“Stuff,” he shrugs then changes the topic remembering something, “Oh, and by the way, Mom accepted your invitation, she said she and Lilly would love to join you girls. They’ll be over this afternoon. Ashton and I will keep Wyatt company. Shepp too, of course.”
I laugh. “Just don’t let Wyatt spend too much time with Ashton.”
“Why not?” he grins, knowing exactly why not.
I snort. “Ashton isn’t exactly what we would call a ‘model citizen’.”
The door to my room opens from behind me and Ashton is standing there glaring at me, “Excuse me, sis? What was that?”
I burst out laughing at the ridiculous look on his face and the obvious fact that he was eavesdropping. “Did you just have your ear to my door or something, you weirdo?” The thought of my tall and gangly brother with his ear to the door or looking out the peephole watching us is absolutely hilarious.
He looks guilty but squints at me. “It isn’t every day your little sister becomes the most powerful woman in the country. I was just listening in to see if there was any valuable information you were holding out on me.”
He leaves with that, brushing past me as he walks away, turning his head to continue glaring at me as he walks down the hall. Just before he turns the corner he points two fingers at his eyes and then at me in the “I’m watching you” gesture.
Lyncoln and I have a hard time containing our laughter, and so do Jamie and Rodgers. Ashton is making a quick job of winning everyone over. And fits right in in Denver. I don’t know how I ever made it here without him.
“Well, I think that’s my cue,” Lyncoln laughs. He reaches out and kisses my knuckles above my engagement ring. “I can’t wait to take my fiancé to the ball tonight.”
“Me either.” I resist the urge to throw myself in his arms, knowing that Ashton is around the corner and Jamie is right beside me. “Yours?” I offer with a smile.
Lyncoln’s eyes get intense and serious as he takes a step away, “Damn right you’re mine, sweetheart.”
Chapter 29
My room becomes getting ready central and we have a ball, before the ball. Get it?
I absolutely adore my gown and I could not be happier about it. Frank yet again is a genius. I’ve said it before, but really. He’s good. I can’t wait to see what he picks for my actual wedding dress if these dresses are this good.
My hair is done my favorite way, half-down and in loose curls on my bare back. The portion half-up is intricately braided and looks like a crown around the back of my head. Jewelry-wise, I have a silver bracelet on, some simple dangling silver earrings, and, of course, my engagement ring. No necklace is needed for this dress since the ice branches have a sparkle to them.
After Gertie finishes my hair, Mom makes her sit down so she can curl hers. Audrey and Lilly show up and get the same treatment. My room is a hustle and bustle of mascara and hairspray, and I love every minute of it. Somehow, somewhere, someone snagged a Christmas music DVD of some dude named Neil Diamond, so that plays softly in the background and makes my soul happy. The only thing that seems to be missing is Attie and Elizabeth. They would have loved this! I probably should have invited Marisol, but I selfishly needed this girl time for me. It’s Christmas. There isn’t time for drama on Christmas!
After hours and hours, we are all finally ready. Heels on standby, ready for go.
****
Fortunately, Lyncoln and I have a set time to arrive, which is later than the rest of them. So one by one, they all leave to go down. When Dad comes to get Mom, I see Ashton looking regal in a suit and tie combination. He wears a suit similar in style to Lyncoln, though he doesn’t quite fill it out like Lyncoln does. Yet again, you would think that Lyncoln was older than Ashton and not the other way around with how much Ashton worships the ground he walks on.
“Try to behave yourself tonight.” I glare at my brother.
He grins and mockingly salutes. “A model citizen, Regs.”
As soon as they all leave, I plop down on the couch, glad to have a moment alone before tonight. Since I don’t have to give a speech, tonight should be relatively carefree. My only care of the night is Lyncoln and the fact that Hadenfelt seems to have dropped off the face of the planet and may or may not have it out for him. We can’t forget that little detail, now can we? That little detail that ruins an otherwise perfect evening.
Freaking Hadenfelt.
There’s a knock on my door and I open it to find a ravishing looking Lyncoln. His dark silver tie is the only color on his usual black suit, though his vest has dark grayish-silver streaks that match the branching ice on my dress. It makes me smile. He is wearing black with ice and I am wearing white with ice. I’m not even sure it’s supposed to be ice, but I like to think of it that way since this is a winter ball and all. Somehow he makes the ice of his suit look manly and sexy. Go figure. The man could wear a pink on pink suit and he would still look as manly as ever.
Lyncoln can’t find words or even move as he looks me over. His eyes roam up, down, and back up to my eyes while he doesn’t say a word. But I know from that look, he approves.
“Well, are you coming in or are we leaving right away?” I smile with the doorknob still in hand.
“Oh, I am definitely coming in,” he says confidently with those blue-brown eyes I have always loved.
Jamie lets out a whistle and laughs from just outside my door.
Lyncoln snaps his head to him. “Can it, Cane.”
“Yes, sir,” Jamie says firmly, but by the time the door closes I can hear both him and Rodgers cracking up.
I am laughing too. For now.
Predator Lyncoln is in full force and strides across the room. Naturally, his prey doomed for capture, I back up until I can’t anymore and am against the wall opposite the door, which is exactly where he wants me.
He places a hand on the wall next to my head, leans in close, and takes a deep breath like he’s breathing me in. “You. Are. Stunning.” I can almost see the lust swirling in his eyes.
I blush then move to rest my hands on his massive chest. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but someday soon, I think I would like to feel these glorious muscles of yours without them being confined in a suit, though they do look really nice this way.” I look up and hold his gaze, “I just know for a fact they look better out of a suit. I mean, when you are shirtless.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I mean… Okay, you know what I mean.”
Annnd now I’m rambling. I’m the worst at flirting. The worst.
I must surprise him with that because he sucks in his breath and closes his eyes a moment before turning and taking three huge steps back, putting his hands in his pockets.
I look at him confused. Where’d he go?
“Don’t take it the wrong way, Regs? The only way I want to take that is highly inappropriate.” He looks at me with the predator-iest of all predator looks.
“Well why are you all the way over there?” I pout. We haven’t even got to the kissing yet. Our smooch fests have been few and far between since the arrival of my family. I need more alone time with him. More smooches. Alllll the smooches.
His eyes are drilling straight into my soul. “Because I don’t trust myself to touch you right now.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” He doesn’t move, but his eyes are doing all the talking that is needed.
I blush again, and he grins.
“Reagan Grace Scott, you’ll be the death of me. We will wait until we are married and you are good and ready, but you make me have the patience of a saint, especially when you say crap like that. If I have to wait years and years, I very well may die.” He slowly looks me over again before meeting my eyes. “A slow and torturous death.”
“Drama queen.” I roll my eyes before gathering my thoughts. “Lync,” I start while I still have any courage left. It isn’t wise to mess with the caged animal, but I want him to know where I’m at mentally. “Just for the record, I think you have had my body
, my mind, and my soul for quite a while now. If that’s what you’re worried about. It won’t take years and years. I’m all yours and have been for a while.”
The distance between us is gone in seconds and I feel his arms around me as his lips crash into mine. He starts rough but ends it so softly, in that way only Lyncoln can.
He pulls away, whispering softly while maintaining eye contact, “That may be, but you aren’t ready for all that. And I won’t rush you.” He says it so tenderly it kills me. He grabs my cheek, adding, “We have to do this right. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
How I hold back the tears sitting in my eyes, I have no idea. His words. And his actions even more than his words. I know it’s in his aggressive nature to just want to dive right in and that makes me feel so proud of the man he is. He will wait for me for as long as it takes because he respects me. He respects me and loves me that much. He never brushes away his respect for me, letting his love or lust overpower his decisions, despite what his body tells him to do. His respect for me wraps around his love for me and intertwines them, making them both exponentially more powerful.
He continues confidently, “We will get married. Then sometime after that, whether it is in a week, or a month, or God forbid even a year afterward, you’ll be ready and it will be worth the wait. I never want you to have any regrets with me or feel like you are diving in before you’re ready because it’s what is expected of you. Our government expects us to get married and pop out babies right away. But that is not what I expect of you.”
“I won’t force it,” I promise confidently as I reach up and give him a kiss on the cheek.
As we leave, Jamie looks at me knowingly. I remember what he said the other day about Lyncoln and me undressing each other with our eyes and I smirk. Jamie just slowly rolls his eyes with a smile as we share our inside joke.
Finally making it to the ball, I find the ballroom is breathtaking. The lighting is dim but thousands of tiny white Christmas lights wrapped around what looks like branches across the ceiling make it look like stars above us. Red poinsettia bouquets fill the room in tall vases and there’s even an ice sculpture of a very intricate snowflake. In the far corner of the room is the biggest and most beautiful Christmas tree I have ever seen next to the fireplace. There is Christmas music playing softly by a small orchestra in the opposite corner.
Now this is Christmas. Freaking wow.
“You approve?” Lyncoln chuckles.
I realize that I’ve stopped moving and my mouth is still open, a breath caught in my throat in utter awe and amazement. I nod emphatically. “Best Christmas ever.”
He half-smiles and looks at me so intensely I have to ask, “What?”
He gives my palm a squeeze. “Since it’s my first with you, I would have to agree. Shall we dance?”
I nod again as he pulls me onto the dancefloor while I’m still gawking at the room. As I look around, I see Marisol and Henry dancing. As Frank had informed me earlier, Marisol is wearing a blueish, almost purple, dress. She looks amazing, I have to admit. I still prefer Frank’s dress, but yeah.
As we dance, the violins of the orchestra playing something Christmassy and breathtaking, Lyncoln holds me close, like he did that first night we met. Well, he kind of already knew who I was, but it was still the first night we met face to face anyway.
“You know what I like best about this ball?” he asks.
“The ice sculpture?” I joke.
He smirks. “No. The fact that at this one, I don’t have to share you at all.”
He’s right. Both balls before this one were before my choice between boys. I smile, seeing Marisol and Henry in my peripheral view, and remember that I haven’t told Lyncoln about going to see Henry and giving him his Christmas gift. Whoops. The last time I forgot to tell Lyncoln I wrote Henry, it didn’t go so well.
“About that… I went to see Henry yesterday to give him his Christmas gift,” I fess up.
I also went to see if he got any information out of Marisol on where her evil daddykins could be, but I’ll leave that part out for now. It’s a minor detail within the huge secret I’m keeping.
He shrugs nonchalantly. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I ask surprised. No jealousy? No jaw clenching? No looking like he needs to punch something? What is this?
“Okay,” he shrugs again.
“You aren’t mad?” I ask hesitantly.
He shakes his head no. “He’s your friend. And a good friend. I get that. I also know him well enough to trust him. He’s trying. I know he is.”
“Oh,” I say stumped.
I thought for sure he wouldn’t like it. I know he won’t forbid me from seeing Henry, but I know he doesn’t like it when I go without him, or when Henry and I are alone. I can’t blame him for that given our past. I know they’ve been hanging out more often with Hadenfelt gone, so maybe that helps his trust in Henry. Henry did say they’d fix things on their own time, so maybe they did?
“Well did you get me a present too? Because the way I see it, that’s the only thing I have to be jealous over,” he jokes playfully.
I smile. “Yes, I got you a present too.”
What has gotten into this man? He is so happy. Must be the Christmas spirit because I know he hasn’t touched the eggnog. For that matter, everyone seems to be acting like fools.
He looks intrigued. “Well now I want to know what it is.”
“You will. Soon enough.” I’m a little nervous about giving him his present and he notices but doesn’t press it further.
The song stops and the President himself gives the welcome speech. I take note that we were probably less than five minutes away from being late and mentally blame it on Lyncoln and his overabundance of muscles. Just like that, the orchestra starts up again and the dancing picks back up.
Lyncoln and I have barely started dancing when I hear a familiar voice.
“What am I, chopped liver? A girl travels all this way to see her best friend, and I can’t even be properly greeted because she’s too busy dancing the night away with her hunky hunk of a man.”
I spin around and am face to face with Marcia, still sassy as ever, with her hands on her hips.
“What are you doing here?!” I squeal as I throw my arms around her pleasantly surprised.
Attie, Elizabeth, and Vanessa are with her, standing a few yards back, off the side of the dancefloor. I know there were many people invited to this ball from Denver and I was hoping to find Elizabeth and Attie at some point, but I wasn’t expecting Marcia from out of town. All my best friends are here together.
“Ask your hunky hunk of a man,” Marcia grins and winks at Lyncoln. Out of the corner of my eye I see him fidget uncomfortably.
I turn toward him, “You did this?”
He just shrugs with a cocky smile. “Merry Christmas, Regs. I’m going to go find Maverick, I think,” he nods to the group of us, “Ladies.”
“What is going on?!” I ask overjoyed, to no one in particular.
“It’s freaking Christmas,” Marcia explains with a gesture. “Everyone gets all nambity-pambity.”
“I don’t know what that means, but I think I like it,” I say and we all laugh.
We retreat off to the side of the dancefloor to find some champagne. For at least an hour, we just girl-chat. No talk of the Culling. No talk of Hadenfelt. Just good, purposeless, stupid girl-talk. I love every minute of it and laugh harder than I have in weeks.
I try to wave Marisol over later, but she is talking with Jade, yes that Jade, and nicely declines but tries to smile at me.
“Excuse me. Did you just try to wave over that girl?” Marcia asks shocked.
I shrug and look to Attie for help. “She isn’t all bad.”
The other three look at us like we have grown extra heads.
“Let’s just say we figured out she does, in fact, have a heart. It’s a small one, but only because her dad beat the crap out her,” Attie explains.
“Figures,” Vanessa rolls her eyes, clearly annoyed. “Bummer. Now I can’t blatantly hate her as much.”
“Trust me, I don’t want to like either of those girls any more than you do,” I say nodding and try my darndest to not look their way and glare at Jade.
“What did Jade do? Other than being a fake little flirty thing?” Marcia asks.
“Her and Lyncoln had a thing in high school,” Vanessa explains.
“You knew?!” I ask defensively.
“All of Denver knew. Lyncoln was the town bad boy. His relationship status was always gossip-worthy,” Elizabeth tries to explain in Vanessa’s defense.
“You didn’t tell me?!” My voice goes an octave higher than I want it to, but I never turn my attention away from Vanessa. I know Elizabeth is a peacekeeper, so she wouldn’t have wanted to tell me, plus we weren’t close until Jade was out of the Culling anyway. Vanessa, however, is a different story. She should have told me!
“It was for your own safety, Reagan,” she smiles her killer smile and I notice her dark hair has gotten a lot longer. She looks great in her black, tight-fitting, sparkly gown. “I wanted you to stay in the Culling and I know for a fact you would have beat the crap out of her… verbally or otherwise.”
“And I would have helped,” Marcia nods seriously.
And just like that we are all laughing again.
“Hellllllo, ladies.”
Of course now would be about the time that Ashton made his way over.
“Girls, this is my brother Ashton.” I properly introduce him to each of them.
“I’m so glad you are in Denver now,” Attie kindly smiles at him. “I know Reagan missed you guys more than anything.”
“Me too. The beds here though. Totally worth the move,” Ashton jokes and we all agree.
“What will you do now?” Marcia asks him.
“I’m currently in more combat training. I hope to eventually do something in weapons. I kind of have a thing for weapons.” He grins and tugs at his lapels cockily.
The Fracturing: Book 2 (The Culling Series) Page 43
