by Jenni Wilder
I looked up at Lincoln and found he was looking down at me with a wide smile on his face. He took the digital-picture-frame keychain from my hand and pushed the button. A selfie I had taken and sent him after the Hawks lost a game showed up on the screen. My eyes were crossed and my nostrils were flared wide, giving my face the weirdest look. Lincoln chuckled and pushed the button again, and the picture dissolved into another selfie of me. This time I was blowing a kiss to the camera.
Lincoln shifted against the headboard and moved his arm over my shoulders. We snuggled closer together as he continued to flip through the pictures until he got to the last three. They were my favorites. The third-to-last picture was a close-up of the two of us smiling for the camera. The next picture was the same shot, only Lincoln and I were gazing at each other with an earnest look of love on both our faces. The final picture was the same shot again, but this time Lincoln and I were kissing deeply like we couldn’t control ourselves, which was basically how I felt around him the majority of the time.
Lincoln pushed the button to flip to the next picture, but the screen faded to black, signaling the end of the slide show. I looked up at him to ask if he liked it, but before I could say anything, Lincoln’s mouth was on mine, kissing me with an intense passion.
I smiled against his lips. I guess he liked it.
~~~~~~~~
Lincoln had to be at the rink early for practice before the game, so we ordered room service for brunch before he left. I didn’t want him to go. Our alone time last night and this morning had been so wonderful, but obviously it couldn’t last forever. At least he looked as disappointed as I felt that our time together was over.
I was putting on my silky white robe when a knock on our hotel door surprised me. Lincoln had left about fifteen minutes earlier, and he had a key, so I figured it couldn’t be him. Maybe it was room service wanting our dirty plates and flatware.
I clutched my robe tightly to my neck and peeked out the peephole. It was two female hotel employees, both dressed in cream-colored smocks with the hotel’s golden insignia on the upper left chest.
I cracked the door open. “Yes?”
One of the women spoke. “Mrs. Monaghan? Your husband ordered an in-room spa session for you. Is now a good time?”
I chuckled in disbelief. “My husband?”
Both the women smiled widely. “He said to tell you happy Valentine’s Day.”
I hid my face in one hand to hide my chagrin as I opened the door wider to allow the women to enter. One of the women carried a large folded, padded table, and the other woman wheeled in a portable stand of nail polishes and manicure tools. I tried to assist the woman who was carrying the table. It looked heavy, but she just ushered me aside with a friendly smile. So while they set up, I texted Lincoln.
“Two random women knocked on our hotel door and tried to give me a massage and manicure. They insisted my husband ordered it for me, but I assured them there was no one married in this hotel room. How weird is that?? ;)”
I waited for Lincoln’s reply while one of the women filled a small bowl with hot water from the bathroom. The other woman carefully arranged some bedsheets on the padded table. She held up what appeared to be a towel with a band of elastic around the top.
“We’ll step into the hallway while you change.” She unbuttoned the towel. “These snaps go on the side so I can unbutton them as needed during the massage.”
Her voice was soft and tranquil as she gave me the instructions, but unease began to bubble up inside me. Images of my scarred skin flashed to the front of my mind.
“Um. Is it possible to not be naked during this?”
“Absolutely. We can do whatever you are comfortable with. Mr. Monaghan mentioned you might not want a full-body massage, so if you want just a shoulder and arm massage or a foot massage, I can do that.”
Oh, Lincoln, Lincoln. My sweet, thoughtful, caring man.
“Okay,” I told the women and took the robe. “I’ll just be a second.”
They nodded and stepped into the hall. I quickly exchanged my proper robe for the special massage towel and secured it under my arms before checking myself out in the bathroom mirror, making sure there wasn’t too much revealed.
I looked at my phone to see if Lincoln had replied. I now felt a small twinge of guilt that I hadn’t said thank you.
“Turns out they were looking for me! How about that? :) I freaking love you, Mr. Monaghan. So much. Thank you.”
I was about to set my phone down when Lincoln texted me back.
“I freaking love you so much too. Someday you will have my last name, but for now, enjoy your pampering. Happy V Day. See you later.”
I felt giddy as I replied to him, telling him to have a great game and to stay safe. Every time I thought I couldn’t love him more, he showed me there was a greater depth to our love, and I felt even more beguiled by him every day. I still had my doubts, of course. A part of me thought I was overreacting because he was my first boyfriend. Another part tried to convince me that eventually Lincoln would grow tired of me. But I was getting better at ignoring those voices and putting my faith in Lincoln. He told me he loved me every day, and that was enough to block out the negative voices for now, at least.
Chapter Two
“He gave you a personal spa session in your hotel room?”
“Yeah. And this watch.” I held out my arm to show my sister-in-law. I had been telling her about our time in Boston while we waited for a table at an Italian restaurant after the game. Even with the reservation Lincoln had made for us, we still had to wait a little while since it was Valentine’s Day and they were swamped.
My brother and Lincoln had gone to the bar to get drinks, and I couldn’t contain my smile as Molly admired my gift from Lincoln.
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked as she smiled at me. Her eyes seemed to tear up a bit.
“Absolutely nothing. I’ve just never seen you like this. I know we don’t know each other real well considering we live so far apart, but I’m just so happy to see that you’re so happy.”
I looked over at Lincoln, who was waiting for our drinks and talking with my brother at the bar. With a wide smile, I nodded in reply to my sister-in-law. “I am. He makes me very happy.”
“Isn’t it weird to be dating a celebrity though? Like, that has to be crazy! His family even makes the news here sometimes.”
I cringed thinking about the time the paparazzi had been waiting for us as we exited the restaurant where we had been celebrating our one-month anniversary. Those pictures floated around social media and celebrity gossip websites for a few days before it became old news.
“Yeah, it’s weird. But it’s not all the time, and he and his brother and sister are so down-to-earth it’s easy to forget they are famous. None of them want anything to do with the publicity.”
Our guys made their way over to us with our drinks at that point. Lincoln handed me my peach sunrise and kissed me chastely on the cheek. I wondered if he would have kissed me properly if my brother hadn’t been standing next to us.
“Are you hungry? Our table is ready,” he informed us.
We snaked through the crowd toward our table until I felt Lincoln tug on my hand from behind me, causing me to stop abruptly. I turned to look at what made him pause and saw a middle-aged guy pushing a napkin and pen at Lincoln with a look of awe in his eyes. Next to him a woman about the same age stood with her arms over her chest and an annoyed look on her face.
“Wow! It’s an honor to meet you,” the man gushed. “I’m originally from Chicago and I remember the day you got drafted. I think everyone was glad we got you, and you haven’t disappointed us!”
“Thanks, man.” Lincoln handed back the pen and napkin that now had his autograph on it. “That really means a lot to hear. Have a great night.”
I looked back as we walked away from the fan and the woman he was with, and I had to suppress a giggle. The man was waving the napkin in his date’s face, and she was rol
ling her eyes. Clearly she was not impressed.
Lincoln draped his arm over my shoulders and pulled me close against his side as the hostess led us to our table. It was in the back corner of the restaurant and was slightly sheltered from the rest of the room. I wondered if Lincoln tipped the staff in order to get some privacy.
We ordered our food and talked about the game while sipping on our drinks. My brother grilled Lincoln about his life. He asked how he spent his free time, what he did for fun, and how he behaved on the road.
I interrupted my brother when he asked that last question. “What do you mean by that?”
Frankie gave me a look. “You know. Sleeping around, partying, drugs…”
“Oh my God, Francis. He’s a hockey player, not a rock star,” I said in defense of my boyfriend.
“There’s little difference, Jillian. Both professions mean a lot of time on the road and plenty of temptation. Am I right, Lincoln?”
Lincoln cleared his throat before speaking. “You aren’t wrong. All that exists when you’re on the road and at home to be honest. There are plenty of guys that fall for every temptation that comes by them, but I’ve never done that. It’s not how I was raised. It’s not who I am.”
My brother crossed his arms over his chest as he sat back in his chair and eyed Lincoln. It seemed like he was debating whether or not to give Lincoln the benefit of the doubt that he was a good guy.
Molly sat forward in her chair. “So what is life like on the road? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking. I don’t want to sound star struck, but I kind of am.” Her face turned a faint shade of pink as she blushed slightly.
Lincoln smiled. “That’s okay. It’s a little crazy at times. I never used to mind traveling and the long stretches away from home, but it’s harder now.”
I bit my lip and smiled at him. I was the reason it was suddenly harder for him to be away from home for so long.
“But we’re making it work, aren’t we?” I asked with confidence. I never once suspected him of doing any of the things my brother accused him of, and typically the longer he was gone, the better it was when he returned to me. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all.
Lincoln nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, we are. It’s not as bad as it used to be either. Everyone has smartphones, and there’s video messaging. A lot of the guys have families, so there’s a big push to be home as much as possible.”
“And you’ll always have your Rome Racer.” I poked him in the side.
Lincoln smiled sheepishly. Several of his teammates and he were addicted to video games, specifically Rome Racer, a car-racing game set in Italy. Competitors through and through, they made the racing game into a competition and played it in their downtime.
“So video games? That’s what you do when you’re on the road?” Molly asked.
“Well, that’s one of the things we do to entertain ourselves if we have downtime. But we have practice on the ice, team meetings, captain’s meetings, gym time, travel time, plus any media interviews and time with fans, and then there’s the actual game. It can be chaotic.”
My brother raised his eyebrows. “And how long have you been doing this?”
“Professionally? About four years.”
“Wow,” my sister-in-law said in awe. “So how did you two meet then? Your mom said something about New Year’s Eve?”
My cheeks hurt from smiling so much as I told the story of how Lincoln and I met at the Razzle Dazzle Parade and included several highlights from our short time together. Our food arrived and our conversation diminished slightly as we concentrated on our dinner. I was starving.
Once our meal was done, Lincoln paid for all four of us as we left the restaurant and got into the stretched sedan town car he had ordered for the night. It was slightly smaller and less ostentatious than a stretched limousine, but the four of us fit comfortably inside. There were two bench seats in the back, one facing forward and one facing backward so the passengers could face each other.
I had been enjoying watching the city of Boston fly by outside my car window when Lincoln’s phone interrupted our comfortable silence. I turned to see him fishing his phone out of his coat pocket. He frowned at it before swiping to answer it.
“Excuse me,” he said to my brother, sister-in-law, and me before speaking into the phone. “Yes?”
I couldn’t hear the person on the other end, but Lincoln’s whole body tensed up, and he suddenly radiated stress.
“No. I’m out of town. Send the police.”
He waited a moment before nodding and then hanging up. Frankie, Molly, and I looked at Lincoln with concern, waiting for an answer.
“That was my security company,” he explained, and my eyebrows flew up. “They received a burglary alarm at my house.”
Molly and I gasped.
“Oh no! Someone broke in?” I asked.
“Not sure.” He brought up an app on his phone and pushed a few buttons. “The company detected a window break. My app says the doors are still locked.”
“Do you have video surveillance?” Frankie asked.
“No,” Lincoln answered and put his phone back in his pocket. “It could just be a fallen tree branch or an animal.”
“Or it could be Mackenzie,” I added quietly.
Lincoln shook his head. “It can't be. She'd be violating the restraining order.”
My brother and sister-in-law's eyebrows flew up.
“Restraining order?” Molly asked in a surprised voice.
I cringed, thinking my brother and sister-in-law didn’t need one more thing by which to judge Lincoln.
“It’s a plenary stalking no-contact order. One for Jillian and one for me. It’s a precaution so she won’t bother us again.” Lincoln covered my hand with his and gave me a small encouraging smile, but it didn't help erase the sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't shake the feeling that Mackenzie was behind this incident. Maybe I was just being paranoid.
“Has she been giving you trouble?” my brother asked.
I shrugged. “Nothing we can directly pin on her. The police eventually questioned her after my tires were slashed, but she has an alibi for everything.”
Silence filled the car. There had been a few incidents in the past couple of weeks since Lincoln and I reunited, the worst being when someone took a knife to one of my tires—twice. Resulting in me having to buy a new tire—twice.
My sister-in-law cleared her throat. “How's your internship going, Jillian? I should have asked earlier.”
I was grateful for the subject change.
“Pretty good,” I answered. “Since I started in early December, I’ll have my hours in by the middle of March and I can focus on organizing my research results for my thesis.”
“When do you graduate?” Molly asked.
“June 14 is the commencement ceremony, but my thesis defense is June 11.”
I had so much to do before then. Thinking about it made my head spin and my anxiety level rise. It helped to remember that once my internship was over I would have exponentially more time to devote to my thesis.
Lincoln squeezed my knee and gave me a big toothy grin, acting like he hadn't just received news that his house had been broken into. He told me on a daily basis how proud he was of my accomplishments.
“And what about after graduation? Have you started looking for a job?” my brother asked sternly. After our father died, Frankie took it upon himself to act as an authoritative father figure. A good job after school was priority number one.
I sighed. “I'm still hoping GenChem will offer me something. I'd even take part-time to get started.”
Truthfully, though? I was worried. There had been no mention of extending me a job offer. I kept hope that I would hear something soon.
“You have other avenues to explore though, correct? A backup plan?”
I nodded. “The Career Placement Center at school has some good contacts, and my professors and advisor have suggestions for employment
. I sent out a few résumés last week. I'll be able to send out more, if needed, once my internship is over.”
Frankie nodded in approval. “Good. That's good.”
Lincoln leaned toward me. “Tell them about your latest breakthrough.”
“It wasn't a breakthrough, baby.” I blushed slightly, but he just looked at me as if I had cured cancer. I shook my head at him before explaining to my brother and sister-in-law my most recent development in my research. It wasn't ground-breaking, but it was an advancement I was proud of.
Finally Lincoln’s phone rang again, and when he answered he put it on speakerphone.
A stern and commanding voice filled the car. “Mr. Monaghan? This is Detective Murray with the Chicago police. Your security company reported a burglar alarm.”
“Yes. They called me.”
“The first officers arrived on scene and found a large pane of glass on the lower back of the house had been broken. However, there were no obvious signs as to why it was broken, and there doesn’t seem to be any signs of forced entry.”
“So what does that mean? No one broke in?” I asked.
“It means the doors are secured, and the break in the window is not big enough for a person to fit through.”
“So you haven’t searched the house?” Lincoln asked.
“No.” Detective Murray paused. “But I can have the officers check the house if you wish.”
Lincoln looked at me. “Yes. Please do.”
“We’ll have to break the lock on your door.”
“Then do it!” Lincoln said sharply.
There was a moment of silence before the detective answered. “I’ll call you back when we have more information.”
The four of us sat back in our seats as the call ended and Lincoln’s phone went dark.
