525 Cherry Blossom Ln. (Cherry Falls Romance)

“You are not knotted up inside of me!” she huffs.

What the fuck?

11

Jodie

“Do you always have to blurt things out?” Linc growls, looking around at the people outside his apartment. I can see more than a few, but I ignore them.

“Seems I do it when you’re involved,” I snap as he slams the door.

He winces instantly with the closing of the door. I guess Bella wasn’t lying when she talked about Linc being hungover. Serves him right.

“What have I done to upset you now?”

“You sent me flowers!”

He looks taken aback. His face goes blank, and he just stares at me.

“Did you hear me?” I ask when he doesn’t say anything.

“Sweetheart, I hear you. I’m pretty sure my neighbors hear you, too.”

“You had no right!”

“Jodie, baby, I thought girls liked getting flowers.”

“They do if they’re given from the heart,” I tell him, but I doubt he gets it. “And don’t call me baby,” I add, hating that he can use it as a throwaway endearment, and it still makes me tremble inside. There must be something wrong with me that I react to him—especially after all of this.

“You really need to learn how to let your hair down and loosen up, Jodie.”

“The last time I did that it became the biggest mistake of my life.”

He stares at me and then just sighs.

“Are you hungry?”

“Just because you invited me over for dinner doesn’t mean I’m here to actually eat.”

“I invited you over for dinner,” he repeats, just staring at me.

“I just said that.”

“Well, I’m hungry and you’re here, and I have the food from the diner in town. So, why don’t we eat?”

“You invited me over for dinner and it’s just takeout?”

“Trust me, Jodie girl, you’d rather have takeout than anything I can cook,” he says, and I need to tell him to stop calling me that nickname. He used it when we met, and I thought it was sweet. Now, I find I still like it and I don’t make him stop. I’m sure that’s just proof that I should do my best to keep my distance from Lincoln Locke.

That means it’s really surprising when I open my mouth to tell him no way—and instead agree.

“I guess I am hungry.”

He grins at me and I mentally kick myself. I obviously can’t be trusted around this man.

“Good. Grab a seat and I’ll get our food,” he says, and I can’t believe what I’m doing—in fact, I want to kick myself, but I look around the apartment and go to the tiny bistro table in the corner. “Shit, don’t sit there,” he says, and I immediately stop moving. “I can’t be sure one of those seats would even hold you up,” he adds. My body immediately tightens, and I feel my face heat. “Here,” he says and starts moving toward his bed.

“Uh, no. I think I’ll just leave,” I mumble as I turn toward the door.

He looks up at me in surprise. I guess he would be surprised. Apparently, not many women turn down the chance to be in his bed. I wish I had known that before spending the night with him.

“Wait, I just meant the couch,” he says, and he folds it in to prove it.

“I’m not a size zero like your usual women, but I seriously doubt I’d break a chair down,” I mutter, wondering why in the hell I’m not just leaving.

“Jesus, I know I’ve been an idiot when it comes to you, but I wasn’t calling you fat. The landlord—who is eighty if he’s a day—put those together and they almost fall apart when you pull one out.”

“Oh,” I mutter, still feeling uncomfortable.

“It’s been a while, but I still remember every curve on your body, Jodie, and it’s all fucking good.”

I shouldn’t feel heat shoot through my body and center between my legs. I really shouldn’t. But I do. I push the feeling away. Instead, I remind us both of why I can’t ever allow myself to go there with him again.

“I’m surprised you remember anything with the steady line of women in and out of your door,” I reply, waspishly, as I sit down. He grunts his reply and grabs an old end table and rakes it across the tiled floor, making me wince. The end table is empty, except for a mountain of dust. I look around and find a roll of paper towels on the floor. I roll a couple off and throw those on the floor, because I can’t be sure where they’ve been. Then, roll a few more off and bunch them up in my hand, using them to wipe off the dust. Linc arrives with the take-out bag and takes the paper towels, both clean and dirty, from me. He tosses them into a chair, which looks like it already has too much stuff in it.