Page 24 of Dancing With Temptation

With one final thrust, Lincoln let his control slip and followed Roxie into oblivion. Later, he’d worry about why he couldn’t get enough of her when he could fuck other women once and forget them. Later he’d worry about why he wanted to explore her body, her mind, even more than they’d explored already. Later, much later, he’d worry about why he was already thinking about renewing the contract for much longer than a month. Much later.

12

Roxie

“How am I supposed to get through my life knowing I actually like this fucking man?” Roxie asked the empty, barebones bathroom of the hotel room she’d occupied since Nathan trashed her house. It still felt wrong going back there, so she was still here despite the fact that Lincoln had offered her a room at his place, and despite the fact that she hadn’t seen a hint of those awful men anywhere near her.

Sometimes it was easy to forget there was a threat against her out there, lurking in the dark corners of the world she inhabited. Sometimes it was easier to remind herself of that than to examine her feelings for Lincoln. Staring into her own eyes in the mirror, a swipe of makeup setting spray drying on her face, Roxie let herself be distracted from the most immediate problem she faced.

A knock on the door reminded her why Lincoln was her most immediate problem. A frown creased her features, but she smoothed it out before she opened the door. “Hi. Come in?”

“Yeah, sure. Everything alright?” He seemed nervous, even though he was only there to pick her up to go to his place.

“Yeah, it’s all good.” Holy fucking moly, she lied so easily it even astonished her sometimes.

“Do you have a passport?” Rather than his usual smooth, calm approach to life, Lincoln seemed nervous. That put her even more on edge.

“Why?” She frowned again, her left eyebrow going up.

“Well, I need to go to Cambodia. I thought I’d take you with me.” He smiled uneasily as if he knew the answer already. But then, he did, didn’t he?

“You know I don’t do dates, Lincoln. Not with clients. Going to clubs, adult activities, that’s one thing. But dates? No.” She shook her head for emphasis and crossed her arms under her breasts in a stance of strong denial. Her hair shimmered around her shoulders in black and purple waves, as if it too was denying him the chance at a date.

“This isn’t really a date, though, Rox.” Lincoln sat down on the one chair in the room, an avocado green easy chair that must have come from a 1970s horror yard sale. It was comfortable, though.

“What is it then?” Her chin came up as she inspected him for any hint of a lie.

“It’s a humanitarian trip. I’ve been sponsoring a village there for the last three years, helping them build housing and infrastructure of that nature. There was a storm last week and a lot of the houses were damaged. I need to go and inspect the damage. The plan is to work with them for the next fifteen years, but this storm might have set them back a year or two.” He shrugged, held out his hands with the palms up, and looked at her with a plea in his eyes. “I thought you’d like to go, get out of the States for a while. Maybe work with the kids some? I’ll be gone for a week or two so, um…”

“You’d miss me?” She asked, feeling something cold and hard unthaw in her chest a little. She didn’t want to feel the warm and fuzzies for this man, but damn if he didn’t have a way of making her do just that.

“A little.” He replied with a ‘not really’ expression on his face that she didn’t believe. He would miss her. Damn.

“Uh. I need to check and see if it’s still valid. You know what it’s like getting a passport these days.” Roxie muttered, totally unsure if the fake passport she had would get her through the airline inspection and security or not. She’d never used it since she got it a few years back, hoping to take a trip to Mexico that hadn’t panned out because of a hurricane.

“Of course. And I’d pay for everything, airfare, hotel, all of that.”

“You don’t have your own private jet yet, Lincoln?” She sat down on the bed, giving him an innocent smile that was anything but. She was teasing the hell out of him and the way his right eyebrow rose on his forehead told her he knew it.

“No, I don’t see the point when there are so many commercial flights available. I don’t fly often enough here in the States to justify one, and well, I can just borrow one from my stepdad if I need to.” He said, but then looked at her, as if afraid the mention of someone from their past would upset her.

“I see. I’m glad you’re still in touch with him.” She wasn’t sure what else to say to that. The mention of Dr. Bennet didn’t bother her, mainly because she’d become adept years ago at not thinking too hard about people from her past. “So, when are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow, if we can manage it.” He inhaled deeply and looked around the room, not in judgment, though. He was simply observing where she spent a lot of her time.

“I’ll get Wendy to get it from her parent’s safe and have her bring it to me.” She said before she could think too long about not going on the trip.

“You’ll go then?” Lincoln’s smile lit up the dim quiet of the room, a megawatt sign of happiness.

“Sure. I think. Like I said, I’ll have to check the expiration date.” She knew that was fine, she just had to worry about whether the ID she’d bought from a dealer Wendy knew was good enough to pass inspection. She’d paid enough for the damn thing.

“Great, does that change our plans for tonight then?”

“No, we’re still on for dinner. I’ll have Wendy meet me at your place, if that’s alright?” She picked up her bag and her phone and moved towards the door.

“Yeah, sure, that’s great.” He still seemed nervous, but happy now, at least.

“Good. I’ll just message her.” Roxie spoke as she tapped a text into her phone.