“Stop staring at me,” he snapped as he loosened a nut. I didn’t know how he’d known, since his gaze was narrowed in on the work he was doing, but he answered my unspoken question next. “I can feel you watching me.”
“How did you know that’s what I was wondering?”
His shoulders rose and dropped as he let out a heavy breath but then started shaking as he laughed quietly. “I don’t know. Intuition, common sense, predictability? Take your pick.”
“I’m not predictable,” I objected. “But okay. I guess that question was kind of predictable.”
When he said nothing more, I leaned against the side of his truck and did my best to keep my eyes on the lush greenery of the empty lot on our side of the road. Surely, I couldn’t ogle when he knew what I was doing and had told me to stop.
I kept sneaking glances at him while I spoke, though. Just to check this so-called intuition of his.
“About earlier, I really didn’t mean to offend or insult you. It felt like we were getting to know each other, and it was a genuine question. I’ve been wondering since my father told me, but I figured it’d be better to wait and ask you instead of discussing it with him.”
“What?” he grunted. “Am I supposed to thank you for that?”
“No.” I sucked on my teeth, trying not to snap at him to stop being childish. “I just wanted to speak to you about it in person. That’s all. If I crossed a line, I’m sorry.”
“If you crossed a line?” He made a noise of disbelief somewhere deep in his chest. “Again, Sofia, neither you or your father know me. Let’s just leave it at that and let it go, okay?”
I nearly drooled at the way his muscles bulged when he lifted the busted tire off and flung it to the side without skipping a beat. Lincoln must have felt my eyes on him again, though.
“Seriously, Sofia. Quit it.”
“Why?” I did snap back at him this time. “It’s nothing you weren’t doing to me earlier and appreciating when I did the same to you. What’s changed?”
He sighed, his head shaking as he replaced the tire. “You and I shouldn’t be looking at each other at all. Never mind like that.”
“Why not?” I propped an arm on the side of his truck and drummed the metal beneath my fingers. “Because of my father? That’s bullshit. He’s retired now. It’s still brand new, but he’s done at the Navy.”
“There are still outstanding issues he’s deciding on,” he gritted out. “Such as whether I’m officially suspended or not.”
“Why are you—” He cut me off with a look, and I blew out a breath. “Fine. You don’t have to tell me. The point is that our relationship isn’t exactly taboo or forbidden. Why can’t we look at each other however we want to?”
“It’s taboo and forbidden. Trust me.” Lincoln looked up at me, only to let me see him roll his eyes. Then that sexy smirk ghosted across his lips again and his freaking dimples came out. “Sure, it makes it a lot more sexy, but it also makes it a lot more stupid. Besides, I don’t need to be judged by people who don’t know me.”
He finished with the tire, pushing to his feet as he tried to hand the jack back to me. “Thank you for letting me use this. It’s too bad this is how things turned out, Sofia. I hope you have a lot of fun on your break. Good luck with finishing your degree. I’m sure you’re going to be a good doctor.”
Lincoln held the jack out to me again, but I didn’t take it. The way I saw it, both of us had acted somewhat stupidly this morning. I shouldn’t have pried into something so deeply personal in such an offensive way, and he shouldn’t have stormed off like a toddler being told they had to wear pants in the middle of winter.
What it came down to, though, was the fact that I wasn’t quite ready to cut all ties with him. We’d had a spat, sure, but that didn’t have to mean we never saw or spoke to each other again.
“Thank me for helping you by taking me out for lunch,” I suggested. “It’s the least you could do.”
“The least I could do?” Those intriguing eyes of his locked on mine. “I don’t think it’s a good