by Laura Ann
“Absolutely. Oh, and we’ll need to borrow your house next weekend.”
“Snow already thought of that,” Quentin once again started upstairs. “She was supposed to go talk to Goldie about it.”
“Can we tell her it was my idea?”
Quentin dropped his chin and gave Finley a deadpan stare. “Why would we do that?”
Finley finished walking his brother to the front door. “Hey, I’m looking for all the brownie points I can get right now.”
Quentin chuckled. “True enough, I suppose we can say that.” He turned to go outside.
Finley put a hand on his arm. “Thank you, Quentin. I appreciate you taking the time to knock some sense into me.”
Quentin gave a small smile. “It’s such a hardship to call you names, but someone has to do it.”
Finley chuckled. “Well, I appreciate your sacrifice.”
Quentin watched him for a moment before engulfing Finley in a bear hug.
Finley stiffened momentarily before returning his brother’s embrace. “Thank you,” his voice was husky and he stepped back, clearing his throat.
With a nod, Quentin left.
Finley turned his back on the door and rubbed his hands together. “First order of business...” He smelled his armpit and scowled. “Shower. Definitely a shower.” With renewed energy he bounded up the stairs two at a time. Time to win me a woman.
CHAPTER 13
Goldie looked around her in satisfaction. Grabbing Snow’s arm, she grinned and bounced on her toes. “It turned out perfect, Snow. Thank you so much! Your house is perfect!”
Snow smiled and patted Goldie’s hand. “Well, it’s not my house yet, but I’m so glad it worked out.” She chewed her lip as she looked around. “I wasn’t sure how we would pull off all the paintings, but the easels worked great.”
Goldie nodded. “Yep. And I don’t know how to thank you enough that you guys were willing to loan us the house without a fee.” Goldie felt a twinge in her heart as she thought of her original sponsors. No. I’m not thinking of him today. He’s taken enough of my time lately. “I never was able to get back the full refund from my last deposit and had no idea where I would get the money in order to rent a new place.”
Snow reached her arm around Goldie’s shoulders and squeezed. “Don’t worry about it. That’s what friends are for.”
Goldie gasped when she spotted a tall, dark, handsome man enter the room. Her eyes widened and her spine stiffened. What is he doing here?
“You have to talk to him sometime,” Snow whispered in Goldie’s ear.
Goldie turned to Snow and felt her shoulders slump. “I do owe him an apology. I shouldn’t have assumed he was the one behind the buy-out.” Goldie’s head hung. “But he hates me so much, I’m not sure an apology is worth it. He would probably prefer I just stay away rather than bother him for my own conscience.”
Snow gave Goldie a sad smile. “I don’t think he hates you.”
Goldie shook her head, her eyes straying back to the man she was in love with as he charmed his way through the room. “You didn’t see him, Snow. The way he compared me to all the other women he had dated, the way he told me to get out.” A single tear trickled down her cheek. “He absolutely loathes me and I don’t blame him.”
Suddenly Snow and Goldie were surrounded by three large, muscular bodies. “Need a little help, Squirt?” Ridge threw his arm around his sister.
Goldie relaxed in their company. “And just why would I need your help, you neanderthal?” She elbowed him lightly and grinned at his over-dramatic reaction.
“We saw him come in, thought you might want a little help deterring him from talking to you,” Sawyer whispered while he grinned at a couple of women passing by their group.
Goldie rolled her eyes. “While I appreciate the sentiment, there is no way he will bother coming to talk to me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Harlan said with a grin. “Hey, Snow,” he looked her up and down. “I see teaching has been agreeing with you.” Harlan pumped his eyebrows a couple of times.
Snow raised an eyebrow. “I think it’s the engagement, not the teaching that’s been doing me good.”
Harlan put a hand to his heart. “Ouch, way to put a man down.”
“Be grateful it was her and not me.” Quentin’s deep tones broke into their little circle.
“Mr. Gruffman,” Harlan grinned unrepentantly and put out his hand.
He and Quentin shook firmly.
“I’m not sure whether to congratulate you or give condolences. I’ve been trying to get Snow to marry me since she and Goldie became friends, but she keeps turning me down flat. Love can be a cruel mistress.”
Snow rolled her eyes and huffed.
A broad smile crossed Quentin’s face. “I guess it took the bigger man to control her, then.” Quentin chuckled and kissed Snow on the top of her head when she elbowed him in the gut.
The rest of the group laughed while Harlan pretended to look wounded.
“Hey, Goldilocks,” Ridge said around a mouthful of cookie. “Have you seen the pottery section yet?”
“Of course, I helped set it up.”
“So, you know all about the nude statue on display?”
Goldie’s widened and her eyebrows shot up. “What? Are you joking?”
All the men snickered and Goldie huffed impatiently.
“No joke. I thought maybe it was just your way of educating the public about ‘art’.” Ridge used his fingers to make quotation marks.
“Shoot.” Goldie chewed her lip. “This was supposed to be family friendly. I specifically told my kids no exposed body parts.” She sighed. “Someone must have slipped it in after I was finished setting up.” She turned around. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she called over her shoulder.
Shaking her head, she headed towards the side room with everyone’s sculptures in it. The closer she got, the more her breath left her. Every time she thought of pottery she thought of her time with Finley in her garage. I thought he was serious about making our relationship real. She sniffled. How naive can one person be?
Standing in the doorway, she scanned the room. A large crowd had gathered in one corner. That must be it. “Excuse me,” Goldie pushed her way through the group of giggling and gossiping students. “Nothing to see here, folks, let’s break it up. Excuse me, please.” Once she was able to see what was on the table, she froze.
FINLEY WATCHED GOLDIE from the corner of the room. He had tucked himself back, too nervous to face her head on quite yet. Once she finally broke through the cluster of students, she gasped.
Wait for it, wait for the right moment.
His offering wasn’t very impressive unless you counted its size. But he was hoping it would do the trick, nonetheless.
When Goldie’s hands shot to her mouth and tears began to trickle down her cheeks, Finley made his move.
Goldie was oblivious to his approach and his brothers helped in clearing out the masses. As Finley closed the last couple of inches between him and the woman he wanted, he saw her stiffen. Shoot.
Goldie spun around and started at his presence. “Finley...” She breathed.
Warmth spread through Finley at his name. “Hello, Goldilocks.”
Her lip twitched, but she seemed to be holding back her smile. “Did you do this?” She tilted her head over her shoulder.
Erasing all distance between them, he pushed into her personal space. His hands ached to run through her curls and he had to clench his fists to keep from doing just that. “Do you like it?”
The smile finally broke out across her face and Finley felt like he could breathe deeply for the first time in days. “It looks like a first grader did it.”
Finley barked out a laugh. “True enough. Apparently, I’m all thumbs when it comes to pottery.” He leaned in close. “Would you be interested in providing some private lessons?”
Goldie’s face turned red and Finley gave in to the urge to touch her. Running
one finger down her cheek, he nearly groaned at the softness of her skin and the pleasant hum of electricity that always came at their contact.
Goldie closed her eyes at his touch. After a moment, she sighed and turned back to his monstrosity. Pursing her lips and tapping a finger against them she looked over the project.
Finley stepped up behind her so his chest was touching her back. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her waist. “So... what do you think?” He whispered in her ear.
Goldie tilted her head back and forth as she looked at the vase he had created. It was lumpy and leaned heavily to one side. The hearts he had tried to carve were uneven and had left bits of sharp clay sticking out. “Well, I have to give you credit for the size. How many roses did you manage to fit in that thing?”
Finley nuzzled her ear. “One hundred.”
Goldie gasped and leaned her head back just enough to see him. “Are you serious?”
Finley nodded.
Goldie’s face was serious as she asked the next part. “Did you mean it?” Her eyes darted to his sign that sat in front of the vase.
Created By: I’m an idiot. I’m sorry.
“Yes.” His voice was dark and husky. “I took out Victoria’s betrayal on you and I was wrong. Can you forgive me?”
“Only if you can forgive me for believing you could do something so underhanded to begin with,” Goldie whispered back.
Finley turned her in his arms so she was facing him. “Any person would have come to the same conclusion, but yes, I forgive you.”
“And I forgive you,” Goldie said as her eyes darted to his lips.
Finley needed no further encouragement. Leaning down, he kissed Goldie with all the pent-up emotions of the last few days. He pulled her in as tight as he could as she wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him tightly.
He had just pushed one of his hands into her glorious hair when a booming slap hit him on the back.
Goldie whimpered as the jolt broke the kiss.
Finley barely held back from growling at her three brothers surrounding them.
“There’s a time and a place, my friend,” Harlan said with a wink. “And this isn’t it.”
The stiffness drained from his shoulders.
Goldie mumbled into his chest where she had buried her face.
Finley took her shoulders and pulled her away from him. “What was that?”
“Dumb brothers ruin everything,” she muttered.
Finley grinned, then pulled her in for a hug. “Finally, something we can agree on.”
Goldie laughed lightly as she wrapped her hands around his waist. She sighed. “I suppose I should go mingle with our sponsors and guests. After all, this is a fundraiser.”
“Can your real boyfriend come with you?” Finley said into her hair.
Goldie tilted her head up. “Only if he promises to behave. I want to charm these people, not scare them off.”
Finley put a hand to his chest in mock hurt. “I would never scare anyone.” He smirked and put his nose in the air. “I happen to be very good at charming people.”
Goldie smacked him on the chest. “You’re not allowed to charm anyone but me.”
Finley grinned and kissed her on the nose. Letting go, he turned toward the door and took her arm. “What if we did it together?”
Goldie sighed and rested her head on his bicep. “Sounds perfect.”
CHAPTER 14
Tia bustled around the kitchen, putting the final touches on their dinner.
“What’s next?” Goldie asked as she returned from putting a dish on the table.
“If you don’t mind putting the rolls out, I’ll bring the roast and we’ll be good to go.” Tia nodded toward a basket full of warm, fluffy goodness.
“Mmm, these smell so good, Tia. When I grow up, I want to be just like you.”
Tia snorted but didn’t say anything else.
Goldie walked into the dining room, eyeing the full table. “Where the heck are we going to put everything?”
“You can just set that on my plate.” Finley’s deep voice washed over Goldie from behind.
She worked to hold in a shiver, but when he ran his hand around her waist, she lost all control of her body.
“Trembling, in my presence? I’m not sure whether I should be flattered, or worried.” Finley kissed the top of her head.
“Definitely worried,” Goldie said, sticking her nose in the air. “And if you want the whole basket of rolls, you will have to fight me for them.” She stepped out of his arms and put the basket down. “Never get between me and my carbs.”
Finley chuckled. “I’m always up for a little fight. Should I shut us in my workout room?”
Goldie turned and put her hands on her hips. “You mean your dungeon? The place where you lock up unsuspecting women?”
Finley took a step forward, closing the distance between them. “I’ve only locked one woman in there and I didn’t even get to enjoy it.”
Goldie poked his chest with her finger. “Better keep it that way.”
“Come on, you two.” Tia said as she breezed into the room. “Call everyone else and we can eat.”
“No need,” Quentin’s deep tones sounded from the doorway. “The smell brought everyone. We’ve been waiting for the love-fest to be over before we interrupted.”
Brody and Quentin laughed, only to both be smacked by their significant others.
Goldie’s cheeks were so hot she felt like she might burst into flame.
“Neither one of you are any good at keeping your hands to yourself, either,” Snow said, pointing first at Quentin, then Brody. “In fact,” Snow sat down and turned toward Goldie. “There was this one time he-”
Quentin slapped his hand over Snow’s mouth, a light blush creeping up his neck. “I think you’ve made your point, Sweetheart.”
Snow pushed his hand away, obviously holding back a grin. “Then stop giving them a bad time. Poor Goldie blushes almost as badly as I do.”
“Gee, thanks, Snow,” Goldie said dryly as she rolled her eyes.
After they had said grace and filled their plates, Quentin got down to business. “Although, I hope there are many more family dinners in our future, I wanted you all here so we could discuss Victoria.”
A stillness settled over the table, robbing the room of the jovial atmosphere that had been present.
Goldie peeked up at Finley and found him glaring at Quentin.
Quentin looked at his brother and shook his head. “I hate to ruin the mood as much as anybody, but I’ve heard from our lawyer and we need to make some decisions.”
Brody wiped his mouth with his napkin and sighed loudly. “Spell it out, Q. What did you find?”
Quentin pushed the food around his plate before setting down his fork and leaning back in his chair. He folded his arms across his chest and carefully looked around the table. “She started a business using our name.” He grimaced. “Or at least a part of our name. Enough that we know people will associate anything that business does, with us.” He glanced at Goldie.
She bit her lip and hung her head. I should have known better.
Finley slipped his arm around her shoulders and nuzzled into her ear. “No one blames you, Sweetheart. This is exactly why we need to do something about it because we don’t want others to think the same thing.”
When she didn’t look up, Finley continued. “Come on, Curly Sue, you’re killing me.” He kissed her ear and squeezed her close.
“Goldie, that wasn’t meant to be an insult. I apologize it came out that way. Victoria’s whole purpose was to make you think Finley was behind the buy-out.”
“I don’t get why she would do that?” Tia asked as she took a bite of her salad. “I mean, it’s an awful lot of work just to try and break up Goldie and Fin. Surely, there were easier ways.”
Quentin nodded. “There would have been, if there had been any chance of her actually breaking them up.” Quentin smiled at Goldie and she felt a little lig
hter at the show of support. “However, it wasn’t really about Finley and Goldie.”
“Get to the point, Q. What was she after?” Finley growled.
“The same thing she and her father were after in the beginning. Money.” Quentin sighed. “When her father was sent to jail, all of their family assets were frozen until the government could figure out what all was theirs. But dear, old daddy must have had his hands in a few more pies than we or Victoria suspected. A few months ago, the verdict came down that the assets were staying frozen permanently.” Quentin shrugged at the stunned faces before him. “She’s lost everything. From what we can gather, she thought if she got back into your good graces,” Quentin pointed to Finley, “you could pick back up where you left off and she could go back to her lavish lifestyle.”
Finley snorted and shook his head. “Unbelievable. But how did she buy the building then? And why go to such lengths?”
“Our lawyer said she falsified some documents to get the loan necessary to buy the building. And my guess is, after Goldie humiliated her in public, Victoria was pushed by her ego to humiliate Goldie right back. Is there anything more humiliating and heartbreaking than to think someone we love has betrayed us?”
Goldie sat stunned and unmoving. A hot anger began to simmer inside. The longer she sat there, the harder it boiled. “Where is she now?” Goldie’s voice was low and hard and she felt Finley jerk when she spoke.
Quentin narrowed his eyes and studied her for a moment. “She’s actually in police custody. She was arrested when we sent them the evidence of the falsified documents. Although, I’ll admit, I wouldn’t mind seeing you take her on again.”
“Quentin!” Snow gasped and slapped him on his bicep.
“I’ll place odds,” Brody added.
“You do and you’re cooking for yourself for a month,” Tia said with pursed lips.
“Victoria wouldn’t stand a chance,” Finley chuckled as he pulled Goldie into his body. “My little kitten has very sharp claws.”
Chuckles erupted around the table and Goldie had to work hard to hold on to her anger. Putting out her bottom lip, she crossed her arms. “I can take her.”