All of My Soul (2 page)

Feeling giddy, I pranced back to bed and
flopped down on it before Lincoln was done in the bathroom. I
returned to the same position I had been in when Lincoln left—on my
back in the middle of the bed—and placed Lincoln’s present on my
stomach. The sheet pooled around my waist as I threw one arm over
my head, leaving my breasts exposed. I closed my eyes and tried to
hide the smile on my face as I waited for Lincoln to return.

After a short moment, I felt the bed dip next
to me, and it suddenly became harder to hide my smile. I peeked out
from under one eyelid, and I saw a naked Lincoln crawling up the
bed with a giant grin on his face. I couldn’t keep my composure any
longer, and I let a small giggle escape.

His strong hands gripped my hips, and he dug
his fingertips into my skin, applying pressure at just the right
place.

I squealed loudly and attempted to twist out
of his grasp, but he moved a hand higher to my waist and lightly
fluttered his fingers against my unscarred skin.

“No. No. No. No,” I begged between giggles.
“Baby, don’t. Please don’t.” I pushed at his wrist, trying to get
him to stop tickling me.

He laughed loudly but gave in to my begging
and stretched out next to me on the bed.

“I love tickling you,” he said as he snuggled
up next to me.

I let out a small laugh. “Why?”

He thought for a moment. “I think it’s
because it makes your tits jiggle,” he answered without any
shame.

“Oh my God. You pervert.” I smacked him
lightly on the chest.

“Ow!” Lincoln dramatically clutched at his
chest where I hit him. “Why do you have to be so violent?
Geez!”

He was joking. I’d barely touched him and
honestly, even if I had hit him with all my strength, he got hit
with much worse every time he stepped on the ice.

I held Lincoln’s present in my hand and
rolled so I was mostly lying on top of him. “You wimp,” I teased.
“My big strong hockey man can’t take it?”

With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he
grabbed my wrists and twisted his hips, causing me to roll off him.
I laughed and let out a playful squeal as he pinned my arms next to
my head and settled his hard body on top of mine. His carefree,
flirtatious mood suddenly disappeared as he peered down at me,
replaced with a serious, anxious look on his face.

“Every time you laugh, the sound gets me
right here.” He touched the center of his chest. “I feel like my
heart is about to explode with joy, and the look on your face when
I tickle you? I want you to always look that happy. And that, my
princess, is why I love tickling you.”

I twisted my wrist free from his hand and ran
my fingers over his cheek. “Lincoln… It’s only because of you. You
make me happier than I’ve ever thought I could be.”

“Good. I’ll do anything to make you happy.
You know that, right?”

I smiled and wove my fingers through his
hair, tugging on it slightly. “You don’t have to
do
anything. Except open your present.” I turned the small box over in
my hand calling his attention to it.

He made a face and moved his free hand to my
waist. “How about I just tickle you again?”

“No! No, Lincoln. Come on. Open your
present.” I pushed against his chest although I wasn’t strong
enough to move him.

He let out a large sigh.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like it that you spent your money on
me. I know money is tight for you.”

“Are you kidding me?” I pushed against his
chest again, and this time he rolled off me. “You just got done
telling me you were preparing to fight over you spending money on
me, and now we’re going to fight about me spending money on
you?”

“It’s different, and you know it,” he said in
a stern voice.

“How could this possibly be different? It’s
the same thing only in reverse.”

“And that makes all the difference. I don’t
care about my money. They throw truckloads of it at me because they
are grateful I wanted to stay in Chicago.”

I made a frustrated noise. Why was he going
on about this?

“The money doesn’t mean anything to me
because I have you,” he said as he rubbed my side. “You are all I
need. All I want. Do you get that? So if being rich means I get to
spoil you, then great. But you, on the other hand, work your butt
off for every penny you have. That’s worth more to me than a
million fancy watches.”

“Ugh. Lincoln. Please don’t ruin this for me.
I got you this because I thought you’d like it. I’m excited to give
it to you. End of story. I wouldn’t have bought it if I couldn’t
afford it.”

He sighed loudly and looked down at the box
in my hand. “Fine. But I’m only accepting this because I know
someday my money will be your money as well.”

I furrowed my eyebrows as Lincoln shifted up
farther in the bed and leaned back against the headboard. Did he
mean what I think he meant? On rare occasions we talked about being
together in the future, but it was another thing when he said it
that way.

He took the box from my hand and kissed my
forehead as I sat up and snuggled against him. I watched as he
slowly pulled on the end of the red ribbon that was tied in a bow
around a white box. It unraveled and fell to the bed. He flipped
opened the top of the flimsy cardboard box to reveal a bronzed
metal rectangle nestled inside a ball of tissue paper. It was
slightly bigger than the size of a book of matches. Lincoln reached
into the box, and when he pulled out his hand, the rectangle was
dangling from his index finger by the keychain attached to it.

He held it up at eye level. “Um… thanks?”

I smiled and took it from his hand, holding
it up properly in front of him. With the push of a button, the
screen flashed to life and the words
I love you
scrolled
across in fancy script. I moved my finger to another button and
pressed down. A picture of Lincoln and me holding each other and
smiling came up on the screen. I pushed the button again, and it
changed to a picture of the two of us holding hands and ice-skating
with Tabitha at the pond near my house.

I looked up at Lincoln and found he was
looking down at me with a wide smile on his face. He took the
digital-picture-frame keychain from my hand and pushed the button.
A selfie I had taken and sent him after the Hawks lost a game
showed up on the screen. My eyes were crossed and my nostrils were
flared wide, giving my face the weirdest look. Lincoln chuckled and
pushed the button again, and the picture dissolved into another
selfie of me. This time I was blowing a kiss to the camera.

Lincoln shifted against the headboard and
moved his arm over my shoulders. We snuggled closer together as he
continued to flip through the pictures until he got to the last
three. They were my favorites. The third-to-last picture was a
close-up of the two of us smiling for the camera. The next picture
was the same shot, only Lincoln and I were gazing at each other
with an earnest look of love on both our faces. The final picture
was the same shot again, but this time Lincoln and I were kissing
deeply like we couldn’t control ourselves, which was basically how
I felt around him the majority of the time.

Lincoln pushed the button to flip to the next
picture, but the screen faded to black, signaling the end of the
slide show. I looked up at him to ask if he liked it, but before I
could say anything, Lincoln’s mouth was on mine, kissing me with an
intense passion.

I smiled against his lips. I guess he liked
it.

~~~~~~~~

Lincoln had to be at the rink early for
practice before the game, so we ordered room service for brunch
before he left. I didn’t want him to go. Our alone time last night
and this morning had been so wonderful, but obviously it couldn’t
last forever. At least he looked as disappointed as I felt that our
time together was over.

I was putting on my silky white robe when a
knock on our hotel door surprised me. Lincoln had left about
fifteen minutes earlier, and he had a key, so I figured it couldn’t
be him. Maybe it was room service wanting our dirty plates and
flatware.

I clutched my robe tightly to my neck and
peeked out the peephole. It was two female hotel employees, both
dressed in cream-colored smocks with the hotel’s golden insignia on
the upper left chest.

I cracked the door open. “Yes?”

One of the women spoke. “Mrs. Monaghan? Your
husband ordered an in-room spa session for you. Is now a good
time?”

I chuckled in disbelief. “My husband?”

Both the women smiled widely. “He said to
tell you happy Valentine’s Day.”

I hid my face in one hand to hide my chagrin
as I opened the door wider to allow the women to enter. One of the
women carried a large folded, padded table, and the other woman
wheeled in a portable stand of nail polishes and manicure tools. I
tried to assist the woman who was carrying the table. It looked
heavy, but she just ushered me aside with a friendly smile. So
while they set up, I texted Lincoln.

“
Two random women knocked on our hotel door and
tried to give me a massage and manicure. They insisted my husband
ordered it for me, but I assured them there was no one married in
this hotel room. How weird is that?? ;)”

I waited for Lincoln’s reply while one of the
women filled a small bowl with hot water from the bathroom. The
other woman carefully arranged some bedsheets on the padded table.
She held up what appeared to be a towel with a band of elastic
around the top.

“We’ll step into the hallway while you
change.” She unbuttoned the towel. “These snaps go on the side so I
can unbutton them as needed during the massage.”

Her voice was soft and tranquil as she gave
me the instructions, but unease began to bubble up inside me.
Images of my scarred skin flashed to the front of my mind.

“Um. Is it possible to not be naked during
this?”

“Absolutely. We can do whatever you are
comfortable with. Mr. Monaghan mentioned you might not want a
full-body massage, so if you want just a shoulder and arm massage
or a foot massage, I can do that.”

Oh, Lincoln, Lincoln. My sweet, thoughtful,
caring man.

“Okay,” I told the women and took the robe.
“I’ll just be a second.”

They nodded and stepped into the hall. I
quickly exchanged my proper robe for the special massage towel and
secured it under my arms before checking myself out in the bathroom
mirror, making sure there wasn’t too much revealed.

I looked at my phone to see if Lincoln had
replied. I now felt a small twinge of guilt that I hadn’t said
thank you.

“
Turns out they were looking for me! How about
that? :) I freaking love you, Mr. Monaghan. So much. Thank
you.”

I was about to set my phone down when Lincoln
texted me back.

“
I freaking love you so much too. Someday you will
have my last name, but for now, enjoy your pampering. Happy V Day.
See you later.”

I felt giddy as I replied to him,
telling him to have a great game and to stay safe. Every time I
thought I couldn’t love him more, he showed me there was a greater
depth to our love, and I felt even more beguiled by him every day.
I still had my doubts, of course. A part of me thought I was
overreacting because he was my first boyfriend. Another part tried
to convince me that eventually Lincoln would grow tired of me. But
I was getting better at ignoring those voices and putting my faith
in Lincoln. He told me he loved me every day, and that was enough
to block out the negative voices for now, at least.

Chapter Two

“He gave you a personal spa session in your
hotel room?”

“Yeah. And this watch.” I held out my arm to
show my sister-in-law. I had been telling her about our time in
Boston while we waited for a table at an Italian restaurant after
the game. Even with the reservation Lincoln had made for us, we
still had to wait a little while since it was Valentine’s Day and
they were swamped.

My brother and Lincoln had gone to the bar to
get drinks, and I couldn’t contain my smile as Molly admired my
gift from Lincoln.

“What? What’s wrong?” I asked as she smiled
at me. Her eyes seemed to tear up a bit.

“Absolutely nothing. I’ve just never seen you
like this. I know we don’t know each other real well considering we
live so far apart, but I’m just so happy to see that you’re so
happy.”

I looked over at Lincoln, who was waiting for
our drinks and talking with my brother at the bar. With a wide
smile, I nodded in reply to my sister-in-law. “I am. He makes me
very happy.”

“Isn’t it weird to be dating a celebrity
though? Like, that has to be crazy! His family even makes the news
here sometimes.”

I cringed thinking about the time the
paparazzi had been waiting for us as we exited the restaurant where
we had been celebrating our one-month anniversary. Those pictures
floated around social media and celebrity gossip websites for a few
days before it became old news.

“Yeah, it’s weird. But it’s not all the time,
and he and his brother and sister are so down-to-earth it’s easy to
forget they are famous. None of them want anything to do with the
publicity.”

Our guys made their way over to us with our
drinks at that point. Lincoln handed me my peach sunrise and kissed
me chastely on the cheek. I wondered if he would have kissed me
properly if my brother hadn’t been standing next to us.

“Are you hungry? Our table is ready,” he
informed us.

We snaked through the crowd toward our table
until I felt Lincoln tug on my hand from behind me, causing me to
stop abruptly. I turned to look at what made him pause and saw a
middle-aged guy pushing a napkin and pen at Lincoln with a look of
awe in his eyes. Next to him a woman about the same age stood with
her arms over her chest and an annoyed look on her face.