by Susan Stoker
Finn’s blood ran cold as he stood in the middle of the brightly lit room, his fingers tightening on the phone in his hand until he heard the plastic creak. “You’re lying.”
“Want to call him yourself? It’s only ten o’clock in Norway, I’m sure he’d love to explain it.” Richard fucking Hall sounded damn pleased with himself, and Finn growled.
“Faen. How long have you been holding on to that card? A week? Longer?” Finn had known his father would want to drag him home eventually, but he never thought the fucking pictures would push him this far.
“Long enough to know when to use it. You’ve got a simple choice here, fall in line, or go home to daddy. What will it be, Finn?”
This wasn’t a choice and they both knew it. A cancelled visa would ruin everything. Sure, he could visit, he could even maintain the exorbitant payments on the condo if he really wanted to, but if his father wanted to be an asshole… he could get him blocked from the US entirely. “I’ll go to the damn appointment, Dick.”
“It’s Richard.” The man was practically preening on the other end of the line. “Don’t miss this one, Finn. Goodbye.”
Just as the phone call cut off, he reared back his arm to throw the phone, but he froze when the screen displayed Aubrey’s info, the ‘Delete Contact’ confirmation still floating at the bottom. Finn swallowed, his pulse pounding at his temples, and then he could almost hear the taunt in her voice. The teasing challenge she’d poised the night before, the quiet threat to ruin him, and a slow smile spread over his lips.
Oh, yes. He’d go to the appointment.
He’d even listen to Dr. Connor’s bullshit.
But then he was going to track down Aubrey Dean, just to see who would ruin who.
***
A rapid series of knocks pulled Aubrey’s focus from the spreadsheet filling one screen on her desk. “Come in.”
The handle jiggled for a moment and then the door swung inward, revealing a grinning Trish with a glossy black box in her hands tied with a neon pink bow.
What the fuck?
“So, you have to open this in front of me. Who is it from? Do you have a guy now?” Trish’s grin grew as she sauntered forward to place the box on the edge of her desk, and something inside it… shifted. “I have got to know!”
Pulling the thing towards her, Aubrey skimmed the exterior for a card but found nothing. “Who is this from?”
“Absolutely no idea, it was delivered by a courier and addressed to you. Will signed for it at the front desk, but I offered to bring it to you.” The woman was practically bouncing in her thousand dollar heels as she waited for Aubrey to open it—which was absolutely not going to happen. The appearance of the box was already going to cause a stir; opening whatever it was in front of Trish would be like throwing napalm on a campfire.
“Nope. Bye, Trish. I’m in the middle of the Pierson account right now.” Aubrey glanced back to the spreadsheet on her computer as she navigated the mouse to click on a row of cells and needlessly highlighted them yellow.
“Aubrey! Open it!” Trish demanded, cheeks flushing pink.
With a smile, she slowly slid the box towards her, and then let it drop off the desk and into the trashcan beside her.
Trish gawked, her arms falling to her sides. “You’re joking! What if it’s flowers?”
“Then someone doesn’t know me very well, do they? I hate flowers.”
“You’re not human, Aubrey, no one hates flowers. Or chocolate!” The other woman whined, her eyes flicking to the edge of her desk like she was tempted to pull the shiny black box from the trash.
“Chocolate is too sweet, and pointless calories. Don’t you have that proposal due to Tania by end of business?”
“You know, at this rate you’ll be single forever,” she huffed as she marched towards the door, holding onto it when she turned back to glare.
“That sounds absolutely wonderful.” Keeping the snarky smile on her face, she kept her eyes locked on Trish until the woman shut her door—but as soon as the office was empty she couldn’t resist looking into the trash. The box positively gleamed, and she ran through the possible senders at rapid speed. It was a list that might have made Dr. Kirkland blush, and those were only the ones that she knew the names of… but none of them made sense.
No one sent her gifts.
Especially not to her office.
Who had the balls to do that?
It was that final question that had Aubrey pulling the smooth package from the bin, pushing her keyboard forward so she could set it directly in front of her. The hot pink ribbon fell away with a tug, and she rattled the box once more, instantly confused by the strange clattering sound inside.
Definitely not flowers.
Easing the lid off, the smell inside caught her first, and she started laughing. Cat food. The box was fucking filled with the stuff. Tiny fish shapes, stars, round bits and square. All smelling faintly of cardboard and seafood and grain. Her action of dumping the thing in the trash had knocked most of the food to one end and so she had to sift through it to find what had once been a crisp white card.
In a surprisingly elegant script she saw a few simple lines:
Thought I’d send you something to build up your strength, I’ve been told it’s high in protein. My friends and I are having drinks at Rhapsody on 6th St. at 6:00 if you’re brave enough to show up, but you could always chicken out.
Finn
Aubrey couldn’t help the grin that spread so wide it made her cheeks ache. There were too many questions flipping through her mind. How had he found out where she worked? Was this just some trick to get her to go on a date?
Turning the card over she burst into laughter. It read:
PS - It’s not a date, don’t get your hopes up.
Thrumming with an energy that reminded her of Christmas morning, Aubrey sifted through the cat food still lining the elegant box, but there was nothing else. Just the card with its taunting message.
Leaving the card out she replaced the lid and dumped the box back into the trash, following it with the mildly offensive hot pink ribbon.
“Asshole,” Aubrey muttered under her breath, still smiling as she tugged her keyboard forward to cover the cat food scented invitation. She tried to get back into the zone with her work, to ignore the nagging heat growing between her thighs, but it wasn’t working.
Memories of the day before trickled through her brain on auto-loop, mixed with a hint of guilt, a little self-reproach… but mostly? Just the damn itch. Like a good little addict, the taste of Finn hadn’t even eased the urges for a full night. She’d masturbated while thinking of him just so she could fall asleep.
No, he hadn’t scratched the itch, the boytoy in the bathroom had somehow made the itch worse.
Which was stupid.
She was immune to cocky imbeciles, used to overconfident jerks with six-pack abs. They were a dime a dozen in LA. So why in the hell was she thinking of seeing Finn again?
You. Will. Not. Do. This.
Focusing on the spreadsheet covering her screen, Aubrey said the words over and over in her head. A clear mantra, an internal order to her libido to chill out and let her get some work done because she needed to get some work done. She was falling further behind than she ever had before, and she knew for sure she was not earning her very lucrative paycheck these days. Usually the cold, analytical, CPA side of her brain calmed down her sex drive, put it on a shelf, but ever since she’d started stretching out her celibacy timelines… her performance at work had been dipping.
Dipping? More like crashing.
Aubrey slammed her mouse down on her desk, going cross-eyed at all the numbers on the screen. How the fuck was she supposed to concentrate on line item expenses when her clit was pounding and the itch was making her twitch?
Finn the fuckboy was supposed to help her concentrate.
Instead, he’d sent her cat food and a card. A handwritten card.
Tugging it from under the edge of
her keyboard she thumbed the corner of it, flicking the thick paper again and again with a satisfying thwock.
You could always chicken out.
It was like he’d known exactly what to say, exactly what to send, so that she wouldn’t just toss it in the trash, and damn him—she was thinking about it.
Thwock. Thwock. Thwock.
She would go, she had to, because if she ignored the invitation then she’d never get to see his face when she called him an asshole.
Chapter Four
Leaving her car with the valet, Aubrey turned towards the entrance of the bar. A little too popular for her tastes, a crowd of people already loitering on the sidewalk outside as the sun hung hot and heavy in the sky—but she’d accepted his challenge.
And there he was. Finn. Wearing simple khakis with a pale blue button down rolled up to his elbows. He was close to the curb, tapping away on his phone with those dark golden brows pulled tight across his forehead. He looked serious, frustrated, and she checked her phone just to ensure he wasn’t messaging her.
No messages. From Finn anyway.
Raising her eyes back to him, Aubrey watched as his jaw clenched, twitched, and then he finished whatever he was typing and dropped the phone to his side—obviously gripping it much too tight for it to be a pleasant discussion.
Those oddly sea green eyes lifted to hers, and his face instantly transformed with a smile, which turned devious in a breath as he stalked towards her. She had an urge to snag the valet and ask for her keys, to run… just so Finn would have to catch her. Pin her to the side of the latest car to arrive and fuck her without the preamble of whatever the hell this was.
“Aubrey…” He laughed low. “You decided not to be a chicken after all.”
“Not my style, but leave it to you to try and summon pussy with cat food.” She smiled when he burst into laughter.
“Do you ever think before you speak?” he asked, still chuckling as he tucked his phone away in a pocket.
“Of course I do. I just always say what I think. Does that intimidate you?” Aubrey took a step closer, invading his personal space. She heard his breath catch, impossibly green eyes staring down at her as if she were a puzzle he couldn’t solve.
Which was exactly how she liked it, and wanted to keep it.
But then Finn slipped an arm around her back to pull her flush against his hard chest. His voice was a soft, amused rumble when he finally spoke. “What makes you think I feel even the slightest bit intimidated by you?”
“Oh, Finn…” Smiling, Aubrey ignored the way her heart raced inside her chest, ignored how good he felt against her, and leaned up on her tiptoes to bring their lips closer together. “You send me a gift, a handwritten invitation, and now you’ve got your arms around me? This… feels like a date,” she whispered the last words against his mouth and he released her instantly, taking a hefty step back like she’d burned him.
“It’s not a date.”
“Sure, whatever you say,” she replied, lifting her waves off her neck to release the captured heat from the sun, and—if she were honest—from being pressed so close to Finn.
“My friends are inside, so trust me, this isn’t a date. But, if you aren’t intimidated by me, then...” He held out his hand, palm up, like some kind of lord from a fairytale.
For a moment Aubrey just stared. What was his angle? Why was the slight cocky tilt to his smile just more temptation? Not what she needed to be focusing on. Rolling her eyes, she dropped her hand into his. “Alright, lead on, but if there’s no friends waiting in there I’m out. I don’t do dates.”
“Neither do I, beautiful.” He winked and tugged her towards the entrance, stepping past a group of people waiting, but the man on the door opened it before Finn approached, acknowledging him with a nod. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the sinful opulence of Rhapsody, Aubrey was surprised by the huge crowd in a back corner that cheered as soon as they became visible, shouting across the bar.
“FINN!”
“All hail Prince Finn!”
“Prince Finn is here, guys! Now the party can start!”
Huh? Prince Finn?
A few people stepped forward to slap him on the back, or give him a side hug, and one girl even smacked him on the lips with a kiss before she winked at Aubrey and dropped back onto the lap of one of the guys.
“Alright, fuckers, calm down!” Finn was grinning as he shouted over them, but he squeezed Aubrey’s hand a little tighter when she tried to tug free, his eyes tracing her from head to toe like he was waiting for her to panic. No fucking way. “Everyone, meet Aubrey. Aubrey…” he grinned and turn his eyes back to the group, speaking with what sounded a lot like pride, “meet the most depraved bunch of idiots you’ll ever find.”
“AUBREY!” Several of them cheered, raising their glasses to her, and she gave a quick wave with her free hand, holding the grin on her lips as they all looked her over. There were fifteen, maybe more, of Finn’s friends all standing around, or sitting in chairs, taking up a good portion of the popular bar, and it was more than a little overwhelming—and definitely not a date, which let her breathe a little easier.
“Another round!” someone shouted, and Finn leaned close to her.
His breath brushed the shell of her ear as he whispered, “Dirty martini?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
“Vodka soda for me, and a dirty martini for Aubrey.” Finn had barely spoken, rather quietly compared to the loud crowd, before a few people were out of their seats and headed for the bar. He chuckled and turned towards her, brushing his lips against her hair. “Heads up, we may end up with a few rounds.”
“I can buy my own drinks, Finn.” She stared at him as he leaned back, his lips twitching up into a smile.
“I know, but isn’t it nice when you don’t have to?” He winked, before turning to a voice that called out for him.
“Prince Finn!” One of the guys untangled himself from a beautiful redhead and hugged Finn so hard that their hands finally separated, the man a few too many drinks in to make the movement graceful.
Finn caught him around the ribs, hugging him back before he steadied the guy on his feet. “Tito, I didn’t see you last week. I was worried for a second you’d dropped off the planet.”
Tito laughed loudly, reaching back to tug the redhead under his arm, where she tucked in against his chest with bright white teeth shining. “Are you kidding? Michelle is the best damn find in LA. I just needed a night to focus on tearing her clothes off in peace.”
The girl blushed prettily, her freckles standing out as she scrunched up her nose and pinched his side. “Don’t be a dick, Tito, or I won’t suck it later.”
Tito burst into laughter again. “See what I mean? Best damn find in all of Los Angeles.” The new couple started making out as Finn maneuvered back to Aubrey’s side, his eyes flicking between her and the scene in front of them.
If he was expecting this to make her want to leave, he clearly underestimated her.
“Almighty Finn, your drinks!” The first of the ones who had left returned with a glass for Finn and a martini for her, and she reached over quickly to snag it, drinking half of it in the first few swallows. “Hell yeah,” the guy cheered. “I like her! Is she coming to the party?”
Party?
“Where’d you find the princess, Finn? She’s cute.” Another friend in a chair called out to him, and Aubrey licked the edge of her glass to catch a drop as her not-date watched her, his grin spreading as he followed her tongue. It made her grin when he seemed to visibly shake himself to turn back to the group.
“Cut it with the prince shit, guys. Aubrey is a friend.” With a raise of his glass, he smiled at the gathering of people who all grew quiet like he held some power over them. “And I thought we were here to celebrate Candice’s birthday?”
A girl with curves enough to stop traffic stood up. “That’s right, and yeah, yeah… So, I’m thirty today, go fuck yourselves.” Everyone laughed a
s she raised her middle finger on her free hand. She had a gorgeous smile, a hot little A-line black dress that clung to her hips, and the bright red lipstick was like a warning for her personality—brazen and bold. Before she even spoke again, Aubrey already knew she liked this one of Finn’s friends. “I’m glad you guys were willing to come out a day early and have a drink with me. I’ve had so many people warning me about this day, like it would be some traumatic bullshit, but I don’t see a single problem moving from twenty-nine to thirty. I feel pretty fucking fine, so happy birthday to me!”
Everyone roared, raising their glasses, the people closest standing up to hug her, one person landing a sharp swat to her ass as she bent forward to kiss someone on the cheek, and then there was laughter. A wave of pure joy expressed for one person, and Finn was right there with them, cupping a hand around the side of his mouth as he tossed his own shouts into the mix.
Aubrey couldn’t help but get caught up in it, smiling right along with them, and as soon as her first martini was empty, someone handed her a new one. Just how she liked it, dirty enough to be cloudy, salty and smooth all at once. A pair of chairs had appeared behind them where they stood, and Finn pulled her down as he dropped into the one next to hers.
“Okay, Prince Finn, what are we doing for Candice’s birthday? Or do you have something special planned tomorrow?” The question came from someone just to his right, but, again, the group quieted like they were waiting to hear his answer.
Curiouser and curiouser…
“No way, guys, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Ruined surprises aren’t fun, are they?”
Everyone laughed, agreeing, and then the buzz of conversation returned as Candice sat down and lifted a purple martini to take a sip. Aubrey only had one question after an entrance like that, and she turned to find Finn already looking at her. “So, want to tell me why the hell they call you Prince Finn?”
“Because they’re idiots. I told you that right off the bat.” He winked at her, but then one of his friends pushed him back into his seat to talk around him.