Page 10 of Healing Home

Chapter 3

Lincoln blinked into the darkness.It took him a second to realize he was in his own bed at home. He sighed, rubbing his cheek against the soft fabric of the pillow. It was softer than anything he’d ever felt when he was deployed. Had the Navy invested in fabric softener?

Then something wafted through the room. What was that? Whatever it was it made his stomach grumble.

Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, he gaped. It was after ten in the morning. He looked at the window. The blackout curtain had been pulled shut, but he could see a crack of light along one edge. Fuck!

Then he remembered BB, her shining eyes bright with awareness as she welcomed him home.

Link rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Had he seriously slept for fourteen hours? His bladder said yes.

After he cleaned up and scrubbed the buildup from his teeth, he headed out into the house. Once again the scent of cooking food slammed into him. BB stood at the stove, removing bacon from a pan and placing it on a paper-towel lined plate. She looked up at him as smiled. “Hey, sleepyhead. I thought the bacon might work.”

Lincoln had to stop in the doorway, caught in the moment. For a bare second his mind took off and he imagined that his life had grown to include this beautiful woman. He couldn’t imagine a more perfect woman as a wife. Beautiful, kind, self-sufficient. And she had a damn bangin’ body, curvy and soft. He would give damn near anything to belong to a woman like her.

But that wasn’t the arrangement they had going. In two days she would be gone, and he had a feeling he would be left reeling from her absence.

Today her light-brown curls were up in a bouncy pony-tail, trailing down her neck. He wanted to reach out and pull the tie from her hair just so he could see what she looked like with her hair down. She wore a pretty, glittery t-shirt today with a dog on the front and a pair of jean shorts. Casual clothes, but she wore them like they were high-class debutante worthy. Her legs were lean and muscled.

Lincoln dragged his gaze away from her delectable form before he grew hard enough for her to notice. Last night there had been a buzz of arousal in his veins, but today, rested and alert, it was even more pronounced. It had been months since he’d been stateside, and even longer since he’d been with a woman, and he was feeling that lack.

But he was also feeling the lack of easy companionship. Just hanging with someone, people watching, sharing a meal, maybe watching a movie. Yeah, he could go hang with his teammates to watch a game here and there, but there was always the expectation that he would leave eventually. It wasn’t like he could move in and just hang. His buddies had their own separate lives, and he’d gotten used to cutting out gracefully.

His ex-wife had not been the cuddling type. She’d let him touch her here and there, but she’d always pulled away when he’d wanted more. It wasn’t until later in the relationship that he realized she’d been in love with another man.

Stop thinking about her. You have a beautiful woman standing right in front of you this second. Live in the moment.

Crossing to the stove just so that he could be closer to her, he reached around her for a piece of bacon. She grinned as he stuffed the entire thing into his mouth and chewed. He grinned back at her because he could appreciate the immaturity.

Frankie sat beside her mistress’ feet, staring up at him. It was obvious she loved bacon as well and was just waiting for a nibble. Lincoln looked at BB. “Can I give her a piece?”

BB cocked a hand on her hip, frowning at him. “If you do she’ll never leave you alone. I’m warning you now, those big dark eyes of hers will get you every single time.”

Grinning, he grabbed another piece from the plate. He could tell the dog still didn’t like him, but that wasn’t going to stop her from taking the treat from him. Tearing the strip into pieces, he made her work for it. Frankie ‘sat’ and ‘shook’ and ‘layed down’, staring at him hard until he gave her a piece every time she completed the task. Link laughed and tried to pet her once the bacon was gone, but she turned up her nose and walked away from him.

“She’s tough, I’m telling you. Most stubborn dog I’ve ever trained.”

Link watched Frankie continue to lick her chops. “We had a bulldog when I was a kid. He was harder than hell to train, too.”

Grinning, BB nodded. “They definitely are their own person, so to speak.”

She handed him a plate full of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, bacon and a fruit salad. Then, turning off one of the burners, she followed him to the table with her own plate. She had a lot less food than he did.

“I’m not going to fit in my uniform by the time you leave,” he grumbled.

BB chuckled as she settled into the chair. “I think you can stand to gain a few pounds.”

Yeah, she was probably right, actually. He tucked into the food, eating everything on his plate. They had scrambled eggs and bacon when they were deployed, but for some reason hers tasted so much better. Was it the care and attention she used to make the food that he tasted?

What a fanciful thought. He was a little shocked at it. He knew he could definitely get used to the pampering.

Link stared at BB as she finished her own food. She ate delicately, with no dropped food or fumbled utensils. When she’d first sat down he’d seen her drape a paper napkin over her bare legs like it was cloth. It was obvious she’d been raised well, politeness ingrained in her. It made him feel rough, and unpolished.

“What does BB stand for?” he asked.

Her lips quirked. “What do you think it stands for?”

Link sat back in his chair. “Bryan Barcelona.”