Chapter 15 #3
“Hey,” he whispered, padding softly across the room to Effie, where she sat on the terribly gaudy Rococo–style sofa in front of the bedroom’s large bay window. The sofa, like most things in the inn, was upholstered with roosters. “How’d it go?”
“Good.” She slid over, making room for him to join her if he wanted. “I kept the corruption to a minimum.”
Finn’s thigh pressed against hers and his arm draped across the back of the sofa behind her.
He smelled a little like beer, hoppy and sweet, and citrus, like he’d been cutting oranges.
Under that was a whisper of sandalwood and sage that made her want to press her nose to the crease of his neck and breathe deep. “Oh yeah?”
“Mm-hmm. She might be disappointed you can’t conjure bubbles like I can, but I doubt she’ll stage a coup.”
“Bubbles?” He chuckled, brows rising. “Show me.”
She held out her hand and, with the tiniest bit of magic, conjured a cluster of iridescent bubbles in the middle of her palm. She poked one and watched it burst. “Bubbles.”
His eyes crinkled when he smiled. “I’ve got soap. She’ll live.”
Effie worried her lip between her teeth. “If…you know, if you need someone to watch her, if her grandmother can’t or if she’s busy, I’d…I can do it. While I’m here, I mean.”
“It was a good day, then, I take it?”
“For the most part.” She sighed at his questioning look. “Bea was great. It wasn’t her, it was…Belphegor called. Wanted to know what’s taking me so long.”
Something passed over his face, gone before she could interpret it. “Sounds like he’s missing you.”
She snorted, too loudly. Fortunately, Bea didn’t stir. “Hardly. Sex with me? Sure, he misses that, but my coworker is keeping his bed warm, so…no, he’s not missing me, and it is very much mutual. After today’s phone call, I could stand to go without hearing from Belphegor for a while.”
He was quiet for so long she figured he wasn’t going to say anything at all until finally he said, “You want to talk about it?”
She didn’t, really. “You don’t want to hear me bitch about my fiancé, Finn.”
“Honey, I can scarcely think of anything I’d like to hear you bitch about more.”
Despite herself, she laughed. “I guess I should’ve seen that one coming.
” Her smile waned, her brow furrowing softly as she stared at her hands clasped together atop her lap.
“He just makes me feel…He’s constantly reminding me that what I did, helping Daphne, was foolish.
And I’m not an idiot; I know my punishment could have been worse, and I know he only brings it up because on some level, in his own way, he cares, but I just hate feeling like…
like I’m nothing more than the sum of the mistakes I’ve made.
I know I’m not perfect, far from it, and I know I’ve made questionable choices, but…
what gives him the right to rub my face in it?
It makes me feel shitty. I don’t think he means anything by it, though.
It’s not like I’ve told him how it makes me feel. It’s stupid.”
Finn’s mouth was twisted as if he’d tasted something bitter.
“What?” she prodded. “Just say it.”
He scraped a hand over his jaw and sighed.
“I’m trying to decide which is worse. If he means it, if he’s trying to hurt you, he’s being cruel.
If he doesn’t, if he’s saying shit and not thinking about how it makes you feel…
” He shook his head, lips thinned in a sneer.
“You deserve better than someone who’s careless with your heart.
Taking care of that?” His voice was low, solemn, his eyes grave. “That should be his first priority.”
She was shaking her head before he had even finished speaking. “I told you. It’s not like that.”
Finn opened his mouth like he was going to argue.
“I’m not defending him. He can’t be careless with my heart, because—because it’s not his.” She pressed the heel of her hand to her breastbone and released a shuddering breath. “My heart was spoken for a long time ago. It didn’t…it didn’t stop.”
His lips parted, a shocked puff of air slipping out. “Effie—”
She shook her head sharply. It didn’t change anything. She just wanted him to understand that where Belphegor was concerned, her heart wasn’t. “He doesn’t have my heart, but”—she pointed at Bea, not above using a baby to change the subject—“she might.”
He chuckled softly, the sound trailing off into an equally soft-sounding sigh. “I guess I’ll have to teach her how to share. I mean, it’s a fundamental life skill all kids have to learn sooner or later, right?”
She pressed her lips together, biting back a smile. “Sharing is caring.”
“I’ve never been very good at it,” he said, casting her a smoldering glance from beneath his lashes.
“Subtle.” She laughed.
“It’s overrated.” He brushed a curl away from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. “Life’s too short for subtlety. That’s my new philosophy.”
“It’s a good one.”
“Peyton and Jeb offered to watch Bea tomorrow. I was thinking that, if you want, we could go somewhere.”
“Like where? I’m not allowed to go anywhere with a population over fifty thousand.”
“Nothing like that,” he said. “The place I want to show you, nobody else will be there. It’ll just be you and me.”
“You know, it almost sounds like you’re asking me on a date.”
“Depends.” He smiled. “Are you saying yes?”
Going on a date with Finn would be completely antithetical to her goal of divorcing him, would only make it harder for her to walk away. But the chance to spend more time with him was too appealing for her to deny.
“Do I at least get a hint where you’re taking me?”
Finn’s smile crooked to the side. “Wear something you won’t mind getting dirty.”