Part 21 (1/2)

”Then what exactly?”

Sean looked . . . embarra.s.sed? Impossible, he never got embarra.s.sed. ”She said I could renew on one condition,” he said. ”If I got up on her counter and did a striptease like she'd done at my place of work.”

”Well, you gotta hand it to her,” Finn said. ”It's ingenious.”

”Diabolical, you mean,” Sean said.

”Whatever, but your next sentence better be so I totally got up on that counter and did a striptease for her.'”

”Did I mention the place was full?” Sean asked. ”And that there were old ladies in there? Old ladies, Finn. I took one look at them and things . . . shriveled.”

”And?” Finn asked.

”And . . . I didn't want to take my clothes off with shrinkage going on!”

Finn pressed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets, but it didn't work. His brain was still leaking out. Slowly and painfully. ”Fine, I'll go down there and talk to her and straighten things out.”

”Because that's what you do,” Sean said. ”You straighten things out. I f.u.c.k it all and you come along and clean it back up again, right?”

”Sean-”

”No. I'm done with that s.h.i.+t, Finn,” Sean said. ”I'm done being the idiot baby brother who needs saving. For once, for f.u.c.king once, I want to do the right thing. I want to save you.” He shook his head. ”No, I didn't get up on the counter. But I apologized to her for being a d.i.c.k. And then I paid the penalties and late fees, all from my personal account. Our property taxes are current and will stay that way, and it won't happen again.”

”Wow,” Finn said. ”That's great. And thanks.” He paused. ”From your personal account, huh?”

”Yeah and that hurt, man.” Sean rubbed his chest like he was physically pained. ”It hurt bad.”

Finn smiled. ”Also good.”

”Now about your girlfriend,” Sean said.

Finn raised a brow. He knew Sean was fis.h.i.+ng. He had baited the hook and was going to keep saying ”girlfriend” until he got a rise out of Finn.

Not going to happen.

”I like her,” Sean said quietly.

Again, not what Finn had expected. He'd do just about anything for Sean, and had. But he didn't think he could walk away from Pru.

Not even for his brother.

Sean shook his head. ”No, man, I mean I like her for you.”

The scary part was that they'd finally agreed on something because Finn liked Pru for him too. So much so that at the end of the night-which was really three in the morning, he found himself outside her front door. Not wanting to scare her to death with the late hour, he texted her.

You up?

It took her less than a minute to respond.

Is this a booty call?

He stared down at the words and felt like the biggest kind of a.s.shole on the planet. He was in the middle of texting back an apology when she texted him again.

Cuz I want it to be . . .

He was still smiling when her next text came in: There's a key hidden on the top of the doorjamb.

He let himself in, crawled into bed with her and pulled her warm, sleeping form in close.

”Finn?” she murmured sleepily, not opening her eyes.

Well, who the h.e.l.l else? ”Shh,” he said, brus.h.i.+ng his mouth over her temple. ”Go back to sleep.”

”But there's a man in my bed.” She still hadn't opened her eyes, but she did wind her arms around him tight, pressing her deliciously soft curves up against his body, sliding one of her legs in between his. ”Mmm,” she said. ”A hard man . . .”

And quickly getting harder. ”I didn't mean for this to be a booty call-”

”Finn?”

”Yeah?”

”Shut up.” And she rocked against him so that his thigh rasped over the damp heat between hers, taking what she wanted from him.

He loved that she'd figured out that her confidence and belief in herself was as s.e.xy to him as her gorgeous body.

”Mm,” she hummed in pleasure, rocking against him, making him even harder. ”I wonder what to do about this . . .” she mused.

He rolled, tucking her beneath him, and buried himself deep. ”Let me show you.”

Chapter 19.

#JustLikeThat Typically as summer progressed and more tourists poured into San Francisco, Pru got buried in work. This summer was no different. She worked long days, during which time she dedicated most of her daydreams to one certain s.e.xy Finn O'Riley and what he looked like in her bed.

And what he did to her in it . . .

”What are you thinking about?” Jake asked her at the end of a s.h.i.+ft while she was doing paperwork. ”You keep sighing.”

”Um . . .” She struggled to come up with something not X-rated. ”I'm thinking about how much of a slave driver you are.”

”Uh huh,” he said, not fooled. ”You tell Finn yet?”

”I'm getting there,” she said, her stomach tightening in panic and anxiety at the thought.

”Pru-”

”I know, I know!” She blew out a breath. ”You don't have to say it. I'm stalling. Big time.”