My father had been a bachelor for most of my life, never settling down until several years after I lost my mom. But when he did, he did it quickly, without much thought, without any worries.
That was just how he was.
He knew he had the right woman.
So there was nothing to be anxious about.
I decided to take a page from his book.
She was the right woman.
Finally.
Fucking finally.
I got it right.
There was nothing to worry about.
Gemma
Lincoln was almost weirdly calm.
He wasn’t a particularly anxious person in general, but all of a sudden, he was completely at ease.
Maybe it was the influence of his father who was the most relaxed man I had ever met.
Where many of his other family members had very passionate changes in mood, Delroy–who had insisted I call him that upon meeting–never riled for anything.
I’d met yogis who could take lessons from him.
I had to admit that I was having the exact opposite reaction around his family. But I was the one trying to get to know them all, remember their names, try to impress them. And, as I said, some of them could be extremely in-your-face with their feelings. It was so opposite to what I was used to, that I was more on edge than was usual for me.
I figured that I would calm down a bit once I settled in.
Luckily, we were going to be around for ten days. It gave me plenty of time to ease into everyone and everything.
There was, apparently, a jerk chicken bake-off going on in a few days time. And after the fistfight over said food, I was hoping I managed to lose my anxiety by then if there were going to be tempers flying there again.
I was hoping that some of Lincoln’s chill would rub off on me when he suddenly grabbed my hand, pulling me away from his grandmother who was attempting to teach me yet another recipe to bring back to the States, insisting that we go for a little sunset walk.
I really did adore his family–especially all the half a dozen babies there were–but I had to admit that it was going to be nice to get just a couple stolen moments alone.
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine!” I insisted, voice going a little high. “I promise! I really love them. I am just a little–”
“Overwhelmed,” he supplied. “Honey, I get it. I’ve been in your shoes, remember? I have a big ass family here. So many names and faces and personalities. I don’t think I got them all sorted until my third visit. You’ll get there. Don’t put so much stress on yourself. Everything will fall into place.”
“I believe you. But this alone time is nice too,” I added, giving his hand a squeeze. “Didn’t you tell me this area was off-limits?” I asked as he led me toward a tree line he told me was private property. And this was reinforced by the fact that there were some flags up.
Yet he was leading me there.
In general, Lincoln was a rule-abider outside of his job. I also liked to stay within the laws. And I really, really didn’t want to end up in prison in a foreign country.
“It’s okay. I got permission for today.”
I wanted to question him, to ask for clarifications, but before I could, he was leading me into the canopy, making me his accomplice.
“Oh, this is amazing,” my voice rushed out of me as we got to the other side, finding ourselves in a little alcove surrounded by trees, shrouded in privacy.
The white sands and crystal clear water was beautiful everywhere, but made doubly so here.
Someone else must have realized how perfect the space was, too, because they had hung a beautiful wooden swing from one of the sturdier trees.
“You know you want to,” Lincoln told me, smiling, as he watched me look at the swing.
And I did.
I really did.
Thankful for the privacy seeing as my ‘island attire’ consisted entirely of long skirts that would be light and airy, I climbed up on the swing, taking a deep breath.
“Want a boost?” he asked.
“Yes,” I decided when my foot simply slipped across the wet sand instead of getting any traction.
With that, I was off.
Lincoln moved in at the side as the world swooshed around me.
And just like that, all the tension I had been holding melted away, leaving me almost giddy with joy.
When my swing slowed, Lincoln moved in front of me, grabbing the ropes, pulling me to a full stop.
“Thank you,” I told him, meaning it from the bottom of my soul. “This was just what I needed,” I added as he released the ropes.
There was something almost startlingly intense in his eyes as he reached into his pocket.
And then lowered down in front of me.
I maybe, for a split second, thought that he was going to attempt something, well, sexy.