Unexpected Eva (Triple Trouble #3)(83)

“Don’t call me that.” He moves across the room.

“Don’t call you that? Are you for real right now?”

“Yes. I am. I am pissed at you for not being straight up with me about Eva. I like her. I actually really like her.”

“Do you though? ’Cause I’ve seen at least five girls leave your house these past four weeks alone, Linc.”

He shoots his head back as if I slapped him across the face.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means you aren’t exactly picky. And do you have a fascination with Eva, simply because she’s not into you, making it all the more challenging for you? I know you. I see you with girls. It’s not cool. I’ve been your age myself.”

“Is that what it’s like with Eva for you too, then?”

I stand up, frustrated by his arrogance, and slap my palm against the cool marble. “It’s nothing like that. Eva is it for me.”

“And does she feel the same way? You’re fourteen years older than her. She has two young kids. Are you going to bring them up now, too? Move them in, live like one big fucking happy family? Get the thing you want the most. A wife who doesn’t take off at the drop of a hat. Because Eva is stuck here. She has her business, her family. She’s a sure thing. Is that what it is? Security?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Are you sure? ’Cause it sure seems like that.” He sneers at me.

I have never argued with Lincoln like this before. This is unknown land I’ve discovered and I don't like it. Not one bit.

“You’re a sucker for orphans. You brought me up after all.”

“Now that is enough,” I roar. “Your mother may have left you. But I never did. You are far from an orphan. And she was selfish and inconsiderate. And when was the last time you heard from her, by the way? Ten years ago? She’s not fucking interested, Linc. But I am. I love you so much.”

“Doesn't seem like it to me. You went behind my back and slept with someone I had a mad crush on.”

How fucking dare he.

“Had?”

“Have,” he fiercely says, frowning.

“You know what, Linc? Be mad at me. Be mad at me for loving you. Protecting you. Waiting to tell you. We waited because Eva and I were waiting for the timing to be right. So we didn’t cause upset with Eva’s father either. They have a big wedding coming up. We were going to sit down together and tell you all together. And I have been patient my entire life. But finally, after all these years, I feel happy.

“When I was seventeen and you entered my life, you changed everything. I fell in love with you instantly and did everything to protect you. Your mother left three months after we got married. I was eighteen. And since then, you have been my priority.

“When my friends were out partying, I was in the house reading books about weaning and diaper rashes. When they were graduating, I was attending hospital appointments with you for the hernia you had. When they started their first week at their new jobs, I was taking you to your first day of school.”

I pull out my wallet from my inside jacket pocket. “I carry that picture of you on your first day with me everywhere I go because it was my best and worst day. You grew up too fast. I wanted to look after you all the time. I worried about you going to school. What would the other kids say to you when they found out you didn’t have a mom like they did? Would they tease you? I worried about you every day of my life and I still do.

“I juggled studying and learning the ropes at the hotel around your routine. Every day was scheduled so that I could be there for you. I had dreams too, Linc. I wanted to go to university. Go to parties. Have my own adventures. But I didn’t.”

He pushes his hands into his sweatpants pockets and hangs his head.

“And I never once, not once, introduced you to the women I dated, not that I dated many. Because again, I protected you. I kept you safe, warm, happy. Those were the only things that mattered to me.

“Raising you was never a chore to me. From the minute you were born, I was consumed with love for you. And I may have hurt you by dating Eva behind your back and you might think I don’t love you, but I do. I have always put you first. When your mother left us, it fucking broke my heart, and I lay awake most nights trying to figure out what I did wrong. It’s taken me all this time to realize that I was never the problem. As hard as this might be to hear, son, she didn’t want us. She called us a burden.”

Lincoln flinches. I’ve never disclosed that information to him before.

“You were never a burden to me.”

I take a step closer to him.

“I have no regrets. You are the best thing to ever happen to me. Your mother and I didn’t fit together right. We weren’t meant to be. But you, you were.”

I place my hand on his shoulder.

“You are the magic that kept me going and the biggest surprise of my life. Every day you blow me away with your witty banter, your clever mind, and phenomenal business head on your shoulders. You’re kind, smart, annoyingly cheerful, and so freakin’ handsome. It’s painful. It’s no wonder the women come and go like buses.”

He chuckles.

“And I may have sacrificed a massive chunk of my life to care for you, but I don’t have any regrets, Linc. And I do love you and there is no way I would intentionally hurt you. I like Eva so much it’s painful to think about her not being in my life anymore. I’m putting myself first for a change.”