Finn (13 page)

“So?”

“So? That’s your help?”

“Straighten it out. This doesn’t seem like a big deal. Tell her what she wants to know. I’m going out tonight. Invite her over here and make her dinner. Explain your life, your choices, your goals. It’s not like you’ve been hiding a secret life. You haven’t had time to tell her yet.

“All else fails, charm the shit out of her.”

His words sink in, and I sit back, thinking about how to come clean without scaring her off. An idea pops into my head. I grin to myself and start organizing my papers.

“I see the Tripp Jones School of Thought has cut through your thick head. Thinking you owe me fifty dollars. The same amount I lost to Robbie when you contracted the damn disease.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Are you denying?”

“Nope, but not confirming either.”

“How the hell does this keep happening? Are you all crazy? I mean, seven weeks ago, you swore off all this shit. Now, I’m giving you relationship advice.”

“Listen, man, because this is the only time I’m going to talk about this.” I get serious and look him straight in the eye. “When you know, you know. Presley Chambers is special. She’s a fucking saint in my mind. It’s not just her beauty. It’s everything that makes her who she is. She lost her mom when she was fifteen and took on the responsibility of a household of men. Charity, volunteering, family… she surrounds herself with safe and secure. Hell, her dad told me she took off after graduation to move to North Carolina to help take care of her niece. I was trying to go slow and ease in, but to me, it’s a done deal.

“I introduced her to my parents.”

His eyes bulge so wide the vein in his forehead start to pulse. “You introduced her to Tim and Evelyn? Are you crazy?”

“Nope, it was perfect timing.” I fill him in on the event last Saturday.

“Jesus! I need a drink.” He gets us both a beer and sits back down. “So, Hero, what’s the plan?”

“Don’t you start, too.” I roll my eyes at the name. “But as much as I hate to admit, I’m going to need your help… and Ember’s.”

“Tell me what to do.”

“I’ll need you to pick her up while I start cooking. I’m not taking no for an answer so be prepared for an attitude.”

“Fucking great. Do I at least get to be best man this time?” he grumbles on his way back to his room.

I dial Presley’s number and brace.

“Hello.”

“Presley.”

“Hey, Finn.”

“What are you doing?”

“About to shower then work.”

“That’s great, but there’s a slight change in your plans. Tripp’s picking you up in an hour.”

“Finn, tonight’s not a good night.”

“Either you come to me or I’m coming to you. Not taking no for an answer.”

She’s quiet and I hear her faint breathing through the line. “I think we should talk. Maybe we—”

“Give me tonight. Then the ball’s in your court. I realize you were taken off guard on Wednesday night. It wasn’t fair. Let me explain.”

She hesitates then exhales into the phone. “Okay, but I can drive myself.”

“Tripp will be there in an hour, babe. Be ready. And, Presley, I can’t wait to see you.” I disconnect before she can argue.

“Tripp! Put me down!” Presley’s squeal sounds through the condo.

I round the corner of the kitchen to see my best friend carrying her with a wide smile on his face as she swats at him.

“No way, beautiful. You could have caused damage if you fell in those shoes.” He twirls her around, and she squeaks, throwing her head back in laughter.

“What the fuck?” I bark, causing them both to freeze.

“No worries, man. It started to rain, and I was scared she’d break her ankle running to the door.” Tripp winks at me, putting her down. “Making sure the precious cargo arrived in one piece.”

I growl and give him a deathly glare until he steps back with both hands raised.

“I’ll have you know, I can run a long way in wedges. No need to worry.” Presley puts her hands on her hips and throws attitude his way.

Tripp glances at me, and we both fight a grin.

“I can!” she huffs.

“Right, I’m outta here.” He leans in to kiss her cheek and strolls out the door, giving me a sly wink.

Once the door closes, she turns to me with apprehension written all over her face. She looks around, not knowing exactly what to say.

“Presley,” I reach out my hand, “remember the proper hello?”

“Umm…” She stays in place and grips her purse to her stomach.

I take the two strides to get to her and lace my fingers through her hair, tilting her face to mine. Even in the wedges, she’s several inches shorter than me. She takes a deep breath and looks at me with questions in her eyes. There are no words as I run my lips across hers lightly.

“Always a proper hello,” I say against her mouth. “I’ve missed you.”

“Finn…” Her raspy voice vibrates on my lips, and my cock starts to stir.

Instead of answering her, I scoop her into my arms and carry her to the couch. I sit with her in my lap and hold her close, dropping my forehead against hers.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“Sorry about Wednesday, sorry about surprising you with my work, and most of all, I’m sorry about the way I left you. It’s been on my mind for days.”

“You don’t owe me an apology. I think maybe I was surprised stupid. In the matter of five minutes, I realized I knew nothing about you. There were a lot of assumptions on my part. Then, when Winnie clung to you, I realized I was an idiot. I should have been more careful about our relationship, been more cautious. She’s so young and naïve. It was stupid to bring her into my dating life.”

Fuck! She hit a nerve. I’ve been afraid she’d question her decision regarding Winnie.

“Don’t say that. I messed up. That’s on me, and I’m going to work like hell to make it up to you both.”

“But you shouldn’t have to. We’re still new. What happened on Wednesday isn’t uncommon. You got called into work, and it shouldn’t have been a big deal. We—”

“Stop right there. Let’s tackle this one issue at a time.”

Without warning, I flip us around so she’s forced on her back as I hover over her. My thigh presses down gently, keeping her still, and my hand slides to cradle her neck. Her breath hitches when I lean in and kiss along her parted lips. The warmth of her breath and the flutter of her eyes give me a push of encouragement. I continue to trail my mouth over hers, soaking in the feeling of our bodies pressed together.

“Does this feel new to you? How comfortable you are in my arms, the way my body responds to being next to yours?” I press into her hip, hoping she can feel the bulge in my shorts.

“Finn…”

“How far back do you want me to go?”

“What?”

“My life… How far back?”

“I want to know everything.”

“Twenty-eight years is a lot, so let’s skim and get to the present. You have questions, we’ll go back, okay?”

She nods.

“You already know about my friends and growing up in Nashville. At eighteen, Robbie, Max, and I joined the Marines. Max’s uncle and James were both military badasses, and we wanted to be like them. Ironically, Robbie and I excelled in intelligence. We did several tours in the Middle East. Our path was set to be career Marines. Four years ago, Robbie and I were attacked in a roadside bomb that killed six men. He was wounded badly, almost lost his leg, but I wouldn’t let him die. We got to safety and watched an explosion ten feet from where he was previously lying.

“I took some shrapnel, but otherwise, I was fine. We were taken to Germany for immediate medical treatment then flown stateside. Mine was much less invasive than Robbie’s because he had intense physical therapy. We were both treated for PTSD. After that, we decided to come back to Nashville.”

A tear slides down her cheek. “Hero, that’s what Ember said. You’re a hero.”

“I’m not a hero. I couldn’t save them all. And she’s pretty biased because I saved her lug of a husband.”

She giggles and reaches up to run her hand through my hair. The lightness of the touch leaves tingles on my scalp.

“We came home, and it was time to look at the rest of our lives without the Marines. I decided to finish my degree and work for James part-time. Hayes Security is all encompassing. There are several sides to the business: General security, Corporate Security, and more confidential areas. James works with some high level contracts that include Homeland Security, FBI, ATF, CIA, and other divisions of the government. His connections run deep. So I work where he puts me. In the last year, Robbie and I have been given clearance to work higher profile situations. That’s why I had to leave the other night. We have a potential situation.”

“Is it dangerous?”

This is it. No more hiding. I grip her tighter and look deep in her eyes. “Yes, it could be.”

She stays still as she absorbs the information. I decide to go all in. If I sugarcoat this, it’ll come back to bite me in the ass.

“I was shot at a few weeks ago in an attempted bank robbery.”

Her face goes pale as she inhales sharply.

“You were shot?”

“No, I was shot at. The guy was a junkie and couldn’t hit me if he tried.”

“Oh my God.”

“That’s not normal, but it happens.”

“Are you a part of law enforcement?”

“No, but we work closely with them. In this specific circumstance, James runs the security on the building. Only a few of us went down to get involved. Luckily, James has a lot of friends in the NPD. We got set up with surveillance and got a feel for the layout of the bank. Robbie and I knew immediately the guy was a wild card. They tried to negotiate, but he started acting cagey, so we went in through the air vents. Robbie and I stayed in an office observing his behavior.

“The man started to lose it as he came down from his high. At one point, he was beating on a woman. That was unacceptable, so Robbie and I took control. He fired off a few shots, but we had him down in a matter of seconds.”

“That is unbelievable.” There’s a sense of awe in her voice. “You are a hero.”

“No, I’m not. That is an extreme situation. Generally, I sit behind a desk or do some security gigs. When I was in Paris, I learned some techniques that help me in the cyber-tech fields.”

“You were in Paris?”

Tread lightly!

“I was. I spent a summer there with Raven and stayed on for the semester.”

She crinkles her nose and tilts her head in confusion. “Raven Collins?”

“Yes, but she wasn’t married then. Remember how I said we were good friends? Well, it’s more than that. She’s one of my best friends. She’s been in all our lives forever. When Robbie and I came home, she did too after graduation. We’re a close group. All of us.”

“Wow, this is a lot of information.”

“One more thing.”

“There’s more?”

“Babe, I skimmed the surface of the last ten years of my life. Of course there’s more, but this is about you and me.

“I know you’ve got some hang ups about safety, and I respect that. But don’t let any of this come between what’s happening between us. I know I fucked up by not sharing the details of my job and being completely up front, but I was waiting for the right time.”

“Okay.” She fully relaxes in my arms.

“Okay?”

“Yes, like I said, I was blindsided and felt stupid for being so uneducated about your life. Now, I know.”

“Does this mean we’re okay?”

“If I say yes, will you kiss me?”

My hand tightens against her head, and I bend down until my lips touch hers. “Oh yeah.”

“Then we’re okay.”

She hardly finishes before I’m rolling her completely under me, and my tongue is sweeping across her mouth. She opens eagerly, and I growl at the first taste of her in days. Our tongues fight for control until she finally gives in and whimpers, arching her back into my chest.

My hand moves down her arms, side, and hip until it goes around to cup her ass and bring her body flush against mine. It’s my turn to moan when her nails scrape against the bare skin of my stomach where my shirt has risen. I take turns going deep and backing off to catch my breath as I devour her mouth. My dick throbs against the nylon of my shorts, begging for some kind of release as I rock against her hip.