Page 51 of Protecting What's Mine

“What was your ugliest breakup?” she asked.

“Uh-uh, Dreamy. That’s first date conversation.”

She polished off the wing while studying him.

“Why isn’t this a date?” she asked. “There’s food. Alcohol. We’re having a conversation. I’m valiantly trying to resist your flirtatious charm.” She ticked off the dating requirements on her fingers as she licked the hot sauce from them.

Linc was fairly certain he’d never been more turned on in his entire life. He picked up his beer to give his hands something to do besides ease the ache in his monster hard-on or reach out and touch Dr. Dreamy.

“This is the flirtation leading up to the first date,” he explained. “A Lincoln Reed First Date isn’t a spontaneous run-in. A Lincoln Reed First Date is a carefully curated experience designed for maximum enjoyment.”

She laughed loud and long and got impossibly prettier.

“Now I’m really curious,” she told him, cupping her chin in her hand.

“There’s only one way to find out what it’s like to date me,” he said, lifting his beer at her. “All you have to do is say yes.”

Her sigh was long. “I want you to know that I’m tempted. Very tempted. But.”

The word hung in the air between them. He wondered if she knew she was leaning into him, that her leg was pressing against his.

“But?” he prodded.

“That’s not why I’m here.”

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“I need a change of pace.”

Need, not want,he noted.

“Tell me?”

She paused and took a sip of her wine.

“You know the feel of a big call? When you’re in the middle of it, and it’s life and death and you’re on autopilot getting it done?”

He nodded. “Yeah. The buzz. That shot of adrenaline, and you’re like outside of time.”

“Exactly. I like it. No, that’s not true. Icraveit,” she admitted, running an index finger around the mouth of her wineglass.

“We all do to some extent.”

“True. But for me, it’s a problem.”

He nodded, waiting.

“My hands started shaking,” she admitted. “Then I stopped sleeping.”

“Burnout.”

“Burnout. Adrenal fatigue. Worse, those highs were the only time I felt anything.”

He took a chance and reached for her hand. She didn’t pull away but sat there considering their intertwined fingers.

And damn did it feel natural.

“What makes you feel numb, Dreamy?”