“A little eager to find me?”

“You’re naked, aren’t you?”

His breath was hot against my ear. “Is that all you want from me? My body? Shame on you. You know I’m more than that.”

I did know, and that was the problem.

I swallowed and turned in his arms. “I sure don’t want you for your name or your money.”

Once again, I succeeded in sucking the lightheartedness out of the moment. Lincoln’s features darkened, but not with anger.

“That’s one of my most favorite things about you.”

His mouth crushed against mine, and he devoured me. I lost track of how long he kissed me, standing naked there in that maze. My hands were everywhere, skating over his hard muscles as I gripped his shoulders.

“I want you,” I whispered.

“Who’s there?” a man called out.

We both went silent. I attempted to tug out of Lincoln’s arms, but he held me tight.

“Lincoln Riscoff. Who’s asking?” There was something about the confident way he said his name that made it clear he didn’t expect to be challenged.

I pulled harder and he finally released me as someone came around the corner of the final hedge that led to the center of the maze, and I ducked behind Lincoln’s back.

“Sorry, sir. Didn’t expect to see you . . . I’ll just be going then.”

I recognized the voice. It was a guy my aunt Jackie dated occasionally. He was a groundskeeper here. Shit.

“And you won’t be mentioning this to anyone either, will you?”

“No, sir. Of course not, sir.”

I could picture him trying to sneak a glimpse over Lincoln’s shoulder to identify who was with him, so I didn’t risk a look.

We heard him shuffle away, and I stayed huddled until Lincoln turned around. I immediately stepped back and reached down to grab the pile of clothes and throw them at him.

“We have to go. Now. Right now. We can’t—”

Lincoln yanked on his shorts and snagged my wrist to pull me back into his arms. “Stop panicking. It’s fine. He’s not going to say a word. If he does, he knows he’ll lose his job.”

“But—”

“Whitney. Stop.” Lincoln didn’t usually use my name, and it got my attention more effectively than anything else would in that moment. “I’m not going to let anyone find out about us. Nothing bad is going to happen to you because we’re together. I promise.”

His gaze said he was sincere, but in this, I wasn’t ready to trust his confidence.

“You can’t promise that. We both know this isn’t going to end well. It can’t.”

His expression darkened. “We decide how this ends. Only us. And unless you tell me right now that I mean nothing to you, I’m not letting you go.”

I opened my mouth to say the words that would set me free from this craziness and save me from self-destruction, but nothing came out. The thought of never seeing him again made me sick to my stomach.