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She’d been unhappy back there. She’d been sad and gray and scared. Clinging to the life she’d thought she’d wanted: a husband and a baby and stability. Certainty.
A life that didn’t have an emotionally fragile mother in it and a constantly seething father. With arguments and shouting and all kinds of other negativity.
No, she hadn’t wanted that and she’d thought she’d found an escape from it with Troy. Then she’d lost the baby, and soon after that, she’d lost Troy too.
Her dream had been wrong, that was the issue. She’d wanted the wrong things and that’s why it hadn’t worked out.
She wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
So why not have sex with Finn? It could be easy if she wanted it to be easy, and definitely it would be fun.
And while he wasn’t like Troy in the slightest, she wanted him.
And he wanted her.
Beth swallowed. “Or…there is another option.”
Finn was already still. Now he became a statue. Something in his face shifted and hardened, the dark gleam in his eyes becoming pronounced. “I hope you’re not going to suggest what I think you’re going to suggest.”
She took a little breath. “And what do you think I’m going to suggest?”
“Beth…”
“What? You didn’t explain why it’s a problem, Finn.” She paused. “You also didn’t explain why nothing could happen between us.”
His stare intensified, focusing on her very intently. “Why? Because I’m not having casual sex with someone who’s going to be sticking around for the next couple of months, okay? If things go bad between us—”
“But why would they go bad?” Her heart was thumping hard against her ribs. Because now that she’d let in the possibility of sex with Finn Kelly, she couldn’t think of anything else. “I’m not talking about an affair, Finn. We could…give in to this attraction once, deal with it so to speak. We could get it out of the way and then…hey, maybe we could even try and be actual friends. Because you know I want you too.”
Finn said nothing, his gaze dark and full of shadows.
The electricity inside her seemed to have escaped, pooling in the space between them, charging the air with static, making her breathing get faster, shorter.
She hadn’t been with anyone since Troy had left. She hadn’t even been on a date. Sex hadn’t been something she’d missed, and even with Troy it had been kind of…samey. Which at the time had been reassuring.
Yet looking at Finn and thinking about his hands on her skin, his mouth on hers…she didn’t want reassuring and samey. She wanted excitement.
He hadn’t moved and he hadn’t said a word, so Beth decided to take matters into her own hands.
She took a step toward him. He remained where he was, watching her. So she took another step, then another. Then another, which took her right to him, his tall, muscular figure barely inches away.
He was very warm and he smelled spicy, like the bush with a hint of something masculine and musky. It was delicious.
His eyes were so dark, a deep, velvety espresso color she couldn’t stop looking into. And he had the thickest, softest looking lashes. She was jealous of those lashes.
Her heartbeat was deafening and she was breathing far too fast for comfort, and she wished she had more experience. Because she had no idea how to do this. And he wasn’t moving or saying anything.
“Finn?” Her voice had gone so husky. “Are you—”
He reached out and gripped her jaw gently, and before she could finish her sentence, he’d bent his head and covered her mouth with his.
For a second neither of them moved.
Beth trembled, every thought in her head gone, every sense she had zeroing in on his mouth and his hand gripping her jaw, on his fingertips against her skin and the press of his lips, soft yet firm. And hot—so, so hot…
She could feel that heat moving through her, dragging behind it a heady, dizzy feeling, as if all her blood had turned to champagne and was fizzing inside her veins. And there was a steady, deep pulse between her thighs, beating in time with her heart.
She hadn’t been expecting this kiss, but now that his mouth was on hers, she wanted more. So much more.
