. It’ll be good to make her happy for a little while.”
“But then she’s going to hate me when we ‘break up’,” I reply, using air quotes before darting a glance towards the others.
Thankfully, his mom and sister are still distracted, hammering Seth with questions about when they are going to start having kids.
Lincoln and I both ignore Seth’s panicked look to continue our conversation.
“Well, what if we don’t ‘break up’?”
I stare at him, trying to work out what he could possibly mean, but am drawing a blank. “I don’t follow.”
“Well, you said you don’t want to get married and have kids, right? So, what’s the harm in us just continuing what we’re doing?”
I feel my mouth drop open while I try to process this insane line of thought. “So, what, we just keep pretending to date for the rest of our lives?”
Claire chooses this moment to look our way, and we both smile at her. How she doesn’t see through the tension between us is beyond me, but she smiles back, hearts practically popping out of her eyes when Lincoln slides his arm around my back and kisses my temple.
Goddamnit, why is he so good at this?!
“We’ll continue this conversation later, O’Malley,” I mutter out of the side of my mouth.
He gives me a squeeze. “Can’t wait, girlfriend.”
Ugh, this man is a massive pain in my ass.
“So, Adele. Are you spending the night at Lincoln’s with us?” Claire asks halfway through dinner.
Seth raises an eyebrow as he looks at me from across the table. Someone probably should have filled him in on the fact that Lincoln had decided to tell his mother a massive lie.
I cough, trying not to choke on the piece of chicken I just put in my mouth. “Oh, no, I figured you guys had so much catching up to do. But I’ll see you at the game tomorrow night.”
“Don’t be silly. I won’t take no for an answer. I want to spend as much time as possible with you both. Maybe I should extend my trip?” She turns to look at Lincoln, who, thankfully, looks as cornered as I feel.
Good. He can deal with letting his mother down gently.
“Yeah, Addie. You should sleep over. It can be an O’Malley slumber party.”
Or, apparently, he has just stepped straight into the twilight zone.
I can’t argue with him without making it obvious that something is off, so I fix him with a pointed look. “I don’t have any of my stuff with me, babe .”
He shrugs, and I could honestly throttle him when he replies, “It’s ok, baby , we can just swing by your place on the way home.”
He has an answer for everything, and I am starting to wonder if he actually wants me to sleep over, rather than just keeping his mother happy.
Suppressing a sigh, I decide it’s just easiest to give in, but as soon as we’re alone, he’s got some explaining to do.