by Laura Ann
Finley turned a corner and began taking them down into the basement.
Goldie’s head whipped from side to side. Where in the world is he taking me? Does he have some kind of dungeon in this massive house? She hit him again. “What are you doing with me? Put me DOWN!”
Finley smacked her backside. “Stop that, or I might drop you.”
Goldie groaned. He would do it too, just to spite me.
FINLEY OPENED THE DOOR to his workout room and then closed and locked it behind him. Stomping over to where he had some mats laid out, he flipped Goldie off his shoulder, allowing her to fall on her backside on the mats.
“Jerk!” She yelled as she glared at him from the floor. “No wonder none of those women stuck around.”
Ouch. Finley fought to keep from showing how that statement hit home. Instead, he focused on the anger still churning inside him. “You will stay here until you have explained to me exactly what is going on.” He spread his legs and crossed his arms.
Goldie scrambled to her feet. Her cheeks were bright red and her eyes flashed with fire.
Why is she so attractive when she’s worked up?
“Quit treating me like a child.” She stomped her foot and clenched her fists.
He let his eyes drop to her feet and back up to hers and raised an eyebrow. “Then quit acting like one.”
“Ha!” Goldie threw up her arms and paced away from him. “You’re one to talk.” She eyed the equipment and mirrors around the room. “Why exactly did you bring me down here?”
“First off, I figured if we were going to fight we should do it where you can’t break anything.” He smirked. “Second, this door locks. That way I can keep you here until you tell me the truth.”
Goldie’s jaw dropped and her eyes shot to the door. “You didn’t.”
Finley put his chin up a notch.
Goldie rushed over to the door and yanked on the handle. It didn’t budge. Goldie’s fingers frantically fumbled over the door as she searched for a way to get out.
“You have to use the keypad,” Finley called over to her.
She spun around, glaring at him. “Let me guess, only you know the password?”
The edge of his mouth curled up. “That would be correct.”
“You want to play innocent? Act like you don’t know what’s going on? Fine,” she spat. Goldie stalked right up into Finley’s space. “I know that you bought the building from Steve Miller. I know that you did it quick enough that you could nix my contract for the exhibit next week. I know that you obviously were only playing when it came to you and me. What I don’t know is why you would do that. Why you would bother? Obviously,” Goldie sniffled and her tears began again. “Obviously, I meant nothing to you, but did you have to attack the children as well? They have worked so hard! Many of them put their heart and souls into those projects and now their opportunity is gone.” Goldie shook her head and her jaw quivered.
Finley was frozen. Seeing Goldie so torn up nearly broke him, but the fact that she thought him capable of all that she had just said made it worse. “You... think I bought the building out from underneath you? That I purposefully set out to displace you and the kids?” His jaw hung open.
Goldie’s anger cracked a little at his tone. “Didn’t you? That’s what Mr. Miller said.”
Anger and hurt fought for dominance and Finley let himself latch onto the anger. It was familiar and something he knew how to deal with. The woman he was in love with had just accused him of being the world’s most heartless jerk. If that’s what she thinks I am, then fine. That’s what I’ll be. Shoving the hurt into the same box of numbness he had used for the past year, Finley stood to his full height and sneered at the petite blonde in front of him.
“I warned you not to play with fire,” he mocked.
Goldie gasped. “So you admit it? I had hoped,” Her voice squeaked at the end and she put a fist to her chest.
The show of pain nearly undid Finley, but he had become an expert at shutting emotions away and he wasn’t about to let go of his control now. With a growl, he stalked toward the door. Punching a few buttons, he swung the door wide and held it open.
Goldie frantically wiped tears from her cheeks as she hurried to the open frame. Just as she was passing through, Finley spoke. “You’re just like the rest of them.”
Goldie froze. Slowly, she turned her head toward him. “What did you say?”
The end of his lip curled up and he could feel his nostrils flare. “You are just like them. I thought I learned my lesson after Victoria. Women are weak, heartless creatures, who don’t truly care about other people.” He took a couple of harsh breaths. “But then you came along and I-” he gave a harsh laugh, “I stupidly thought you were different.” He shook his head with a sarcastic smile on his face.
“Finley... I-”
“No,” Finley growled. “You’ve already fooled me once. I won’t be dumb enough to listen a second time.” He paused, but Goldie didn’t move. “Get. Out.” He sneered. The quiet steel in his tone was more terrifying than if he had yelled.
If it was possible, even more tears flooded Goldie’s face and she gasped before running up the stairs and eventually leaving the house.
Finley let the door slam shut and dropped himself on a bench. He put his head in his hands. How can she accuse me of something like that? After all we have been through. I thought we had something. I thought I’d finally found forever. He snorted. Forever. It doesn’t exist. Women can’t be trusted. He brought his head up. But heaven help me, I love her.
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Finley called Quentin. After a few minutes, he hung up on his shouting brother and dropped the phone on the floor. Spotting his punching bag, he stood and rolled up his shirt sleeves. Time for a round... or twenty.
CHAPTER 12
Another knock came on Goldie’s bedroom door and she nearly growled in frustration. “I told you!” She shouted. “I’m having female troubles, leave me alone!”
When Goldie had arrived home from Finley’s house, she had gone straight to her bedroom and locked herself in, refusing to see anyone. She had shed more tears over the weekend than she knew a body was capable of creating. Her brothers had been at her door all weekend; begging, cajoling, pleading. She had finally taken to telling them a lie in order to get them off her back.
“Oh good, female troubles is something I can help with,” a soft voice came from her doorway.
Goldie nearly sprang off the bed, dumping dozens of tissues onto the floor from where she had been languishing in her misery. “Snow...” She breathed through a bright red, stuffy nose. “What are you doing here?” Goldie frowned. “And how did you get in?”
Snow closed the door behind her and walked over, enveloping Goldie in a hug.
Tears sprang to Goldie’s eyes at the sweet gesture. How can I still be crying? How is there any liquid left in my body?
“Your brothers called me,” Snow softly explained as she held her friend. “And Harlan picked the lock when you first locked it, in case they needed to come in. They were hoping you would make the choice yourself.”
Goldie rolled her eyes. No wonder I love those idiots.
Snow pulled back and looked Goldie in the eye. With a light frown, Snow smoothed Goldie’s hair from her face and led her to the bed.
Goldie winced as her friend swept the rest of the tissues to the ground.
Snow gave a small grin. “Don’t worry. If I’m not immune to snot by now, I never will be.”
Goldie snorted and nodded her head in agreement.
With a sigh, Snow sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Goldie with her. The second grade teacher held Goldie’s hands in hers. “Now... tell me everything.”
Goldie closed her eyes and her body deflated. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“The beginning of course. Otherwise, you might miss something.”
Goldie blew a ringlet out of her face. “Easier said than done,” she muttered.
Snow squee
zed Goldie’s hands. “Come on, I’m here to help. Let me help.”
“Of course, you remember that I first met Finley at your engagement party?”
Snow nodded.
“Well, when I was heading home...” Goldie told Snow the whole story. The fake relationship, the confrontation with Victoria, even Finley’s project for the exhibit. The only thing she left out were the intimate details of their kisses. She doesn’t need to know the world moves under my feet or that he has the power to melt me with one look.
“And now, I’ve accused him of something horrible.” Goldie sniffed and grabbed another tissue. “From the way he reacted, I’m thinking he didn’t do it.” Her wide, watery eyes looked at Snow. “But who else could it have been? Mr. Miller said the buyer was Gruff Inc.” Goldie shook her head. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Snow’s lips were pinched together in a tight, white line. “I agree it looks suspicious. But I don’t think Finley would do this. I mean, he can be a jerk, but he’s not someone who would go out of his way to crush someone like that.”
Goldie nodded. “The more I’ve thought about it, the more I realized he would never do it, despite my initial reaction. But then who? I don’t believe Quentin or Brody would? Who else has a company named after the Gruffman family?”
“I don’t know, but I think we should find out.” Snow stood and started toward the door. When Goldie didn’t follow, she turned around. “Aren’t you coming?”
Goldie’s eyes widened. “Like this?” She waved her hand around herself. Her clothes were overly large and comfy, not to mention two days old. Her make up had been cried off within the first hour of being in her bedroom and her red eyes and nose were a testament to that.
Snow waved away the protest. “You look fine. Besides, it would do Finley good to see what he put you through.”
Goldie froze. “We’re going to see Finley?”
“How else are we going to fix this? We’ll have to call all three brothers.”
“I can’t do it.” Goldie shook her head, her voice was small and vulnerable.
Snow put her hands on her hips and frowned. “Goldie Lynn Lockwood, you are not a coward. Now, get up and let’s go.”
“He hates me, Snow.” Goldie’s bottom lip trembled. “I attacked him without provocation and broke his trust. He’ll never forgive me.”
Snow sighed and walked back to Goldie, taking her hands. “He doesn’t hate you, Goldie.”
Goldie opened her mouth to argue, but Snow continued.
“In fact, I think we can argue it’s the exact opposite. Fin wouldn’t have reacted so strongly if he didn’t have deep feelings for you. He loves you and it’s more than obvious that you love him,” Snow finished quietly.
“He’ll never forgive me for not trusting him.”
“Yeah, well, the imbecile needs to grow up a bit. Was it wrong for you to jump to conclusions? Probably, but you were given information that led you to one conclusion, any of us would have thought the same thing. But Finley, well, Finley had been holding Victoria’s deception against everyone else for a long time. It’s high time to get his head out of his sitter and realize that although most people aren’t like Victoria, they aren’t perfect either.” Snow straightened, tugging Goldie with her “Come on, let’s go get this figured out.”
“I’M NOT COMING,” FINLEY grunted between punches. He didn’t care that his knuckles were bleeding or that his fingers had gone numb hours ago. Obviously, it’s not enough since I can still feel my heart.
Quentin growled at him. “We need to figure out what is going on and fix it. Someone is using the family name and they used it to throw Goldie to the curb.”
Finley did his best not to wince as her name was said.
“Don’t you want to know why?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
Finley finally stopped punching and turned to look at his brother. “Look, that woman accused me, falsely mind you, of purposefully leading her on only to break her heart.” Finley shook his head. “She’s just like the rest of them. All she wants is her fifteen minutes of fame by making me look bad.”
“That’s not true,” Quentin argued. “Goldie would never go public like those other women.”
“Ha! You should have heard her talking about how the news had already been planning to cover the event and what they would say about me now.” Finley threw his hand wrappings on the floor and grabbed a bottle of water.
“You know she was hurting, she thought the man she had trusted had betrayed her.”
“Then obviously, she didn’t truly know me. She was only in it for the notoriety, just like the others.”
“There is one main difference between her and the others,” Quentin started. When Finley didn’t take the bait, Quentin continued. “You weren’t in love with the others.”
Finley’s nostrils flared, and he crushed the plastic bottle in his hand, whirling on his brother. “You know what? You’re right. I let myself get sucked in by her innocent act and feisty personality. She was good. Should be on the silver screen, good. And now I’m just grateful that I learned the truth before I made a more permanent mistake.”
Quentin shook his head, his face showed sadness. “I pity you and your jealousy, Brother.” Turning Quentin began to walk away.
“Jealousy? Are you kidding me?” Finley’s jaw dropped. “What in the world am I jealous of?”
Quentin turned. “Maybe jealousy isn’t the right word. Maybe coward is better.” Quentin cocked his head, his lips tight.
Finley jumped to his feet. “Big brother or not, I can still take you down.”
Quentin shook his head, not reacting to Finley’s anger. “That’s not the point. You,” he pointed a finger at Finley, “are scared. Victoria was a manipulative banshee, I get it. She did a number on you. You thought you had found the girl you were going to marry. But you and I both know that what you felt for her wasn’t even close to what you feel for Goldie.”
Finley opened his mouth, but Quentin put up a hand.
“Don’t deny it. We both know it would be a lie.”
Finley closed his mouth and tried to melt Quentin with his eyes instead.
“Has it ever occured to you that there was a reason you hadn’t asked Victoria to marry you yet? How long were you going to date her before making it official? Now, compare that to the few weeks you have been with Goldie. Don’t tell me you weren’t already thinking of little, curly headed children running around.”
Finley felt as if he’d been socked in the gut. His air was completely gone. Truth is, he had been thinking along those lines, he thought they had something special. Something he had never encountered before.
“You might have been comfortable with Victoria, but you love Goldie. And that scares you. You’ve used Victoria this last year to excuse your rotten behavior. And now you’re using her as an excuse to drive a wedge between you and Goldie.” Quentin snorted and shook his head. “You’re not just a coward, you’re an idiot.”
“Wow, just tell it like it is, Q.” Finley crossed his arms over his chest.
“I will. Someone has to. You’re too hard headed to hear it any other way.”
Finley snorted and walked to put the water bottle in the garbage.
“Losing Goldie means you let Victoria win. Twice.”
Finley spun around. “What do you mean twice?”
Quentin rolled his eyes. “Did you ever question why Goldie was so easily convinced of your guilt? Victoria started a company with our name on it.” Quentin pounded his chest. “Then, she had the nerve to undermine Goldie’s contract at the warehouse.”
Finley froze, the broken pieces of the puzzle pushing into place.
“If you were in Goldie’s shoes and given all the evidence she was given, would you honestly have come to a different conclusion?”
“But she knew me! She should have known I wouldn’t do something like that!” Finley scowled and felt his anger boiling over again.
&n
bsp; “How? Through that stellar reputation of ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ you’ve developed over the past year? Or maybe it was the fact that you’ve been faking a relationship with her this whole time?” Quentin shook his head. “Kissing her a few times doesn’t make it all better. For all she knew, she was just your latest victim.”
Finley felt Quentin’s words as if they were a physical blow. For all she knew, she was just your latest victim. I never told her I loved her, I just took what I wanted, not giving anything in return. He thought of how much joy Goldie had brought to his life. The way she viewed the world was different and passionate in a way he didn’t understand, but he loved.
Finley’s legs gave out and he slumped onto the bench, putting his face in his hands. “What am I going to do? She must hate me.”
Quentin sat beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. “She might. But I’m sure she’ll get over it. We all do.”
Finley gave a harsh laugh and glared at his brother. “Aw, thanks, Quent. That’s a wonderful help.”
Quentin shrugged. “Just telling it like it is. Now,” Quentin pounded Finley on the back. “The real question is, how are we going to fix this?”
Finley stared at the floor for a few moments before he glanced sideways with a smirk. “What are you and the missus doing next weekend?”
Quentin’s eyebrows shot up. “Why do I have a feeling I won’t like this?”
Finley stood and stretched. “You might not, but just think of it as a favor for your potential sister-in-law.”
Quentin stood and eyed his brother. “You have a plan to get her back, then?”
Finley nodded and started walking to the door. “Yep and we better hurry, there’s not much time.”
“There better be enough time for you to shower, because you reek.”
Finley rolled his eyes. “Then you can head to the craft store and buy me some clay.”
Quentin paused “Clay?”
“Yep,” Finley called over his shoulder as he walked upstairs. “Modeling clay.”
Quentin raised an eyebrow. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”