“I wish you could trust me,” he said after a short pause. The throb in his voice made her flinch.
“It’s not a matter of trusting you.” But she didn’t sound convincing.
From the little she’d shared about her past, he was pretty sure that every time she needed to rely on someone, that person had come up short. He thought of what had happened to his mother when Linc’s dad had first gone to prison and then divorced her. What if Linc and Sawyer hadn’t been there with their love and support, making a tough time a little easier?
Often Linc had thought it odd that Claire had moved to Charleston and put the entire width of the country between her and her family. Maybe she didn’t have anyone who made her life easier or better.
“I’d never do anything to hurt you,” he told her.
“I’m not worried about that.” She sucked in a lungful of air and then expelled it on a harsh sigh. “It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s me. Sometimes I don’t protect myself well enough and get hurt because of it. I know you aren’t going to hurt me. It’s not in your nature. But you can’t control everyone or everything.”
He was starting to understand her concerns. “So it’s okay for us to keep sleeping together as long as no one finds out.”
“For now. It’s working for both of us at the moment.” She shrugged. “When that changes, it will mean a cleaner finish if we keep things in perspective.”
Basically, what she was saying was that she didn’t want to get emotionally entangled with him. He’d been right to think that she wasn’t over her late husband. And wasn’t he the perfect guy for her to take up with? In her mind, their relationship had a built-in countdown. A few weeks. Maybe a month. Some palate-cleansing sex for him. A bridge between London and the next woman he became seriously involved with.
Linc wanted to punch something. This wasn’t what he’d signed up for when he pursued Claire, but it seemed that it was all she intended to offer.
“How very practical of you,” he said. “I guess I’d better head to the gym and get my workout in before the party.”
After waiting a heartbeat for her to say something more, Linc realized she’d emptied her conversational basket of all its goodies and he would get nothing else. Turning on his heel, he exited the kitchen.
By the time he returned home, Claire was gone and the house had the same empty feeling it always did when she and Honey were out. Funny how he didn’t get the same vibe in his Fort Worth home. Maybe because his housekeeper there didn’t live-in, so her presence in the house didn’t have any impact one way or another. Or perhaps because during baseball season his head was filled with the game and he had little downtime to notice that he was lonely.
Knowing his mother would be on edge before the party, Linc made sure he was at her house half an hour early. She received him in her bedroom, where she was having her makeup done. Sawyer had also arrived and was sitting on the chaise in the corner, watching their mother’s transformation. She winked at him as he entered.
Bettina waved her hand. “Come over here so I can get a look at you.”
Linc did as he was asked. Tonight, he’d donned a navy suit with a white shirt and bright blue-striped tie. When he’d chosen the latter, he’d imagined Claire smiling up at him as she commented how the blue matched his eyes.
“Do I meet with your approval?” he teased, seeing his mother’s fond smile.
“You make me proud.” Her gaze flashed toward her daughter, who wore a figure-hugging black dress that bared her toned legs and arms. Bettina frowned. “There’s still time before the party if you want to run home and change,” she told Sawyer. “To put on something with a little more color maybe.”
“I like what I’m wearing.” In one smooth move, Sawyer got to her feet and headed for the door. “Besides, Linc is the one everyone is going to be focused on tonight. No one will even notice I’m here.”
Before their mother could do more than snort her disapproval, Sawyer vanished through the door. Linc stared after her in amusement. At least until her words penetrated.
Everyone would be focused on him tonight. He was the main event.
Normally this would appeal to him, but the idea that most of the women attending the party had their sights set on becoming his wife meant he would be disappointing a lot of people over the course of the evening.
“I’m going to go grab a drink,” he murmured, setting his hands on his mother’s shoulders and meeting her gaze in the mirror. “You look beautiful.”
“Don’t drink too much. Remember, this party is a marathon, not a sprint.”
“But I’m such a happy drunk,” he teased.
In fact, he held his liquor very well and tended to quit earlier than most of his friends. The last thing he needed was to get caught in a compromising situation because he’d drunk to excess and have his exploits splashed all over social media.
His mother regarded him in mock sternness. “We’re trying to make a good impression here.”
“Everyone finds me charming and irresistible. I’ll be fighting them off by the end of the evening.”
“I hope so. Not everyone in this town is convinced you are a good catch.”
Linc could see this bothered his mother and thought he understood why. “I don’t care what people think and you’d be a lot happier if you didn’t, either. There are a lot of small-minded people who believe their social position gives them the right to judge others. The same people who were happy standing on the shoulders of those less fortunate when Daddy roped them into his Ponzi scheme are the ones who think they’re better than him. But they behaved just as badly.”
“Your father made
