I smiled at that.
"Is it hard?" He eyed me gently, almost like I was a piece of china about to teeter off a table and shatter into a million pieces.
I'd thought it would be nice to be on that side of his looks, but something in me felt disappointed; maybe it was because he was looking at me in reverence as a result of my talking, not because of me.
Then again, I've always been hard on myself.
I shrugged.
"Nope." He grinned. "Not gonna let you default. At least say 'I don't know.'"
I licked my lips. "No."
"Okay, that works," he said with a tender chuckle. "Has this ever happened before? You know, where a dead-sexy actor, afraid of whales inspires you so much that a miracle occurs, and you say your first words in—" He tilted his head in question.
I rolled my eyes, even though I was so nervous I felt like I was going to puke. Texting was one thing, talking to him was… well, difficult would be an understatement.
"Eight months." Saying it out loud made it seem so much worse than I'd originally thought. Almost as if I was finally admitting that there was this huge elephant blocking my way out of the room. My hands went to my throat. Lincoln was still staring at me in shock, so I immediately went into sarcastic, defensive mode. "And, for the record, it was probably brought on by the whale… don't go tweeting that you're magic or anything. That's not what the world needs, Linc."
His jaw went slack.
I frowned and shoved my hand into my jeans. Crap, I hoped I hadn't just taken it too far. I'd seriously turned into a really sarcastic person since I stopped talking, maybe because I was my only source of entertainment. "What?"
"Holy shit, you've been talking for three minutes, and you've already insulted me." He held up his hand for a high five.
"I'm not hitting that. Imagine the places it's been," I teased, this time my words flowing a bit easier.
"Same place as you, sweetheart. A whale's mouth." He shivered.
"I'm sure that's not the worst place." I patted him on the shoulder.
"Ha!" He gave a dry laugh and rolled his eyes. "Jealous?"
"Immensely."
"I didn't expect you to be funny."
"And I didn't expect you to be afraid of fish, yet here we are."
"Mammals," he corrected, eyes narrowing. "They're mammals."
"Look at you getting all defensive of Zoe. Should I go let her know you want another round?" I turned on my heel but was pulled back by my T-shirt.
"Zoe's sleeping."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, she communicates telepathically and made sure I got the message before almost eating me."
"That was nice of her."
"Whales are givers." Linc's gaze dropped to my lips.
My eyes darted to his.
What was happening right now?
"Seventeen," he whispered. I almost didn't catch it.
"What was that?"
"Clean." His eyes traveled the length of my body from my feet to my head. "We should probably… shower."
"Right."
"Separately."
"Because you normally shower with the help?"
"Ha ha." He choked out a strangled laugh. "Should we go?"
Lincoln walked around me and held open the door. The minute we stepped outside, a woman and three kids barreled into me, sending me sideways into Linc. His strong hands gripped my shoulders.
"Sorry!" The haggard mom blew her bangs out of her face as all three of her kids ran into the penguin exhibit. "They get kinda crazy over penguins."
"I know the feeling," Lincoln whispered, his lips grazing my ear.
I don't know how long I stayed staring at the door, or how long Lincoln held me like that, but our little moment, or whatever it was, was interrupted by more screaming, only this time it was directed Lincoln.
"Lincoln Greene!" a pre-teen squealed.
His fingers dug into my skin as he used me for a human shield. Classy.
"Think we can run?" he asked, already backing away, with me still blocking the way of the girls as they grouped together and started pounding the pavement toward us.
I didn't have time to respond as we were flooded with screams and laughter. Cell phones pointed into the air snapping pictures of us. They asked for his autograph and then, once the excitement died down, glared in my direction.
"Who are you?" One girl, who looked about ten, put her hands on her hips and glared.
I wanted to say, "Nobody."
I opened my mouth and… nothing.
Deflated, I just shook my head and gave Linc a pleading look.
"She's my assistant for the summer."
Dismissed.
Like we hadn't just shared a few moments.
Why did I keep doing that to myself? Oh right, because I loved torture. I nodded emphatically and quietly stepped away so he could finish signing autographs.
The rain was coming down in sheets by the time he was done. I'd been hiding underneath an alcove while mud and water splattered my tennis shoes.
I had to give it to him. He didn't once complain, just kept taking pictures even though his shirt was clinging to his abs like a second skin, and his skinny jeans left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
It was bordering on indecent.
Even the moms were stopping now and taking pictures. I inclined my head to the side as Lincoln let out a loud laugh and signed a girl's shirt.