I nod and relax my head against his thigh. “I think so. I hope so.”
“I think so, too,” he says, and that single bit of validation has me feeling more confident about my decision then I ever have.
“I sent off part of my manuscript to this agent. Janelle Parsons. She focuses mainly on Romance and Fantasy, and she’s amazing at her job. I sent over the first three chapters and a query letter two weeks ago and now all I can think about is quitting my job.”
“Then quit,” he says simply.
I scoff. “Yeah, sure.”
His hand pauses its smoothing of my hair. “I’m being serious. Quit.”
“Finn.” I lift my head and turn to face him. “I have bills to pay, a cat to look after, food to buy.”
He shrugs. “I’ll pay for all that.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I don’t even care that the bubbles are barely doing anything to cover up at the moment. “What the fuck do you mean you’ll pay for that?”
“Should I find you a dictionary?”
“Finn, I don’t need a sugar daddy.”
“I know you don’t.”
“Then what thefuck?”
Why the hell is he finding this funny? His laughter booms, hitting every corner of the bathroom.
“Will you stop laughing at me!”
“Sorry, sorry,” he apologizes while swiping away stray tears from his eye. “God, you’re just hilarious.”
“I do not remember making a single joke.”
“You didn’t.”
I send him a look, only making him laugh once more.
“You’re not paying for me, Finley.”
“I can afford it, Oakleigh,” he counters.
I don’t ask how he can. Last I checked working in construction didn’t necessarily put you in a position to pay for two sets of bills and even buy land on which you plan to build your own house. It’s none of my business, though.
“I don’t need you to afford it. Thank you, I appreciate your offer, really, but I can handle myself.”
He cradles my face, and his eyes communicate something to me that I have yet to understand. I want so bad to know the unspoken words, I desperately crave to speak the same language and understand him in a heartbeat.
With a soft smile, he says, “Take your time getting out. I’ll sort out a plate for you.”
He stands and leaves quickly and now I’m left here utterly confused, wondering if that was an offer Finn genuinely hoped that I’d accept.
ChapterTwenty-Four
FINN
Sweat drips from the tip of my nose, my hair, my hands. The summer sun beats down on me unrelentingly, not a cloud in the sky to give us a break as we continue working on this renovation. I lift the wooden beam onto my shoulder, Raze and Connor behind me supporting the same beam on theirs as well. Together, we carry it over to the house, where the crane stands ready to lift it into place.
This client wanted mostly steel beams in the house, except in the bedrooms, where he wanted wooden beams only. I think it’s the worst idea to date, but when I offered my two cents on the matter, he decided to make it abundantly clear that he hired me to build, not share my opinion. So, now I’m keeping my mouth shut. It’s not something that will compromise the structural integrity of the house, per se, it’s more so something that will make one section of the house weaker and more vulnerable to weather damage. I offered to put a steel beam into the structure and a wooden beam that can remain exposed when decorating, but it would seem that simply deciding to renovate your home makes you an expert.
