Page 42 of Dancing With Lies

“Um, excuse me? What are you doing here at this time, lady?” Wendy’s hands were on her hips, her mouth twisted.

“Oh. Well...” Now it was Roxie looking away, trying to dodge questions. “I’d better get some clothes.”

17

Roxie

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. I can’t stay with you for however long it’s going to take to fix the place.” Roxie settled into the seat as Lincoln got in on the driver’s side once they left the police station. She’d officially pressed charges against the man she’d almost thought she was in love with. If that wasn’t a mood-killer, nothing was.

“It’ll be fine. I have enough room.” He said but paused to send a message to someone on his phone.

She wasn’t about to pry, not when she could still remember the way she’d stormed off from his house earlier. She asked him to stop at an all-night convenience store and rushed in to buy a bottle of water and some sour gummy bears. They were one of her weaknesses and in times of stress, she turned to them instead of cigarettes or chocolate. She picked up another pack of sour gummy peach candy and paid for it before she went back to the car.

“Want one?” She asked and held out the peach candy.

“No thanks.” He shook his head but did look intent when he saw a restaurant with an all-night drive-through. “I do want coffee and an apple pie though.”

“You’ll lose that fabulous figure if you keep eating those.” Roxie pointed at the piping hot treat wrapped in cardboard with a smirk.

“Like your candy is any better. Although, a little bit of softness wouldn’t be a bad thing, I guess.” His eyes traced down her body before they came back up to her face. “Not that there’s really anything wrong with how you look.

Lincoln pulled back onto the road and the only sound was the car’s engine and the tires on the tarmac. Roxie was glad he didn’t say anything. She was too shaken up about the entire night for conversation at that moment. First, she’d left Lincoln’s house in unsettled confusion about the growing attraction between them. Or whether that attraction had always been there. That was more honest, really.

Then there was Nathan.

She didn’t want to think about him right now, though.

“How’s your hand?”

“It’s fine, Rox.” He clenched his fist and released it. “Might hurt a little tomorrow, but I’ll live.”

“Good.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say, not without starting a conversation she wasn’t ready for yet.

She thought about taking a walk on the beach and when he pulled up at his house told him she wanted a few minutes alone. He didn’t argue with her but did offer to go with her.

“No, thanks. I’ll be up in a minute.” He stood at the car and she wondered if he’d stay there until she came back.

She could hear the party was still going on inside and that was good. Maybe she could forget herself in there in a little while. For now, she stood at the edge of the surf, letting the night breeze blow her hair out from her face. At some point her hair had come down, was it when Lincoln kissed her or when Nathan slammed her against the wall?

She closed her eyes against the violence she’d endured, not wanting to remember it. It was only one more episode that showed her the nasty side of humanity and right now, she didn’t need any more evidence of how bad human beings could be to each other. She just needed peace.

Lincoln wanted to talk, she could sense it, but she doubted he’d ever had someone he once loved pull a knife on him. What she wanted to do was get mind-numbingly drunk and fuck the night away. Lincoln didn’t seem like the type that would enjoy drunken sex though, even if it was with her.

That tugged a smirk out of her at least, and she turned away from the pounding ocean surf. A storm was brewing and the party should be winding down. Time to catch what she could of it before it finished. Lincoln was still at the car when she came back up to the house, the security gate open while the party was going on.

Would he taste of apple and coffee, she wondered?

She knew she’d been mistaken when she said he was drunk earlier and the calm way he smiled at her proved that. Gone was the warrior willing to beat a man’s face in. The old Lincoln, with his easy smile, was back and reached for her hand.

“Let’s go see what we’ve missed.”

“Sure.” She replied, not sure she could handle watching sex with Lincoln without wanting to bang him against the nearest available surface that would take their weight. But she’d go in with him.

Emily and Dylan were on the couch, looking sleepy, but both brightened up when Lincoln and Roxie walked in. “We were waiting on you so we could say goodbye.

“Oh, sorry. We just had to run out for a minute.” Lincoln answered quickly, not letting on for an instant that anything had happened.

“Well, thanks for everything. We had a great time.” Emily walked up to Roxie and noticed the cut, just a deep scratch really. “What happened?”