Chapter Six #5
Flora appeared unaffected by the entire set up, but Finn had to create a feeling of a date.
Even though he had no intention of dating Flora, ever.
In fact, if pressed, Finn might have said Flora was the last girl in the world he’d ever date.
They were as opposite as could be. He truly only wanted to get her away from Roman.
If it took pulling the longest, most ornate con he had ever pulled—and he had pulled many—he didn’t care.
Nothing was getting in the way of the merger.
He knew that if Roman backed out of marrying Jane, then Tyson would begin to act against Woodhouse.
Woodhouse was bigger, but Tyson and Brooks Tech were scrappy and had an army of attorneys with nothing to lose and time to burn.
He could see the onslaught of lawsuits, stock plummets, board meetings, TechCrunch articles slamming him as an unfit leader, calls to remove him as CEO.
The entire fate of Woodhouse was resting on an ill-planned engagement, and nothing could get in the way.
Sure, Finn knew part of this was his fault for putting the merger on Roman’s flighty shoulders, but the opportunity to merge and do what his dad had always wanted to do was too big to pass up.
In all honestly, he thought his brother was crazier than he was for jumping into the engagement, knowing full well that Woodhouse had been trying to merge with Brooks unsuccessfully for years and that the union would open the door.
There was no way to get out of the engagement, save death.
Roman had never been one for commitment—seen in the return of Flora—but for some reason he had jumped the gun with Jane.
Perhaps the one person in the world who a broken engagement with was not allowed.
Finn assumed there would be unforeseen problems with Roman, but he thought it would just be cold feet, a crazy bachelor party, or getting his lazy friends to show up.
He never thought Flora Fairchild would return from Paris looking much like the models she photographed and would make a run for Roman’s easily swayed heart.
Although, he doubted that it was her intention to come back to do so.
The sun was setting beautifully over the water in an array of pinks and oranges.
Finn seldom saw the sunset at the beach.
He was silent for a moment, trying to remember the last time he’d even been to the beach.
Over three years ago, he surmised. Roman’s twenty-first birthday—which had ended with someone throwing fireworks in the bonfire and he and his old best friend from high school nearly being killed. This was slightly less jarring.
He cast a sidelong glance at Flora. She was just looking at the sunset, quietly.
He contemplated for one moment, and one moment only, the consequences that might come if Flora did end up liking him in more than a friendly way.
Right now, he safely assumed she barely enjoyed his company, and was in no danger of developing feelings.
How bad could it really end up?
“Do you remember that time you and Roman were in the kitchen and you set the entire cabinet on fire?” Finn asked.
A smile spread across her face instantly.
“Yes, of course! We were trying to make a cake for your mother’s birthday!”
“How old were you?”
“Maybe seven?”
“I remember walking in and the two of you were literally screaming and about to flee the scene,” he said, laughing.
“Well, we would have rather burned the kitchen down than been touched by that flame. It was so hot. Thank God you had enough sense to put it out before it turned that part of the house into ash. You were probably eleven at the time. You’ve always been a quick thinker.”
“I had no choice but to be a quick thinker.”
“I know,” Flora replied quietly. “Never got a chance to grow up normally, did you.”
She was picking at her third piece of pizza now, watching a group of kids play in the waves. She was undoubtedly thinking about something from her youth.
“How scared of me are you?” he said, asking a question he had truly been dying to know since she was thirteen.
He was a little surprised he’d asked it. Almost like he’d briefly lost control of his tongue.
A long silence followed.
“You’re talking about the night of the storm, aren’t you?” she paused. “And now too.”
“I get the feeling it still prevails, yes.”
“Everyone is scared of you, Finn,” she replied, sounding not scared to tell him this. “You’re the most intimidating twenty-nine-year-old I’ve ever met.”
Finn sighed. He’d heard that before.
“You looked at me that night like you’d seen a real monster,” he added. “When I asked you if you were alright, you said you were scared, and I never knew if you meant about the storm, or me.”
“Both.”
Finn laughed a little at the truth, and at her bluntness.
“I’m not that scary, you know,” he confessed.
“Tell that to your face,” Flora replied quickly. “That being said, you stayed with me the entire time my dad was gone, and by the end of it I was no longer scared of you. The feeling only lasted a day though. I saw you yelling at Roman on the lawn the next day about something and backtracked.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “I was yelling at him because he had wrecked my dad’s car. He didn’t even have a license! He was fourteen.”
Flora nodded. “I know.”
“Well, then you know that it might not have been the worst time for yelling?”
“Maybe not. But to me Roman could do no wrong.”
Finn grimaced. “Seems to be a common thread.”
“Roman is likable, that’s why.”
“Roman gets into a lot of scrapes that I have to clean up. He’s cost me more money than paying all our employees does and—”
“Finn, I know you’re the good guy in the story.”
Finn eyed her trying to read if she was joking. She looked up at him with a small smile—she was serious. Somewhat surprising.
They talked more about their childhood while packing up and making their way back to the jet. Flora dragged her things aboard and headed for the same spot she’d been in that morning, opening her book again. Finn, however, sat on the other side of the plane, far away from her.
“What are you doing?” she asked, not looking up from her book.
“I’m sitting over here,” he said, shrugging. “Just like you wanted last time. No talking.”
A small laugh slipped out of her.
It was clear she wouldn’t mind if he sat next to her now. He moved without another word. As he sat, she dug in her bag and pulled out another book—apparently, she traveled with many—Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
“You might like it, Mr. Darcy,” was all she said.
Not a word was exchanged until the plane landed at the airfield once again. It was ten o’clock and they were both tired. Finn had planned to go back to the office to finish some paperwork, but now he just wanted to sleep.
“See you, Flora,” he said, as she headed for the car.
“See you! Are you going home?”
“No,” he lied.
She had served more than enough time with him today. He didn’t need to torture her any longer with a ride back to the estate together.
“Office.”
“Oh gosh, Finn!” she exclaimed, eyes wide. “Take a break every once in a while, would you?”
And with that, she was gone.