Chapter 20
Finn woke before Chloe and got to enjoy the sight of her sleeping as the sun streamed into her colorfully decorated room.
The walls were an intriguing shade of dark pink, with the wall behind the bed boasting a white pattern that had been painted over the pink base.
He wondered if she had done that herself or had it done.
Like the woman who slept here, the room was funky and original and eclectic.
His phone buzzed with a text, so he got out of bed to retrieve it and read the text from Mac. Can you help me with something at the Wayfarer around eleven?
Finn wrote back. Yep, no problem.
Thanks!
With the Wayfarer all but finished and work not set to begin on the Curtis place until after the grand opening at the Wayfarer, Mac had told his construction team to enjoy a little downtime while he and Luke saw to getting the marina up and running for the season.
Finn had no idea how Mac kept so many balls in the air and made it look so effortless when it had to be anything but.
And now that he had twins on the way and would have five children, he’d be busier than ever.
Bringing the phone with him, Finn stretched back out on the bed, careful not to disturb Chloe. She didn’t have to be at work until ten, and it was only seven thirty. Maybe he could entice her into going out for breakfast before work. Anything to spend more time with her.
After making sure she was still asleep, he opened the browser on his phone and did a search for methotrexate, his heart nearly stopping at the word chemotherapy, which was the first thing he saw in the description of the drug.
Oh my God. Did she have cancer?
As he skimmed the information about the drug, he became more despondent. Having seen more than enough, he closed the browser.
Was this why she didn’t want to get involved with him? Because she was sick and scared? Did she think that would matter to him? It wouldn’t. But how could he express that to her without letting on that he had invaded her privacy by looking up the medication she was taking?
What a dilemma.
“Hey.”
How could one word become the sexiest thing he’d ever heard?
Jesus, he had a bad case for this woman, and it was getting worse all the time.
Worse had never felt so good. “Morning. Did you sleep well?” Finn tried to keep his voice normal, to mask his panic over what he’d discovered about the medication.
“Better than I have in ages, thanks to your bedtime remedy.”
He grinned. “My remedy is available on demand.” Only because he was gazing at her gorgeous face did he see the exact moment when she remembered all the reasons why this couldn’t be anything more than it had already been.
To hell with that. Did she think he couldn’t see the way she looked at him?
As if she wanted something she couldn’t have.
Well, she could have him. She could have all of him, and he was going to find a way to convince her to take what was right in front of her.
Whatever was wrong, they would deal with it together.
“Let’s go out to breakfast.”
“I, um, I need to get to work.”
“The salon opens at ten. It’s not even eight. We have plenty of time, and besides, I have to take you back to get your car anyway.” He rubbed his belly. “I’m a growing boy, and you wore me out last night. I need my protein.”
She looked at him in a way that told him everything he needed to know. Last night hadn’t been enough for her, either. He could work with that.
“Come on…” He stuck out his lip. “You don’t want to send me off hungry to face the day, do you?”
She rolled her eyes. “Does this nonsense work for you?”
“Every time.”
That made her laugh, which had been his goal. He loved her laugh.
“All right. Fine. Breakfast. But that’s it. After that…”
“One step at a time, sweetheart. One step at a time.” He bounded out of bed, stretched dramatically and opened his eyes to find her staring at him. “See something you like?”
She looked away, wrapped the sheet around her body and dragged it with her into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
“Take your time, babe,” he said, loud enough for her to hear through the closed door. “I’ll let Ranger out and feed him.” Looking down at the dog, who eyed him warily from his bed on the floor, Finn said, “I think that went very well. Don’t you?”
What the hell was she thinking agreeing to go to breakfast with him? Why was she prolonging the agony? This was supposed to have been one and done. She’d had her one night and had been well and truly done. Going to breakfast with him just made her greedy.
It was his fault for being so ridiculously hot and sweet and nice.
He was so damned nice. She found that quality more attractive than all the other attractive things about him.
Unlike other guys she’d dated, he didn’t play games or have trouble taking no for an answer.
He approached her with the kind of respect and understanding that she’d craved in a partner and had never found until him.
Figured, right? At a time when she had no business getting involved with anyone, she met the man of her dreams.
“You can’t have him.” Chloe looked at herself in the mirror as she said the words.
“You. Cannot. Have. Him. So knock it off. Right now.” She turned on the shower and let the heat soothe her aching joints.
A warm shower had become critical to getting her day started.
As she moved through her morning routine, she tried to ignore the pervasive aches and pains that were, as she knew they’d be, worse today than usual.
The shower had barely made a dent on the pain.
Every inch of her body hurt, but she wouldn’t have traded her night with Finn for a pain-free day. Not for all the money in the world. It had been everything she’d known it would be, which made it that much harder to do what needed to be done today.
After breakfast, she would thank him for a great night and say goodbye. It would hurt like hell, but it was the right thing to do for both of them.
It’s not the right thing for you. He’s the right thing for you.
Damn that voice inside her that just had to be contrary. She rinsed conditioner out of her hair and got out of the shower, grimacing at the pain in her hips. It’d been worth it. So incredibly worth it. She’d agreed to allow herself one night with him. She’d had that and now it was time to move on.
At this point, she’d started over so many times in her life that it ought to be as easy as breathing.
This time, though… This time, it wouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t be easy at all.
When she thought of never seeing him again, she ached deep inside, the pain reminding her far too much of how she’d felt after losing her parents so suddenly.
If she had her way, she’d never feel like that again, and if it was this painful after one night with him, she was doing the right thing by ending it now.
The pain wouldn’t get better with more time with him. No, it would become excruciating, and she had enough pain to deal with as it was.
She rushed through drying and styling her hair and applying the makeup she wore every day to work, wanting to “look the part” of a together, stylish woman who could make other women look beautiful.
At least her exterior would look put together.
Her customers wouldn’t know that she was crumbling on the inside.
Opening the bathroom door, she saw that she had her bedroom to herself and got dressed in one of the many black-pants-and-sleeveless-top combinations she wore to work.
She liked having her gorgeous ink on full display.
It had started many a conversation with clients, who always commented on it.
Some were disapproving, but none could deny the beauty of it.
Rather than fully straighten her hair, she put it up with a few strategically placed pins that would keep it out of her way for work.
She grabbed her phone off the charger and headed for the kitchen, stopping short at the sight of the six-foot-something man sprawled on the floor wrestling with Ranger, who had never looked happier.
Ranger liked to wrestle? Who knew? He was nothing but sweet and gentle with her, but with Finn, he growled and pounced playfully as if having the time of his life, despite his usual aches and pains.
Chloe glanced at her meds on the windowsill and moved to the sink to grab them and drop them into her work bag to take after breakfast. They wrecked her stomach, so she never took them without food.
Even then, sometimes they still made her sick.
But that was a small price to pay for the relief they offered.
“I’m ready when you are,” she said to Finn.
He patted Ranger and got up off the floor. “I’ll let you win next time.”
Ranger barked, clearly not ready to end the game.
Finn laughed. “You’re a devil.”
“Not usually. You bring it out in him.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet of you to say. I’ve always been a bit of a devil myself.”
“That might be the understatement of the decade. You’re the devil himself.”
“You flatterer.”
“You would take that as a compliment.”
“My brother and I always say we’ll be in good company down there.” With the blazer he’d worn last night flipped over his shoulder, he held open the door to his truck and helped her up and into the passenger seat.
She appreciated his manners and the way he subtly helped her without making a big deal out of the fact that she needed the help in the first place. Who was she kidding? She liked everything about him.
“You’re kind of doing the walk of shame going out to breakfast in the same clothes you wore last night.”
“I’m not at all ashamed of my walk of shame. I got to spend last night with you. Best night of my life.”
“Finn…”
“What?”
“You shouldn’t say things like that.”
“Why not? It’s the truth.”
“This was a mistake.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Yes, it really was. I still can’t—”
“Because you’re sick?”
If someone had punched her in the gut, Chloe wouldn’t have been more surprised or knocked breathless than she was by his question.