A Billionaire's Mistake

7|Eye Candy

Chapter Seven: Eye Candy

Sienna

I'm trying to keep it together as I climb into a car with Lincoln Nash, but my heart is racing through the roof. I don't even so much as flinch when his driver wails his horn when a biker darts out in front of us, unable to erase Reed and Lincoln's encounter from my mind.

Reed looked...jealous, which is odd since he's the one that ended things with me. I mean, men are territorial, I suppose. Maybe to him, even though I can't have him, no one else can have me, which is toxic and repulsive.

And Lincoln stepped in to help. He offered me a way out. I'm horrified to think that there might be a good, genuine guy underneath all the layers of asshole. If that's truly the case, I'm in deep shit. I couldn't even step away from his hand for crying out loud. He rubbed in lazy circles across my spine, a tingling sensation spreading all the way down to my toes. If I find out he actually cares? I'm done for.

It's a silent ten minutes into the drive before Lincoln asks, "Who was Reed to you?"

Is it that obvious?

"Does it matter?" I say instead.

"Not if it doesn't to you. I just thought...if you wanted to talk about it..."

From the way his driver is heading, we're going to the Upper East Side. I wonder if he lives near me, and the thought sends a warning signal straight from my heart to my head. This is a client of mine. I shouldn't have let him touch me like that. I shouldn't have agreed to come to lunch. I shouldn't be wondering if he lives near me.

"I don't need to talk to you about anything," I say softly. "You're my client, Lincoln, nothing more."

Lincoln's driver locks eyes with him in the mirror, confusion etched onto his face before Lincoln mutters something and closes the divider up between us. It's a silent rest of the ride to the Upper East Side, and when we stop at 74th street, he thanks his driver and comes around to open the door for me.

The city is alive and bustling from tourist season at its highest. Delivery drivers are zooming through the streets, stay-at-home moms pushing their kids in strollers, and teenagers carrying shopping bags on each arm. I follow him at a brisk pace since there are so many people, clinging closer to his side than I should. He lifts his hand as if debating to place it on my back again but chooses to rest it down at his side instead.

It's not until we turn on 76th street that I dig my heels into the concrete, causing a bunch of people to shout obscurities to pass around us. How did I not think this through when the driver dropped us off? We can't be on this street. This street is where—

"Sienna!" Riley screeches from the floral shop, waving her hand side to side in the air like a lunatic. I let out the biggest groan I can possibly imagine.

Carmen joins her moments after on the street where Riley was arranging bouquets, a knowing look falling on her face as she sizes up Lincoln. He looks incredible today, wearing just a dress shirt and his suit pants that are tailored just right against his body, those buttons of his shirt undone and that serpentine teasing me, as always.

"Come introduce us to your eye candy!" Carmen yells.

Oh.

My.

God.

I make a mental note to kill her later.

"Friends of yours?" Lincoln asks with an amused grin tugging at his lips.

I'm trying to think of a way to get out of this as Lincoln walks toward them. I could fake a fall right here on the pavement and go to the hospital. I could pretend to get a call that a relative has died. I could...