by Jenni Wilder
“Margie,” Kennedy clarified, answering my unasked question. “She’s been Mom and Dad’s housekeeper here for ages. She knows when to leave a room to give people privacy.”
I nodded, understanding now. Kennedy wanted me to talk to her. “I’m just so worried,” I finally blurted out.
“What are you worried about? Lincoln and Carter will take care of everything. And if they don’t, I’m sure our dad can,” Kennedy said flippantly.
Oh God. Their parents. More people to be embarrassed around. I rubbed my forehead. “Lincoln didn’t tell you what the picture was?”
“No,” she shook her head. “He just said they had another picture.”
I nodded and cringed internally. I wanted to explain, but didn’t want to tell too much. “That picture was of me… from years ago in college.”
Kennedy snorted. “What, it’s not like a nudie pic or something, is it?” she asked while laughing.
I bit my lip and looked away from her.
“OHMYGOD! It is a nudie pic!!” Kennedy got up and rushed to my side. She shoved my shoulder playfully. “You dirty girl. You posed for porn??”
Kennedy’s face was absolute joy. She thought this was all a joke. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and laugh at Kennedy’s reaction.
“NO! Oh my God, Kennedy. I can’t believe you’d think I’d do that!” I exclaimed while laughing.
Kennedy laughed loudly. “I mean, I’ve always heard of girls doing it to pay for college, but I’ve never met one that actually did. Did you do exotic dancing too?”
“You are such a dork!” I chuckled. “I would never do that!”
She laughed. “I know. I know you’d never do that. I just had to give you shit,” she said, pushing my shoulder again.
I rolled my eyes again but had to laugh at the exuberant woman. God, it felt good to be able to laugh about this. I would never have guessed I’d be laughing at one of Mackenzie’s schemes.
Lincoln returned to the kitchen as Kennedy and I were laughing at the idea of me stripping for money. He smiled brightly when he saw I was laughing and kissed me on the side of my head. “What’s so funny?”
“Your sister,” I said. “She thinks I could have paid my way through college by stripping.”
“What? How in the world did you start talking about that?! Not that I’m arguing, mind you,” he said and kissed my head again.
“Well, we were talking about Mackenzie’s picture. And then posing for porn. And then stripping. It just kind of deteriorated from there,” I explained, still chuckling.
“Wait. Mackenzie?!” Kennedy exclaimed, suddenly serious. “What does she have to do with any of this?”
Apparently I forgot to mention that part. “Oh. Um, she was my roommate freshman year.” I trailed off. I didn’t want to explain this again, but I knew Kennedy had a right to know. I hoped we could be close friends, and close friends tell each other that kind of stuff, right?
“She played a prank on Jillian, and the picture that was sold to the tabloid reporter is the end result,” Lincoln explained, filling in the gaps for his sister.
“And you were naked in this picture?”
“Not willingly,” I said quietly.
Kennedy’s eyes got huge and she sat back in her chair. She finally understood. “I’m sorry, Jillian. I didn’t realize. I shouldn’t have made fun,” she said, apologetically.
“No, no, Kennedy. It’s good therapy to laugh about it. And trust me, I’ve been to a lot of therapy,” I said and laughed. Kennedy’s eyes got even wider. I laughed loudly. “It’s okay! Really!”
Lincoln squeezed me and kissed me on the side of the head again. “You are amazing. Ignore my idiot sister.”
“Hey!” Kennedy exclaimed in defense. “Well, at least I said she would have made a lot of money stripping.”
“Can’t argue with that. I would have gone broke,” Lincoln admitted, and I thumped him on the chest while we all laughed.
Chapter Seventeen
Lincoln and I sat at Lincoln’s dinning table, eating a meal Margie had sent with us when we left Lincoln’s parents’ house. She had insisted on sending Lincoln home with what must have been a week’s worth of food. And all of it was gourmet. Tonight we decided to try Margie’s roasted ham with a red cherry glaze and her twice-baked potatoes. Everything was mouthwatering, and I cleaned my plate and ate until I was stuffed.
After dinner, I called Rebecca to inform her of what happened. Turns out Lincoln had told Kennedy to stop at my house before meeting us at his parents’ house to get an overnight bag with clothes for me. I was apparently spending the night again, although Lincoln hadn’t actually asked me. If he wanted me here, though, I wasn’t going to complain. My only worry was that I did have to work the next day, and my car was still in the lab’s parking lot, so Lincoln was going to have to drive me to work bright and early. I wondered if Lincoln had thought of that.
When I got off the phone with my sister, I found Lincoln in his man cave texting on his phone. He looked up as I entered the room and held his arms out for me to sit in his lap. Smiling, I sat down and cuddled into his chest. “Would it be intrusive of me to ask who you were texting?”
“Carter,” he answered simply.
Before we left his parents’ house, Lincoln had informed Kennedy and me the judge signed the injunction barring the tabloid reporter and his employer from publishing my picture. But Carter had said, it was only temporary. They needed me to press charges against Mackenzie. If these pictures were used in the commission of a crime, they were not only evidence, but it also made it illegal for Mackenzie to make any profit from her crime.
And if that wasn’t enough, because I was naked in the pictures, they could be considered pornographic in nature, which made it a crime for Mackenzie to distribute them without my written consent. Something about a “revenge-porn” law.
I had to admit—Carter was good. I told Lincoln I would go along with whatever Carter needed me to do, even though I still feared Mackenzie would win this. But I had Lincoln now. I would trust he would take care of everything.
“Everything okay?” I asked in reply to his simple answer.
Lincoln rubbed his forehead. “Yeah. He was just hoping you were under eighteen when the picture was taken so he could add child pornography or child endangerment or something else to the charges.”
“Oh. Well, no. I was eighteen.”
“That’s what I told him.”
“Hey,” I said, running my hand over the side of his face. “You okay?” His voice had seemed stressed and despite his insistence on carrying this burden for me, he seemed overwhelmed.
He turned his head and kissed my palm. “Yeah, Princess. I’m fine. I just don’t want you to worry.”
I nodded and kissed him quickly. “I have an idea,” I stood up and Lincoln looked at me quizzically. “Take your shirt off,” I demanded.
He immediately pulled his shirt over his head and flung it on the floor. “Don’t have to tell me twice,” he said.
“Lay down,” I said and pointed to the end of the couch.
His eyebrows shot up. “Definitely don’t have to tell me that twice.” He lay down on his back and crossed his arms behind his head.
God, he was sexy. His muscles were etched in all the right spots. His jeans hung low enough I could see his six-pack and the delicious V that dipped into the waistline of his pants. His shoulders were broad, and his nipples jutted out, drawing my attention.
I felt myself blush slightly, and I kicked myself mentally for getting embarrassed at seeing him with his shirt off. But he looked so mouthwatering lying there.
He cocked an eyebrow and smiled at me wickedly. “Like what you see?” he asked.
I nodded and bit my lip. But instead of running my hands over his chest like I wanted to, I made a circle in the air with my finger. “Roll over,” I said, softly.
Lincoln’s face returned to confusion but he complied and rolled over until he was lying on his stomach, his he
ad resting on his forearms. I took a minute to appreciate his back and shoulders—just as muscular and attractive as his front—before placing my hands on his lower back. I threw one leg over him and straddled his hips before sitting back on his butt.
“What are you doing, baby?” he said as he turned his head to the side to look back at me.
“Shh… relax.” I ran my hands up his back before leaning forward and squeezing his shoulders. I worked his tight muscles with my fingers and thumbs and when I found a knot, I focused my attention on it until he groaned with pleasure. I smiled to myself, and I could feel him relax beneath me as I continued to massage his back and shoulders.
I worked his hard muscles from his shoulders to his neck and down his spine. When I found an area that produced a groan or moan from Lincoln, I would pause there and concentrate on making him shudder.
Finally, when I felt I had relaxed him sufficiently, I leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his shoulder before laying down next him and resting my head on his arm that was tucked under his forehead.
He turned to face me, eyes closed, but he didn’t say anything. He simply pushed his lips out seeking mine. I tipped my head closer to his and kissed him sweetly.
We lay like that for a long while. The massage had not only relaxed him but me as well. Lincoln might have dozed off, but I had napped earlier in the library, and I was content to just lie there staring at the handsome, half-naked man I loved.
Lincoln finally opened his eyes a while later. “Hey…” I whispered to him with a smile and ran my fingers through his hair.
“Mm… hey,” he replied and rolled slowly to his side so I ended up on my side wedged between him and the back of the couch, our chests touching.
He was still shirtless, and I couldn’t help but stare.
“Do you like the way I look, Princess?” he asked me as he snaked his arms around me, pulling me close.
I looked up at him and nodded.
“Do you want to touch me?” I nodded again and moved my hand to the side of his neck and placed my other hand on his chest over his heart.
He closed his eyes and shifted back slightly to give me more room to explore. I slid my hand down from his neck to his pectoral and curled my hand around his well-defined muscle. I slowly ran my hands up to his shoulders and down his arms before moving to his ribs and running my fingertips over the muscles there. I felt him shudder, and I twisted my wrist so my thumb could skate over his nipple.
I had never affected a man like this before Lincoln. “Does that feel good?” I whispered as I lightly brushed his nipple with my thumb.
“Mmhmm…” he mumbled with his head back and eyes closed. “Everything you do feels good.”
I rubbed his nipple again and brought my mouth down to his other nipple, taking it in my lips and sucking softly. I didn’t know what I was doing or if Lincoln would like this, but when he gasped loudly, I figured he was enjoying it. I smiled against his chest and placed a light kiss over his heart before sliding my hand down from his ribs to his abdominal muscles.
I was tracing his ridges there with my fingertips when he reached down and squeezed my hands with his, effectively stopping me from touching him. I looked up at him with confusion.
“Come here,” he told me, and I pulled myself up to his eye level. He pushed some hair back behind my ear and kissed me tenderly. “I love it when you touch me, but someday I want to explore you too.”
I looked down with shame as images of my hideous scars flooded my mind. I buried my head against his neck. I was afraid that would never be possible, but I remembered what he had told me earlier in the day. I was his. Despite how unfathomable I thought it was, he wanted me. Lincoln rubbed my back trying to comfort me.
“Someday,” I repeated to him as I snuggled into him. Not today, but someday I would have to swallow my fear and show him my ugliness. I would have faith that he wouldn’t abandon me.
~~~~~~~~
I realized I was seriously behind on my schoolwork and spent the evening at Lincoln’s catching up on it. I lazed on the couch in his man cave with my laptop and leaned against Lincoln as he flipped through the sports channels on TV. It was nice.
I yawned big, closed my laptop, and snuggled into Lincoln. “All finished?” he asked and turned off the TV.
“For now.” I yawned again.
“Time for bed?”
I nodded and he kissed my forehead. It was getting late, and I had to be up early. He stood and pulled me up, leading me into his bedroom. “These are for you,” he told me as he opened one of the top drawers in his dresser.
It was filled with girlie pajamas. I could see bright colors, plaids, stripes, and lace. It looked like at least six pairs, mostly tank tops and cotton pants. I ran my hand over the top pair. “Oh, Lincoln. Thank you.”
“You can still wear mine if you want. Because that’s damn sexy too,” he said, and I giggled and pulled him down to kiss him lightly.
“I think Rebecca packed your toothbrush and glasses and stuff in your bag if you want to use the bathroom,” he said and I nodded. Lincoln walked into the bathroom and set my bag on the vanity. “I’ll be right back.”
He headed into his man cave and went upstairs. I grabbed the top set of pajamas out of the dresser, walked into the bathroom, closed the door, and smiled to myself. This day could have been horrible. I had wanted to drop out of school and flee the city when I first heard about the photograph. Yet here I was, happy and contented, all because of this wonderful man I loved.
I brushed my teeth and did my nighttime hygiene routine, but my smiled faded as I unfolded the pajamas Lincoln bought me. They were not capris length as I had thought. They were shorts. Very short shorts. They would show my scars on the top of my thigh.
I threw them down and frantically dug through the overnight bag Rebecca had packed me. Surely Rebecca would have packed pajamas, right? I breathed a sigh of relief as I discovered an old pair of Rebecca’s nursing pants that I used as pajamas. Thank God. They were long pants and would cover my scars. She had also packed an old T-shirt, and I quickly threw on my old pajamas, leaving my new set lying on the counter.
I could hear Lincoln moving around in the bedroom through the door. I tried to calm my heartbeat by taking a few deep breaths before cracking the bathroom door and looking out into the bedroom. Lincoln was in bed under the covers, propped up against the headboard, looking at his phone. I turned off the bathroom light and closed the door behind me, feeling shy for some reason. “Hey… what happened to your new pajamas?” he asked when he saw me.
I tugged at the bottom of my old shirt and looked down. “Oh… they didn’t fit.”
Lincoln sat forward. “Didn’t fit?” I shook my head. “Why not?”
“They were too short,” I said with shame.
Lincoln got out of bed and walked over to me, stopping right in front of me and rubbing the tops of my arms. “Shit. I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t think.” I looked up at him. He was apologizing to me? “I just bought what I thought you would like. I’ll get different ones tomorrow.”
I shook my head again. “No, I’m sorry, Lincoln. Any normal girl would have been fine with them.”
He pulled me into a hug, and I rested my face on his chest. “I don’t want you to be fine with them. I want you to be happy with them. I’ll get different ones,” he said and then pulled back to kiss me quick. He walked around the bed back to the side he slept on last time I stayed over.
It was ridiculous how sexy he could make pajamas look. He was wearing a tight white tank top and red flannel pants that showed off his sexy behind. I could not believe I was about to share a bed with this man again.
He had crawled under the covers and was lying on his back watching me. “I’ll behave,” he said as I stood next to my side of the bed. I smirked, pulled the covers back, and crawled in, curling up at his side. He pulled the covers over me and wrapped his arm around me. “Good-night, Princess,” he told me as he moved to turn off the lamp that was
sitting on his nightstand.
“Wait,” I told him, and he paused, looking down at me. I shifted so I was partly lying on his chest and could look down at his face. “I want to tell you something, Lincoln.” He looked at me quizzically. I nervously made patterns with my fingertips on his chest. “I wanted to thank you. Today could have been the worst day. You could easily have washed your hands of me and left me to deal with Mackenzie and the photograph by myself, and I don’t know what I would have done if you had done that. My worst fears could have come true, but they didn’t because of you. I could have spent the day crying my eyes out in despair, but I didn’t. I spent the day laughing and being happy. Something I would never have thought possible after what happened today before meeting you. I know you think I’m strong, but I cannot thank you enough for not just being there for me, but for making everything better.”
I wanted to tell him I loved him, but I wasn’t sure he was ready for that. But what I had said was the absolute truth. I was so grateful for him.
He cupped the side of my face and looked at me with concern. “Jillian, I will do whatever you need to make you happy.”
“You already have, and I’m so thankful for you. I want you to know that. You make me feel so cherished.” I wanted to say loved. He made me feel loved. But I didn’t want to scare him off.
“You are, baby. You deserve it.” He was looking at me as if he wanted to say more, but I wanted to show him how thankful I was for him so I kissed him deeply. Our tongues slid against each other rhythmically and Lincoln moaned as he kissed me back with growing passion. I moved one leg over his body and straddled his hips. I liked sitting on him like this, especially when I felt him harden through my pants between my legs.
He pulled his mouth away from mine, breathing heavily. “Jillian…” he said quietly, warning me of his impending loss of control, but I was determined to make him feel good. I moved my mouth to his neck and began kissing and sucking on his soft skin. He moaned and clutched at my hips. I ran my hands over his chest and rocked against his hardening bulge. We both groaned as we simultaneously felt pleasure from my movements. “Mm… do that again, baby,” he commanded. I circled my hips again and whimpered when his hardness pressed against me in the right spot through our pants. I did it several more times, and I thought nothing could feel as good as I felt right now.
