Chapter 20
Vee
The bar and patrons faded, and my world wobbled as I laid my hand in Fin’s. Perhaps the few bites of a dry chicken sandwich weren’t sufficient to counteract the potency of four cosmos. “Thank you.” I eased myself down from the barstool. “I can make it upstairs fine on my own.”
“I could pick you up and carry you.”
I attributed the way his threat made my heart beat in double time to the alcohol. A scan of his handsome features searched for a sign of jest and came up empty. “Wouldn’t that make the Lexington Herald? Maeve Hubbard and current first-string quarterback, Griffin Graham…”
Fin tipped his head toward Zane.
“I’ll get the table,” his brother said, standing and walking away.
A strong arm wrapped around me. “What floor?”
“Seven.” I sighed, allowing Fin to lead me out of the bar and back toward the elevators.
My mind swirled with the happenings of the day.
The range of emotions from anxiousness to elation to fear, and to…
I wasn’t sure what to label my breakup, the jumbled mix with a lack of nourishment had me totally drained.
As we stopped for the elevator, I pulled away from Fin’s arm. I could stand on my own. Crossing my arms over my chest, I asked, “Do you think Troy will be all right?”
“He’s young and strong. He’ll be all right. I just don’t want him to come back sooner than he should. I’ve seen that happen too many times.”
The doors opened.
We stood silently as the elevator emptied. Together, we stepped in. I reached into my bag and pulled out my keycard.
Fin took it from my grasp, placed it over the sensor, and pushed the button for seven.
“I could have made it home.”
His sexy lips quirked. “I have no doubt, Ms. Hubbard, that you can do anything you set your mind to.”
When the doors opened, I led the way down the hallway. My condo was the last door on the left—a corner unit with two walls of windows and a wraparound balcony.
My tongue darted to my lips as we reached my condo. “We made it. Thank you, Mr. Graham.” I reached into my tote for my keycard.
Like a magician, Fin produced the card from his hand and placed it over the sensor. The light turned green as the locking mechanism whirled. Turning the knob, he pushed my door inward. The humming was my reminder to enter the security code.
The temperature rose as we both stared into the darkened condo, lit only by the dusk sky through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and turned back to one another.
I stepped inside, entering the code on the keypad.
Instead of stepping away, Fin stood in the doorway unmoving, his sandalwood scent tickling my senses and his muscular body close enough to touch.
The urge to lift my arms over Fin’s shoulders and press my body against his was overwhelming.
My alcohol-soaked mind tried to speak reason, but my body was pretending not to hear.
“Zane’s waiting,” I finally said.
“Vee.” His deep baritone rendition of my name ricocheted through me.
Lip’s advice came back, a reminder to ask Fin why he didn’t return my calls.
I couldn’t form the words, scared to face his answer.
Not today.
Not after Troy’s injury.
Not after Preston.
“I should—” My words were stopped as Fin lifted my chin and brought his strong lips to mine. The electricity in his kiss short-circuited my thoughts. My arms moved upward to his wide shoulders. My fingers wove through his soft dark hair at the nape of his neck.
In some magical trance, we were now both inside my apartment, no longer in the hallway.
The door closed. I gave no resistance as Fin’s kiss continued, his tongue sought entrance as he pressed his solid body against mine.
His fingers splayed beneath my top, caging my ribs.
The moans filling the air were coming from me.
I gasped as all at once, my hands were above my head, pinned to the wall above me.
Fin’s handsome face was before me, his thumb rubbing seductively over my lower lip, and the taste of his beer on my tongue.
Overstimulation had my nerves stretched taut.
I longed to touch him, to run my fingers over his muscular body that had matured to perfection.
Fin towered above me, dwarfing me in his presence. Yet there was no fear. The emotions running rapidly through me were a potent mixture of wanton desire and stupidity. This was the last thing we should be doing.
My attempts to free my wrists were futile as Fin continued his laser-focused stare of me.
“Damn, Vee. I’ve fucking missed you.” His deep voice rattled my core.
It was as if my tongue had forgotten how to speak. The construction of words seemed out of the question; sentences were impossible. All I could do was stare into his sapphire orbs, now mostly black.
The centers of his eyes were dilated in the dim light or was it something else, was it the kaleidoscope of yearning simmering in the blue ring surrounding his enlarged pupils?
With his hand that wasn’t keeping an iron grip of my wrists, Fin’s forefinger trailed from my cheek, lower to my neck and collarbone, each inch the striking of steel over flint, leaving goose bumps in its wake.
His touch was a match lighting flames to dry underbrush.
The resulting forest fire threatened catastrophic consequences.
Fin released my wrists, only to secure them again at my sides.
The distance between us disappeared as his massive frame pressed against my smaller one. Chest to chest, his heartbeat vibrated from him to me, sending shock waves throughout my circulation. His erection probed my stomach, confirming that my wants weren’t one-sided.
This was the Fin I remembered.
The unabashed dominant lover.
The only man who had ever shown me what truly trusting another soul could do, the walls it could demolish and the ecstasies it could unleash, his abilities morphed into a curse over time.
It was like drinking Dom Perignon as my first taste of champagne and then spending the rest of my life searching through grocery store shelves for anything remotely close and only finding cheap imitations.
The lust-filled fog cleared.
Fin released my wrists.
I lifted a palm to his sternum and pushed, moving him a smidgen away. Beneath my touch of his rock-hard chest, his heart also raced. “Fin.”
He took a step back, ran his palm over his face. His fingers raked through his dark hair. “Vee, I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “Don’t apologize. Today has been…”
“You’re seeing Preston. I have no right…”
It seemed completing sentences was now an inability we both shared. “I broke it off with him today.”
Fin’s gaze locked onto mine. “You did?”
“Yeah. Leigh says I have commitment issues.”
His lips quirked. “I recall someone saying the same thing about me—and my commitment to a team.”
Exhaling, I straightened my top and smiled. “Have a nice dinner with Zane.”
“Zane. Fuck.”
Turning, I walked to the door and opened it. “I’m sure we’ll see one another. Let’s not mention this.”
“I want to fucking scream it from the fifty-yard line.” He stepped into the hallway.
“You played great today, Fin. I’m glad you’re on our team.”
Fin nodded.
I remembered something else. “What you asked earlier, about the sidelines…” I nodded. “I was having the time of my life. I guess this day has been a whirlwind of emotions.”
While Fin looked as if he was about to reply, I closed the door.
As soon as it was locked, I rubbed my sore wrists, leaned against the door, and sighed.
I didn’t even realize my cheeks were damp with tears until I made my way through the large empty condo toward my bedroom, more accurately, my garden tub.
My bubble bath was calling.