AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sure.”
I stayed quiet while we ate, not eager to have my head snapped off again. I had spoken my piece. The next step was up to Finley.
He made me wait a very long time. Thirty minutes to be exact. During that time, he consumed three slices of meat, a thick piece of home-baked bread, and two glasses of milk. When he was done, he carried our dishes to the sink. Then he turned his chair around, straddled the seat, and rested his hands, palms down on the table. “You think I’m an ass.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe.”
He drummed his fingers on the table. “I’m not in love with Vanessa. I never was.”
“And yet when she shows up on your doorstep you morph into an evil villain.”
“Was I really that bad?”
“Do you want my honest answer?” I gave him a wry smile.
He shook his head. “Okay. I’ll cop to overreacting. A little bit.”
“A lot.”
“You’re a hard woman, Duchess. I suppose I owe you an apology.”
“Don’t knock yourself out.”
He reached across the table and grabbed my wrists. “I am sorry I hurt your feelings. Forgive me?”
No woman should be expected to resist Finley Craig’s blue eyes and sexy smile. Still, I gave it my best shot. “Tell me you’re going to see your father in the morning.”
The sexy smile faded. Finley let go of me and retreated to his side of the table. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I think I do. He’s the monster under the bed. The man who should have protected you and stood by you and instead manipulated you.”
“Why do people have to be dying to regret their life’s mistakes?”
That was a rhetorical question, so I left it alone.
Finley glowered. “It’s emotional blackmail at best.”
Still I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t make him do this.
He paced off the kitchen, over and back. It was a small room, so the circuits were quick. His body language shouted his unease.
At last, he slumped against the wall and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I can’t decide this tonight.”
It hurt me to see the defeat in his posture. The Finley I’d come to know and love while here in Scotland lived life on his terms. Now his past had caught up with him. “Okay,” I said. “I’m sorry if you think I’ve pushed when it’s none of my business. I care about you, Finley. And I have something of an objective outside viewpoint. I don’t even know your father.”
“Will you do something for me?” His eyes were bleak and shadowed.
“Of course.”
“Will you let me sleep with you tonight? Just sleep?”
His question took me by surprise. “Of course I will. I think you know it would be more than that.”
“Not if I make a promise to you.”
I had to smile, despite the bleak situation. “I don’t want that kind of promise. We can sleep or make love, or both. I don’t think you should be alone tonight. I’m here for you, Finley. In every way.”
* * * *
