“Dinner tonight?”

“Um…”

“It’s just dinner, Harper.  It doesn’t have to mean sex.  However, if you ask me nicely…”

“Shut up!”

Finn’s deep chuckle rumbled through the phone and did funny things to her insides.  “Is that a yes?”

“Well, I have to eat, so I guess so.”

“Do you want to go out or eat in?”

A few weeks ago, that would have been an innocent question, but now it was brimming with possibilities. 

“In is fine.”  Maybe it would seem less like a date that way.

“Your place or mine?”

Ok, that time, she wasn’t imagining things.  His silky voice had just deepened, and her core clenched.  “Mine, I guess.”  It didn’t matter where they were.  Based on how she was feeling, she was guaranteed to end up in his arms.

“What should I bring?”

Your killer body and wicked tongue for starters.  “I’m up for anything.”  Oops!  Huge mistake.

Finn laughed so loud that she pulled the phone away from her ear and Daisy cocked her head. 

“I meant FOOD!”

“I know what you meant.  It just sounded…you know…sexy.”

Me?  Sexy?

And then, without missing a beat, he said, “I know what you like to eat, so how about if I surprise you?”

“Ok,” she said, suddenly eager to end the call. 

“Great.  I’ll see you around six o’clock.”

After they hung up, Harper thumped her head on her desk a few times as if to knock some sense into herself.  She’d been daydreaming about Finn ever since she’d woken up, and it was driving her crazy!  She’d gotten so turned on in the shower that she’d had to turn the water temperature down, and it was only February!  She’d even dressed lighter than usual because she felt overly warm, and her skin prickled wherever the fabric touched it. 

Images of Finn naked pinged around in her head, and when those weren’t satisfying enough, she picked up her camera and turned it on.  There he was, sprawled out on the bed, the blanket draped over his lower half (darn it!), looking sexy and adorably rumpled in his after-sex slumber.

“Not helping, Harper,” she said, scolding herself, and then she shut off the camera and pushed it aside.  Funny how, last night, she’d experienced some flashes of guilt, but this morning, all she could think about was when she was going to see him again.  She’d gone about her normal morning routine, but she’d kept staring at the phone as if willing it to ring.  And when his name had flashed on the screen, she’d forced herself not to answer on the first ring. 

It was hard to believe that she was having this strong of a reaction to a man she’d known for years.  But there was no denying the zing that she felt every time she thought of him and of what they’d done the night before.  She kept telling herself that it was just because it had been so long since she’d been with a man, but she knew deep down that there was more to it than that. 

Finn had already been an important part of her life for some time, only now they’d added a new element to their relationship.  An element that she was anxious to explore further. 

She was sitting at her desk under the guise that she was working when Julia called. 

“I just got off the phone with Connor,” Julia said, not bothering with a hello. 

“And?”

“And he said that Finn appears to be in an exceptionally good mood today.  Would you happen to know anything about that?”

Harper rolled her eyes, realizing that this was the trouble with having siblings who were so close.  When it came to each other’s personal lives, there was probably nothing that escaped the attention of the O’Brien brothers. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, trying to keep the lilt out of her voice. 

“You’re the worst liar ever.  You know that, right?”

Harper laughed.  “Ok, fine.  I might have had something to do with his good mood, but that’s all I’m saying.”

“Just answer me one question.”

“What is it?”

“Was he good?”

“Julia!”

“What?  I was just wondering if it runs in the family?”

She sighed.  “I suppose it does.”

“Yay!  I’m so happy for you!”

“Well, thanks, I guess.  But it’s really no big deal.”

“What?  You’re kidding, right?”  It’s a huge deal!”

“How so?”

“Because it’s Finn.”

And just his name gave her a twinge. 

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around this, Jules, so just slow down.  It’s not the same for us as it is for you and Connor.”

“What do you mean?”

“You two are starting with a clean slate.  There’s no baggage between you.”

“Everyone has baggage, Harper.  And you don’t have to see yours as an obstacle.  It’s been almost two years.”

As if she needed the reminder.  “I know that.  It’s just that it’s still new, and I have no idea where we’ll end up.”

“Nobody does, but that’s life.  I’m just glad that you decided to start living again.”

Harper would have like to label Julia as being overdramatic, but she was right.  She hadn’t felt this alive in a long time.

“So, when are you seeing him again?”

“Tonight.”

They talked for a few more minutes, and after they hung up, Harper forced herself to get some work done.  She managed to send a few emails, including one to Nikki Collins with her adorable son’s birthday photos.  She’d taken a few shots of Nikki, Nate, and Max together, but this time, when she’d looked at their family, it hadn’t made her sad.  Had one night with Finn really been powerful enough to turn her life around?  But she was afraid to put too much stock in it knowing that life can change on a dime.  So, for now, she would try not to overthink things and just enjoy the journey, wherever it might lead.

 

She was still feeling positive when the doorbell rang at five thirty that evening.  Anticipating that Finn might be early, she’d been ready since five, and now she smoothed her hands over her long, golden-blonde hair and hurried to answer the door.

But when she flung it open, standing on her porch was the last person she’d expected to see—Blake’s mom.

Unable to contain her surprise, Harper said, “Hi, Trish.  What are you doing here?” 

When she’d been married, Blake’s parents had rarely stopped by unannounced, which was why she was so surprised now.

Looking uncomfortable, Trish wrung her hands and said, “Am I interrupting something?”

Harper quickly collected herself.  “No.  Not at all.  Come on in.”  She stood aside for Trish to pass and darted a glance up the road for Finn’s truck.  Please be late, please be late, she chanted silently as she led Trish into the living room.

“Are you sure I’m not interrupting?  You look like you might be going out.”

It was true that Harper had taken extra time with her appearance that evening, but she didn’t want Trish to know the real reason for it.  “No.  I’m not going anywhere,” she said truthfully. 

Trish took a seat on the couch as if she were exhausted, and she hadn’t bothered to take off her coat.  “I won’t stay long.  I just wanted to stop by and apologize for the other day.  Tim and I feel terrible about what happened at Blake’s memorial dinner.”

Harper had tried hard to forget about the incident, but here she was being reminded again.  “No need to apologize.  It was a difficult day.” 

“Well, I just wanted you to know that we’re not upset with you for seeing someone else.  I’m sure that Blake would understand.”

Harper stiffened, wondering if that were true.  But to put Trish’s mind at ease, she said, “Well, I’m not even seeing Will anymore.”

“You’re not?  Oh, honey, I hope it’s not because of us.”

And just as she was about to respond, the doorbell rang.  Taking a quick glance at the wall clock, she saw that it was five forty-five.  Finn. 

Harper and Trish stood up at the same time, but Harper waved her back down.  “Don’t move.  I’ll be right back,” she said and fled the room.  Maybe she could get Finn to leave and come back later after Trish left.  But when she pulled open the door, her hope was dashed. 

In a loud, booming voice, Finn said, “Hello, gorgeous!”

And then, in horrifyingly slow motion, Trish entered the foyer and came face to face with her son’s best friend.

Finn had also taken some extra time with his appearance, as evidenced by his freshly shaved jaw and tamed hair.  And he wore a crewneck sweater and dark jeans instead of his usual faded denim and flannel. 

Everyone exchanged baffled looks until Finn broke the silence.  “Hello, Mrs. Davies.  Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I could say the same for you,” she said, shooting him an awkward smile. 

Finn was toting a large bag from the local Chinese restaurant, which made it obvious that he was staying for dinner.  The only thing that would have made it worse was if Trish had caught them kissing.  Why?  Why did she have to stop by tonight? 

“Oh.  Well, I just stopped over to see if Harper wanted to share some of this food.  You’re welcome to join us.”

Harper wanted to melt into the floor as Trish glanced back and forth at the two of them skeptically.  Hasn’t this poor woman been through enough without this too? 

“No, thank you.  I was just leaving.”

Finn held the door open for Trish as she passed through. 

“Thanks for stopping by,” Harper called, finally finding her voice. 

Trish gave her a brief backwards wave and then hurried down the walk. 

“Shit!  Shit!  Shit!” Harper said, stomping into the kitchen with Finn hot on her heels.

Setting the food on the counter, he tried to pull her into his arms, but she twisted away. 

“I can’t.  Not right now.”

“Calm down, Harper.  It’s not that bad.”

“Are you serious?  It’s worse than bad.  It’s horrible!”

“She knows that we’re friends.”

“Yes, but we weren’t acting like friends.  We were acting…guilty.”

Shoving his hands through his hair, Finn said, “I don’t feel guilty.”

“Well, I do.”

And there it was.  The elephant in the room, or the ghost as it were.  Just like she’d told Julia earlier, there was no getting around this barrier between them.  There would always be something or someone there to remind them of Blake.

“Do you want me to leave?”

She looked at him closely for the first time since he’d arrived.  When she’d answered the door, he’d looked just as excited as she’d been, and now this.  “No,” she said. 

He sighed.  “Come here.”

Indecision must have been written all over her face, because he added, “I just want to hug you.”

It struck her that he was always there to comfort her right when she needed it.  She took two steps and was instantly wrapped in his warm embrace.  Nestling her head against his chest, she inhaled deeply and said, “Smells good.”

“Thanks.  It’s Polo by Ralph Lauren.”

She slapped him on the arm.  “Not you!  The food!”

“Ouch!” Finn said and took a step back. 

And then a laugh escaped, followed by another and another until she was full-out snorting with laughter.  Somehow, the tension had morphed into uncontrollable giddiness. 

“That’s it.  Keep laughing while I dish out our dinner,” Finn said, pretending to be offended.

By the time she’d calmed down, he’d dished out sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and egg rolls, and now he was rooting around in the refrigerator for some drinks. 

While he was bent over, she came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.  “Finn?”

“Yeah?”

“You smell good too,” she said softly. 

With two beers in his hands, he turned into her arms and gave her a quick kiss.  “Thank you.”

During dinner, they ate quietly, each lost in their own thoughts. 

“Guess that was another one of those weird moments, huh?” Finn finally said between bites. 

“I’d say so.  I was shocked when Trish showed up here.  She usually calls first, and even then, she doesn’t come over very often, especially since…”

“Blake died,” he finished. 

Harper swallowed hard and stared down at her plate. 

“Hey.  You don’t have to do that, you know?”

“Do what?”

“Hide from me or pretend that it doesn’t hurt.  I know that it still hurts like hell.”

Glancing up at him, she nodded. 

He reached over and ran the back of his hand gently across her cheek.  “It’s better if we talk about it, don’t you think?”

She shrugged.  “I used to think so, but now I don’t know.”

“Why?  Because we made love?”

Heat rushed to her cheeks, and she averted her eyes. 

“It’s ok to talk about that too.  It happened, Harper, and I don’t have any regrets.”

She wished that she could say the same, but she wasn’t feeling as confident as he was, especially since Trish had shown up. 

“Do you?” he asked, continuing to stroke her cheek. 

“No,” she admitted with a hesitant smile. 

“Like I said before, you’re in charge.  Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Comfort.  That’s what he’d given her last night, along with a lot of other things.  She might not feel completely at ease with the situation, but she knew one thing: she didn’t want it to end.

After they’d cleaned up, they moved into the living room and sat next to each other on the couch.  Daisy, who seemed more accepting of Finn ever since she’d spent the night at his house, jumped up and squeezed between them, effectively preventing them from getting too close.

Finn laughed as he patted her on the head.  “Don’t worry, Petunia.  I’ll take good care of your master.”

With one arm draped casually over Harper’s shoulder, he fiddled with a lock of her hair, something she found oddly intimate.  Since when had sitting on the couch with this man become such a turn-on?  Oh, that’s right.  Since she’d seen him naked. 

“So, you never said why Trish stopped by,” he said, breaking her out of her lusty fog. 

“She came over to apologize for what happened at dinner the other day and to give me her blessing about me dating someone else.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, right?”

Eyebrows raised, she said, “I’m pretty sure she meant Will, but then you showed up looking all handsome and everything.”

Puffing out his chest, Finn smiled wide.  “Why, thank you.”

Harper rolled her eyes.  “I think it was pretty obvious why you were here.”

“It might have felt that way to you, but maybe Trish thought we really were just having dinner together.”

“Because it’s true?”

“Up to you,” Finn said gruffly. 

“Be honest.  How do you think Blake’s family would feel if they thought…if they knew…?”

Daisy suddenly hopped off the couch and trotted away, and Finn immediately closed the gap between them.  Nestling her head on his shoulder, she peered up at him, entranced by the beauty of his blue eyes. 

“If they knew we were together,” he finished for her.

“Are we?”

“What would you call it?”

“We made love once.  I don’t know if that counts as together.”

“We made love more than once, and I think it definitely counts.”

Reaching up, she ran a hand over his smooth jaw.  “You shaved.”

“Um-hum.”

“Did you do that for me?”

“Maybe.”

“I still have red marks on me from last night.”

“Oh yeah?  Where?”

Shifting out of his arms, she straddled his lap, and noticed the flicker of surprise cross his face before he settled his hands on her hips.  He swallowed hard as she unbuttoned the first two buttons of her blouse and moved the material aside to show him the red marks on the tops of her breasts. 

Reaching out, he gently traced them with his index finger.  “Sorry about that.”

“You can try to make it up to me.  If you want.”  Since when did I become this bold?

“Believe me, I want.”

She unbuttoned her blouse the rest of the way while he watched, his eyes growing darker with every sliver of skin that was revealed.

“Damn,” he said, his breath brushing across her sensitive flesh. 

Tonight, she had on a pink push-up bra that gave her girls some extra lift, and based on his reaction, it had been a good choice. 

Cupping her breasts in his hands, he gently squeezed while she shifted her hips to get contact right where she needed it.  And then he pulled down one of the bra cups to expose her hardened nipple to his hungry gaze.  Rolling it between his thumb and index finger, he looked longingly into her golden-brown eyes before lowering his head and pulling her nipple deep into his mouth. 

“Yes,” she said, wriggling her core against his erection.

He’d just pulled down the other bra cup when the shrill ring of his cell phone cut through the air.  Ignoring it, he put his mouth around her other nipple and sucked, but now she was distracted.

“Aren’t you going to get that?”

“No,” he mumbled against her skin.

“But what if it’s important?”

“Nothing is as important as this.”

Whoever was calling was persistent, and the phone kept ringing. 

“Finn,” she said and pulled back. His mouth made a popping noise as he released her nipple.

“Fine,” he muttered as she scooted off his lap and started putting herself back together. 

“Finn here,” he answered without looking at the screen.  He listened for a minute and then said, “I’m kind of busy.  Can’t you call Connor?”  And then, shaking his head, he said, “Ok, fine.  Give me fifteen minutes.”  He disconnected and shoved himself off the couch, clearly frustrated.

“Who was it?  What’s wrong?” she asked, standing too.

“It was my dufus brother Liam.  His truck spun out, and he’s in a ditch.  I’ve got to go help him out.”

“Is he ok?”

“Don’t know.  Didn’t ask.”

“Finn!”  She punched her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Grinning, he stepped toward her and pulled her hard against him.  “He’s fine, but the damn kid interrupted us.”

Looping her arms around his neck, she rubbed against him enticingly.  “We’ll have to continue this another time.”

“Count on it.”

Their mouths met at the same time, her lips parting automatically to invite his tongue.  After a searing kiss that left them both breathless, she walked him to the door. 

Once he had put on his coat and shoes, he pulled her in for another kiss before reluctantly letting go.  He stared at her for a long minute before blurting out, “Valentine’s Day.”

“What about it?”

“It’s coming up.”

“I know.”

“I want to take you out.”

Do hearts really skip a beat?  Because it certainly felt like hers just had.  “Ok,” she said, grinning up at him.

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, then.  It’s a date.”

Three words that she’d never expected to hear from him, but she liked the way they sounded dripping off his sexy lips.

“It’s a date,” she repeated, and as he drove away, she stood there grinning and waving like a lovestruck teenager.