AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The stark reminder of Veronica’s own words the night of the burlesque show hit her like a ton of bricks.
“Right,” she said. But no. It was so not right. It was wrong, wrong, wrong. She wanted so much more than a temporary relationship with Finn.
She wanted him. In her life. For always.
But that would be incredibly selfish of her. He desired a family, and she had already raised hers. He deserved someone who could give him everything he?
??d dreamed of, including a mini version of himself. Or two, or three.
She groaned. “It’s too complicated to move forward, but God help me, Mad, I can’t go back to the way it was before.” Just the thought of never being able to touch Finn anywhere and any way she wanted made her twitchy. But the impossibility of a future together was something she was going to have to accept, because they were at an impasse.
“I’m sorry, honey. If I had known it would make you so sad, I wouldn’t have pushed you into pursuing this.”
“This isn’t on you. It’s all on me. I wanted it.” Tears threatened to expose just how devastated she was about the situation. But any tears she would cry were only a result of her own foolishness. “I just didn’t understand how hard it would be.”
Madison gave her another hug. “Come on. You need a distraction. Let’s harass the bride and groom into cutting the cake so I can take some more pictures.”
It was time to get back to work and celebrate a couple who had found true love.
Maybe one day Veronica would find her one true love, too.
Or maybe she’d already found him, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
…
Finn wiped the edge of the plate, doing his best to clean up his line chef’s mistake.
“There should be thin lines of coulis on this dessert, ladies and gentlemen.” How many times did he have to instruct his staff on how to get things done? Did no one listen? “No globs of red all over the plates. It shouldn’t look like a vampire just ripped open someone’s neck.”
“You shouldn’t yell at your people.”
Finn recognized the voice behind him. His best friend’s shadow appeared over the line of plates on the stainless steel.
He continued to wipe. “Just because this is my brother’s wedding doesn’t mean my food and presentation can be anything less than one hundred and ten percent perfect.”
“Does that theory work for my sister and me, too?”
He turned and shot Mark a wary look. “What are you talking about?”
“Just because you’re fucking my sister doesn’t mean you’re not giving our friendship one hundred and ten percent of your consideration, right?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
Who the hell told him? This was not what Finn had wanted. And this was definitely not the time or place to have this conversation. His chefs had mastered the art of pretending not to listen to his conversations. But he knew they were hanging on every word.
Finn laid the squirt bottle of raspberry coulis on the table and leaned against the edge.
He and his best friend stared at each other, silence taking over, but the concern in Mark’s eyes said it all. Finn didn’t need to be yelled at to feel like a piece of shit.
“You had sex with my sister.”
Where did he even begin? How did he explain?
“My little, vulnerable sister.”
In his defense, she wasn’t so little anymore. And he hoped Mark hadn’t used that word when he spoke with her. Though, he didn’t have any visible cuts or bruises. Finn figured he wouldn’t get off so lucky.
“You’re not denying it. So it must be true.” Mark turned his head and his neck cracked. “Hell, Veronica already confirmed it. She even thinks she seduced you.” He laughed. “As if.”
Finn shook his head. This attitude from the people who supposedly knew her best was exactly why she’d felt the need to seduce him in the first place. She had become a stereotype to everyone. She wanted to break free of other peoples’ perceptions. He was beginning to understand her frustrations.
