by KB Winters
“Personally, I like the charcoal with the hand stitching. It’s not flashy, but it holds up well and matches anything else you want added later.”
“Great. Go for it.” Her voice sounded tired and stretched thin.
I pressed my eyes closed and drew in a breath. I knew I should say thank you and hang up. But I couldn’t. The echo of her voice played over in my head and hit some soft spot inside me. “Lyss? Are you all right?”
She hesitated for a moment and I heard more rustling sounds in the background. Where was she? Had I caught her in the middle of something?
“You know what,” I said, pushing away from the desk. “I shouldn’t have asked. It’s not my place.”
“I’m all right,” she finally answered. “It’s just been a long day. That’s all.”
I was about to hang up, when a sniffle broke through the rest of the background noise. I sat up straight. “Lyss?”
“What?” she said, her voice thick.
Damn it. There was no mistaking it. She either was or had been crying.
If that asshat made her cry…
“What’s going on?” I pressed.
She sniffled again and my heart squeezed. “We had a couple new arrivals come in today…at Hearts & Paws. It’s just been rough.”
I glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was nearing four o’clock. I usually punched out around five, sometimes six. I was dreading going back to that damned Stingray. Across the desk lay a samples book and as my eyes fell on it, an idea sprang to life. “What are you doing for dinner?”
“Um…I don’t know. Why?”
“I could come up and show you the samples and take you out to dinner.”
“Finn,” she said with a heavy sigh. “You’re not even in Atlanta.”
“So?”
“You’d drive three hours round trip to show me some samples?”
I smiled. “No, but I’d drive three hours to cheer you up.”
The line went quiet and my heart slammed harder with each passing second. Finally, Alyssa sucked in a deep breath and replied, “Dinner, huh?”
“Ladies choice. You can even drag me out for sushi if that’s what sounds good.”
Alyssa laughed softly and I grinned triumphantly. My plan was already working.
“Is that a yes?”
“All right,” she said, a hint of a smile still audible in her voice.
“You still gonna be at the shelter?” I silently hoped she would be. I really didn’t need—or want—to see where she lived with her boyfriend.
“Yeah. Do you need the address? I can text it to you.”
“Nah, I’ll Google it. Besides, you don’t even have my phone number,” I teased.
She paused for a moment, then said, “You’re right. God, that seems weird. Doesn’t it?”
It did.
“I’ll be there at five.”
“Five? You’re gonna make it in a little over an hour?”
I laughed. “You know how I am on the bike. I’m a traffic ninja.”
She giggled. “Yes, but I’d also like to not be responsible for you ending up splattered on the highway. So, let’s say five thirty, all right, Daredevil?”
My chest filled with pressure and I nodded. “All right, Lyss. Five thirty.”
We ended the call and I leaned back in the chair, staring at the phone, wondering if I’d imagined the entire thing. Was I really going to Atlanta to have dinner with Alyssa? I allowed myself a moment of marveling before I shook my head, grabbed the samples book, and headed back into the garage.
I exited the office, samples book tucked under my arm. Miles looked up from where he was hovering over the Stingray, wrench in hand. “What’d he say?”
“I didn’t actually get a chance to talk to Mr. Wade. He’s out of the country.”
Miles shut his eyes. “Shit. I forgot about that. He mentioned it when they were here the other day.”
“I talked to Alyssa, but she doesn’t know what she wanted to go with. I thought I’d drive up and show her the samples.” I held up the samples book for proof.
Miles smirked at me and straightened. “Oh yeah?”
I bristled. “What? We do that shit all the time.”
Miles only grinned wider. “Oh, I’m not saying don’t go. I just find it interesting. That’s all.”
I stalked forward, snagged my coat from the back of a chair, and slung it over one shoulder. “It’s just business, Warren. That’s all.”
Miles laughed. “I hope so! I can’t imagine you’ll make much of a commission from Wade if you go off and steal his girl.”
I rolled my eyes and reached for the door handle as I threw my hand up in a good-bye wave and told Miles, “Don’t worry, that’s not going to happen.”
Chapter Thirteen
Alyssa
The sound of a rumbling motorcycle stirred me from my thoughts. I stood from my desk and peeled the mini-blinds apart to glance out the window. My breath caught in the back of my throat at the sight of Finn. He was dressed in dark jeans, his black riding jacket, and his black and silver helmet and was parking his monstrous bike in front of the shelter. I watched through the blinds as he killed the engine, stood, straddled over the bike, his jeans pulled tight. He peeled off his gloves and tucked them in his back pocket and then reached up to remove his helmet. A small, longing sigh slipped out as he ran his fingers through his hair. It was longer than he used to keep it, but not by much. He’d always been testing the limits of what the army would allow. The scruff that coated his strong jawline was also a no-no from when he’d been in uniform on a daily basis. But there was something about it that made me hot and flushed. He was handsome clean-shaved, but the added layer of dark stubble made him absolutely irresistible. A sharp departure from the pristine, manscaped to death world that I lived in now.
Finn glanced around the lot and then swung one powerful leg over the bike and set his helmet on the stand at the back of the bike. I released the blinds and they snapped back into place. The clock on the wall showed it was only a few minutes past five. I shook my head. “Reckless man…” I mused under my breath.
I slipped soundlessly from my small office and scurried up the hall to the employee restroom. I locked myself inside and went to work applying a thin layer of dusty rose lip gloss. My mascara was slightly smeared. It’d been a rough day following the rescue of two small mixed-breed dogs who’d been kept in tragic circumstances. I dabbed water under my eyes. The cool water went a long way toward the lingering redness and I swiped at the black flakes from my mascara. Lastly, I tugged the elastic band from my ponytail and shook my hair out.
At some point in my primping, a small voice in the back of my head asked what the hell I was doing, but I ignored it and hurried to finish getting ready.
“Oh, Ms. Archer, there you are,” Claudia, the middle-aged woman that ran the front desk and kept things chugging along smoothly, came around the corner from my office. “You have a visitor.”
I smiled at the gleam in her eye but then my stomach fell. I didn’t want gossip spreading about me. They’d all met Rafe at the grand opening ceremony. Rafe hadn’t been back to the shelter since. But that didn’t matter. The world was a surprisingly small place sometimes.
“Oh, is Mr. Clarke here so soon?” I asked, trying to sound surprised.
Claudia looked confused. “He said his name is Finn.”
“Oh, that’s right. Yes, Finn. Thank you, Claudia. He’s uh—doing some work for me. Rafe ordered me a custom car and Mr. Clarke is helping me choose the interior color scheme. He suggested charcoal over the phone but I thought I’d like to see it in person so he offered to bring by the samples book. Isn’t that thoughtful?”
Claudia’s brows furrowed but she nodded politely. “Yes. Very.”
“Right.” I stopped myself from babbling. They say when you’re lying you tend to add unnecessary details. I tended to ramble under the best of circumstances, but this was ridiculous. “Please tell him I’ll be right there
. I just need to grab my bag.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She hurried back to the reception area and I ducked into my office, my cheeks warm and flushed. “You are one smooth operator,” I mumbled to myself as I grabbed my purse and jacket.
I left the office once the tingling in my cheeks faded. Finn was wandering the retail space of the shelter, carefully inspecting some squeaky toys. Claudia, on the other hand, was carefully inspecting his ass.
Not that I could blame her. Finn had always had that effect on women. He was tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome. I smiled sadly at a series of memories. He’d never noticed the attention women paid him, but I liked to tease him about it from time to time. It made me happy that he was so oblivious. He only ever had eyes for me.
Finn looked up and caught me in the middle of a memory and for the second time in ten minutes, I forgot to breathe.
Then he smiled and I wanted to melt into a puddle right there on the floor.
“Lyss,” he said, the smile growing even wider.
“Thanks for coming all this way,” I said. I slung my purse over my shoulder and met him halfway. “You in the market for some squeaky toys?” I asked, smiling down at the spiky neon green ball he was holding.
He looked down and almost seemed surprised to find it still in his hand. “My buddy, Miles, he has a big dog. Thought he might like it.”
“What kind is he?”
“She, actually. Luna. She’s some kind of Rottie mix.”
I stepped closer and took the ball from him. “She’d have this in shreds in less than thirty seconds. A dog like that needs something more like…” I paused and reached past him and selected a Kong toy from the basket above. “This.” I pushed the hard nylon ball into his hand. Our fingers brushed together and a spark shot up my arm. Our eyes met and I knew he’d felt it too. “Sorry…static,” I lied.
Finn’s grey eyes were dark and rimmed with almost black. I knew that look. I also knew all too well where that look would lead us.
I coughed to clear my throat and wandered back to the desk. “Put that on my account,” I told Claudia. Turning back to Finn I smiled. “The least I could do, having you come all the way up here simply because I can’t make up my mind. You ready to go over those samples? We’re almost ready to close up shop, so I thought we could go a few blocks down. There’s a sushi place that has great happy hour specials.”
Finn smirked at me, his eyes gleaming with the shared joke. “Sounds delicious. I live for sushi.”
I pressed my lips to stifle a giggle. Finn was allergic to shellfish and somewhere along the way decided to avoid all seafood. “Great. Let’s go. I think you’ll really like this place.”
Finn’s eyes were still on mine but then dipped down to look at my mouth. “I’m sure I will.”
A tingle shimmered over my skin. I glanced back at Claudia. “Did you need anything before I leave?”
She shook her head, still giving Finn a bemused look. “We’re all set.”
“Okay. I’ll have my cell on me. If anything changes with the new dogs, have the vet call me.”
Claudia nodded, “Sure will.” It’d been a rough day on us all.
I joined Finn and led the way out of the shelter. He held the door open for me and then started toward where he’d parked his bike. My car was parked along the side of the building so I veered the other direction. Finn stopped after a few paces and gave me a puzzled look. “Where you going? I’m over here.”
“And I’m over here. You talked me onto that death trap once already. I’m not going for round two.”
Finn laughed. “When did you lose your sense of adventure, Lyss?”
Right around the time I lost you…
Truthfully, it was less about the danger, at least not physical danger, and more about the other risks that would come with climbing behind Finn on the beast of a bike. I was already struggling to keep my thoughts in the friend zone—or whatever the hell we were attempting. I couldn’t take a few minutes being pressed up against him, my hands around his waist, and those vibrations…
Nope. That would send me in the opposite direction I was trying to go.
“Come on,” I said, throwing my chin toward the location of my ride. “You don’t even know where we’re going.”
“Sushi,” Finn said, smiling again. “Apparently.”
I laughed. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Finn chuckled and wandered back to my side. “Yes, you would.”
“Okay, that’s probably true. But not tonight. You’re in luck. I’m letting you off the hook.”
“Not to mention all those poor fishes.”
I laughed. “Right.”
“Where are we going then?”
“Come on.” I nearly reached for his hand but stopped myself just in time. “Trust me.”
His eyes searched mine then he nodded. “All right. Should I grab the book of samples first? I have them in my side compartment.” He thumbed over his shoulder back toward his bike.
I shook my head. “Nah. I’ll go with the charcoal.”
He offered a slight smile and then pocketed his hands. Was he having trouble keeping them to himself as well?
I quickly decided I didn’t want to know the answer to that particular question.
“You trust me with the interior, I’ll trust you with dinner.”
I smiled up at him. “Fair enough.”
****
“Well, what do you think?” I asked once we were seated at a corner table at an upscale Italian place. I remembered Italian was Finn’s true passion when it came to food. And not just pizza—although that was right up there on his list.
He draped an arm over the back of his chair and looked around the small restaurant. It was a dimly lit interior, with candles on each table. White linens, gleaming wine glasses, and a roaring fireplace along the far wall. Muted art decorated the walls, mostly done by local artists. As he considered it, I wondered if he thought it was too romantic considering everything. In truth, it wasn’t the ambiance I liked, it was the food that was so fresh you could almost swear it’d just been shipped directly from an Italian grandmother’s kitchen right to your table.
“It’s perfect,” he concluded, returning his smiling eyes back to mine.
My stomach flip-flopped. His grey eyes were even darker and more enchanting in the candlelight, flecked with golden sparks. I quickly dropped mine to the wine list in my hands before my mind started spinning some secret fantasy.
The server brought crystal goblets filled with ice water and a small dish of sliced lemons and limes. Finn leaned in as soon as she wandered off and snagged a lime. He held it up for a moment, a lost smile on his lips. He caught my eye and his smile turned sinful. “Remind you of anything?”
Heat blasted over my skin and settled between my thighs. I quickly shook my head but Finn’s wicked smile deepened and I knew I’d been caught.
No, I am definitely not reminded of the time we were at that tiki bar in Hawaii where some random stranger dared you to take a body shot off of me, right there on the bar, in front of the whole damn crowd. And no, I don’t recall the way it felt to have your tongue circling my navel and then tracing up my stomach to take the shot from my cleavage, my nipples hard through my bikini top, as I tried not to moan too loud. And I am certainly not going to think about the kiss that followed as you stole the lime from my mouth. Or the one after that…and especially not the kisses that came after, when we sneaked off to the bathroom and locked the door behind us…
“Pretty sure these ones are just for your water…” I said flatly, immediately dropping my eyes back to my menu.
Finn chuckled and dropped the lime into his goblet, the fruit clinking the ice cubes as it plunged to the bottom. “You want to split a bottle of something?”
My eyebrows arched. “Since when do you drink wine?”
He hitched a single shoulder and leaned back. “Believe it or not, Lyss, I’ve grown up a little in three years. Tast
es change.”
I set the wine menu down, my mind already made up, and I considered Finn. There was something different about him. Just under the surface. He still smiled easily, laughed heartily, and carried a devil-may-care attitude. But there was a new depth. Something that told me he was a little battered and scarred in ways that he hadn’t been before. Curiosity piqued at me, but I refused to give in and open that box. I wasn’t even sure he would let me try if I wanted to.
“How is your family? Your mom?” I asked.
“She’s good. Still in Oklahoma, doing her thing.”
“Is she still…” I paused, letting the rest of my question trail off. It wasn’t my place to ask whether or not his mother, Meredith, was still attending AA meetings. That was a dark piece of Finn’s past. I wasn’t even sure why I’d started to ask.
Finn’s smile faltered but he nodded. “She’s actually a sponsor now.”
“Oh? Wow, that’s great.”
“Yeah. She’s kickin’ ass and takin’ names. I get over there every few months to visit and each time she’s better and better. She even started seeing someone recently.”
“That’s amazing. I’m so happy to hear that.” My throat clogged with emotion. Meredith had always treated me like a second daughter. She had her flaws and I knew she and Finn shared a complicated past, but underneath that, she was a very sweet woman who’d suffered the consequences of some bad decisions for far too long.
“What about Kait? I look for her sometimes. I keep expecting to see her on a billboard or magazine ad in line at the grocery store or something.”
“Kait is Kait,” Finn answered, his smile returning. “She’s stopped modeling though. So, you won’t find her in any magazines but you might want to keep an eye out for her name. She’s designing handbags these days. Really fuckin’ expensive ones.”
I laughed. “I’ll have to look them up!”
Finn’s eyes shifted from mine, staring over at the fire for a long moment.
When they didn’t immediately return to mine, I followed his stare. “What?” I asked, not seeing what had caught his attention.
He flicked his attention back to me and shrugged again. “Nothing. Forget it.”