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“I don’t think it sounds cliché,” I reassured her. “I think it’s brave to want to strike out on your own.”
Her smile was bright for a moment, then she looked at my chest again and blushed harder. “Sort of.”
I laughed, drawing her wide eyes to my face as her cheeks tinged with pink.
“What does that mean? Sort of?”
Finley sighed. “I have a trust fund, but like I said, I want to stand on my own. So I only took a small withdrawal and used it to start day trading so I could pay for all my living expenses without having to get a job.”
“I’m officially impressed,” I told her as pride filled me. She was obviously smart, dedicated, and hardworking. I kind of felt like a complete idiot for believing the rumors. Despite being a billionaire, Lennox was one of the most grounded, hard-working people I’d ever met. It made sense that he would raise his niece to be the same way.
“It’s not that hard,” she replied with a chuckle.
I raised an eyebrow. “For some people, perhaps. But for the rest of us, numbers are like Greek. Which is why I have a degree in biology. If it doesn’t have to do with football statistics, I only studied what I needed to in order to graduate.”
Finley’s brow rose, and her lips tipped up at the corners. “So you’re a nerd?”
My head fell back as a hearty laugh burst from my chest. “Yeah,” I agreed once I caught my breath. “I guess I am.”
“Hey.” She shrugged. “Nerds are hot.”
I chuckled again and stared down at the incredible woman in my arms. She was fucking amazing. That feeling that she might be my future had officially solidified. Finley was meant to be mine. Now I just had to convince her—
“Rhodes.”
I stopped dancing and glanced to the side, seeing Lennox standing there with his feet braced apart and arms crossed, and a deadly expression on his face.
—and her uncle.
“Finley,” he muttered, “Brie is ready to go.”
“Okay,” she said sweetly. “I’ll call you—”
“We’reallleaving,” he insisted, still staring daggers at me.
“I’ll make sure she gets home—” I stopped abruptly when Lennox took a threatening step toward me, only to be distracted when his wife put her hand on his arm. Probably saving me from a broken jaw.
“Uncle Lennox, we agreed that I would stay when you left,” Finley insisted, putting her hands on her hips and glaring up at him.
“Finley,” Brie chimed in softly. “Perhaps it would be best if we left and, um, talked about this somewhere more private?”
As frustrated as I was with Lennox’s reaction, I understood Brie’s point that this was neither the time nor the place for this discussion. The last thing we needed was to have our shit plastered all over the news.
Finley pressed her lips together and glanced around before her shoulders fell. “Okay.”
“Handsoff,” Lennox snarled.
Because he’d earned my respect as a boss for years, and I could understand him being protective of his niece, I reluctantly let Finley go.For now.
I bent down to reassure her that I’d get in touch, but before I could, Lennox quickly guided her to his other side to stand by Brie.
Then he stood nearly toe-to-toe with me and smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He put one hand on my shoulder and grasped mine with the other in a shake while leaning in to whisper, “Go near my niece again, and you’ll be spending next season recovering from reconstructive surgery after I break your pretty boy face. And possibly some other shit.”
Finley gasped in outrage, but she was dragged away by her aunt before she could react too much.
I didn’t react at all. Not only couldn’t he intimidate me but I wasn’t about to agree to stay away from my woman.
“Remember, Rhodes. She’s off-limits. Illegal. Is that clear?” He didn’t wait for my answer before stalking off, fake smile still in place.
