Chapter 12
Showing up for work on Monday morning took more courage than she thought she had. But Kinsley refused to cower. Moments before she left her apartment to drive over to the warehouse, her cell phone rang. Looking at the number, she felt her heart flip with excitement.
“Hello? Is anything wrong?”
Lincoln’s strong, steady voice came right back to her. “Not at all. I just…”
“I was about to leave for work. I can be there in….”
“Don’t leave yet. You need to pack a bag.”
She hesitated for a long moment, his words not really making much sense. “A bag?”
“Yes. That was the deal on Saturday. You let me teach you how to ride a motorcycle, then you get to choose the place where I figure out the plan for the next several months. So, where are we going?”
She swallowed, shocked at his offer. “Um…? Where do you work best?”
He chuckled and she felt another thrill whip through her whole body. “Anywhere that isn’t here. I get too distracted around the house and the work area. So I just…go someplace. Usually, I just get in my truck and drive somewhere.”
The idea sounded…wonderful! Biting her lip, she looked out the window at her car, contemplating the wonder of just getting into a car and driving away without any destination in mind. Just driving and seeing what was ahead. “Why don’t you do that, then?”
“Because we made a deal, Kinsley. You choose.”
“But this is your time.”
“It is, but you’re coming with me. So choose.”
She laughed, and it felt really good after the past two days to laugh. To feel good. For a brief moment, the guilt over what she’d put Carl through dissipated and she reveled in Lincoln’s relaxed tone.
“Do I need to get my pilot on the phone? How about Paris? Or London?”
She gasped at the idea. “No way!”
“Why not? You don’t want to visit Paris?”
“I’d love to, but…Linc, do you really think that they would be conducive to helping you think?”
He laughed softly. “I don’t know.”
“Where did you go the last time you did this?”
“Camping in Montana.”
She cringed. Camping? With bugs and snakes and no flushing toilets or hot showers?! Seriously? “Okay, well, why don’t you do that again this time?”
“Deal. I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes. Pack jeans and sweatshirts.”
Then he ended the call. Kinsley stared at her phone, not sure she’d heard him correctly. He was coming by to pick her up? To go camping?
No. That really wasn’t going to work for her! She didn’t camp. Camping? With tents and bugs and snakes and bears and…wilderness?
Did he mean in a campground? She might be able to do that. Yes, with a campground, there were those cute little cabins. And showers. And toilets, sinks, running water. And weren’t they usually close to a town where they could grab groceries and eat at restaurants?
Yeah, she might actually enjoy that. But full out camping? Nope. Just no.
But she turned around and headed back into her bedroom. She didn’t really have a good camping suitcase. Of course, she had a suitcase, but it still had the tags on it. She’d bought it for her honeymoon. Tugging it out from the back of her closet, she dusted it off and smiled. Then her smile disappeared. She’d told Carl that she wanted to go to St. Martin for their honeymoon. It was a beautiful island with warm waters and soft sandy beaches. And it was a foreign country where she could get a stamp in her passport. The passport she’d gotten six months ago, in anticipation of getting married and going on her honeymoon. A honeymoon that she wasn’t going to take because she wasn’t getting married.
Sighing, she accepted that her travels wouldn’t be happening. Not for a while. Yes, she was going on a “camping trip” with Lincoln. But that would probably be here in Washington somewhere. There were so many beautiful places to camp here. One could choose mountains or beaches or rugged terrain, plains, or…whatever one wanted or needed to escape.
But it was still here in Washington.
Kinsley started pulling jeans and sweatshirts out of her drawers and dumping them into the suitcase. Unfortunately, she didn’t own many pairs of jeans. She packed the leggings that she preferred because they were more comfortable than jeans, and all of the sweatshirts that she owned. Should she pack sweaters? But all of her sweaters were expensive. She wore those to work. She had a few of those cute tops and leggings that she’d bought to work out in. Most of them still had the tags on them though because she hated working out. She didn’t like sweating and she definitely didn’t like being dirty.
“Oh boy,” she grumbled.
The doorbell rang before she could finish packing. Going over to the door, she pulled it open and, her breath caught in her throat when she took in Lincoln’s tall form in her doorway.
“Good morning,” he said, stepping into her apartment. “Are you all packed?”
“Not really,” she told him, stepping back because, once again, she had the insane urge to throw herself into his arms and press herself against him. She wanted so desperately to feel his arms close around her, just as he’d done in the past. His arms were perfect for holding her close. And his body…good grief, she’d had the most erotic dream about his body and his hands. She’d watched him tinker for weeks now. And she kept wondering what his hands would feel like on her skin.
After she’d had those thoughts, Kinsley had felt an overwhelming sense
