by Mari Carr
Layla had been a bit of a tomboy when they were growing up. How could she not be with so many brothers? So she’d raced around the playground with him and his best friend, Landon, at recess rather than hanging with the girls by the swing set talking about…whatever ten-year-old girls talked about.
“Oh my God, are you ready for this? Landon is marrying Sunnie.”
“Your sister?” Layla grinned.
Finn shrugged. “They went viral a year ago.”
“Viral?”
“Ever seen the video, ‘Hot Cop Saves Sexy Nurse’?”
“Shut. Up.” Layla shoved Finn’s shoulder playfully. “That was them? I had no idea.” She glanced around. “I’m going to have to look that up on YouTube as soon as I remember where I put my phone.”
“I’m back from break,” a male voice called from the back room.
Layla turned around and waved as one of her employees took his station behind the counter. “Great. Do you mind making another pot of decaf, Seth? I didn’t have time.”
“No problem.” Seth started working as she turned back to him.
“It really is great to see you, Finn.”
“Same.” Finn glanced outside, reluctant to cut their reunion short. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked.
Layla shrugged. “Not much. Usually I just work here until close, then head home for a late dinner.”
“Wanna go out with me? We can catch up over a late dinner or drinks at the pub.”
“Okay,” she said. “That would be fun. What time?”
“What time do you close?” he asked.
“Eight.”
“Perfect. Want me to pick you up here or at your place?”
“How about my place at eight thirty? I’d love to change clothes first. Otherwise, I’ll smell like coffee all night.”
Finn grinned. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Here,” he handed his phone over, “put your number in my contacts. I’ll text you and you can send me your address.”
Layla took his phone and added her number. He grinned when she listed her name as LJ. He was never going to get the hang of calling her Layla and it didn’t look like she cared if he didn’t.
The bell rang as a couple who looked like tourists walked in. Layla handed him his phone as she stood. “Guess I should get back to work.”
“Me too. I’m sort of surprised Fergus hasn’t already texted me to ask where the hell I am.” As if he’d summoned the text, Finn’s phone pinged. Glancing at the screen, he laughed, then turned the display to show her Fergus’s text that simply said, “Coming back?”
She giggled, and then gave him another hug. Finn wrapped his arms around her and tried to ignore the way his body warmed as her breasts pressed against his chest, her soft hair tickled his cheek. Suddenly the smell of coffee was a pretty potent aphrodisiac.
Layla stepped away…and it occurred to him she’d felt something as well when he saw her blush, smiling at him shyly.
He let his hands fall away.
“See you later.”
He nodded. “Later, LJ.”
Damn. So much for taking a walk so he could refocus himself.
Now he was more distracted than ever.
* * *
Four hours later, Finn was staring unseeingly at the computer screen. He’d gotten fuck-all done as he played over his conversation with Layla, recalling how her whole face lit up when she laughed. The attraction he’d felt toward her was instant and powerful.
Ever since opening the business with Fergus, they’d been pulling long hours. Finn hadn’t gone out on more than a handful of dates, always too tired at the end of the day. That wasn’t going to be true tonight. With each passing hour, he felt more energized, excited.
He knew this technically wasn’t a date, just two old friends going out to reminisce, reconnect.
So it was the height of foolishness for him to wonder what it would feel like to wrap those long strands of soft hair around his fingers, tugging it until her face lifted so he could lower his lips to hers and—
“Jesus Christ, man. Go home already,” Fergus interrupted just before he got to the good part.
“Sorry.”
“I thought the coffee would wake you up, but it looks like it did the opposite.”
Finn told Fergus he’d run into an old friend from elementary school at the coffee shop, but Fergus had gotten a call before he could say who, so Finn had gone back to his desk and continued to fail at work.
“I think I’m going to call today a wash.”
Fergus leaned back in his desk chair, and Finn noticed his cousin looked wiped out. “It’s okay. We’ve been pulling some long hours. I think I’m going to knock off early too. Aubrey’s coming home tonight, and I want to clean up the apartment.”
Fergus had fallen head over heels in love with pop star Aubrey Summers when he was serving as her bodyguard. After saving her from a stalker, the two of them had found an apartment together nearby, which meant Fergus had moved out of the Collins Dorm—the name his mother had given the apartment he currently shared with his cousin, Colm and his sister, Darcy.
When Aubrey’s concert tour ended on the Fourth of July, she’d remained in Baltimore with Fergus, writing songs for her next album. She’d left late last week to do a few shows on the West Coast, and while she’d only been gone five days, Fergus acted as if they’d been apart for years.
“She’s not going to give a shit if the apartment is clean as long as there are sheets on the bed,” Finn joked.
“There’s a good chance we won’t make it to the bedroom.”
Finn held up his hand to cut off the conversation. “Spare me the details of your well-laid life. It’s been just me and my hand for too fucking long, dude.”
Fergus laughed. “You need to find yourself a girl and succumb to the Collins curse.”
“The curse has nothing to do with it. I just want sex.”
Which was a lie. For a long time, that was what Finn wanted, to live footloose and fancy-free, to hang on to his single status for as long as he could before settling down and committing himself to one woman for the rest of his life.
But not anymore.
Their cousin Colm, the eternal bachelor in the Collins family, swore there was a curse hanging over all their heads that meant when they least expected or wanted it, love swept in, taking them all down hard and fast. Finn used to laugh at the concept, but as more and more of his family members went down—finding their true loves and moving out of the apartment—he was starting to believe there was some truth to what Colm considered dire warnings.
Yvonne had been the latest casualty. His cousin had recently fallen for Leo, a single dad, and she’d been spending every night at his place for weeks. He figured it was just a matter of time before she managed to move all her stuff over to Leo’s. Finn didn’t like to think about how quiet the apartment would be then.
Truthfully, lately Finn found himself wishing the curse would come for him. He was surrounded by couples in love, and damn if they didn’t make it look pretty freaking awesome.
Unfortunately, with the business taking off, he barely had enough time to scratch his ass these days, thanks to the increased workload. So it wasn’t like dating was on the table at the moment. Or, at least, that was what he told himself every night when he climbed into his empty bed, trying not to think about how lonely he was.
“Good luck with finding a hookup then. Though I have to tell you, you’re missing out on something pretty awesome,” Fergus said, shutting down his computer and stretching as he stood.
“Says the guy sleeping with Aubrey Summers, my teenage crush. I figure she was responsible for eighty percent of my wet dre—”
“Gonna stop you there,” Fergus cut in. “After all, you’re talking about my future wife.”
“I knew her first,” Finn grumbled.
Fergus laughed. “Being a member of her fan club in seventh grade doesn’t count.”
Finn grinned and turned off hi
s computer, slipping his cell phone into his back pocket. The other benefit to this job was, on days when they didn’t have meetings, he and Fergus adopted a casual dress code, which meant he wasn’t forced to give up his blue jeans in favor of a suit and tie every day.
He and Fergus locked up the office and walked downstairs together. At the sidewalk, they went in opposite directions.
“Say hey to Miguel for me,” Fergus said, by way of a goodbye. “I’ll hop back in with you guys next week.”
Finn waved, realizing his cousin would think he was going to see Miguel tonight. After all, the three of them had a standing Wednesday night meeting at the Collins Dorm. Miguel Garcia, a Baltimore cop and his best friend, and Fergus came to the dorm every Wednesday to teach Finn defensive tactics, as he hoped to start spending more time out in the field and less behind a desk at Collins Security. So far, he was pretty solidly terrible at everything they’d taught him, something that amused Fergus and Miguel way too much.
Fergus had canceled tonight to be with Aubrey, and now he was going to have to do the same.
He pulled out his cell and hit Miguel’s number.
“What’s up, bro?” Miguel said as he answered.
“Hey, listen, I’m going to have to bail on tonight.”
“Oh yeah? Get a better offer?” Miguel asked.
Finn laughed. “Hell yeah. Ran into an old friend from elementary school, LJ. We’re going out tonight to catch up over drinks. Figure that beats sweating my ass off as you beat the shit out of me.”
Miguel chuckled. “Dude. We’ve been at it for months. You should be kicking my ass by now.”
Finn grimaced. He was no slouch in the muscles department and he was a pretty big guy, just like his dad and uncles. None of that was worth a damn compared to Miguel, who was built like a brick shit house. There wasn’t an ounce of fat anywhere on the man. Probably because when he wasn’t chasing down bad guys on the job, he was lifting weights at the gym or going on ten-mile runs just for the fun of it. Who the fuck did that?
“One of these days, I’m going to take you down,” Finn declared. “So rain check on tonight?”
“Yeah. No problem. I might put in a few extra hours at the precinct. Been a couple of robberies downtown, local businesses hit. We can’t catch the guy. Your dad put me in charge of the case today.”
Miguel worked under Finn’s dad, Aaron, on the police force. He knew Miguel was hoping to make sergeant when the next round of promotions came out, something Dad also knew. Clearly he was hoping to give Miguel a chance to prove himself and earn some brownie points.
“Nice,” Finn said. “Closing a case like that would look good.”
“I know. Have a good time with your old friend tonight. You guys drink one for me, okay?”
“You got it.”
Finn hung up and continued walking to the pub, glancing out over the water, considering his conversation with Miguel. It was obvious his best friend thought LJ was a male. And he hadn’t corrected the assumption.
Why hadn’t he?
Finn pulled up short and walked over to the railing, staring off across the harbor. Well…he knew why, but it wasn’t something he’d been able to successfully wrap his head around in any clear fashion.
Miguel was bisexual. Finn had known that since the first time they’d met, and truthfully, he didn’t give two shits who Miguel slept with. That was his friend’s business. His parents and godmother, Bubbles, had raised him with one simple motto: Live and let live.
Miguel was a great guy and one of the best friends Finn had ever had. They’d met when Miguel was partnered up with Landon on the police force two years earlier, and the two of them had really clicked. They had the same off-color sense of humor and irreverence for anything serious. They rooted for the same sports teams, listened to the same music, and were attracted to the same type of females. They connected on everything right down the line, and while Finn had lots of friends and close cousins, there was something that set Miguel apart from the others, that drew Finn in just a little bit closer.
He hadn’t realized what it was until a few months ago. And when he did?
Fuck.
Finn had been struggling ever since.
He and Miguel had gone with a bunch of guys to Houston for Landon’s bachelor party. In true stag night fashion, they’d all gotten a little—okay, a lot—shit-faced. Miguel had started flirting with Finn, which wasn’t unusual. He was used to Miguel making jokes about his tight ass or Justin Timberlake hairstyle, and he’d always figured it was his best friend’s way of trying to get a rise out of him. Just another way to tease him.
But that night, Miguel had let his guard down…and for just a moment, the flirting felt serious. Real.
There’d been a glancing touch, a look that revealed way too much.
Finn had panicked and played it off like he always did, pretending to think it was all a big joke, and Miguel had rebounded quickly, putting them back on the path of “just buds.”
But Finn hadn’t been able to forget that look, that touch.
Or the way they had made him feel.
“I’m straight,” he mumbled, feeling like a jackass for talking to himself. He liked women. He really liked women. He always had. He’d never once glanced at a guy and felt an attraction. Never. Not once.
Until July.
Now, he wasn’t sure what he felt.
He loved Miguel like a brother, so was that messing with his head? Was that making him think he was feeling an attraction when it was really just affection?
He pushed away from the railing and started for his apartment, doing the same thing he’d done for two months. He shoved away his confusion over Miguel and turned his thoughts to something simpler.
LJ. Layla.
He grinned as he thought about seeing her again, ignoring the tiny voice in the back of his head that said he should have told Miguel his old friend was a woman.
Chapter Two
Layla laughed so hard she snorted as she and Finn reminisced about elementary school. They’d gone out to dinner six times over the past couple of weeks. Finding him again had been the answer to a prayer, as he’d reintroduced her to the city, pointing out all the things that had changed as well as the things that were the same.
They’d eaten at his family’s pub a couple of times, and she’d been welcomed into their fold like some prodigal daughter. She had been thrilled to reconnect with Landon and Sunnie and Darcy, as well as hang out with Finn’s other cousins, some she’d known well, some she’d never met.
One night, Finn’s Pop Pop had joined them for dinner, asking about her family. She had remembered Mr. Collins quite fondly from when she was a kid. He had come to her house a couple of times before her mama died, and then quite a few times after the funeral, helping Layla’s papa cope with the loss. Mr. Collins, like Papa, had lost his wife to cancer when his children were young. He’d helped Papa through the weeks following Mama’s death.
Even now, Papa, good Italian Catholic that he was, was ready to put Mr. Collins’s name in for sainthood.
“All I’m saying is, I taught you a valuable lesson that day,” Layla joked. “Always protect the crown jewels.”
Finn shook his head, his grin wide. He had a gorgeous smile. God, he had a gorgeous everything. She’d never thought herself a fan of beards, but there was no denying Finn looked hot as hell with his. It made him look rugged, lumberjack sexy.
“I’m lucky there’s anything left to protect. Seriously, LJ. You emasculated me with that damn kickball.”
She shrugged unapologetically. “I’ve always been too competitive for my own good.”
“A Moretti trait, for sure,” he said, agreeing.
“Absolutely. The Morettis are feisty, fierce, competitive, passionate. And we totally own it. I’m sure your family has similar traits that run through the whole lot of you.”
“Hmmm,” Finn mused. “Now that you mention it…I guess if I had to describe us, I’d say the Collinses are laid
-back, crazy, fun partiers who don’t take life too seriously. Oh, and we’re a bunch of hopeless romantics.”
“Romantics, huh? Present company included?” she asked.
Finn shook his head. “No. I’d say I should be excluded.”
Layla didn’t believe that. “Excluded from the romantic part or the hopeless part, because I’m going to have to disagree on that last one.”
He grinned. “Smart-ass. But yeah. Both. My cousin Colm is determined to escape the curse that’s befallen most of the other Collinses. Padraig, Fergus, Lochlan, hell, even Landon—the honorary Collins—have fallen fast and hard. You should see those guys. Head over ass in love with their women, the whole lot of them. Except…”
A shadow fell over his face for a moment.
“Except?”
“Well, Padraig’s wife, Mia, passed away a couple of years ago. Not that he stopped loving her. Truth is, he’s still struggling to get over her death.”
Padraig was one of the cousins Layla hadn’t known because he’d been older than her and Finn, several grades ahead of them in school. She’d met him at the pub earlier in the week and really liked him. Hell, she liked all of Finn’s family. He hadn’t been wrong when he’d called them easygoing and fun. “Oh no. I’m sorry. She must have been terribly young.”
Finn nodded. “Brain tumor.”
Layla reached out, resting her hand on top of Finn’s. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“Mia was amazing. I really liked her, and I know it’s been tough on Padraig. He hasn’t dated anyone since she died, and part of me is worried he’ll never be able to move on, never find anyone else.”
Layla gave him a smile. “And you say you’re not romantic.”
Finn chuckled, even as he rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll prove it to you. I’ve never had a serious girlfriend. My dating history is filled with casual hookups, one-night stands, and the occasional month-long lust affair.”
Layla sighed. “Sounds like bliss.”
Finn barked out a loud laugh. “Seriously?”
“Hell yeah. At least, you’ve had some adventure, some passion, some variety. Meanwhile, I’ve spent the last five years in a too-serious relationship with the guy I lost my virginity to.”