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“If you haven’t noticed, I’m already in your bed, Fin.” I pushed him, forcing him to face me…I forced him to face himself.
That desperation rose once more, like a beast behind his eyes at war. His top lip trembled. Dangerous. That’s what he was in the moment…he was dangerous. “I want you in my goddamn bed every day. I’d fucking chain you here if I could. I want you to turn and I’m there. I want you to fucking hiccupandI’m fucking there.”
My heart boomed, filling my head with a thunderous roar. I wanted to give into him. Iachedto give into him. I opened my mouth, and Kat’s face filled my mind.
But it wasn’t her smiling and happy. It was her the day I'd come back to the apartment early, only to find her curled up on the sofa, the shiny trail of freshly shed tears on her face.
“I can’t just up and leave, Fin,” I murmured. “I want to, but I can’t.”
“Can’t orwon’t?”
Was there a difference?
“I’ve made friends here. Ones I can’t just abandon.” Even as I said the words, I felt the trap spring shut around me.
Finley just smiled that sadistic, seductive smile and rose. “But you were prepared to only days ago”
I tried to keep the panic from my eyes, tried to quell the booming in my chest.
“You waited for your father on that beach, ready to climb aboard his damn boat, even after we…” He inhaled hard as betrayal flared across his face.
Even after we'd…had sex?
Heat moved through my cheeks as I murmured, “That was before.”
“Before what?” he snapped, pushing me.
“Before it all changed. Beforewechanged.” The words seemed to pour out of me. “Before I felt this way about you.”
He stilled, hard breaths punching through his chest. I waited for him to say something, to acknowledge what we had. But he didn’t. He just shut down, closed his eyes, and swayed.
“Sure.” I shoved the bedsheets aside and crawled out the other side. “I get it…I’m nobody, right.”
“Anna,” he croaked.
But it was all too late. Pain moved through me and turned quickly to anger. “Fuck you, Finley.”
I had nowhere to turn, so instead, I marched into the bathroom and found my clothes in a pile on the floor. The skirt of my dress was damp, but I yanked it on and found my panties in the corner. I tracked his footsteps as he moved through the apartment, but he didn’t come for me…instead, Leale did.Heavy pants filled my ears. I turned, zipping up my dress, and knelt, reaching for him. “Hey, boy.”
He moved closer, pressing his big body against me. God, I’d forgotten how much I loved that…how much I craved it. I wound my arms around his neck and buried my face against his body, breathing in the scent of his doggy fur. “God, I missed you.”
I pulled away and stared into his beautiful eyes. Love echoed in there. The kind of love that had no barriers and knew no bounds. The kind of love I wanted. Figured. Maybe if this wasn’t going to work out with Finley, I could take his dog, instead?
I gave a small bark of laughter. But it quickly died as Fin stepped into the doorway. He glanced from me to Leale, and there was that tortured look once more. The one that said he was holding back.
That was fine.
But I wasn’t…not anymore.
I rose from the floor, striding past him before grabbing my jacket, and proceeded through the apartment. Finley met me at the elevator and stepped in beside me without a sound. The ride to the foyer was painful, but the moment the doors opened, I was out.
I wobbled a little when the fresh island air hit me. I threw out a hand, reaching for the doorjamb. But Finley caught me instead, grabbing my hand. “Easy, hold on to me.”
I met his gaze, that ache flaring inside me. Didn’t he see I was trying hard not to do exactly that? But he didn’t give me an option as he wound his arm around my waist and pulled me close. We walked like that, close…together. By the time we reached my building, my cheeks were burning.
Others had seen us…like this.
But the closer we came to my apartment, the more detached he became. Anger brewed under the surface. Even if he didn’t show it, I still felt it. That coldness…that rage.I dropped my hold around him and stepped away as the doors opened to my apartment.
