Recipe For Seduction (A Madewood Brothers Novel) (Entangled Brazen) (4 page)

She made the mistake of looking up. Finn’s grin was way too inappropriate so early in the morning. But his smile turned into a curious gaze and it froze her in place. His scrutiny meant only one thing—his mind was working a mile a minute and he was trying to figure something out.

“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

“I’m…fine.”
Damn him
. And damn him for knowing her for more than half her life. She couldn’t hide anything from him.

“No, you’re not fine.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

She readjusted her glasses on her nose. “It’s nothing.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled, directing her to the back hallway leading to the washrooms.

He settled his back against the warm beige paint, one leg bent with his foot resting on the wall. “Spill it.”

“Finn, everything is—”

“Not fine.” He lifted his hand. “See this spot right here?” His finger caressed her temple. “This is where your worry vein makes an appearance whenever something is bothering you.”

“I have a worry vein?” She lifted her hand and rubbed at the spot.

“So you
are
worried.” He pushed off the wall and crowded her, backing her against the opposite side of the hallway. His hard body hovered against hers.

If she had been worried, she was no longer. Funny how his simple touch had the ability to cloud her thoughts and make her forget her name.

“So, spill.” His simple command coaxed out all of her troubles.

With a heavy sigh, she told him everything. “Cal’s not going to university. He’s just not going. Which means he’s not leaving home. Which means the new start I was planning to make has been put on hold, and I’m feeling a little bit frustrated. Okay, a lot frustrated.” She fisted her hands. “Could I be any more selfish? There’s obviously something going on with him but all I can think about is myself and how my plans are ruined.”

She choked back a sob. So much for being the sexy seductress Finn could fantasize about. With one tiny rant, she’d just ruined any chance she might have had of changing the way he saw her. She was once again the pesky little sister who needed his help.

“
Shhh
…” He stroked the sides of her cheeks with his thumbs. “You are not a bad person just because you’re searching for personal fulfillment. It’s about time you got a chance to fulfill your own dreams. You’ve had to carry the burden of raising those kids all by yourself the last couple of years. That couldn’t have been easy.”

Finn had never told her how he felt about Mark leaving. It made sense that a good buddy might keep those feelings to himself. But she wondered what he thought about losing his best friend. It wasn’t something they’d talked about, but he must have felt the loss almost as much as she had.

“What’s Cal going to do if he doesn’t go to school?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, struggling hard not to sound whiny. “He doesn’t have a job. He goes out until all hours of the night. I have no idea what he’s doing with his life. The only thing I know is that he will
not
be lounging around my house doing nothing from now on. I refuse to let him tank his whole future out of laziness.”

She said that now, but she’d never been great at getting Cal to do what she wanted. There had always been an air of “you’re not my mother” whenever he pushed back against her rules. Unlike Ali, who’d been a dream to parent.

“You’ve done your best,” Finn said. “Maybe he just needs a firm hand. Maybe Mark should handle this one.”

She snorted. “Mark is not the firm hand. Ever since he left for the west coast, his relationship with Cal has been strained. It’s awkward whenever he’s around.”

Cal and his teenage attitude had major issues where Mark was concerned. Yet he had never vocalized his troubles. Why had she never thought to ask? Had she been too caught up in her own difficulties to see his?

“I just don’t know what to do anymore. Cal obviously needs something I’m not giving him.”

Finn lowered his gaze. “Maybe I can help.”

She stared up into the blue depths of his eyes. “How?” This was her problem to deal with.

“Tell him either he goes to school or he comes to work for me.”

He was going to give Cal a job? He was saving the day. Again. This man was truly a saint. But…

“Finn, I can’t ask you to hire him.”

“You’re not asking, and we’ve been looking for a new line chef. We can make do until he’s ready to move up.”

Move up? Was he kidding? What did Cal know about cooking, or even a kitchen? She’d been doing everything for her siblings since the day they moved in. “Finn. The kid wouldn’t know how to boil water.”

“That’s the point. It will be like his personal Cooking for the Future program.”

Finn’s late foster mother, Vivian Madewood, had started the program when she realized just how much the culinary arts had helped Finn and his three foster brothers succeed. Now he and his brothers took turns leading the program.

“It will teach him discipline and how to handle authority, and make sure he’s not lazing around your house all day.”

Veronica’s throat tightened and she blinked away tears. “You would do that for me?”

“I would do it for Cal
and
you.” He paused and looked away, shoving his hands in the pockets of his black-checkered pants. “Don’t you know after all these years I would do anything for you?”

An overwhelming weight lifted from her shoulders. Maybe what she’d needed all along was simply an offer of help—the knowledge that someone was there for
her.
To pick up the slack when things got rough. Knowing Finn was on her side, that she had him to lean on, changed the game, and suddenly she didn’t feel quite so selfish pursuing her own dreams.

Cal was an adult. He didn’t need a mommy any more. And maybe that was her biggest mistake. She was trying to be something she was not, someone he didn’t need.

“What do you get out of this?” she asked Finn.

His lip curved. “Let’s just say you owe me the fulfillment of a promise.”

She sighed, her desire at war with the practicality of her family obligations. “Unfortunately, I have more important things to worry about now than figuring out what turns you on.”

He winked. “Then I’ll make it real easy for you, V. I only have one fantasy. Anything else would just be icing on the cake.”

Icing. Cake. Her mind fastened on the words.
Oh, hell
.

The wedding
. Her shoulders tightened at the thought of all the details she had yet to work out. The sudden surge of trepidation that spiked her heart rate at the mere mention of fantasies had nothing to do with the sexual tension in her body. Honest.

“Speaking of cake, you’re making the wedding cake, too, right? I don’t—”

“Veronica.” His tone meant business. And not
wedding
business.

“Um…yeah?”

He breathed deeply. “All right, I’m going to make this
really
easy for you. I’ve only had one recurring fantasy for the last twelve years. Only one. It varied in location, position, and even accessories, but there was always one constant.”

Accessories? “What’s that?”

“You.” He leaned in. “My fantasy is to fuck
you
.”

Her stomach flip-flopped and she had to keep herself from letting out the squeal caught in her throat. “Me?” She brought her hand up to her chest. “You’ve wanted…me?”

“I’ve always wanted to see what you’d look like when you whip your glasses off and let your hair down.”

“Didn’t you just see that just last night?” When she had dropped her clothes in a room full of strangers.

“Yes, but the show wasn’t for me. I need to know that everything you do is
for
me,
because
of me.”

Didn’t he know that already? Didn’t he know she’d spent almost her entire life wishing and hoping Finn O’Reilly would notice her?

But he was too late to fulfill the girlish dreams she’d written about in her diary all those years ago. She was no longer that starry-eyed teenager. And knight on a white horse he was not.

“Why now?” she asked skeptically. If they were going to do this, she needed to know it was for real. “If that’s really how you felt…why hold back for the last twelve years?”

“It…” He let out a slow breath and ran his hands though his hair. “Let’s just say I’m finally going to do what
I
want.”

What
he
wanted? That meant… He’d wanted the same things she had for the last twelve years. Her head spun with the revelation.
Damn!
She’d kick herself later for wasting so much time being afraid.

“Even though we’re friends?”

“So much the better.” He said it so matter-of-factly. As though he had thought long and hard about this.

“Even though my brother is your best friend?”

“Don’t care what he thinks.” He shrugged.

“Even if—”

His finger pushed against her lips. “You told me last night you’re interested in some practice. Well, I’m safe. I’m nonjudgmental. I’m great in bed.” He smiled, a wide grin. If he’d been a cartoon, his tooth would have sparkled. “I’m perfect.”

Yes, yes, he was perfect. But for more than simply being a good fuck buddy prospect. He deserved far more. But a fuck buddy was all she could give him. Anything more would lead to trouble. Their lives were heading in opposite directions.

At her prolonged hesitation, he took his offer to the next level. “I can schedule Cal five nights a week.”

Five nights a week? She flashed her own wide grin. That was a lot of private time.

“I’m guessing you agree with my offer.”

Their eyes met and she forgot how to breathe. The hunger staring back at her was what she had dreamed of her entire life, and in that moment she realized that every time he looked at her, she needed him to want her just this much. She wanted him to remember last night in the alley. That the little sister image was no longer acceptable. Screw different lifestyles. She was going to indulge every sexual urge she’d repressed while taking care of her siblings. And she was going to have a shitload of fun doing it.

She swallowed and solidified her counteroffer.

“Okay. I’ll agree to your proposition, but I want something in return.”

“I’m already offering to help you and you want more. Sounds like the Veronica I know.”

He didn’t mean it in a bad way—he smiled while he said it. She had always been demanding. How else was she supposed to get what she wanted? Finn, Mark, and Cole had become fast friends when they were all in foster care. Making friends hadn’t been so easy for Veronica. So she’d tagged along, becoming the annoying little sister to all three of the boys. And she’d played the helpless waif card perfectly. A little too perfectly, it seemed, because to this day, both Finn and Mark took her for a weak little girl who always needed someone to rescue her. Hence Finn’s very generous offer.

He was giving her a chance to move forward with her life as she’d wanted, but she decided to take it one step further. “You’re going to make sure you’re
not
working three out of his five nights.”

“V, I already have set days off, I can’t exactly change my schedule to accommodate—”

She tipped her head. “I’ve got a lot of fantasies, Finn.”

It wasn’t his face that gave away his emotions, it was his eyes. Desire, raw and needy, flickered in their depths.
This was it
. There was no turning back. Not that she wanted to.

Butterflies danced in her stomach as his head descended toward hers. “Finn?”

His mouth grazed hers just as she swiped her tongue across her lips. His warm breath tickled her skin and when his strong hand reached around and settled on the small of her back pulling her against him, she whimpered.

“A
hem
…”

Her body tensed and he stepped away, cursing under his breath.

Penn Foster, the marketing and public relations manager for the Madewood family business, stood at the entry to the hallway. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

“It’s nothing.” Pretending to wipe away something from the corner of her eye, she brushed past Finn. “I just had something in my eye.”

“Did you get it out?” he asked, playing along with her.

“Yes, thank you.”

Penn’s mischievous smile made the coffee in Veronica’s stomach churn. Good thing she hadn’t eaten breakfast. The cat was going to be out of the bag even before she’d had a chance to catch it.

“I’ll just”—Penn pointed to the bathroom door—“hold it.” She turned and left them alone in the hall.

They stared at each other for a moment until Veronica finally broke the ice. “What are we going to do about Penn? She’s probably already blabbed to Sterling.”

Sterling Andrews, the bride-to-be set to marry Jack Vaughn, Finn’s youngest foster brother.

“I’ll take care of Penn,” Finn murmured.

Veronica didn’t need Mark finding out about her relationship with Finn. Not that it was a relationship. They were just fucking. Or rather they planned to fuck a whole lot.

It was none of her brother’s business who she had sex with, and he definitely didn’t need to know she had chosen Finn for practice. Especially since there was no chance of a future between them. Telling Mark would just result in a bunch of angry words and frustration.

She turned to walk away, but stopped. “I’ll tell Cal he’s now under your service. He’ll be in touch.”

Finn nodded. “And I’ll make sure my schedule meets your demands.”

All the demands in the world didn’t detract from the truth. She knew in her heart, down to her very soul, he was going to be the demanding one in this relationship—or whatever this thing between them was.

And she couldn’t wait.

…

When Sterling and Jack’s wedding plans had been discussed and the contracts had been signed, Veronica returned home to find Cal lazing on the living room sofa, playing video games. This was exactly what she didn’t want. She hadn’t worked this hard to raise a freeloader.

“Hey, Cal.” She strolled into the room.

“One minute. I’m almost done with this level.”

She approached the television and picked up the remote. She pressed the large red button at the top, and the screen went black.