He tipped up her chin. “I just want you to be safe, Mari-girl.”
“I know. And I get it. I’ve always had a bit of a lead foot. And I tend to get distracted.”
“And I made myself clear about not wanting you to walk around with your head in a book, right?”
She nodded, blushing slightly.
He ran his thumb across her cheek. “You’re precious, Mari-girl. I just don’t want something happening to you. As your friend, I’m asking you to take better care of yourself. Okay?”
“Okay.”
8
You’re precious, Mari-girl.
She could barely contain her smile as she followed him around to the passenger side of his truck. She’d never been precious to anyone before. Not that she could remember anyway.
Careful. Don’t let it go to your head. You barely know him, remember?
Linc opened the door and she stared up into the high cab. What happened to running boards? Obviously, they hadn’t made this vehicle with the vertically challenged in mind.
Before she could attempt to climb up, big hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her into the air, placing her on the seat.
Whoa. She’d had a demonstration of his strength the other night when he’d grabbed her, but it still took her by surprise. As she was trying to gather her wits, he took hold of her seatbelt then leaned across her to buckle her in. His chest pressed up against hers.
Her nipples instantly hardened. She bit her lip. Holy shit. He was muscular. The feel of him sent her senses into overdrive.
All too quickly, she was belted in and he was moving away from her.
Calm, girl.
She’d never reacted to a man like this before. Mind you, she hadn’t been around that many men. Just her aunt’s husbands, and most of them ignored her. Which was a good thing. Then there was Saber, Tiger and their friends.
She definitely didn’t want t
heir attention. Being around Linc was completely different. Instead of scaring her, he actually made her feel safe.
She snuck glimpses over at him as he hopped into the truck and started it up. Those hands of his were enormous. What would it be like if he touched her? Cupped her breast, ran his hand down her stomach to touch her . . .
“Mari-girl? Marisol? You okay?”
“What?” She stared at him. Mierda! Had he been talking to her? Good work, Marisol.
“Are you all right?”
“Oh yes, I’m fine. Sorry. I just zoned out a bit.” She winced. Great. Now she made it sound like she was bored or something. “Sorry. It’s not the company. I tend to spend a lot of time in my own head.”
He drove them out of town. She hadn’t done much exploring around. Her aunt usually only liked her going out in the car if it was for work or to run errands for her, so she was stuck on foot.
“That so?” he murmured thoughtfully. As though he saw much more than she wanted him to. She licked her lips.
“We’re going to the river?”
“Yep. We’re headed to a nice spot I know of.”
“Did you have a good time at the wedding?” she asked, kicking her feet back and forth. They didn’t even touch the floor and she couldn’t see out the front window.
“I did. Charlie made a beautiful bride. And Clint could barely take his eyes or hands off her all night.”