Page 17 of Dancing With Doubt

9

Lincoln

Lincoln was still at work when his PA, Tanya, called to tell him there’d been an incident at the studio where Roxie worked. Then she dropped a bomb and told him that Nathan was involved. Lincoln knew it was all being taken care of, Tanya let him know the paramedics and police went to the scene, so he stayed put. Roxie didn’t want him in her life right now, he’d stay cool.

Then Wendy had texted to tell him she couldn’t get through to Roxie. Hoping she’d be at the apartment by the time he got there, he left work and raced to the only place he could think of that she might be at. His brain had been running on fumes since the day his sister showed up at his house, but it geared up into overdrive on the way to her apartment.

He didn’t want to lose her again. He’d lost her once, ten years ago, and when he found her again, he didn’t want to let her go. It was in Cambodia that he discovered just how much he needed her in his life. Anything could have happened there, especially when that storm came through, but they’d weathered it together and no trees had fallen on her to take her from him. But then his sister intruded and that really did change everything.

Roxie had been furious with him, and although he hadn’t done anything on purpose, he had left his sister there without telling Roxie. She was right to be angry with him since he’d just run off and avoided explaining anything to either of the two women, really. June was probably pissed at him too since he hadn’t told her he knew where Chloe/Roxie was. That must have taken a lot of explaining, if Roxie explained anything at all to his sister.

He still didn’t know what had happened there.

Roxie was in the shower now and all he could think about was getting in there with her, but he doubted she’d appreciate that. She was still furious and after her run-in with Nathan, anything that hinted at sex would probably have her running away again. Not that she was afraid of sex, but yeah, he didn’t think she’d go for it.

He didn’t say a word when she went to the bedroom she’d used when she first stayed with him. For now, he was just happy knowing where she was. Over the next few days, he moved most of his work from the office to the house. Even his PAs worked at the house now. They were virtually camping in his kitchen, and both doted on Roxie.

He even conducted most of his meetings over Zoom, just so he could stay home with Roxie. Instead of going out to eat, he ordered food from the best restaurants and Kai ended up being so concerned over Roxie, and Lincoln’s behavior over what had happened, that he sent down some of his mother’s magical healing soup. It was some kind of chicken soup with herbs and mushrooms. Roxie liked it, even if she wasn’t really sick.

Lincoln didn’t know how to explain this sudden concern over her health, her condition as he kept calling it, even though everyone responded to that by asking if Roxie was pregnant. No, he’d try to explain, it was more to do with how she’d responded to the assault. It bothered him that she didn’t seem to be put out at all. As if this kind of thing happened so often it didn’t phase her.

That wasn’t normal and it had him worried. He ordered the best food he could to help her be strong and healthy, but he wasn’t sure what to do about her reaction to all that shit with Nathan. The fact that she seemed unphased really, really got to him. Had her life been that bad that an assault by a former boyfriend went by without even a blink of upset?

Now he was about to take some sushi from Kai’s New York restaurant to her. Going to the actual restaurant would cost him at least $800 a person, having it shipped down on a private jet had cost him even more. It was all worth it though, to see her smile.

Lincoln got out of the car his driver parked in his driveway and headed into the house. It was good to have his driver back, even if he wasn’t doing much back and forth between house and office right now. His driver hadn’t been living in South Carolina so having the time to work hadn’t really been possible before he’d moved his office to his house. Now his driver had relocated and Lincoln welcomed him back into the work-family with relief.

What made him even happier in life was currently sitting on his couch, looking bored as she scrolled through Netflix looking for something to watch.

“Binged your way through Lucifer, have you?” Lincoln asked, heading into the kitchen with a huge white catering box.

“I’m saving the last season for hard times.” She said, her voice as bored as her face. “Although, this might qualify as hard times.”

Lincoln grinned as he unboxed eel sushi along with a few other selections, put some of the condiments Kai sent in the box into a bowl, and grabbed some chopsticks from a drawer. “Well, if you’re bored with life that much, let me bring you something that will brighten your day.”

He set the plate down on the coffee table in front of her and sat back to watch her face.

“You went for sushi? I thought you were going to the airport for something?” She sat forward, inspecting the plate and the wasabi and sliced ginger in bowls.

“I did - this.” He held his hand out to indicate the plate and smiled at her confusion.

“You got me airport sushi? Are you sure that’s safe?” Her expression told him all he needed to know about how good she thought the sushi would be.

“No, it’s not airport sushi. This is from Kai’s restaurant.” He took a portion of eel sushi and let the delicacy flood his senses.

“I’ve always wondered how good the food was at his place. I’ve looked it up online, you know?” She started to eat and moaned in happiness. “Holy moly, that’s good.”

“Right? I’ll take you for the fresh from the bar where they make it experience one day.”

She smiled, and he could almost hear what she was thinking. If he was right, she was thinking about how much she hated those teppanyaki type places with the open flames, but a sushi chef preparing everything in front of her might be cool. He’d noticed her aversion to flames and electricity, but he’d never make her talk about it. That a fire took away her childhood home and parents was enough of an explanation.

They finished eating over a film that neither one of them really seemed focused on so turned the TV off to go sit on the back deck. It had become a habit over the last few days that if they weren’t happy about a film, they’d go out and watch the sun set. It was still hot out, but the nights were getting cooler already, so Roxie grabbed a hoodie from the back of the couch. It was pink and too big for her, but she seemed to like it. It swamped her so much that it was cute.

“Are you going to class at all this week?” Lincoln asked, sliding one of the beers he’d taken from the fridge on his way out over to her.

“The studio decided to cancel my classes for this week to give us all some time to get over Nathan’s unplanned visit.” She sipped at the beer in a green bottle and put it back down. A few taps of her phone and Lincoln nearly spit his beer out.

“Is that, are you playing Pink?” He stressed the singer’s name as he stared at her.