"Really?" He let out a low growl. "Stop tempting me, or I'm going to take a bite."
"Good."
"Aghhhhh." He let out a few curses before pulling away and helping me to my feet. "I'm going to ignore those seductive eyes and get you back to your room before I do something stupid."
"Am I the stupid in this scenario?"
"No." He took another look at me and groaned. "That would be me."
"Linc…" I grabbed his hand. "… I like you."
"Oh good, because for a second there, I was worried about your feelings and really didn't want to have one of those awkward conversations where I asked to be your boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?"
"Way better than Elliot, I can promise you that."
"You've met him once, and already I have this weird suspicion that if you met him for a second time, he'd have an accident or something."
"I was thinking something freak, nothing fatal. You know, like, 'Oh shit, sorry that you ran into that pole, man, I really didn't mean to push.'"
Laughing, I picked up the blanket. "You sound like Zane. He likes to toss out threats too."
"Zane." Linc spat his name. "Can you find a new friend?"
"I don't have that many, so I can't really be picky. Besides, he stays up at night with me—"
"I'll do it." Linc said quickly. "How hard could it be? Guarding your dreams?"
"Hard." I swallowed nervously. "Especially when I see that stupid car again."
"The car?"
"The one that scared me right before I stopped talking. I remember every vivid detail. Demetri too. I know it wasn't the car's fault; I was just spooked, but still. I see that black car in my dreams, and it's like I'm reliving it all over again, I wake up thinking I'm going to stop talking again."
"Dani…" Lincoln tossed some sand onto the fire. "… I say next time you see the car in your dream, you throw something at it. Attack what makes you afraid. It's the only way to conquer fear. You run at it."
"If only I could control myself in my dreams."
Smiling, he pulled me in and nestled me against his body. "Let's get you home, and maybe, if I stay the night, you'll dream of me instead."
"Taking guard duty seriously, aren't you?"
"I take everything regarding you very, very seriously." Linc kicked sand over the fire, extinguishing it as he wrapped an arm around me and kissed my forehead.
"Thanks," I whispered. We walked hand in hand back to the beach house. It was easy getting back into my room, and Linc was tall enough that all he had to do was take a long step and he was at my balcony, making himself comfortable in my room.
"So…" His eyes fell on the bed. "… sleep."
"Yeah." I yawned. "But I sleep naked, so turn around?"
"What?" He hissed through his teeth.
"Kidding." I patted him on the shoulder. "I'm going to go throw on a pair of really baggy sweats."
"Doesn't work if I'm already thinking about what's underneath," he grumbled.
"Sleep," I said again, probably to convince myself as much as him.
Linc let out a long exhale. "Right, I mean it's not like I've ever slept with a girl and not… slept with her."
My eyebrows rose.
"I can do anything. Really, I'm not Zane, I have self-control."
The joke was on him, considering out of all the guys I'd met in my life, Zane clearly deserved a medal in that department.
"We only have a few hours until we're needed on set anyway." I shrugged. "Let's put them to good use."
"By sleeping," he said for the third time.
"Is it easier if you keep saying it out loud?"
"Hell yes." He ran his hands through his hair. "Right, okay." More nodding. "Good."
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Lincoln
"ONE," I GRUMBLED SOFTLY TO MYSELF. "Two."
Things were bad; you knew they were bad when you were actually counting pigs in order to fall asleep. I saw Wilburs float over my head one after another. I named them, I numbered them, and when that didn't work, I put them in funny clothes, all for my own bored amusement.
I'd be lying if I said it was easy being next to Dani while she slept. My eyes were wide open, staring up at the ceiling that, honest to God, made me want to puke.
Zane had put a poster of himself above her bed.
His way of guarding her from bad dreams, apparently. According to Dani, he said his poster was like an Indian dreamcatcher.
It only bothered me because it was Zane, every female's dream. Something about the way he walked, even his voice, drove women insane, my sister included. I just didn't want Dani to be another.
I'd never suffered from jealousy.
Because I'd never had to fight for what I wanted.
Until now.
Even though fighting sucked, it was a hell of a lot better fighting for something than getting it without earning it in the first place.
I turned on my side. I wanted to earn her in the worst way possible. I wanted it to be hard, because I knew if it was easy, it wasn't real.
And it felt real.
Too real.
I'd never let anyone in before. I was a loner by heart. Acting day and night, making money, pouring my soul into my roles and living a detached life of meaningless sex.