The little girl shook her head. “You’re his girlfriend!” Her stage whisper left something to be desired, but she burst into giggles behind her hands. “Are you going to marry him?”
Without missing a beat, or looking at anyone other than Emily, Cleo pursed her lips and tilted her head. “Maybe someday. But not right away. We don’t know each other well enough yet. What if he snores?”
The little girl giggled.
“What if he…” Cleo tapped her chin with her fingertip. “What if he can’t cook? Or he doesn’t put his stinky socks in the laundry?”
“He can’t dance.”
Linc facepalmed, his niece was ratting him out to his girlfriend. This kid!
Cleo gasped. “He can’t?”
Emily’s face turned solemn as she shook her head.
Cleo produced a fake notebook and made fake notes. “What else?”
The whole group was captivated by the exchange. Big blue eyes gazed up at him before turning to her mom, then back to Cleo. “Sometimes…” She glanced at her parents again. “Sometimes he sneaks me candy when my mom doesn’t know.”
“Hedoes?”Cleo clutched a hand to her chest. She tutted up at Linc with a shake of her head and a smirk.
“He plays hockey real good.” Jack’s tiny face peeked out from between Linc’s legs.
Cleo paused scribbling on her invisible notebook and craned her neck to look at his four-year-old nephew. “You must be Jack.”
Jack ducked behind Linc’s thigh.
“He is Jack, but he’s shy.” Emily’s confirmation came with a stroke of Cleo’s forearm. Cleo had made a friend.
“Well, Jack is right, your Uncle Lincoln isverygood at playing hockey. I mean…” She smoothed out her dress on her thighs. “I don’t know much about hockey, to be honest, but I know your uncle scores a lot and that’s a good thing, right?”
Russell snorted from behind Linc, which was silenced when Linc’s elbow collided with his soft tissue.
“But you know what else he’s really good at?”
Emily’s eyes widened, and she shook her head.
“Want me to show you?”
The little girl nodded.
Cleo eased herself upright with a bone-click. She offered her outstretched palm to Emily, who took it and tugged her forward.
“Be right back to finish documenting your sins, Mr. Darcy.” The wink Cleo threw over her shoulder as his excited niece tugged her away was almost his undoing.
“Right.” Beth clapped her hands together. “Who has a ring? He can’t let that one get away. They need to marry, right this second, and have a million babies.”
Amelia slipped a ring off her thumb and raised it in the air. “Totally here for the Clinc shipping.”
Lincoln hadn’t taken his eyes off his girlfriend’s swaying ass as she chattered to Emily on their way to look at his exhibit. He rubbed the back of his neck before tugging on his collar. Was she taking every molecule of oxygen from the room with her as she walked?
His mom sipped her champagne. “From the love hearts popping out of your head, son, your sisters aren’t too far wrong.”
Linc couldn’t imagine spending another day of his life without Cleo. Seeing her with his family, and chatting to his sister’s kids, made it easy to envisage their life together. She was it for him. Whatever it took to keep her by his side, he’d do it.
When he turned to his family, his sisters and mother were all staring at him dreamy eyed, with soft smiles on their faces.
Mom stroked his cheek. “She’s good for you, Lincoln. You’re different with her, more relaxed, less guarded… braver.” She gestured toward his artwork, where Cleo had picked Emily up and was showing her each piece. “Your art…” She swallowed, dabbing a Kleenex to her glistening eyes. “I had no idea you were so good, Lincoln.” Her chin quivered. “We…” She slipped her hand into his father’s and raised both hands. “We are so very proud of you.”
