“Your own repair shop, huh? What’s that like?” It wasn’t like she was particularly interested, but at least he was talking to her. Singing along quietly to the radio was fine, but she preferred talking when someone was driving with her.
“It’s like…having a repair shop,” he replied and went back to texting.
She sighed.
Loudly.
“Would it kill you to have a conversation with me?” she snapped. “I mean, we have several days of travel ahead of us and it would go much smoother if you weren’t sitting there pouting.”
He looked at her with wide eyes. “Pouting? I am not pouting.”
“Oh, please, you are the king of pouting right now,” she retorted. “For the love of it, Finn, we get it. You’re pissed at your brother and you have every right to be. You’re pissed that you’re stuck in this truck with me, but hey, too bad. Right now, I’m not too thrilled about being stuck with you either.”
“I didn’t say that…”
“Then maybe you should tell your face because that is clearly saying how annoyed you are with me.” And dammit, that bothered her. She’d already been majorly rejected–even though she hadn’t realized it was happening–by her own fiancé, the last thing she needed was such blatant rejection from Finn. A stranger.
Ugh…whiny much?
Beside her, Finn fidgeted in his seat before looking at her. “Okay, fine. Maybe I am…”
“Pouting?”
“No,” he said with annoyance. “Maybe I’m not being very social. You have to understand–I’m a fairly regimented guy. I like to have things planned out and then have them go according to schedule. And in the last twenty-four hours…”
“Nothing has gone as planned.”
“Exactly!” He let out a long breath and turned his head to look out the window. “It’s not you, Grace, and I’m sorry for making you feel bad. But…”
“I get it, okay?” she interrupted. “You had a plan last night to get on the road with Dave and he bailed. Then you got stuck with me and I overslept, so really, I’m the one who’s sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.” She paused and thought about it and knew she needed to be a little more considerate of Finn’s feelings. “How about you make the plan for the rest of this trip? Tell me exactly what it is you expect and I promise to make it happen. How’s that?”
He looked at her like she was crazy. And maybe she was.
“I bet if you had some sort of spreadsheet, you’d be really happy, huh?” she teased. “Or like, a laminated schedule that we could tape to the dashboard to make sure we were staying on task.”
“Now you’re mocking me.”
She shrugged. “The mood needed to be lightened. So, come on, what’s the plan? At least for the rest of the day.”
The silence stretched so long that it got awkward, but Grace chalked it up to Finn just thinking things through. She noticed that his brows furrowed and his jaw tensed when he was thinking hard; right now she was pretty sure he might be cracking a molar with how tense his jaw looked.
“Finn?”
“Fine. I wasn’t going to share this, but…there’s a reason I wanted to stop in Vegas.”
“I thought it was probably because it was just the logical choice. The right number of hours for me to drive, places where we could stop and eat…”
“Well, yeah, but…that’s not all.”
“O-kay…”
“I think Dave is there and I’m pretty sure if he is, he’s at the Park MGM.”
“What?!” she cried. “So you were…what…just going to casually have us stop there for lunch and then go looking for him without telling me?”
“Uh…”
“Because that is just ridiculous! I mean, I get it. I understand why you want to stop and see if you’re right, but why not tell me about it? I’m not the one in a rush to get home! You are! And don’t you think having two of us working together to see if your jerk of a brother is really hanging out in the casino would be a hell of a lot faster than you doing it alone?”
“Um…”
“And you know what? I resent the fact that you would keep a secret like that from me!”
“A secret from you? Grace, don’t you think you’re being just a wee bit dramatic?”
Honestly, she knew she was. But again, it was nice to have him talking and if teasing him and getting him all riled up was the only way she could do it, then so be it. Plus, it felt really good to have a little fun and distract herself from her own shit-show of a life.
“Dramatic? Now you think I’m dramatic? You are unbelievable, Finn Kavanagh. Completely unbelievable!”
“Me? I’m…how…you know what? You’re crazy! And for your information, I only came up with the idea this morning while I was waiting for you to finally get your ass out to the truck, which–by the way–took ridiculously long! And it’s not like I’m some scheming mastermind who’s been working on some sort of nefarious plan for ages! In case you’ve forgotten, this all just happened less than twenty-four hours ago!”
She laughed. Like a hearty, can’t breathe kind of laugh. Wow. When Finn got going, he really got going. Slapping her hand on the steering wheel, she let herself cackle and enjoy the moment. When she looked over at him, she saw he was smirking too. “Nefarious plan? That’s awesome!” she said before cracking up again.
It didn’t take long for Finn to start laughing and at that moment, Grace knew she had done the right thing. He had been all uptight and tense, and now he looked way more at ease and relaxed. When they both finally calmed down, she looked over at him and grinned. “There now, don’t you feel better?”
He was kind of adorable when he was confused. “Feel better? What are you talking about?”
Rolling her eyes, she reached over and playfully patted him on the arm. “I’m talking about you sitting over there looking so serious and plotting nefarious ways to catch your brother!” She chuckled again. “Like I said, I get why you want to do this, and I am totally with you. I’ll help in any way I can.” Pausing, she smiled at him. “You’re not alone in this. I’ve totally got your back.”
He looked at her like he didn’t believe her even for a second. “Seriously?”
“Uh-huh. Trust me, I hate when someone does something dishonest. It’s probably one of my biggest pet peeves–and that was before my whole wedding fiasco.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“How’d it all go last night? Did you call your fiancé?”
“Ex,” she corrected. “Ex-fiancé and…yes.” God, she really didn’t want to talk about this, but considering how big of a deal she just made over his situation, how could she possibly not?
“And? How did it go?”
She groaned and found herself gripping the steering wheel a little harder just thinking about how anticlimactic the call had been. “Well…Jared claimed he was worried sick about me, but once I assured him I was fine and told him the reason I had left, he seemed a whole lot less concerned.”
“I swear, Grace, half the time I have no idea what you’re talking about. What does that even mean?”
“It means he wasn’t apologetic for having the affair; he was sorry for getting caught.” She glanced over at him and saw the look of disgust on Finn’s face as he shook his head. “So yeah, he told me he really appreciated all the work I’ve done to help him get ahead at work and hoped I’d still consider keeping him on as a client since he feels I would be a great help in getting him the junior vice-president position he’s been vying for.”
“What?!”
Looking at Finn again, she nodded. “Oh, yeah. I’ve been grooming him for this position for months! His bosses love me–and I mean, love me. Their wives and I go out together all the time and they constantly say how I’m the reason Jared’s gotten as far as he has in the company.”
“Wait…and he thinks you’ll continue to help him?” Finn asked incredulously. “Why?”
“According to his way of thinking, I owe hi
m.”
“How? How could he even think such a thing?”
Grace was thankful she wasn’t the only one who saw how crazy her ex’s thought process was. “Well, he paid for the wedding–the one that didn’t happen–so he’s out all that money. And to make it up to him, I should make it look like our breakup was amicable so his bosses will still consider him for the promotion.”
“And without you, he doesn’t think they will?”
She couldn’t help the evil grin she gave him. “I already texted all of them last night while you were driving and told them what he did and who he did it with. But…Jared doesn’t know that yet. He won’t realize it until he goes back to work in a week.” She let out a mirthless laugh. “And he’s taking Steph on our honeymoon. He tried to get me to reimburse him, but I politely declined.”
“Wow,” Finn said with disgust, shaking his head. “Just…wow.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it.”
“I asked him why he didn’t just marry her while the whole wedding was set up. Do you know what he said?”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.”
Turning her head toward him, she smiled. It was crazy how the two of them had met, and it was less than twenty-four hours, but…she was really starting to like him. When he wasn’t all tense and twitchy, he was a pretty cool guy–one she enjoyed talking to.
“He said things were so chaotic that he didn’t even think about it and now he was disappointed they hadn’t.”
“Wow.”
She chuckled again. “I know, right?”
They drove in silence for a few minutes before Finn spoke again. “Can I ask one more thing?”
“Go for it.”
“From the very little bit of information I have, this guy sounds like a complete douche. What on earth did you see in him?”
Good question.
All night she had asked herself the same thing. What happened? When did he change? And then…did he change, or did she never realize just how self-centered Jared was? Unfortunately, she didn’t know. Her emotions were running too high right now for her to think too deeply or too clearly about it. In time she knew she would, but right now, she couldn’t. “I honestly don’t know,” she replied. “I feel like an idiot for not seeing it sooner–not seeing how this was the kind of person he is–but…”
Finn reached over and placed a hand on her leg and gave it a gentle pat. It was such a small gesture and yet it was the most kindness Grace had felt in a while. So much of her time had been spent focusing on Jared, this stupid wedding, his friends, his job…she had seriously lost herself at some point and didn’t have her usual support network of friends and family around her as much as she would have liked.
That was all going to change once she got home–something she promised her mother when they talked last night.
“Hindsight and all,” Finn said, interrupting her thoughts. “You were in love, and it can make us blind to the things we don’t really want to see.”
“Speaking from experience?” she asked and found she was incredibly curious about Finn Kavanagh beyond the whole car-stealing-brother drama.
He shrugged. “Yeah, but it was a long time ago. She was more into having someone support her so she wouldn’t have to work. I’m glad I figured it out before I could ask her to marry me.” He paused. “It hurt but I was more disappointed than anything else. We had a lot in common and I thought we were in love, but…she wasn’t.”
“And you were?”
Another shrug. “I think I was at the time, but I got over it fairly quickly so maybe not.”
“Wow, that’s kind of sad.”
“I guess,” he said quietly. “Like I said, we had a lot in common and we were good friends, but, ultimately, I think I just got comfortable. There was no…I don’t know…passion to our relationship.
Then he must have realized what he’d just admitted and began stammering and trying to explain himself.
“I…I mean…we had a good sex life and all. Like we had a lot of sex. All the time,” he explained nervously. “I just meant there were no real strong feelings toward each other. That’s what I meant by passion.”
“Relax, Finn,” she said, mimicking his move by patting his leg. “I wasn’t judging or looking for that kind of information. A little TMI at this stage of our relationship, don’t you think? But still, it’s kind of sad. How long were the two of you together?”
“Three years.”
“Yikes. Almost twice as long as I was with Jared.”
“Which brings us back full circle, how did you guys leave it last night?”
With another sigh, she gave him a sad smile. “He truly believes I should help him, I said I wouldn’t, he told me he would be marrying Steph, and I wished him well.” She shrugged. “And that was it.”
“I’m not going to lie to you; I was expecting a lot more drama.”
“You and me both.”
They grew silent again and for the first time all morning, Grace didn’t mind. Up ahead was a sign saying Las Vegas was twenty miles away and she found herself pushing a little harder on the gas pedal. Things didn’t go well for her and Jared and she didn’t get nearly as much satisfaction as she thought she would get out of confronting him, but now was Finn’s chance to do the same to his brother.
And she was going to do everything in her power to help him.
You would have thought he had taken her to Disneyland with the way Grace was practically bouncing on her feet as they made their way down the massive corridor to the casino. Signs and posters were boasting about all of the entertainment the resort had to offer, but Finn had tunnel vision and was only interested in finding his brother.
“Oh, my gosh! Lady Gaga?” she cried. “Is she here? Really? Is there a show? Can we get tickets?” She was looking around frantically as if she thought the singer would be casually walking around with all the guests.
Finn fought the urge to roll his eyes even as he laughed softly beside her. He’d never seen anyone so excited over a casino before. “You know why we’re here, right? Dave loves blackjack so we’re going to go and scope out the tables to see if we can find him. Then we’ll grab some lunch.”
“And we couldn’t just ask for him at the front desk…why?”
Technically, they could, and for reasons he couldn’t explain, Finn was unwilling to go the easy route. He wanted to catch Dave in the act, get his keys and his car, and have it play out very dramatically. Why? Because he felt like Grace needed it.
Okay, he needed it too, but this was primarily for Grace.
“Because I don’t want to waste time,” he snapped. “Now that we’re here, I just want to get this over with.”
“Jeez, unclench, Finn. No need to get so snippy.”
“I am not…snippy.”
She snorted at that statement. “Right. And you don’t pout either.”
They were on the casino floor and his heart was racing as they made their way around. It was loud and crowded and smoky, but Finn was a man on a mission. Behind him, he heard Grace call out his name and knew he was going to lose her because she was easily distracted by everything she was seeing and couldn’t keep up. Reaching back, he snagged her hand in his and pulled her along with him. Maybe she said something to him, maybe she didn’t. Either way, he could see the tables he was looking for, and sure enough, he spotted his brother. He stopped so abruptly, Grace plowed right into his back.
“Hey! What the hell, Finn?”
Tugging her around to his side, he pointed straight ahead. “I knew he’d be here.”
“Holy crap.” She looked up at him. “I have to admit, I thought you were a little crazy to be so confident in this, but clearly I was wrong. You’re good. So now what?”
Good question. It would be easy to just storm over to the table and confront his brother, but he knew that wouldn’t work. He had to be a little clever if he was going to outsmart him.
And by outsmart, he meant get his keys and leave Dave here to find his
own way home.
“Want me to go over and sit down next to him? Maybe flirt a little and distract him before you come over and ambush him?” Grace asked, her eyes wide with excitement.
Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave her a friendly pat. “While I appreciate the offer, I’ve got it from here. Why don’t you go explore and I’ll text you when I’m done?”
“How long do you think you’ll be?” she asked as they exchanged numbers.
“I wish I knew, so don’t go too far.”
With a nod, Grace walked away, and he was too focused on his own moves to even think about what she was going to do. Even if she didn’t gamble, he had no doubt that she would be curious and probably walk around a bit. Either that or she’d go in search of Lady Gaga.
With his mind made up, Finn strolled over to the table and took a seat beside his brother and put his money on the table.
Dave grinned and let out a low laugh. “Color me surprised. I thought you’d be halfway back to Georgia by now.”
It wasn’t the time to point out how that was literally impossible.
Finn shrugged. “You mentioned Vegas and I figured I’d stop on my way through. And, knowing you, I knew I’d find you here playing blackjack.”
Looking over at him, Dave winked. “Winning too.”
“Good for you, man.” He looked at the dealer and at his cards. “Hit me.”
“I’m not leaving, Finn. I’m going to hang here for a few more days and then head home so…obviously you’ve rented a car, so you should just get going. I’ll return yours when I get back.”
Leave it to his brother to think he was in control even when he was dealing with Finn’s belongings. “Personally, I don’t care how long you stay here. But I’m taking the car.” He examined his cards and looked at the dealer. “Hit me.”
“Twenty-one! Congratulations, sir,” the dealer said, and Finn smiled with pride.
Dave looked over at him with mild annoyance. “Then how the hell am I supposed to get home?”
“Well, like me, you’ll figure it out. If you’re winning so much, you can probably fly home, so…just give me the keys, and I’ll be out of your way.” He was about to place another bet when Dave slapped a hand down on the table and stopped him.
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