Lincoln held my shoulders and with shaky hands, pushed me away. "Miss Danbury, we shouldn't-"

I sighed and leaned up, resting my weight on my elbows. "If you don't kiss me now, I'll never talk to you again."

"This could be considered harassment. It would be unfavorable for you to be the subject of a scandal of such nature," he protested.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I permit you to harass me."

"Miss Danbury, that's not what I-"

"Are you going to kiss me or not?"

He kissed me.

After watching him struggle with his emotions for a long time, he sighed, his eyes finally softening and he grabbed the back of my head, turned us over, and kissed me like he was deprived.

"You silly girl," he whispered between kisses. "Going into a man's room like that. You better not do this with other men."

"Jerk," I replied, suppressing the ungodly sounds coming from my throat. "Ignoring a woman because of a stupid dress."

He moved from my lips to behind my ear. "How was I supposed to react when the woman I love decided to flaunt her beauty to attract another man's attention? Do you realise how many men would be at that ball?"

I grabbed his face looking him in the eyes. "They won't matter to me. My heart beats only for you."

"Do not say such words casually. They could drive a man mad."

"I do mean them," I insisted. "I love you, Lincoln."

He caressed my face, looking at me with more love than I deserved. "You can have any man at your feet and choose to love me?"

The vulnerability in his voice made me reach up and kiss him again. This time, soft and sweet. "It's always been you. Please, never ignore me again."

He laid down beside me, placing his head on my outstretched arms. "I'm sorry. You just looked so excited about it that I thought...I thought..."

"I genuinely wanted to impress Anthony Danbury?" When he didn't respond, I burst into laughter and rolled on his body. "You silly man, do you know how absurd that sounds? I didn't even like him when we first met."

He groaned, covering his face with his arms. "I wanted to stab his eyes for looking at you that day."

I perked up with a teasing smile. "Were you jealous?"

The tip of his ears tinted. "That's beside the point, Miss Danbury."

I squealed softly to prevent the ones downstairs from hearing. "You were."

"Stop it," he grumbled.

I kissed his cheek. "Don't worry. It makes me happy."

He peeked under his arms. When he saw I was smiling, his soft smile widened too. He hugged me to his chest. "You're going to be the death of me."

Before I could respond, he crashed his lips into mine again.

***

I shook my head, my arms wrapped around his torso, that now had a shirt on since he thought it was indecent. "No way. You definitely fell in love with me first."

Lincoln continued to move his fingers rhythmically through my hair. "I beg to differ. You've been clinging to me ever since we met."

I huffed. "You enjoyed my company. I was pitying your lonely self. You loved me from at least our second Friday meeting."

He pinched the bridge of my nose. "I didn't know you were such a liar, Andrea."

"You just can't accept the truth that-"

Lincoln silenced me with a kiss. When he pulled back, I blinked still in a daze. "What were you saying?"

"I said that you can't accept that-"

He pulled me on top of him and kissed me again. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Stop trying to scramble my brain when I'm trying to tell you the truth. You fell in lo-"

The next kiss was deeper than the rest. "Yes?"

"I forget."

"That's better."

I frowned. "You cheated."

He cocked his head to the side with a teasing smile. His damp hair fell in front of his face. "How so?"

He's so handsome.

"You kissed me and I forgot what I was saying," I mumbled, my cheeks flaming.

"You can do it to me anytime you wish. I'm yours," he said.

I smiled. "I don't think it's typical for men in your time to tell women that they're theirs.

He sat up and placed me on the bed beside him, looking at me with a loving expression. "It's true, isn't it? Besides, you value things like that in your time. I belong to you as much as you belong to me."

Before he was done speaking, I jumped into his arms. He spun me, laughing as my weight caused us to tilt to the side and nearly fall off the bed.

He placed us gently on the bed when he realised that I wasn't separating from him. "Be careful. You'll hurt yourself."

Before I could respond, we heard a knock on the door. Bella peeked in with a cheeky smile. "Dinner's ready."

Lincoln glanced up at his sister with a carefree expression. "We're coming."

"Don't take too long. Imelda's family is here," Bella said.

I looked up from Lincoln's chest. "Why ate they here?"

Bella shrugged like she hadn't just committed a criminal offence. "I invited them when I heard of your success. You need to be at your best, brother. They are beginning to suspect something."

My jaw dropped. "Why on earth did you do that? I was supposed to tell them before they met Lincoln. They're going to grill him."

Bella huffed and turned to leave the room. "Payback for all the tears you shed."

My heart melted for the umpteenth time that day. "Your sister's so lovely."

"Yes. She finds ways to shorten my lifespan."

"Awe, come on. It's not that bad." I stood up and raised my hands in front of him, acting like a shield. "Anyone who wants to get to you would have to go through me."

Lincoln stood, making me look up at him, and then squatted to my eye level. My eyes flitted to his lips because of our closeness. He noticed and with a teasing smile, leaned closer to the point where our breaths were mixing. "I appreciate your intentions, love." My heart stopped for a second at the term of endearment. "However, I do think you should focus on protecting yourself in this period."

Just when I thought he would have kissed me, he straightened, patted my head twice, and walked out of the room. My cheeks flushed.

And he knew I couldn't call him back because my pride wouldn't let me. The cheeky little...

Lincoln's head popped back into the room. He bit his lower lip to stifle his laughter at my flustered state. "Are you coming?"

I gave him a forced smile. "Certainly."

I was going to get him back later for that.

*A few moments later*

I choked.

Lincoln stared at Harry with a half-puzzled, half-terrified expression. "What? What did you say?"

Harry looked at Lincoln like he was the epitome of innocence. After living with him for a few months, I knew that Harry never asked irrelevant questions or poked his nose in others' business. The question he asked Lincoln did both of those things.

"I asked if you planned to ever marry," Harry repeated.

Lincoln glanced in my direction momentarily as Bella was still helping me clear water from my lungs. "Well, yes, I do plan to marry."

Harry looked at his meal for a while and then looked up suddenly. "And how soon do you plan to marry?"

"Harry." I cleared my throat, ignoring the knowing smiles on Sarah's and Louis' faces. "Don't you think those questions are a little invasive?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, unimpressed at my poor defence. "Are they?" He turned to Lincoln eventually. "I apologise, Mr. Castilla."

"I didn't take any offence," Lincoln muttered.

"This is all your fault," I whispered to Bella.

Bella sighed, sounding apologetic. "I know. I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted a laugh. I didn't think it would be this bad."

"Well, do something."

"They're your brothers!"

"You're the hostess and the root cause of this mess!"

Bella bent her head lower over her food and began to eat. A strangled noise tore its way from my throat. The silence wasn't the problem. The thick tension in the room was. It felt like I was inhaling condensed smoke fumes while trying to down Bella's stew—in other words, horrible.

Harry opened his mouth to ask another question that I was sure would have been more infuriating than the last. I was sure that if he did, I would have felt tempted to stab him in the eye. So to prevent manslaughter, I chose to out myself instead.

"Lincoln and I are in a romantic relationship," I said and continued my meal like I hadn't just shocked everyone, including those who knew about our relationship status. Clearly, no one had been expecting me to say that.

"Have I told you that you are one of the most courageous women I've ever met?" Sarah asked with a proud smile.

Her encouragement felt like a million bucks. "Multiple times, Sarah."

Harry and Henry turned to Sarah with glares and asked in unison, "You knew?"

Sarah shrugged. "I had an inkling."

Harry exhaled sharply. "You should have told us before we came here. We had to sit here guessing what our sister was hiding from us."

Wait-

"You guys aren't mad?" I asked, surprised.

Henry snorted. "With your new personality, your courtship would happen sooner or later."

I gasped. That sounded more like an insult than a compliment. "How are you so sure that it wasn't Lincoln who asked me?"

All eyes at the table, including Lincoln's, turned to me with disbelieving stares. My cheeks tinted. I played with my food nervously. "I can be reserved if I want to be."

"Says the person who plans to steal the spotlight at the most celebrated annual event in the city," Louis said.

I grimaced at Louis' twenty-first-century speech pattern, recalling all the times I had similarly spoken to him. He was using my own sass against me.

"Don't remind me," Lincoln muttered.

I reached over Bella to cover Lincoln's ears with my hands. "Yeah, don't remind him."

"She's touching him." Henry turned to Harry with a childish frown. "Harry, do something."

Harry grimly patted Henry's and Louis' shoulders. "It's beyond our control now. Our little sister has fallen in love."

Sarah sighed. "Now to break the news to Victor."

"Erm, Immy," Louis asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Hmm?"

"Would you happen to have read a book or anything else on how to tell your brother in the clergy that his little sister is courting someone after he explicitly warned you not to let that happen?/"

I pursed my lips. "Afraid not, brother. You're on your own."