My hands fly up, reaching for her, but she retreats into the door.
“This is hard enough. I won’t be used. What we had was fun, and I’m ever thankful that you were both so generous to teach me, but I don’t owe you anything. And I can’t confuse your son about my role in your life. I can’t confuse myself.”
Her words grow quiet with the last statement.
“There’s nothing to be confused about. We love you. We want you to be ours.”
She shifts her eyes from me to Lincoln. “You do?”
Lincoln reaches for her hand and she lets him take it so I do the same with her other.
He says, “Our lessons have only started. There are so many more. Please, Natalie, be the one to teach them to us.”
“I’m the one who needed lessons, not you.”
Lincoln says, “We gave you lessons about sex, but you gave me lessons about cherishing what’s most important in my life, about the risks I’m willing to take, and what I’m willing to give up.”
“But you love your job. I felt horrible when I heard you were quitting.”
I jump in. “He’s going to be my partner. We’re going to run the security business together. That means you can stay here…but you don’t have to work if you don’t want to.”
Her eyes go wide. “What would I do all day if I don’t work?”
“When we’re home…we’d appreciate it if you let us love on you. When we’re not home, you can do whatever you want.”
“Just preferably not around any other guys,” Lincoln adds.
Her brow furrows. “You don’t trust me?”
“I do…” Lincoln looks at me and I nod. “We do. You just make us insanely possessive. If we could permanently close Eggplant Canyon and live alone with you, we would.”
“Aside from the obvious problems that presents, I’m flattered.”
I have no doubt she’ll be an amazing mother to my son, I can feel it in my soul, but I make sure she’s thought about it.
“And to clear up what you heard me say on the phone…I’d been ahead of myself. I’d love for you to meet my son because even though I’ve been a terrible dad, it’s my priority to be an active part of his life. Are you willing to take on the role of a stepmom?”
Her mouth drops open. “Um…are…you asking me…”
My pulse pounds in my ears while we all process what I just asked. In a really crappy way, I proposed to her. I’ve never wanted to be married, never wanted a woman in my life permanently.
Lincoln saves me. “Marriage is tricky with three people…and by tricky I mean not possible, legally, but in every other way, we’re prepared to fully commit to you.”
“I have an unsupervised meeting with my son this afternoon. Will you please be there?”
“It’s all happening so fast.”
“Is it? I’ve been in love with you since the first day you stood in this doorway and told me you were going to be my new admin.”
“The first day?”
“Yes ma’am. You wore a light pink dress that matched the blush of your cheeks. The little white sweater you had over it made me want to wrap my arms around you and keep you warm, and I suspected that if I did, I’d never want to let you go.”
“But you hardly ever looked at me. I thought you hated me.”
“I didn’t want to scare you with how badly I wanted you.”
“What would you have done with me?” Her sultry tone changes the direction of the conversation. My cock springs to attention.