Out of My League: a Hope Valley novel

by Prince, Jessica

  “Haven’t been feelin’ all that fuckin’ sane the past couple weeks, buttercup,” he clipped in return.

  I gave him another shove, and another, and another until he finally relented and let me go. “Don’t say that,” I snapped back just as hard, causing him to tilt his head in confusion.

  “Don’t say what?”

  “Don’t call me buttercup like that. Not when you’re pissed. You gave me that name when we first met, and I’ve freaking loved it ever since. Don’t you use it sarcastically. That’s not fair.”

  Everything suddenly shifted. Lincoln’s anger and irritation faded away, and his face took on that soft warmth that made my heart flip. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said so gently that I thought I might break down and cry right then and there. “I promise not to do it again.”

  God, I was a wreck. I was so off-kilter I didn’t know up from down. “Jesus, Linc. What are we doing here? This isn’t normal behavior. It’s totally unhealthy.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest, and for the first time since storming in, I actually noticed what he was wearing. Running shoes, a pair of loose black basketball shorts that hung tantalizingly off his narrow hips, and another Under Armour shirt, only this one was white and sleeveless. And damn, did he look good.

  He watched me closely as he leaned back casually against the door, cutting off any hopes I might have had of escaping. “You’re right, Edie. Nothing about this is normal, but I’m fine with that.”

  “How can you say that?” I asked in frustration, the tsunami of emotions inside of me making it impossible to think straight. “How could you ever be okay with this?”

  “Because I’ve never cared about someone the way I care about you. I was just fine with the way my life was before you came along, Eden. I never considered marriage or kids or settling down. As far as I was concerned, none of that shit was for me. Then I met you.”

  “Lincoln—”

  But he wasn’t finished. “You told me that what we had was real for you from the very beginning. What I didn’t realize was that it was the same for me too.” All the air expelled from my lungs on a painful exhale. “When I held you on the dance floor that first night, everything changed. You’re genuine and beautiful. I don’t just want you, Eden, I want to know you. You’re different than any woman I’ve ever been with.”

  “I make you laugh,” I whispered, the words spilling out of their own accord.

  He nodded and lowered his voice. “You make me laugh.” Pushing off the wall, he closed the distance between us and placed a palm on either side of my neck, using his thumbs to tip my face up. “And you make it so easy. I didn’t think that was possible, baby.”

  “Nona told me you don’t laugh a lot,” I said quietly. “I didn’t believe her because I’d seen it myself every time we were together.”

  “That was because of you, Edie. Only you.”

  I couldn’t take it anymore. Lifting onto my toes, I slammed my lips against his and kissed him with everything I was.

  Everything that came next happened in a blink. Lincoln’s hands made quick work of whipping off my shirt before his lips latched onto mine once more.

  “Jesus,” he grunted into my mouth when my hands slipped beneath his shirt at his back and my nails raked across his skin gently.

  “Lincoln,” I panted. “I need to touch you, honey.”

  A vicious growl rumbled up his throat and down mine before he wrenched away just far enough to rip his shirt over his head. The sight of his naked chest took my breath away. There was no other way to describe it—he was sheer beauty. If it took the rest of my life, it still wouldn’t be enough time for me to look my fill.

  “Baby,” he growled, pulling me from my dazed gawking. I lifted my eyes to his to see that his pupils were blown, and the green had gone nearly black. “You want this to stop, you gotta say it now, ’cause I don’t think I’ll be able to do it once it starts.”

  I made a decision right then and let my heart take the lead. It was the only choice I could make. There was no other option for me. This was it. He was it.

  Pressing my palms against his chest, I parted my lips and said the only words floating around inside my head. “Don’t stop.”

  Whatever control he might have been holding onto in that moment snapped. With our lips fused, he lifted me and started across his office. My legs wrapped around his waist, and I held on tight as he lowered me onto the couch in the corner.

  The moment my back hit the cool dark brown leather, he pulled my legs from around him and leaned back long enough to divest me of my jeans and panties.

  He came back down, one hand pressing into the cushion beside my head as the other slid between our bodies, working to free himself from his gym shorts. I sucked in a sharp gasp at the feel of the wide head of his erection prodding at my entrance.

  He paused just long enough to ask, “You sure about this?”

  At my nod, Lincoln’s hips shifted and he sank inside me in one thrust. Both of us cried out as we connected in the most intimate way possible for the very first time.

  My back bowed and my neck arched at the intensity of his invasion. He was so long, so thick, so perfect. He gave me just enough time for my body to adjust to his size before he started moving again. And it was Heaven.

  “Jesus, fuck,” he growled, pulling out and driving back in so hard my walls quivered. “You have no goddamn clue how long I’ve dreamed of this, Edie. How long I’ve wanted you just like this.”

  Forcing my eyes open against the onslaught of feelings bombarding me, I lifted a hand and pressed it against his jaw, sliding my palm along the rough blond stubble at his jaw before curling my fingers around the side of his neck. “Yes I do,” I panted as I lifted my hips to meet him stroke from stroke. “Because I’ve wanted you just as bad.”

  At my declaration, he slammed inside me and ground his hips against mine, rubbing my clit and throwing gasoline on the fire burning deep in my belly.

  With his mouth against mine, he swallowed every whimper and moan that escaped me, and I did the same for him, muffling his snarls and groans as we moved together.

  When it became too much and I couldn’t breathe, I twisted away, lifting my head just enough that my lips brushed the shell of his ear. “So good, baby,” I purred as I lifted one knee higher, hooking my leg around his waist and allowing him even deeper. My fingers clung to his back and my other foot linked around his thigh. Every single inch of me was as close to him as I could possibly get, and still it wasn’t enough.

  He buried his face in my neck on an animalistic sound and picked up the pace. Each snap of his hips forced me closer and closer to that edge. But I wasn’t ready to fall over yet. I didn’t want this to end.

  “Lincoln,” I whimpered, fighting to hold off for as long as I could. “God, honey. You feel so good.”

  “Get there, baby.”

  I was losing the battle. “Oh shit.”

  “Get there, Edie. Need you to come. Need to feel you drown my cock.”

  My whole body started to tremble, my muscles clenched and locked tight. “I’m so close, Linc.”

  “Give it to me, darlin’. Give me all of you.”

  That did it. At those words, my walls clamped down around him and a rush of pure ecstasy washed over me, pulling me into its depths as I squeezed my eyes closed and moaned long and low with my release.

  I had just enough wherewithal to open my eyes and watch as Lincoln slammed in deep, threw his head back, and groaned as his cock swelled and he emptied himself inside me. The thick cords of his neck bulged, calling out to me, and I lifted my head, giving one a nip before soothing the sting with my tongue. At my gentle bite, he twitched and let out another grunt before finally collapsing, giving me all his weight as we fought to regulate our breathing.

  It felt like an eternity before my mind was able to function again at a normal level, and as the reality of what just happened sank in, I couldn’t find it in me to regret a single solitary moment of it.
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br />   I locked my arms and legs tight around Lincoln, holding onto him with everything I had as I let go of all the hurt and the pain, let go of the anger and bad thoughts and allowed my heart to finally start to knit itself back together.

  There was no point in fighting it anymore. Lincoln was it for me, no matter how hard I tried to deny it.

  The way I saw it, I had two choices. I could either hold on to the ugly and let it take root, let it fester and grow until its barbs were tangled so deep I was never able to let it go…

  Or I could cut it out of me and allow room for the good to move in and grow in its place.

  And as I lay there beneath the man I was falling hard and fast for, the decision came easily.

  I chose to be happy.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Lincoln

  I was holding a dream come true in my arms, and I had no intention of ever letting it go.

  I’d released her long enough for her to slip back into her panties and shirt, but that was all the time I was willing to give her. Now that I’d finally had her, my desire had only grown. I couldn’t touch her enough. I couldn’t get enough of her skin against mine, of her lush, curvy body pressed into me.

  The intensity of what I was feeling for this woman hit me like a wrecking ball to the gut. I wasn’t just falling for her, I’d already hit the ground. It was a feeling I’d never experienced, and it gave me a high I knew I’d chase for the rest of my life.

  Her breath whispered across my chest on a lazy sigh, and she snuggled deeper into my side. I was on my back on the couch with her curled between me and the back cushions. We’d been lying there in silence for the past several minutes, her tracing random patterns on my chest and me doing the same against her hip, and I’d been content to stay just like that for the rest of the day and all night.

  “I can’t believe you,” she said with a soft giggle a minute later. “But at least you know now that if you ever need to torture someone into spilling trade secrets, you can count on your guys to annoy the answers out of them.”

  She shook against me with the force of my laughter. “Always a good skill to have, buttercup.”

  Lifting her head, she adjusted so she could rest her chin on the backs of her hands and see my face as she asked, “How come you didn’t put Bryce on my security detail? At least then I would’ve had a familiar face.”

  My body went tense beneath hers, and I knew by the frown marring her forehead that she’d felt it. “’Cause he’s wants to fuck you,” I answered honestly.

  At my announcement, her eyes widened, and a second later she burst out laughing. “You’re insane,” she exclaimed through a fit of giggles as she tried to get control of her laughter. “He does not.”

  The fact that she couldn’t see her effect on men made me appreciate her even more.

  “He absolutely does,” I informed her. “You made an impact, darlin’. So much of one that I thought I might have to beat the shit outta one of my best guys.”

  “Wow. That’s… wow.” Then she smiled. “You think you can get me his number?”

  I narrowed my eyes and pinned her to me. “Oh, she thinks she’s funny.” I dug my fingers into her ribs and tickled until she was thrashing and flopping and laughing wildly.

  “All right! Okay! Okay, I take it back! It was just a joke!”

  By the time I stopped tickling her, we’d shifted and Eden was lying beneath me. “Just a note for the future, no joking about other men.”

  My chest warmed at the sight of her gorgeous smile. “Consider me properly warned.” She paused and tipped her head deeper into the soft cushions. “You didn’t actually hit him, did you?”

  “No.” She sagged in relief at my answer. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t want to, but I held back.”

  The seconds ticked by as we stared at each other, and with each one the atmosphere grew more serious.

  “You still with me, baby?” I asked, my heart beating against my ribs so hard you could almost hear it. It felt like I was waiting for the weightiest, most important answer I’d ever get.

  Finally she put me out of my misery. “I’m with you,” she responded quietly.

  “This changes everything,” I stressed. “There’s no going back now. It’s you and me. You get pissed about something, you can’t just shut me out and disappear for days at a time. We talk it out. We work it out. No more running.”

  “No more running.” Eden reached up and placed a palm against my cheek, and I knew right then, without a doubt, that I’d never get tired of her touching me.

  * * *

  Eden

  As much as I wanted to stay exactly where I was, the fact remained that we were in Lincoln’s office, and just outside the door were a number of people who could come knocking at any minute.

  “I should probably get going.”

  He groaned in objection. “I know, but I really don’t want you to.”

  “I don’t either, but I’m pretty sure we both need to get back to work.”

  Reluctantly, he pushed up and grabbed my hands, taking me with him. I dressed in the rest of my clothes as he pulled his shirt back on. Once I had everything righted, he took my hand and led me to the office door, throwing it open and walking me through.

  The moment we cleared the threshold into the lobby, Roxanne looked up from her computer and hit me with a shit-eating grin.

  “Enjoy the rest of your day, Eden. I’m sure I’ll be seein’ you around here again really soon.”

  I ducked my head and blushed furiously as a grin of my own pulled at my lips. “See you later, Roxanne.”

  As soon as we reached the side of my car, I pulled my hand from his and slapped them both over my face. “Holy shit,” I groaned into my palms. “She knows what we did in your office! That was so humiliating.”

  His chuckle filled my ears as he grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands down. “Calm down, buttercup. She’s just happy for us. She wants you for me.”

  Hearing that made me feel all kinds of awesome. “She does?”

  “Oh yeah. Should’ve seen her after I fucked it all up. She threatened to tear me a new one if I didn’t fix it. She’s just happy I managed to get you back. She knows how amazing you are. Everyone does.”

  I leaned back against my car and stuffed my hands in the pockets of my jeans, looking up at Lincoln through my lashes. “Nona told me what you did at The Tap Room, how you defended me in front of everyone. Thank you for doing that.”

  He took a step closer so our thighs were pressed together and curled his fingers around my waist. “Nothin’ to thank me for, Edie. I was just tellin’ the truth.”

  “Yeah, well, still… thank you anyway.”

  He gave me that dimple while clenching his fingers tighter on my hips. “My pleasure, baby. You got plans tonight?”

  I scrunched my face in mock thought. “Well, I have a bottle of wine at home that’s calling my name and a new rejuvenating face mask I was gonna try, but other than that, no.”

  “Then I’ll pick you up at seven. Dinner at Marcello’s, then drinks at The Tap Room. Sound like a plan?”

  I pulled my hands free and looped my arms around Lincoln’s neck, lifting onto my toes to get closer to his lips. “Italian food and awesome beer? Definitely.”

  “Good. I’ll see you then. Drive home safe, baby.” He gave me a little shake and ordered more seriously, “And set the alarm.”

  With one last kiss, he let me go, and I climbed into my car and started her up. My man was taking me on a date tonight. That meant I needed to get my ass home so I could gussy up for a night on the town.

  I couldn’t freaking wait.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Eden

  By the time we made it to The Tap Room, I was comfortably full from an incredible dinner, and nice and floaty from the wine.

  I’d chosen a wrap dress with three-quarter-inch sleeves in a deep plum color that worked perfectly with my skin tone. I’d decked myself out in gold jewelry—stacked thin-chained
necklaces that dipped from my collarbone to the hint of cleavage the dress revealed, two bangles at my wrist, and chandelier earrings with pressed gold disks in different sizes that hung nearly all the way to my shoulders—and finished the outfit with a kickass pair of strappy gold high-heeled sandals.

  My makeup was done in shimmery pale pinks, and I’d taken the time to style my hair in big fat curls that hung down my back. The look worked for Marcello’s, though it was a bit over the top for The Tap Room. But I didn’t care. I was having the best time. I felt beautiful, and if Lincoln’s face when I opened my front door earlier that evening was any indication, he sure as hell thought so too.

  The place was just as packed as always when we pushed inside and bellied up to the bar. There were two vacant barstools, but when I hopped up on one, instead of taking the other, Lincoln stood at an angle behind and to the side of me, keeping on arm slung haphazardly over the back of my seat and resting the other on the bar top, effectively caging me in in a manner that was both protective and intimate at the same time.

  “Well damn, babe. Look at you!” At the enthusiastic exclamation, my eyes went from Lincoln to the other side of the bar.

  “Hey, Rory,” I greeted with a dorky grin. The bubble of happy I’d been floating in all night grew even bigger. I hadn’t seen her since my first night at The Tap Room, so running into her again was a pleasant addition to an already incredible night.

  “Hey right back. Girl, I’m gonna have to take you shopping with me. You’ve got the best taste. That dress is killer.”

  “Have to agree with her on that one, baby,” Lincoln added, leaning in close to speak into my ear. “I’ve been imaginin’ unwrapping you all goddamn night.”

  My cheeks flushed pink, and I nearly lifted a hand to fan myself as I listed to the side, pressing closer to him.

  Rory’s smile stretched even wider as she looked between the two of us. “Date night?”

  I gave her a short nod. “Yeah.”