Chapter 15
Finn
I t’s been a week since our ice cream date, and I can’t get this woman out of my head. Spending time with Riley feels different from any other woman I have been with, and I don’t even think I can really call it a date. She may junk punch me if I did, and I would let her, I’m so gone for that woman.
Before, she just really intrigued me, and now I can say that she is the strongest woman I have ever met, and I have so much respect for her. I feel like no young girl should have to go through what she did at such a young age. The fact that she turned into the person she is today is so inspiring. I can feel myself falling for this woman, and I hope I don’t ever hit the ground. From the little bits and pieces I’ve heard from Mason, she’s doing amazing in her new position, like I knew she would. However, I am a bit worried about the fact that she is working so many hours. I can’t believe she’s working almost two full time jobs right now, and she’s killing it. So, this afternoon, I’m going to bring her a coffee so she has a midday pick me up before she goes home and starts the second part of her day. Maybe it’ll take something off of her plate, but I also selfishly just want to see her. I have only seen her one other time since getting ice cream, and it was a very short interaction to pick up an order. She still looked like the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, but she looked exhausted.
So, I have an idea forming in my head that I hope I can talk her into. If she seems hesitant, I may have to enlist Mason to help me again. I’m praying she says yes because it’ll kill two, almost three, birds with one stone. I’ll get to spend more time with her, she’ll get to rest, and she’ll also be making progress with the designing for the building, so she really can’t say no.
I have the goods secured as I walk into Evergreen Hardware, and when the bell on the door chimes, her beautiful brown eyes look right at me and there is a hint of a smile on her lips. A month ago, it would’ve been a scowl, and it hits me right in the chest. How could anyone think she was icy? Guarded sure, but for good reason. I’d like to find someone who’s been through what she has and see how open they are. The way I see it, she has a really great judge of character, and she gives her love to those who really deserve it, like Chloe. The thought quickly passes through my head if I could ever be one of those people she trusts enough to fully let in and love.
Shaking the thought out of my head, I give her a big smile and hold up the coffee cup in my hand, and that hint of a smile turns into a huge grin.
“Please tell me you’re holding up that coffee cup ‘cause it’s for me and not because you’re teasing me.”
My voice lowers. “I would never tease you, Riles.” Her cheeks flush at the double meaning.
She recovers quickly. “Well, good, because that would be a very serial killer thing to do, tease me with coffee and not let me have it.”
I playfully roll my eyes at her. “Not this again.”
“Too much? Have I gone too far with the serial killer comparisons?”
“Maybe a tad. Let’s see if you can think of something else to move on to.”
She stares at me for a bit with a furrowed brow. “You’ll have to give me a couple of days to come up with something. I can’t think on the spot; too much pressure.”
Laughing, I reply, “Sure thing. But listen, while I did want to bring you coffee, I also wanted to run something by you and see if you’d be interested.”
She gives me a wary look. “Well, go for it, but I already have a lot going on right now, as you know. I don’t know if I can add anything else to it.”
My heart sinks a bit. Is she talking about us, too? I know there’s not an ‘us’, but after last week, I was hoping that there could be the opportunity for an ‘us’. Is this her way of putting me in the friend zone? Nope, not letting that happen. So, I continue, “I know you do. I would never want to add to that. This is actually something for the project.”
She sits up a little straighter with a look of alarm on her face. I don’t want her to freak out, so I put up my hand in placation and tell her, “Nothing’s wrong; everything is great actually. Mason is really happy with your work.”
She blows out a breath,.“Okay, good.”
“I was actually wanting to see if you wanted to go to Seattle with me.”
Now she’s just staring at me with a blank face, and I can’t tell what’s going through her head.
“Finn, I just told you how much I have on my plate, and you want me to go to Seattle with you?”
“Hear me out. It would be for the project. I have a couple of things that I need to take care of, and I thought maybe you’d want to come and look at some of the interior design shops, antique stores, and different showrooms that Seattle has to offer. Evergreen Ridge has a lot to offer, but I couldn’t help but notice there isn’t a huge selection of design stores.”
She’s staring at me while biting her lip, and all I can think about is the fact that I want to bite it, too.
“Hmm, I don’t know. I’m not sure I could get the time off at the store, and I have so much on my to-do list for the project as it is.”
“What if we make it a weekend trip? I know you’re not at the store on the weekends, and what if I talk to Mason and let him know that it’s an important research trip for the project?”
She looks at me skeptically and doesn’t reply.
“Come on, Riles. You’re going to get to the point in the project where you’re going to have to make this trip anyway to look at things, place orders, etc. So, what’s a better time than when we can go together and I can show you around?”
Once again, she’s staring at me, and my skin is starting to feel itchy. I think I broke her. Is she ever going to respond? After a few seconds, she does.
“Okay, let’s do it. As long as you run it by Mason, and he doesn’t think I’m taking some weekend off to vacay in the city, I’ll go.
“Great, you don’t worry about a thing. Just pack an overnight bag, and I’ll pick you up at eight a.m. on Saturday.”
“An overnight bag?” she squeaks out.
“Don’t worry, Riles. I’ll get us two separate rooms. I didn’t think we’d be sharing.”
Her cheeks pink again. “Oh, right. Okay.”
“Okay.” I wink at her. “You enjoy that liquid crack I just brought you, and I’ll see you in a few days. I’m heading to the site, so I’ll talk to Mason right now. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you in a few,” she says with a wave.
I give her another wink and a wave and head for the door.
I smile the whole way to the job site because I’m going to get to spend an entire weekend with Riley. I really didn’t think she’d agree so easily, and I can’t help but hope it’s because she does want to spend time with me. Even though I know it’s most likely because she really wants to do well on this project. I wish she knew how talented she is and that she’s going to absolutely crush it. It might just take finishing the project and seeing what she created for her to build that confidence, and I’m excited that I get to be a small part of it.
Now I just need to let Mason know she may need an extension on whatever she’s supposed to be working on this weekend. I don’t want her to know because I don’t want to stress her out even more. If Mason tells her to put everything else on hold to go to some showrooms and get the lay of the land, she will be happy to do it.
I get out of the car and see Mason inside the building, wearing a hard hat. I grab one off of a workbench for myself. I’m sure Steven won’t mind sharing for a minute. I work with dirty, sweaty dudes all day. I can’t care about cross contaminated sweat or we would never get anything done. Someone else’s sweaty glove on my hand? Now that’s a different story.
Mason notices me coming and hands whatever’s in his hands to the worker next to him and waves me over.
“Hey, man, how’s it going? Isn’t it crazy how fast the bones of this building have gone up?”
“Yeah, it’ll be ready in no time. Time’s going way too fast.”
He smirks at me. “Any reason you don’t want it to go too fast? We both know the faster this building goes up, the more money we save, and the faster I get tenants in here.”
I punch him in the shoulder. “You know damn well what the reason is. Riley’s just now starting to open up with me, and I’m seeing a whole new side of her that I can’t get enough of.”
“You’re down bad man.”
“I really am, and I’m not even upset about it. Well, except for the fact that while she’s definitely giving me the time of day now, I’m currently sitting in the friend zone. Which brings me to why I’m here.”
He tips his head to the sky while pinching the bridge of his nose and lets out an exasperated sigh. “What could you possibly need from me now? I already gave the girl a job at your request.”
I feel my blood begin to boil. “She’s an asset to the team and you know it,” I bark out. “She’s also working two full time jobs right now because she doesn’t believe that designing could actually be her full time gig, so she doesn’t want to give up her job at the hardware store. Her designs are impeccable, and frankly, it’s probably what’s going to move these apartments more than anything you or I do.”
He’s blocking his body with his hands, afraid I might take a swing. “Dude, I know that, okay? I told you I wasn’t going to hire her for you. I was going to hire her if she’s good, and she’s phenomenal. She’s also an extremely hard worker. Yes, I did know she was working two jobs, and that impresses the hell out of me. Especially because her work so far has been impeccable. She’s the real deal, and I’m excited to see how everything turns out. Now throw some water on the smoke coming out of your ears and tell me what you need.”
I feel a little sheepish for blowing up at him, but what can I say? I have Riley’s back, because someone has to. It doesn’t sound like her deadbeat dad ever had her back, and the way she acts like she has to do everything completely on her own tells me no one else really has, either.
“Sorry, man, she’s just already so hard on herself. I get a little testy when it comes to her. But I need to go to Seattle this weekend, and I think you need her to go and check out some design places and antique stores.”
“Oh, I do, do I? You know, I don’t remember ever thinking that was something I needed her to do.”
I simply narrow my eyes at him.
He sighs and responds, “Fine, fine. Why would I care if she went with you this weekend? She works from home most of the time, and she’s all caught up. There’s not a ton for her to do until we’re in the final stages. She’s done a lot of the pre-design work already.”
I snap my fingers and point at him. “There, that’s great. Tell her that. When I talked to her about it earlier, she seemed genuinely excited to go, but she was worried about not working this weekend. This really means a lot to her, and she’s working herself to the bone. I want her to take a bit of a break, but I know she won’t do that unless a little work is involved.”
“Wow. I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, you’re down bad. For you, and for her, I’ll tell her that I’d like her to go to Seattle this weekend and check out some stores and see if there are any vendors that we should work with. I want to keep most of our business here in Evergreen Ridge. I want to give the small businesses our business, but I’m not delusional enough to think that we’ll be able to get everything here.”
“Again, thanks, man, and sorry for biting your head off earlier. I just seem to lose my cool when it comes to her.”
“No worries. Have a good weekend, and don’t piss off my designer. I need her.”
I scowl, and he just laughs and walks away, back into the build. This is really happening. I get to spend an entire weekend with Riley. Maybe I can finally convince her to let me out of the friend zone.