by Morgan Fox
“Noble,” she said, moving from shaking Darrell’s hand to Melanie’s. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
“So you must be the reason he’s playing so well. I knew there was something going on with him, but I couldn’t get him to spill a single drop about you.”
She glanced at Finn, surprised. He hadn’t even mentioned he was dating someone? And here I was worried he was sharing personal details about me and he hadn’t said a word. She wasn’t sure why, but she had an unsettling sensation ride up in her chest. She dismissed it as best she could.
“Making good plays are easy when you’ve got good protection,” she told Darrell.
“That’s true.”
“Will you excuse me for a moment,” Finn said, palming the small of her back as he moved around her and down the hallway.
She imaged he was heading for the bathroom, not that he had to announce it, but thinking about it reminded her that she needed to go, as well. She’d gotten distracted, talking with so many approachable people. She hadn’t expected the night to be so inviting.
“Man, is it nice to get out of the house,” Melanie said, with an exaggerated sigh and followed by a wide smile.
Noble got the impression that whatever job she did was either demanding or exceedingly boring. “Do you work from home?”
Melanie groaned. “I’ve got a startup real-estate company, manage a crazy household with four kids, and a husband who travels a lot. Sweetheart, I don’t work from home. I run an asylum.”
They laughed. Melanie was a gem. Her curly black hair framed her dark olive face and when she laughed her eyes sparkled with joy. She was happy running her asylum.
“Four kids, huh?” Noble’s uterus squeezed tight, as if reminding her that she still had time to have a baby. She hadn’t considered having children. Career and misery had always trumped the possibility. Things seemed different now.
Does Finn want children?
She inwardly laughed. Look at me, putting the cart before the horse.
Melanie hiked her thumb over her shoulder at her husband. “If he has his way, we’re likely to have our own football team.”
They shared another laugh. Noble put her hand on her tummy. “If you keep making me laugh, I’m likely to wet the floor.”
“Well, don’t do that. The bathroom is right up that hall and to the left.”
“Thank you.”
Noble put her drink down on the table and headed down the same hallway Finn had disappeared. Still smiling, she passed a few friendly faces, heading in the direction she’d come from. She heard a woman’s laughter and figured that was the direction of the bathroom. She turned right and stopped dead in her tracks. A tall, long-legged blonde had her chest pressed against Finn. He was holding her shoulders as they kissed.
Noble’s stomach clenched as she swallowed the bile that chased up onto the back of her tongue. She couldn’t breathe, the air lodged in her throat. The world spun out of control as she watched the blonde pulling at Finn’s coat, tugging him against her breasts—breasts that spilled from her silvery dress. Noble turned to flee, but she smacked into table, a vase dancing across the wood surface, before she steadied it. Instantly, she looked up to lock eyes with Finn. He shoved the blonde away, but it was too late. She’d seen them kissing. He hadn’t stopped her. He’d held her.
Noble’s heart shattered. The bottom falling out of her perfect illusion. Finn had played her. He was no different than River. No different than any of the men who’d hit on her time and again at Iron Horse.
“Oh, you’re good,” she told him as he stalked toward her. She held up her hand to keep him from touching her. “You used your family, your ‘I’ve never brought anyone else here’ bullshit line on me.” She shook, tears welling in her eyes. “I wanted to trust you. I wanted to believe you were different.”
“Noble—”
“If you say ‘it’s not what you think,’ I’m going to punch you in your cheating face.” She clenched her jaw. “Do us both a favor, Finn. Lose my name, lose my number, and never bother me again.” She couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “I’m so stupid. To think I’d actually fallen in love with you.”
“Ah, Noble,” he said on a breath, reaching for her.
She swatted his hands away, fury and sadness overwhelming her. “Don’t fucking ‘Noble’ me.” She brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Please don’t ever come looking for me. I can’t bear to see you again.” She turned and ran for the door, not stopping until she found a valet to find Finn’s limo and take her home.
When she opened her front door, she yanked off her heels, tore off her dress, and headed for the shower. She felt dirty and embarrassed by his betrayal. The emotions hit her so hard it was like a hammer crushing her heart, pulverizing her mind with the reminder of her repeated mistakes.
I’m such a fool.
Naked and trembling, she made her way into her shower. Once the warm water hit her skin, the tears she’d been holding back tore from her eyes, her stomach clenching with her heavy sobs. Sinking down onto the floor, she tucked her legs up and cradled herself into a tight ball. The water danced over her flesh, but the coldness left in Finn’s devastating wake wouldn’t give her the peace she sought. Instead, she cried and she did so until she had nothing left to give.
Chapter Fifteen
Finn had managed to dig himself into the biggest hole of his career. The last game he’d played had been a complete clusterfuck. He couldn’t throw the football to save his life. His head was a mess, his heart crushed, and everything around him was falling apart.
As he sat on the sidelines, praying the defense could do something to save their asses, he thought of Noble. She was always on his mind. That was part of the problem. He’d hurt her. Unintentionally, but he’d hurt her, something he’d promised to never do.
Fucking Kristi.
The woman was pure hell. He’d stupidly slept with Kristi over a year ago, but when he’d told her that he didn’t want anything serious, she’d flipped him off, told him to go fuck himself, and jumped into bed with the next available guy. Which turned out to be his teammate, Brad.
Real touch of class.
After Noble had spied him in the hallway with Kristi, he’d dragged her straight to Brad, dumping her on his lap and explaining how someone should really take out the trash. He never spoke like that about a woman. He was raised better. But at that moment, he didn’t care. That bitch had driven the biggest damn wedge between him and Noble—a woman he was in love with and wanted so badly to be with.
No thanks to Kristi, the wall of tension between him and Brad was even greater. They didn’t need the cyclonic dysfunction she’d knowingly stirred. She was trouble, and he hoped Brad had enough intelligence to cut her loose before she did more damage to the team.
The problem with losing is that it makes the game feel like it lasts forever. All season he’d managed to bring them back from the brink. As the clock rolled down, this would be their first loss of the season. Bile burned at the back of his throat as failure crept up into his mind. He’d lost the game and the woman he loved. Life was fucking great.
As the team entered the locker room, lots of fists slammed into lockers, benches were kicked, helmets were tossed, and swear words were thrown about like the wind. Finn was insignificant. He’d done nothing to help his team rebound. Everything was off, and it all started and ended with him.
Finn hung his head, his shoulders slumping forward. He leaned and rested his elbows on his knees. He’d give anything to disappear, be invisible so that he wouldn’t have to face anyone.
Darrell smacked him on the back and sat down beside him on the bench. “Well, that sucked,” he grumbled, taking on the same posture as Finn.
“I’m sorry,” he said, slanting a look at Darrell. “I fucked up.”
“Are we talking about the football game or Noble?”
At the mention of her name, the air stripped from his lungs. He closed his eyes, realizing that nothing would ever
be right if he didn’t at least have a chance to explain that what she thought she saw wasn’t really what she thought.
“She never let me explain. She assumed I’d cheated. That I’d actually wanted Kristi over her.” His mouth went dry, his heart pounding. “I’d give anything to make it right.”
“Then do it. Because if you don’t and we lose another damn football game—”
Darrell’s words drifted off, but Finn knew exactly what he was going to say. If they lost again, the season was over and the playoffs would have to wait another year. He didn’t want that. Some of his teammates didn’t have another year. They had now.
“Any suggestions? She told me she never wanted to see me again. Never wanted me anywhere near her. How do I make her not hate me?”
Darrell chuckled. “I think I’ve got just the person to help us.”
Finn furrowed his brow. He wasn’t sure he liked the devilish gleam in his friend’s eyes or the quirky grin he flashed. This was either going to suck even more or make his life better.
What other choice do I have?
* * * *
When Melanie, Darrell’s lovely wife, sat across from Noble at the bar at Iron Horse, she wondered if Finn had sent her. Even though it was like tearing out her own heart, she meant that she wanted him to stay away. “What can I get you, Melanie?”
Her sympathetic smile was unnerving. “I’ll take a white wine and a bit of your time,” she said, emphasizing the rhyme in her words.
Noble poured her a glass of wine and placed it in front of her. “Here’s your wine, but if you’ve come to talk about Finn, don’t bother. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to—”
“Have you seen him play since the party?”
Melanie’s question caught her off guard. Watching a Dallas game was sort of unavoidable. “I work in a sports bar. Of course I’ve seen it, and even if I hadn’t seen it, the grumbling pissed-off patrons make sure I’ve heard about it.”
Melanie’s smile softened. “He’s lost his mojo because of you.”
Me? What? Is he actually telling people that it’s my fault? Last time she checked, she hadn’t been the one caught playing tonsil hockey with a bimbo. Noble leaned forward, her hands pressed to the edge of the bar. “Not my problem.”
“It should be.”
Noble scoffed. “What the hell, Melanie? Are you seriously taking his side here? How would you feel if Darrell was cheating on you?”
“I’d feel good after I removed his testicles and handed them to him in a jar, but we’re not talking about me and we also need to address the elephant in the room.”
“I don’t care who she was. I saw—”
“You saw a hussy making a move on your man. You saw her kiss him. You saw her doing things. What was he doing?”
Letting her do it. “He was enjoying it,” she barked.
Melanie laughed. “You saw him trying not to be a dick. The one thing I know about Finn Kipling is that they don’t make them like him anymore.”
Noble grimaced. At one time she’d thought that, but then he’d betrayed her and proved he was no different than the rest.
“He was coming out of the bathroom and Kristi blindsided him. The woman is trash. He wants nothing to do with her. What you saw was her making a move on him. What you didn’t see was him dumping her trashy ass on Brad’s lap and telling him what a piece of work his date was.”
Really? I would’ve like to have seen that.
“I scored big when I met Darrell. He’s a wonderful man and I never thought I’d ever meet another man like him, until Finn joined the team. The man calls his mother every week. He helps out with whoever needs it. He prefers to avoid drama and he’s a good man. I assure you that Kristi saw how he was with you at the party, and she got jealous. That woman has been trying to put her hooks in him for more than a year, and Finn wants no part of it. Now, I can’t lie. He’s been with her once.” She raised her index finger when Noble began to speak, stopping her. “He regrets it. He admits he never should’ve done it, but he fell victim to loneliness. We’ve all done something we regret. We shouldn’t be punished for that. My advice—cut him some slack. Hear him out before you decide to truly end things with him.”
Noble wanted to be wrong about what she saw at the party. Being without him these last several days had been hell. She’d tossed her phone into a drawer, picking it up a dozen times an hour to text him or call him. She’d wanted to stop by his house. She’d wanted to see him pop into the bar, ignore her request to leave her alone, and sweep her off her feet. But then the memory of Kristi with her mouth pressed to his surfaced and the bitterness of betrayal smacked her in the face.
What if Melanie was telling the truth and Noble had been wrong? Could she forgive him? Could she avoid the fear that something like that might happen again?
She moved around the bar to sit beside Melanie. “It’s not that easy for me,” she admitted. “Trusting was already difficult before the Kristi debacle.”
Melanie twisted her expression. “Would you have preferred to see him hit her, shove her away like some brute?”
Noble’s eyes flared wide. Yes! Maybe. Not really. “Of course not.”
“Then had you been a second slower, you would’ve seen him wiggle out of her viper grasp and head straight back to you.”
“You can’t know that for sure.”
She finished her wine and slipped off the barstool. Her brown eyes narrowed and her words were sharp. “You keep thinking that, sweetheart, and you’re going to miss out on loving a man that is miserably in love with you.” She placed her hand on Noble’s shoulder. “The man misses you and I know you miss him.”
As soon as Melanie left, Claire moved to place her arm around Noble’s shoulders. “I don’t normally eavesdrop, but I have to admit that that woman has a point. Honey, Finn brought you out of that bubble you’ve been hiding in for years. A man who doesn’t care about you, who doesn’t make you feel something amazing, can’t do that.”
“I’ve been a mess for so long. How do I fight through all of this shit and slip back? My trust issues are the surface of my problems.”
“It sounds to me that you can still trust Finn. He didn’t cheat on you. In fact, I think I heard that woman say he was in love with you.” Claire smiled. “The rest can be worked out and I’m sure he’d love to support you as you did it.” She sighed. “I wasn’t fortunate enough to have a man love me enough to put me first, just knocked me up and hauled ass, but you—you have a chance to have it all. Why would you not want to try to have that?”
Noble smiled. Why did it take a planet exploding around her for her to see more clearly? “I think it’s time I called my lawyer about securing that location for my fitness center.”
Claire smiled. “And Finn?”
Noble’s heart squeezed. Finn had surprised her with how wonderful he was. If it was meant to be, then he’d be there when she was ready. Right now, she wasn’t.
“I need more time,” she admitted.
* * * *
Noble stood in the center of her new fitness center and smiled. She’d done it, settled on the location that would prove most lucrative. She could almost see all the equipment, the nutritional center, and a room filled with happy customers all wanting to improve their bodies and health. It felt good to finally move forward—to stop using her parents’ death to block her from the future she desired.
The only thing missing was Finn. After hearing what Melanie said and listening to her wise friend Claire, Noble had to make a few changes in her life, if she was ever going to be able to let go of past resentments. She had to force herself to stop living in fear and start fighting for what made her happy. Her fitness career made her happy. Finn made her happy.
Another week had gone by and she hadn’t reached out to him. She wanted to, but she had to get things straightened out with her lawyers and the club first. She wanted to share with him that she’d finally taken steps to move forward, something he had encouraged.
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br /> “When’s the grand opening?” his husky, deep voice pulled her from her thoughts.
Almost dreamlike, she stared at Finn. Clad in jeans and dark button-down shirt, he looked different. Like he hadn’t eaten or slept in weeks. She knew the feeling.
“How did you find me?”
He strolled into the room, his hands in his pockets. “Claire,” he said candidly. “I went to Iron Horse to find you, and she told me what you’d done. I couldn’t be happier for you, Noble.”
Silence swallowed them, until he spoke again. “Look, Noble, you need to know that I never cheated on you.”
“I know,” she breathed, her heart thudding hard against her ribs. “Melanie came to see me last week.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Darrell’s wife?”
His surprised tone told her that he hadn’t known she’d come on his behalf. “She told me what happened.”
“I’m sorry.” His tone was huskier, deeper than she’d ever heard. “I never meant to hurt you. I had no idea she was in the hallway. I never would’ve—”
She put her hand up, blocking the need for more details. “I know. I don’t blame you. I overreacted.” She sighed. “I should’ve given you the benefit of the doubt, but I couldn’t see beyond my past mistakes. I lumped you in with them. It wasn’t fair of me.”
“Does that mean you forgive me?” he asked, his eyes glistening.
She moved to him and placed her hand on the side of his face. He closed his eyes, leaning into her touch. “I should be the one asking you. It wasn’t until I pushed you away that I realized how much better you made my life. I let jealousy and fear guide me all these years that when I saw you…you were just too good to be true.”
He covered her hand with his. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
He pulled her against him, kissing the top of her head. She craned her head back and stared up at him. Slowly, he lowered his head and pressed his mouth against hers. She whimpered, the need for him whipping through her life like wild fire.