Chapter 13
Vee
Istared at Fin in disbelief.
“Just because she now works in recruiting,” Fin said, “doesn’t mean she’ll be in the suite. After all, there’s a game happening.”
“Abigail…your ex-wife…works for Green Bay’s recruiting?” Microsoft created the NFL’s specialized, AI-powered Combine and Scouting Apps.
Inhaling, he nodded. “Do you want me to try to get the outside tickets?”
“No.” I paced near the end of the king-sized bed, taking deep breaths. “It’s fine.”
“Fuck, Vee. It didn’t even cross my mind until we were here. I can ignore her. She would probably ignore me if it was just the two of us, but it’s not.”
“Your parents.”
“Yeah, Gail won’t ignore my parents. I think she liked them more than she did me.”
I sat on the end of the bed, and Fin sat beside me, his leg against mine.
“I thought you said she worked in public relations.”
“She did when I met her,” he said. “She was one of the people who organized the on-field press. While we were married, she completed her master’s degree. The last year I was here, we were no longer married, but I heard she was hired in recruiting.”
“You heard? When was the last time you talked to her or saw her?”
Fin tucked a tendril of my hair behind my ear. “Vee Hubbard, you have no reason to be jealous.”
“I’m not,” I responded too fast.
His cobalt gaze sucked me in, and we tipped our faces until our foreheads came together.
“Not jealous,” I explained. “I’m shocked.”
“Hey, your ex keeps popping up—at Reid’s funeral and in my text messages...”
“He’s out of the hospital, by the way. And I don’t plan on meeting Abby for a drink.”
“She doesn’t go by Abby.” Fin kissed my nose. “I love you, and even though you won’t let me call you that name anymore, you, Vee Hubbard, are my one and only Abby.”
“I love you too.” I scrunched my nose. “Vee is good. I don’t know. I can’t believe I chose Microsoft and now…well, it feels like all the fun was sucked out of tonight.”
“No,” he said more adamantly. “Maybe she won’t be there. Maybe I’m just resurrecting old ghosts.” He sighed. “Green Bay was good to me. I didn’t expect to have so many recollections when we got here.”
I brushed his lips with mine. “Whatever happens will be fine. I can handle myself with my cousin. I can definitely handle myself with your ex. I mean, you married her. She isn’t a bitch.” I lifted an eyebrow. “Is she?”
Fin shook his head. “Not as a rule, but is she capable? Fuck yeah.”
“Did she know about us, from before?”
“No. I don’t, as a rule, talk about past relationships.” He squeezed my knee. “If that’s what you want, I can try to recall—”
“Oh please.” I stood. “We’ll be late for dinner if we rehash the hundreds of women you dated.”
“What about you?”
What?
“Fin, do you seriously want to have this discussion now?”
He furrowed his brow. “You said he’s out of the hospital.”
“I heard that from Grant, not from Preston.” I shook my head. “They ruled it a stomach bug. It’s still weird they were talking about arsenic. I don’t want to be with Preston anymore, but I don’t hate him. The thought of him being poisoned…” I exhaled.
He stood, coming closer. “I don’t hate Gail. I honestly feel nothing toward her.” He again took my hands. “Vee, I’ve loved you since that horrible party at Kentucky. I couldn’t fight it any longer. Maybe that’s why things didn’t work out between Gail and me. I am hopelessly yours and you’re mine.”
His lips came down on mine as his hand cupped my neck, holding me close.
I lifted my arms over his broad shoulders and leaned into him, my soft against his hard. My breasts smashed against his muscular chest. It was as his tongue tangoed with mine that I momentarily forgot about Abby or Gail or whoever the hell she was.
Breathless, we separated. There was a twinkle in Fin’s eyes.
“I’d rather not smell like sex during dinner with your parents.”
Fin laughed. “Just remember that after the final buzzer sounds, I’m coming back here with you, and I don’t have a curfew.”
“Is that a threat, Mr. Graham, or a promise?”
Fin reached again for my hand and pushed the sleeve of my sweater up my forearm. Quirking an eyebrow, he slowed the timbre of his voice. “I hope you brought another long-sleeved sweater or blouse for tomorrow.
It wasn’t fair what he could do to me with only his baritone octave and a glint in his eye.
“I did.”
Fin walked me backward until I collided with the window. All at once, my hands were above my head, secured in his grasp of my wrists.
“Tonight,” he said, “I’m going to fuck you against this window.” He tilted his head toward the living room area. “And over that couch.”
Each phrase made my insides twist, my nipples bead, and my core clench at the longing nothingness. “Fin, we need—”
“Say ‘yes, Fin,’” he interrupted.
“We need to get ready to—”
His lips crashed over mine as my insides melted from the heat racing through my circulation.
“Try again,” he said.
I stared deep into his churning blue orbs, watching the emotions swirling in his gaze—a turbulent display of passion, love, and proprietorship. “Yes, Fin.”
He released my wrists. “Good girl.”
“I have to get ready for tonight.”
“I thought you told Mom you were wearing what you have on.”
“I am,” I said, heat rising off my skin. “I need to change my underwear.”
Fin’s satisfied smile was the same as the cocky boy I remembered. “I’m glad I have that effect on you.”
“You do, Mr. Graham. It’s both appealing and annoying.”
His laugh filled the suite as I closed the bathroom door. I reached for my cosmetics bag, because if I was about to meet the ex-Mrs. Graham, I was definitely washing my face and reapplying my makeup.
At 4:40, Fin and I walked hand in hand away from the elevators. The crowd on the first floor had multiplied exponentially.
“I meant to ask you,” Fin said in a low whisper.
“What?”
“You told my mom that your cousins would take care of them in the Hubbard family suite.”
I nodded.
His smile lifted his cheeks. “You didn’t mean Grant.”
“Hell no.”
“Good.”
Theo and Lisa were waiting near the front entry.
“Are your parents always on time?” I asked.
“Habitually.”
“Dad was too.” Except one time.
Fin placed his hand in the small of my back as we met his parents.
“Ashley will be here,” Lisa said. “I adore her, but punctuality isn’t her thing.” She smiled at me. “I don’t think she’ll be late. She wants you to like her.”
“Me?” I asked. “I do. I invited her.”
“She likes you, too. We all do.”
I looked up to Fin. “Should we tell them?”
“Tell us what?” Lisa asked.
Fin took a deep breath. “I didn’t ask Vee which sponsor helped her out with our suite passes until we were up in the room.”
“It was Microsoft,” I said.
Theo nodded. “Well, if they’re handing out Surfaces for promotion, I’ll take one.”
“No, Dad,” Fin said. “The issue is that someone we once knew now works in recruitment for the Packers.”
“Someone we used to know,” Lisa repeated.
“Yeah, Mom. Recruitment works closely with Microsoft. I don’t know for sure, but there’s a chance she might be there tonight.”
“Who?” Theo asked.
“Gail,” I answered. “Your ex-daughter-in-law.”
“Oh, hell’s bells,” Theo said. “That girl knows how to suck the fun out of things.”
My chest vibrated with laughter. “Oh, Theo. I think I love you.”
He put his arm around me and squeezed. “We love you too, honey.”
“What did I miss?” Ashley asked as she appeared next to us.
“Nothing,” Fin replied. “Let’s eat some steak.” He nudged me. “Or salad.”
Rupert was waiting by the SUV as we left the hotel and stepped into the colder evening breeze.