Page 32 of The Maverick's Homecoming

He grinned down at her. “Are you kidding? I would love a cup of coffee at your place.”

* * *

At her house, Kenzie made decaf for both of them and they settled on the sofa in front of the unlit fireplace. She kicked off her shoes and he did the same.

They sipped in silence. In the quiet, Finn could hear the ticking of the antique gold clock on the mantel.

“I don’t believe it,” he said. “Your mom gave you her precious mercury clock.”

She nodded. “She passed it on to me right after she and dad broke up, said that she’d always planned for me to have it.”

“It was your grandmother’s, right?”

Kenzie nodded. “And my great-grandmother’s before her. My grandmother used to tell the story of how my great-granny and her siblings would take the mercury out of the tubes and play with it when they were kids.”

“But that stuff is dangerous.”

She laughed, a low, husky sound. “Yep. ‘It was a different time,’ my granny used to say. When my great-granny was a youngster, most people had no idea that mercury could actually harm them.”

Finn just stared down at her, smiling. He really did like looking at her, watching her eyes change color and her pretty smile come and go.

“Finn?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you staring at?”

“You. Your eyes always get to me. They change color depending on the light.”

“My eyes, huh?”

“Among other things.” There was a silence. Neither of them broke eye contact. He was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Finally, she asked in a careful tone, “So then, how are you doing?”

He shifted on the sofa and took another sip of decaf. “In what way?”

She tipped her head to the side. He recognized the cautious look on her face. She was trying to decide how much to say. Finally, she went for it. “Finn, I know how you feel—or how youusedto feel, anyway—about losing. And tonight, the Titans lost.”

He thought of the women he’d dated in the past decade and a half, of how none of them ever really knew him. Because he hadn’t let them. But Kenzie knew him all too well. “Yeah,” he said. “The Titans lost. And I hate losing.”

She made a small sound in the affirmative. “I remember.” She knew why, too. But she didn’t say it. She left it to him to be truthful. Or not.

“I’m thirty-three years old,” he said. “And still, sometimes, I get the feeling that I’m in trouble. That I haven’t lived up to my father’s expectations, and for that, there will be hell to pay. And that makes me furious.”

“Furious at yourself,” she added, because she really did understand how his mind worked. “He was pretty awful to you a lot of the time.” Her voice was so soft now. She knew that this was an uncomfortable subject for him. It couldn’t be a pleasant one for her, either. Finn Sr. had treated her badly, too—even before he learned she was pregnant.

Finn’s dad had never approved of Finn’s relationship with Kenzie. From the first, the old man had considered her a distraction for Finn. It got a lot worse when his dad learned she was pregnant. And he’d made no secret of his relief when she lost the baby.

Finn tried to think of something good to say about his father. “Hey. At least he never once hit me.”

Kenzie wasn’t buying it. “Well, except for with words.”

“Words don’t count.”

She leaned a fraction closer. “You don’t believe that—or at least, you don’t behave as if you do. I’ve seen you on the field every practice the past couple of weeks, and tonight, too. You never beat up your players with words. You’re tough and demanding, but you don’t tear them down.”

What could he say? She had his number. “You’re right. My dad was hard on me. And not always in a constructive way. He’s still difficult to deal with, to tell you the truth. I trynotto be like him.”