Chapter 2 #2
“We’ve been at this for months. Why the sudden worry?” Julia’s chest tightened with emotion, and she brought her hand to her throat as anxiety attempted to claim her control. “Is it because we actually found a lead? Or are you suddenly beginning to question this entire thing, just like Michael?”
“No, I believe you. But it’s been a long shot from the beginning, and when we found out about the doctor, I just . . . I’m worried, okay?”
“Mya, I know you’re only looking out for me, but this little stunt of yours was uncalled for,” Julia chided.
“I’ve been a total bitch to this man for two weeks.
Trying my hardest to drive him away and get him to quit so he wouldn’t discover what I’m doing.
All for no reason.” She muted the speaker, clutched the phone to her ear, and slowly stood. God, why did it have to be Finn?
“Let’s call it fate that the hot self-defense instructor you couldn’t seem to stop gushing about not too long ago wound up at your door for this assignment.”
“Nice try, Lois Lane. Can’t distract me.” She’d given Mya that nickname because of her job, so when she’d signed up for Finn’s classes, the name Lois had popped into her head, and she’d scribbled it down on the form. “Not fate. This is grade A Mya interference.”
“Hey, I run great interference, which is why you came to me for help,” she reminded her in a teasing voice. “And you love me.”
Julia mentally ran through the long, long list of horrific, embarrassing, and just plain mean things she’d said to Finn to get him to back off. She couldn’t risk him stepping in and stopping her when she had a life to save but playing the part of a demanding bitch went against her nature.
“I owe him a Plymouth Rock–sized apology.” Her shoulders sagged with guilt. He didn’t deserve the attitude. He was just doing his job.
But that apology would have to come later. Even if she could fake a last-minute work trip to Egypt, Finn would in all likelihood come along as her bodyguard. And he’d be sure to get in her way. No, she had to ditch Finn to get on that plane.
The last thing she needed was a stubborn, six-foot-tall roadblock standing between her and her mission, no matter how handsome he was.
“Please don’t go to Egypt alone. I have a bad feeling.” Mya’s words weren’t delivered with her usual confident punch. Her friend’s typical fierceness also seemed to have deflated with the reality and gravity of the situation.
“Then you shouldn’t have helped me.” Probably a low blow. Kind of the truth, though, right? Without Mya’s investigative skills, she’d be nowhere. This endeavor was entirely over her head.
“And if I go, are you going to call my brother? Fabricate an even more dangerous threat hoping to provoke a bigger response, like house arrest?” Julia asked as her doorbell rang.
She’d granted permission to building security to allow Finn direct access to her apartment. He’d gotten annoyed about having to be approved and buzzed in every single morning, and she finally gave in despite her best efforts to drive him nuts.
And all this time, his presence was due to Mya. Julia was tempted to wring her neck the next time she saw her. But then again, Julia wouldn’t have this promising lead without Mya. “He’s here,” she said when the bell rang again. “And he hates me, you know.”
“But he still wants you, am I right?”
“It’s just . . . tension.” The kind of tension Julia would normally handle on her own. But she’d been experiencing an orgasm drought lately, unable to even get herself off, and it was surely stress-related.
Although, the mere thought of Finn a few moments ago had her clenching her thighs together when a jolt of lust shot through her body. And that was pretty damn shocking.
Great. Mya had successfully distracted her.
“Yeah, tension of the sexual nature,” Mya teased. “Take him to Egypt with you. That’s not a request.”
“No.” Julia tensed, worried Mya would choose her safety over her request not to call her brother. “Do not tell Michael,” she reiterated when Finn rang again.
Finn wouldn’t worry that she hadn’t answered yet. She usually made him wait until the fifth ring. Yeah, she’d been a real winner to him.
“Maybe your brother will have success. You have to be optimistic.”
“I told you that he’s losing faith. The more he studies the evidence, he just . . .” She couldn’t get herself to finish that sentence.
Mya was quiet for a moment, then whispered, “Just don’t go to Egypt by yourself. Promise me.”
Julia opened her bedroom door and started down the hallway in a hurry. “I gotta go. That’s ring number five. He might just bust down the door if he gets to six.”
“Call me as soon as you’re at the office.”
“No, you get some sleep. Well, after you message me the hotel details of where I’m going.”
“Julia.” Mya dragged her name out in warning.
“Talk soon. I forgive you for the Finn thing, by the way.”
“So, it’s Finn now, huh?”
“Don’t start. Talk later.” Julia ended the call and hollered out, “I’m coming.
Don’t shoot your way inside or something.
” She quickly unlocked the door and yanked it open.
And by the shocked look on Finn’s face, you’d have thought she was naked.
His green eyes went almost feral for a heartbeat before his focus traveled slowly south.
Shit. The robe. At least it was black and not her cream-colored one. But her nipples now stood at attention with the good sailor reporting for duty. Another oddity considering the dry spell she’d been having for the last couple of weeks. Months, Julia. It’s been months.
As slowly as it had skated down her body, Finn’s gaze swept back up to her face and pinned her with a dark look that propelled her back a step. Was he throwing out anger or lust? Maybe a bit of both.
“I wouldn’t breach your place with a gun, FYI,” he responded, his voice husky and rough. Like he’d been rudely awakened from a deep sleep . . . after having had the best sex of his life.
What is wrong with me?
A black ball cap was parked backward on his head, covering most of his brownish-black hair. He had on faded denim jeans, a black Under Armour tee, and dark sneakers. A watch on his wrist. Plus, he was sporting his standard look of concern-slash-annoyed by her overall existence.
“We need to talk.” She noticed the green of his irises appeared more vibrant than usual—a hit-the-trails outdoorsy green. And for one second, she caught a glimpse of nature and freedom and all of the things she yearned for from her childhood, right there in the look he was giving her.
She’d grown up in North Carolina, frequenting the beach in the summers and the mountains in the winter.
Most people wouldn’t have taken her for an outdoorsy girl, but she loved nature.
The fresh mountain air. The calming sounds of the water running from a nearby stream.
The feel of granite beneath your palms while rock climbing. Just all of it.
“What’s wrong?” she said quietly, aware that she should probably move aside and allow him the opportunity to enter the apartment. But she remained frozen in place, using her body as a wedge to prop the door open.
“Can we talk inside?” Finn’s voice still sounded rusty, which made her pause. It was the same type of voice Mya had used to deliver her confession moments ago. Did he have bad news?
Julia wanted to flee to her bedroom, plop onto the bed, and cover her face with her palms.
Now that she knew the threats were bogus, which she’d felt in her gut from the start, he couldn’t possibly have stumbled upon an actual bad guy trying to hurt her, right?
“Come in.” She finally moved from the doorway, and he slowly walked inside. After a couple of steps, Finn came to a halt, scratched the back of his head, and stared at the blank wall off to his left, carefully avoiding eye contact.
Oh right. My nipples. “I’m going to change first.”
“Um, okay,” he responded in a gravelly tone, and she hooked a right down the hall to her room.
The condo was small since she was only usually in New York a few months a year, bouncing back and forth between her offices in Charlotte and Boston.
She’d been in New York since early December, though, which was the longest she’d stayed in one place in a long time.
Julia passed by the few family photos on the wall, catching sight of the framed photos of her nephew and her niece on her way. Their parents were thrilled that Michael and Kate had decided to move back to Charlotte since they had remained in North Carolina.
Julia had no clue if she would ever give her parents grandchildren or if she even wanted kids. But I have time, right? I’m only thirty-four.
She quickly removed her robe and second-guessed the form-fitting dress since she planned to make a beeline for the airport in hopes she’d somehow buy her way onto a last-minute flight across the Atlantic.
But Finn would be suspicious if she came out in yoga pants and a loose tee. Her typical travel gear. Dress it is for now.
When she returned to the small living room that overlooked a multimillion-dollar view of the city, Finn’s back was to her, eyes on the framed picture hanging over the couch. “This one of your photos?”
She came up alongside him and viewed the framed photograph.
“That view is from the porch of my parents’ home on the beach in the Outer Banks.
I happened to catch a wild horse running on the sand with my lens.
” She crossed her arms and smiled at the memory.
As a kid, she was never without her camera, taking it along everywhere.
And now, well, she supposed her phone was always with her as a camera, but she rarely found herself viewing things through the eye of a photographer anymore.
Her interest in capturing life’s moments seemed to have waned over the years.
“They just put the place on the market, though.”
She felt his eyes on her and peeked over at him.