Chapter 17
Finn left Adam and Abby’s, hoping that Adam and the baby wouldn’t get whatever Abby had—and that he wouldn’t either.
That’d be just what he needed as he prepared to move home.
For a minute, he thought about skipping the fundraiser, but the opportunity to see Chloe had him pointing his truck toward the Sand & Surf Hotel, home to Stephanie’s Bistro.
He was nothing if not a glutton for punishment.
Soon enough, he wouldn’t have to see her anymore.
In the meantime, he was hungry for whatever he could get of her.
As he pulled into the parking lot at the hotel, Riley was helping Nikki out of his truck.
They waited for Finn to park and walked in with him as he donned the navy blue blazer he’d brought.
“Looking dapper, Finnbar.”
“Thank you, Nicholas. You two clean up rather nicely.”
“We actually made an effort.” She laughed as she glanced up at Riley. “I told him we don’t go out very often and we ought to at least try to be presentable.”
“That’s what happens when you spend an entire winter renovating a house,” Riley said.
“Not sure what we’ll do for entertainment when we finish it.”
Riley barked out a dirty laugh. “I have a few ideas.”
Nikki elbowed him in the gut, drawing an oomph from her beloved.
Riley rubbed his belly. “That wasn’t nice.”
“Hey, I was just at Adam’s, and Abby is really sick. Puking her guts up.”
“Aww, poor thing,” Nikki said. “I was at the clinic today, and Katie said they’ve had a few people in with whatever’s going around.”
“I hope the baby doesn’t get it,” Finn said.
“That would truly suck,” Riley said.
“Yeah.” A pang of fear struck Finn. If anything ever happened to that baby…
No. Just no. He couldn’t even bear to think about it.
Absorbed in his thoughts of Adam’s family, he almost missed his first glimpse of Chloe, who was surrounded by a group of people.
But she was the only one he saw. Resplendent in a black dress with huge red flowers on it, her hair up and her makeup flawless, she looked like she’d just stepped off the pages of Vogue.
“Our Finnbar is gobsmacked,” Nikki said, breaking the spell.
Finn tore his gaze off Chloe to look at Nikki. “What’d you say?”
“I said you’re gobsmacked.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s British slang for astounded.”
He couldn’t deny that and found himself looking at her again, unable to look away, afraid that if he did, she might disappear. With a sudden, painful urgency, he realized that if she disappeared, if he didn’t see her again, he’d never forget her.
Nikki wrapped her hands around his arm. “You want me to talk to her, Finn?”
“No.” The single word came out more harshly than he’d intended. He knew she meant well, so he softened his tone. “Please don’t.”
“I hate this for you,” she said in the same soft tone.
“I’ll be okay.”
“You should ask her to dance later.”
“Why? So I can make everything worse?”
“Maybe it will make everything better somehow.”
Finn gave her a one-armed hug. “Thanks for caring.”
“I do care. I’ve never had a brother until I had you.”
He kissed her forehead. “You’re incredibly sweet, and I’m thrilled to have a sister to look out for me.”
Riley came over bearing drinks for all of them. Finn had been so focused on Chloe that he hadn’t seen him walk away. “Get your filthy paws off my woman.”
Nikki grasped Finn’s arm. “Ask her to dance. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“Leave him alone, Nik,” Riley said, putting his arm around her.
Finn winked at her. “She’s helping me.”
“No one can help you.”
Leave it to his brother to sum things up. No one had ever amused or aggravated him—sometimes in the same second—the way Riley did.
Their dad and Chelsea joined them a few minutes later. “My sons are looking rather handsome tonight, aren’t they, Chels?”
Chelsea indulged him, as she always did. “Very much so.”
“We’re not twelve anymore, Dad,” Riley said disdainfully.
“And yet you’ll always be my little boys.”
“Dear God,” Finn said. “I need another beer.” Luckily, he could walk home from the Surf if it came to that, and he had a feeling it might with the way this night was going.
He’d come. Even after she’d sent him away, he’d still come to her event.
The minute he walked into the room, looking sinfully handsome, everyone else had disappeared from view.
He was all she could see, and dear God, she wanted him.
Despite all the reasons she knew she should keep her distance, she wanted him with her whole heart and soul.
She saw him, and she wanted. It was that simple.
Except it was anything but simple. She rubbed her aching hands together, trying to remember the many reasons she had resisted him up to now.
But all he’d had to do to shatter her defenses was walk into the room wearing a navy blue blazer.
As she greeted guests, she felt him watching her every move, which made her body tingle with the awareness that only he had ever made happen. Why him? Why now?
She had no idea, but her resistance had crumbled to the point of nonexistence by the time he actually spoke to her.
“You got a hell of a turnout.”
Stephanie’s was completely full, with people spilling into the lobby of the Surf.
Chloe forced herself to look up at him, to make eye contact, while trying not to let on how powerfully affected she was by his mere presence. “We did. I’m thrilled.”
“You look beautiful.”
She’d received compliments from other men, but none greater than those three simple words from him. “You look rather beautiful yourself.”
He unleashed that potent smile, the one that made her knees go weak from the flood of desire that rippled through her. “I ironed and everything.”
God, he was adorable. And sexy. So damned sexy.
And sweet. Her thoughts were focused exclusively on him at a time when she had other things to be concerned with.
One of the volunteers came over to tell her she needed to start the program.
“Off I go. I’ll see you later?” Please, yes. Please see me later.
He nodded. “I’ll be right here when you’re finished. Come find me?”
“I will.”
The brief encounter left her lightheaded and off her game as she stepped up to the microphone on the stage where Owen Lawry would perform after the official part of the evening had concluded.
“If I could have your attention for just a minute.” Chloe hated being the center of attention, but it was for a good cause, so she soldiered through the ordeal of public speaking.
“I want to welcome you, thank you for being here and extend a huge thank-you to our sponsors, Stephanie’s Bistro, McCarthy’s Gansett Island Marina and Hotel, the Beachcomber Hotel, the Sand & Surf Hotel, the Gansett Island Ferry Company, Naughty & Nice, Ryan’s Pharmacy, Island Breeze Records, the Oar Bar, the Lobster Pot, Domenic’s, Abby’s Attic, McCarthy’s Wayfarer, McCarthy Construction and my own Curl Up & Dye Salon. ”
She reviewed the silent auction items and asked everyone to be as generous as possible to help the seasonal workers get through the off-season. “And on that note, I encourage everyone to have fun and enjoy the music provided by our own Owen Lawry.”
The attendees gave Owen a rousing round of applause as he took the stage, strummed his guitar and launched into “Tequila Sunrise.”
Chloe stepped off the stage, determined to make her way back to Finn as quickly as she could. Just for tonight, she would try not to think about the many reasons it was a bad idea to be so wildly attracted to a man she couldn’t have.
An arm came around Finn from behind, and he turned to find his cousin Laura attached to him.
“Hi there. Your husband sounds fantastic, as always.”
“He’s the best.”
“You look happy tonight.”
“I have a night off from baths and bedtime for three kids under the age of three. You’d be happy, too.”
Amused by her glee, Finn cuffed her on the chin. “Who’s with the little animals?”
“Sarah and Charlie,” she said, referring to Owen’s mom and her fiancé. “They’re thrilled to do baths and bedtime.”
“My mom used to say thank goodness for grandparents.”
“How is Auntie Deb doing?”
“Okay, I guess. She doesn’t say much about what’s going on. Last I heard, she’s doing online dating and having some misadventures with that.”
“Not sure I could handle that after what happened with Justin. I wouldn’t trust my judgment.”
“That had nothing to do with you and everything to do with him being a douche.” Laura’s first husband had continued to troll for online dates after they were married until he’d been found out by two of her friends. “And besides, your second husband has redeemed you and your judgment.”
She directed a loving gaze at Owen. “Yes, he certainly has.”
Chloe made her way through the crowd, coming toward him.
Finn’s heart skipped a beat, and he all but stopped breathing as he waited for her.
“What’s this I see?” Laura asked.
Finn realized he hadn’t been subtle about the way he stared at Chloe.
“Are you and Chloe…”
“No, we’re not.”
“But you’d like to be?”
He shrugged, feigning nonchalance even as every part of him stood up for a better look at her.
Shane, Katie, Mac, Maddie, Janey and Joe joined them, and for a second, Finn lost track of Chloe in a sea of cousins and their spouses.
“Excuse me.” He ducked between Joe and Mac on his way to meet Chloe, who was flustered and sexier than ever with her cheeks pink from excitement and heat from the room full of people.
Oblivious to the fact that half his family was watching, Finn put an arm around her, as if he had the right to, and drew her into his protective embrace.
“I’d say you have a huge hit on your hands. ”
“Seems like it.”
“Want to get some air?”
“I’d love that.”
He guided her toward the Surf’s lobby, ignoring the prying eyes of his family members, and gave her his full attention.
If this was all they were ever going to have, he planned to enjoy every single second of his time with her.
With his hand on her lower back, he directed her through the lobby to the back porch.
They stepped outside into a cool breeze blowing in off the ocean.
Finn removed his blazer and draped it over her shoulders.
She snuggled into it, taking a deep sniff.
“Are you smelling my jacket?”
“It smells really good, and you did a great job of warming it up for me.”
“I aim to please you.”
“You do.”
Raising a brow, he said, “I do what?”
“You please me. Greatly.”
“Chloe…”
“Will you hold me, Finn?”
“You don’t ever, ever have to ask.” He put his arms around her, sliding one of them under the coat of his that she wore, and drew her into his embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head and breathing in her appealing scent.
Everything about her just did it for him.
They stood there, wrapped up in each other for a long time.
Behind him, he heard voices he recognized—Slim Jackson, Alex Martinez, Tiffany Taylor.
He tuned out everything and everyone to focus exclusively on the woman who’d somehow become the center of his universe in a few short days. As always, the air around them pulsed with possibility.
“Come home with me tonight,” he whispered, his lips close to her ear so he wouldn’t be overheard.
“I can’t. I have Ranger.” She drew back and looked up at him. “You could come home with me.”
A lump in his throat made it impossible to speak, so he only nodded and then brought her back in close to him where he wanted to keep her forever.
He didn’t know what had changed, but he wasn’t about to ask.
Not when he had an entire night with her to look forward to.
Whereas last night he’d turned down her offer of one night, tonight he wouldn’t say no. He couldn’t say no.
“Chloe?”
Finn released her so she could answer the woman who had called her.
“What’s up?”
“Sorry to interrupt. We’re getting ready to close the silent auction. Do you want to make an announcement?”
“Sure, I’ll be right in.” To Finn, she said, “I’ve got to go.”
“Dance with me when you’re done?”
“Okay.” She removed his blazer and handed it back to him. “Thanks for the loan.”
“My pleasure.” He watched her walk away, wishing he could make the next couple of hours pass in a blink so he could be alone with her.
This was actually happening. After taking a few minutes to get himself together, he went back inside to rejoin his family, which now included his uncle Mac and aunt Linda as well as his uncle Frank and his fiancée, Betsy.
“What’s this I hear about you leaving us?” Big Mac asked, handing Finn a fresh beer.
“It’s time to head back to my real life, which has been on pause the last couple of years.” As he said the words, his gaze locked on Chloe across the room.
“Seems to me you have a real life here.”
“I do, but I never intended to move here forever.”
“Neither did I when I first came here. I heard about a marina property for sale for dirt cheap, came to check it out and the rest, as they say, is history.”
“You didn’t ever feel like you were missing out by living on an island all this time?”
“Missing out on what?”
“I don’t know. A bigger life, I guess?”
“If my life on Gansett were any bigger, it would be too much. I have everything I need right here. Look, I’m not exactly unbiased in this situation.
I love having you and your brother and cousins here.
I love that the whole family has ended up on my island, but I also get that this life isn’t for everyone.
I was just sorta hoping it would suit you long term the way it has the others. ”
“I haven’t been unhappy here. I wouldn’t want you to think that.”
“I know you haven’t been. I pay attention, and I can see how much you love being with your brother and your cousins and us old guys, too.”
“I really do love being around the family. There’s no shortage of entertainment.”
Big Mac laughed. “That is for sure.” He placed his huge hand on Finn’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “All I’m going to say is that sometimes everything you want and need is right under your nose.”
At that moment, Chloe stepped up to the microphone and asked for everyone’s attention.
She already had his full attention. As she went down the list of silent auction items and winners, Finn never took his eyes off her, drinking in every detail. He never wanted to forget the way she looked tonight.
Sometimes everything you want and need is right under your nose.
He had tonight with her to look forward to. But what would tomorrow bring?