Irresistibly Yours - Lauren Layne Page 0,79
know salad’s not comfort food,” Janie said. “We ordered a pizza while you were in the bathroom curling your hair. Again.”
“Hello?” Penelope asked, punching the button.
“Penelope, sweetheart. How are you?”
She frowned at the familiar voice. “Lincoln?”
“Indeed. Can I come up?”
“Who’s Lincoln?” Lydia asked Janie.
“Dunno,” Janie said. “I hope we’re about to find out. He sounds sexy.”
“You’re married,” Penelope shot over her shoulder to her sister. “Although, if you think he sounds sexy, watch this….”
“Come on up,” she told Lincoln, buzzing him in.
“Watch what?” Janie asked.
“Wait for it,” Penelope said, going to the front door and standing on her toes to look through the peephole.
She smiled in anticipation when she saw Lincoln’s painfully handsome face appear on the other side of the door. Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with this one? Handsome, and unlikely to bid farewell to a woman with a See you around, Pope.
Penelope opened the door before he could knock, then stepped back to let her mother and sister take in the full impact of Lincoln Mathis’s good looks.
“Wow,” Janie said.
“Oh my,” their mother breathed.
Penelope grinned. “Lincoln, meet my sister, Janie, and mother, Lydia.”
Lincoln’s eyebrows lifted. “I would have thought them both your sisters.”
Penelope rolled her eyes at the overused line, but Lydia put a hand over her chest and made a tittering, tinkling laugh that Penelope hadn’t heard…ever.
“I didn’t realize you had family in town,” Lincoln said, going to shake both women’s hands. “Badly done of me to intrude like this.”
“Oh, you’re not intruding,” Janie said in a breathy little voice.
Penelope shut the door. “You’re not,” she confirmed for Lincoln. “They came out to offer moral support in the wake of your best friend being a total jerk.”
Lincoln winced. “I figured it was something like that. Although he’s not returning any of our calls. Jake said his brother had been in an accident, but none of us can get details.”
Penelope studied Lincoln. Saw the concern for his friend that wasn’t quite disguised by Lincoln’s ever-present smile.
“His brother’s okay,” she said, even though it wasn’t her news to tell. “He’s banged up and has a broken leg, but it could have been much worse.”
Lincoln breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thanks for telling me. I don’t know why that fool thinks he has to keep secrets….”
Penelope smiled gently. “Right. Because you’re an open book, hmm?”
Lincoln’s head snapped back just slightly, and his blue eyes went guarded as he studied her.
Yup. Lincoln Mathis definitely had secrets. Ones that were far darker than Cole being overprotective of his brother.
She inwardly sighed. Men and their secrets.
Janie and her mother were still staring at Lincoln.
“You came to check on your friend?” Janie said. “Now that is a legit bromance.”
He winked at Janie. “Actually, my concern is more for his brother and Penelope. As far as I’m concerned, Cole is being a moron.”
“That’s true,” Penelope muttered.
He turned to face her, his eyes gentling. “What happened?”
She shrugged. “The usual dude thing. He pushed me away when I got too close.”
“Idiot.”
She gave a weak smile. “Totally.”
“Have you figured out your plan yet?”
“Nuh-uh,” Janie said, stepping forward. “Penelope is not the one who needs a plan. He’s the one who messed up.”
“I know that, pet,” Lincoln replied smoothly. “But Cole is…well, a guy. If we want him to come to his senses, we’re going to have to tread carefully. Handle this exactly right, you know?”
“What are you thinking?” Penelope’s mother asked, crossing her arms over her chest and giving Lincoln a suspicious look.
Penelope smiled. Apparently even Lincoln’s good looks weren’t enough to hold off the fierceness of a mother cub for her wounded cub.
Lincoln never took his eyes off Penelope. “Well, it all depends on Penelope.”
Her smile slipped at the uncharacteristic seriousness in his gaze. “What do you mean, it depends on me?”
“It’s simple, love. Before we go even a step forward, I need to know one thing. Do you love him enough to want him back, even though he’s been a complete fool?”
Penelope sucked in a breath, the bluntness of the question taking her breath away just slightly.
On one hand, her chest literally ached every time she remembered how much it had hurt when he pushed her away. To remember the flatness of his eyes, and the ease with which he could throw away everything they had had, the second life got a little bit difficult.
On the other hand…
A montage of Cole flitted through her mind. Him buying her that damn Mets cap. The way he’d die for his brother. The way he