Chapter 4
RHODES
Iconsidered taking the subway to show Finley that I was a “normal” guy, but then I tossed the idea because she wasn’t stupid.
She was well aware that I wasn’t just another New Yorker.
It was the same reason I reserved a table in a quaint restaurant I’d discovered in Little Italy.
The dim lighting, secluded booth, and quiet atmosphere meant we’d be more likely to eat peacefully without paparazzi or other interruptions.
I loved my fans, and I usually had no problem giving them my time, even just stopping for a selfie on the street.
But this was my first date with the woman I intended to spend the rest of my life with. I wanted all of my focus on her.
The black cab I’d hired eased up to the curb in front of an old red brick building with charming shutters and flower boxes under the windows.
The stairs expanded into a porch that spanned the whole front, and an older woman sat in a rocking chair off to the left of the front door.
She was bundled up, but I was still surprised to see someone just hanging out in the frigid January weather.
She smiled at me as I approached, looking every inch the sweet old granny, but her gaze was shrewd, and I distinctly felt as if she was sizing me up.
“You must be Rhodes. Here to pick up Finley?” she asked when I reached the top step.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied politely because my mom hadn’t raised a fool. And she’d fall down dead if she thought I wasn’t using my manners. “To both.”
She smiled with a glint of humor in her gray eyes. “Hmm. Where are you taking her?”
I named the restaurant, and there was the slightest bob of her head, making me think she approved of my choice.
“She’s special, so be careful with her.”
Looking her straight in the eyes, I told her the truth. “Nothing is more precious to me than Finley.”
“Good. I’m Glynnis. I own the building. Nice to meet you, Rhodes.”
“You too.” My smile was genuine, not just because she was funny but because she obviously cared about Finley.
The door opened, and my girl stepped outside, taking my breath away with her beauty.
She wore tight jeans tucked into winter boots with a bit of white fur around the top.
Her breasts looked fucking amazing in the clingy, fuzzy white sweater I glimpsed before she put on her heavy coat and zipped it up.
“Glynnis!” Finley cried. “What the heck are you doing out here! It’s freezing. You’re going to catch a cold!”
“I approve of your young man,” Glynnis announced with a firm nod and wide smile.
Finley laughed, making my heart squeeze, then leaned over to give the woman a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you. Now that you’ve passed judgment, will you please go back inside? I don’t want to have to call your son,” she threatened.
Glynnis’s face twisted up like she’d eaten a lemon. “Tattletale.”
“You know it,” Finley said without an ounce of remorse as she urged the woman up and walked her to the front door. I hurried to open it, and both of them glanced at me with a smile. “I’m just going to make sure she gets inside,” she told me before they disappeared through the entrance.
Finley returned a few minutes later and smiled at me as I held the door again for her. “Sorry about that. She’s the best landlord and incredibly spry for eighty, but sometimes I think she believes she’s still twenty years younger.”
I chuckled and took her gloved hand, tucking it into my arm before we descended the steps and walked to the Town Car. “Have you had to tattle before?”
Finley rolled her eyes before sliding onto the back seat. She scooted over and waited until I sat beside her before answering. “Twice. Don can be a little overprotective, so I only resort to it when she’s doing something dangerous. Like climbing the fire escape to rescue a cat!”
I was incredulous when I clarified, “A cat?”
“Yep. The little kitty had climbed out the window on the fourth floor and made it to the halfway point between them when she got scared and wouldn’t go back up or down.
Luckily, I caught Glynnis just as she headed up the fire escape and talked her into letting me go instead.
I was so worried she’d do something like that again and get really hurt, so I called Don. ”
“How does he get her to capitulate? I’m assuming he doesn’t threaten to put her in a home.” The thought of him doing that made me surprisingly angry. Apparently, I'd become fond of her in the two or three minutes I’d spent with the woman.
“Oh no.” Finley laughed and shook her head, sending her long, ash blond waves cascading over her shoulders. “He threatens to move in with her. Which, according to her, would ‘cramp her style.’ Don asked her what she meant, and she told him it would keep her from bringing her suitors home.”
I burst into laughter as I pictured Glynnis wiggling her eyebrows suggestively as she said it.
“I think Don was traumatized,” she added.
“I’ll bet.”
The driver announced our arrival at the restaurant just as the car rolled to a stop.
Before he could exit the car, I waved him off.
“I’ve got it, thanks.” I opened the door and climbed out, then turned and offered my hand to Finley.
We’d both slipped our gloves back on, but I could’ve sworn I felt the heat sparking between our palms. I resisted the urge to pull her into my arms and instead, tucked her into my side and guided her to the front of the restaurant.
It was warm and smelled wonderfully delicious when we stepped inside, and a young woman stood behind a podium smiling brightly.
“Hey, Rhodes! Pop-pop said you were bringing a date tonight. I told him I’d believe it when I saw it.” Nina—the owner's granddaughter—sighed dramatically. “Now I have to bus the tables tonight.”
“You didn’t think I could get a date?” I asked, pretending to be offended.
“It’s not that you aren’t sort of good looking,” she said, wrinkling her nose slightly.
Finley giggled, and I rolled my eyes. “If I didn’t know you see me as a brother, I’d be very offended,” I drawled.
“I thought perhaps you’d secretly become a monk. According to Brady—”
“Stop gossiping with my best friend,” I muttered. “I swear, he’s as bad as a teenage girl.”
“Hey,” Nina gasped. “I am nowhere near as big of a gossip as the old ladies you play football with.”
Finley burst out laughing, and I couldn’t contain a smile at the joyous sound.
“Holy crap!” Nina gasped. I frowned at her incredulous expression, confused at what had caused it.
“Did you just smile? I didn’t know your mouth could do that!” My frown deepened in annoyance, and Nina shook her head. “Ah, there’s the Rhodes I know.”
Finley giggled again. “He does look scary on TV most of the time, doesn’t he?”
Nina nodded and gaped at me. “Is she the reason you’re smiling?”
“Yeah,” I grumbled. Then inwardly cringed when I felt my cheeks heating. Did I just fucking blush? What the hell?
“Marry her,” Nina ordered, then she smiled at my date and came around from behind the podium.
“Hi! I’m Nina.” She leaned in and gave Finley a quick hug, who returned it with a grin.
“My pop-pop owns the place, so I’m stuck working here until I graduate in the spring.
” Her eyes twinkled, and her lips curved up.
“Or until I decide to take over for him.”
“Finley,” my girl stuttered as she finished laughing. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” Nina turned and grabbed a couple of menus. “Follow me, lovebirds,” she sang as she walked away from the hostess stand. She took us to a cozy booth in the back that curved around a circle table so I could scoot in right next to Finley.
Nina set down the menus and grinned at us, clapping her hands lightly. “Enjoy! I’ll let Pop-Pop know you’re here.” She winked, and then she was gone.
“She’s a ball of energy, isn’t she?” Finley laughed. “I like her.”
I snickered and rested my arm on the back of the booth, letting my fingers toy with Finley’s soft blond waves. “Vince always says she could run circles around us ‘pansies’ on the football field.”
Finley chuckled and picked up one of the menus. “I’ll have to send Uncle Lennox’s scout here to check her out.”
My smile slipped at the mention of her uncle…
my boss. Nothing and no one would keep me from Finley, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t bothered by the fact I was going behind his back and doing what he’d specifically ordered me not to do.
I didn’t want Finley to be a dirty little secret, and I wouldn’t lie to Lennox, either.
So I was naturally a little apprehensive of the fallout from claiming his niece.
Lennox wasn’t a vengeful guy…unless he felt his wife or kids were being threatened.
But this was his niece, and I couldn't help wondering if my position with the Nighthawks would be in jeopardy when he found out.
It didn’t matter. Now that I’d found Finley, she would always come first.
But I’d ease her into that realization. I was afraid that if I just jumped in and she realized the level of my obsession with her, she’d run for the hills. So I swallowed my impulse to move fast with this thing between us and get to know each other first.
During dinner, our conversation flowed easily, and she made me laugh more than I’d probably done in the last year.
I was known for being a scary motherfucker and a perpetual grump.
I would never hear the end of it when the guys saw how different I was with her.
They’d be as shocked as Nina to know that my lips had the ability to curve up.
“Rhodes!” An older gentleman with a bald head, thick black mustache, and twinkling blue eyes strolled up to our table.
“Pop-Pop,” I greeted Vince as I stood to shake his hand. “How are you?”
He took my outstretched hand but pulled me in for a hug instead, slapping me on the back in a hearty greeting.