She slid her trembling hand into his, and he tugged, guiding her from the car. The farm stretched as far as the eye could see, and to his credit, Finn really was an adoptive parent to a llama named Liam. He wasn’t messing with her. But it didn’t track. Finn wouldn’t even adopt a cactus in case he somehow killed the damn thing. He wouldn’t even house sit someoneelse’scactus in case he killed it. He shirked all long term commitment, and responsibility, yet he’d adopted a… llama? Who was this man?
Liam was a glorious specimen of llama – not that she had much to compare him to. His shaggy cream mane was spliced by a chunk of chestnut brown hair down his neck and back. As llamas went, the farm couldn’t have picked a better one for Finn to adopt. The juxtaposition of light and dark… well… it was the perfect blend for him. Liam was the only two-tone llama, too, the others were all seemingly perfect and flawless, but something about Finn’s bucktoothed buddy was a little ‘off,’ a little quirky, just like him.
Liam’s hair tickled her nose as she snuggled into his neck. She sneezed, the llama jumped, head butting her full-force in the face. Hobbling back, she hit something hard that quickly gave way. She stumbled, turning to see what she’d hit, but her foot caught on something, she tripped, and was freefalling – almost in slow motion, and she couldn’t stop herself.
She was falling right onto an already horizontal Finn-fucking-O’Brien. He stretched his arms out, as though he thought he could somehow stop her from splatting right on top of him. She wasn’t graceful. She wasn’t going to land on him with a dainty huff of air, she was gonna starfish him with a smack.
Heat consumed her body as time slowed to a crawl. She barely contained herself in the car on the ride to the farm, if her body landed against his… she’d spontaneously combust. Or orgasm on contact. While she didn’t mind a little exhibitionism, it wasn’t the time or place, so she found herself quietly hoping for the combustion option.
Finn huffed when her body landed on his. Torn between scrambling to her feet and snuggling her face into the space between his head and neck to take an intoxicating sniff, she froze.
Liam head-butted her ass, rocking her crotch against Finn’s. Jesus Christ on a Crumpet was he getting hard?
“Are you okay?” His voice was husky, she wasn’t sure if it was from the fall, her landing on top of him, or if the lust seeping through her veins was leaking out through her clothes and onto him.
She pressed her palms against his firm chest and groaned. Hot damn, he was ripped. She nodded. Her mouth drier than an Arizona summer – probably because all the liquid in her body had made its way elsewhere. “Did I hurt you?” She stood, holding out a hand to help him up.
He shook his head as he clasped his palm against hers and bounded to his feet. “It’s all good.” Dusting off his butt, he chuckled. “Let’s go.” He led Liam back to his pen and took Molly’s hand.
“Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer, but fifteen minutes later, despite numerous protests, she was the proud new owner of her own stuffed llama named Liam. He even had the same hair. No one had ever bought her such a sweet gift. She’d never tell Finn, but she’d treasure Liam the second forever.
“I can’t believe you didn’t want to take him home.” Finn shook his head as they headed back toward where they’d left her car parked.
“That’s not… I didn’t… I wanted the stuffy. I just didn’t think you should have bought him for me.”
“Something to mark the occasion. Itwasmy llama that knocked you on your ass after all.”
She shifted in her seat. Being knocked on her ass didn’t even make the top five things she wanted to do with Finn O’Brien’sllama. Rolling her lips between her teeth, she gave a slow nod. “True. But I scared the shit out of him by sneezing. Will you please let me pay for him?”
Please say no.
“Absolutely not.”
Her heart swelled. “Thank you.”
They rode in silence for the rest of the way. Her heart and mind thrashing wildly as Finn drove, singing to the local pop music station. While he was a reasonably skilled guitar player, he wasn’t the best singer. She smiled as he battled his way through Kings of Leon’sSex on Fire. He was definitely a better accompaniment than front man, but he didn’t care. He sang loud and proud – like no one was listening, and even if they were, he had zero fucks to give about it. And she was there for it.
He pulled up next to her car in the parking lot, but instead of keeping the engine running and letting her hop out to flee the mounting tension in his vehicle, he stopped and got out. What the hell was he doing?
She opened the door, swiveled in her seat, and dangled her feet. She didn’t want to leave. Stroking her thumb along the soft fur of the stuffed toy in her lap, she sighed.
“You must really like my car, MoMo. You seem to be quite happy in there.”
She laughed it off and hopped out before she had to touch his hand again. A shiver trickled up her spine. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, bending a little at the waist. “Catch you later?”
Her phone rang in her pocket. When she pulled it out, the number on the screen made her heart quicken. She’d memorized the number from ESPN’s HR department so she didn’t get blindsided by a call from them. “Oh God. It’s ESPN.”
He nudged her elbow. “Answer it!”
Answer it. Right. She nodded and pressed the button. “H-hello?”
Finn leaned in toward her, placing his ear closer to the phone. Gooseflesh rippled along her arm as she inhaled his scent. How was it possible for one man to have such an impact on her?
“Hi, this is Bella from the HR department of ESPN. Is that Molly Morrison?”
Molly cleared her throat. “Yes, this is Molly. Hi Bella.”
