“No,” she replied way too quickly.
“Liar!” Kaylee said. “Spill it!”
“Yeah, you’re totally keeping something back,” Timberlynn agreed. “You cannot lie to save your life. Your eye does this weird little twitch.”
“That’s not true!” Lincoln stated. “I can lie…when I need to.”
“Okay,” Kaylee said as she stood and placed Rose in the bassinet. “Do you know something you’re not telling us?”
Lincoln’s eyes bounced around to all of us before she let her gaze fall to the floor as she replied, “Nope.”
“She is totally lying,” Kaylee said, her arms folded across her chest.
Lincoln sighed. “Fine. I can’t lie. But I also can’t say anything. It’s not for me to tell Merit.”
My heart felt like it seized in my chest, and Lincoln noticed.
Reaching for my hand, she gave it a squeeze as she added, “It’s nothing bad, I swear to you. But, I’m not the person to tell you.”
Kaylee turned to Timberlynn. “So, when can we expect you to be next in line?” And with that, the subject was changed.
“Next in line?” she asked with a confused expression.
Kaylee laughed. “There’s clearly something in the water the men are drinking up here.”
Timberlynn stared at her, slightly amused and baffled. “What do you mean?”
With a dramatic eye roll and sigh, Kaylee said, “When are you going to get knocked up, Timberlynn?”
All eyes went to Timberlynn. I was positive we all expected her to brush it off—but when her cheeks turned pink, and she looked away for the briefest of moments, we all knew.
“Oh. My. Gawd!” Kaylee exclaimed.
Lincoln reached for Timberlynn’s hands and smiled. “Oh, Timberlynn, are you pregnant?”
She drew in a deep breath and looked at me, a huge smile instantly appearing on her face. “I found out the day after you did, Merit. And the crazy thing is…we have the exact same due date.”
The entire room erupted into cheers as we all surrounded Timberlynn and hugged her.
“Stella is going to shit her pants!” Kaylee added, and everyone laughed even harder.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
DIRK
I walked up the porch steps of Merit’s house, a bouquet of flowers in my hand, and drew in a long, deep breath. I exhaled slowly and rang the bell.
The door opened, and I was greeted by the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. Merit was dressed in overalls that had giant flowers painted on them. Underneath, she wore a white tank top. Her brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun with long strands of hair falling around her face and neck. Those violet eyes of hers sparkled, and she smiled as she looked down at the flowers. “Are those for me?”
I took her all in. She was in bare feet, and for some weird reason, that turned me on. She looked fucking adorable, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to toss the flowers to the floor and demand she strip right there.
“You look adorable,” I said, my voice sounding a bit strained.
Merit took in her appearance and laughed. “I do?”
All I could do was nod. “Please, wear those all the time. Except, maybe next time forgo the tank.”
Her cheeks turned pink, and she shook her head. “You are impossible.”
No, I was madly in love, and being able to finally acknowledge it felt fucking fantastic. “Not impossible, Bugs, in love. Madly in love.”
Something changed in her eyes. The usual light violet turned darker, and her tongue swept quickly across her lips to moisten them.
“I’m going to hand you these flowers—do what you want with them—but you have five minutes before I strip you naked and bury myself inside of you.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth opened before she quickly closed it. She took the flowers and headed into the house. I followed and shut the door.
“I was getting ready to call you. I wanted to talk to you about paint.”
“Trust me, paint is the last thing on my mind right now,” I said as I admired how nice her ass looked in that outfit.
Merit chuckled as she pulled out a vase and filled it up with water. She carefully arranged the flowers and turned the vase a few times to study it.
“You have a minute and a half left,” I stated.
With a smile, she picked up the vase and set it in the middle of the kitchen island. Then, she folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head as she studied me. “We should talk, Dirk.”
“Talking is so overrated. Forty-five seconds,” I said as I reached down and pulled off my shirt.
Merit drew in a sharp breath and stared at my chest, then my abs. “True, but we keep putting it off, and we really need to. If we’re leaving tomorrow for the benefit ride—”
“I’m not riding in that event.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“I pulled out, but don’t worry, I made a very generous donation.” After I kicked off my boots, I walked over to her and unsnapped one of the overall straps. “Time’s up, baby.”