Finn's Fantasy (Maine Men #1) - K.C. Wells Page 0,35
his sandwich. Bramble took an interest in their lunch, until Joel told him in a firm voice to go to his bed. Bramble’s look of dejection tugged at Finn’s heart.
“Don’t fall for it.”
Finn frowned. “Excuse me?”
Joel inclined his head toward the living room. “It’s all an act. That dog is spoiled rotten.”
Finn smiled. “He’s really good at it though.”
“Hmm. I think he practices in front of a mirror.”
Finn’s hunger having abated, he took a moment to study the man sitting opposite him. It was only then he realized Joel was doing the same thing.
“Sorry. I was staring. That was rude.”
Finn smiled. “Do I have something on my face?” That would be one explanation.
Joel chuckled. “Actually? Yeah. A little mayo…” He reached over and rubbed his thumb over the corner of Finn’s mouth, then wiped it on a napkin. “There. All gone.” Finn stared at him, and Joel flushed. “Couldn’t have you walking around with mayo on your face.”
The simple intimate gesture sent a pleasurable shiver down Finn’s spine. Joel was confusing the fuck out of him. Finn couldn’t keep a lid on his curiosity a minute longer.
“Can I ask you something personal?”
Joel stilled. “O-kay.”
“It’s about you and Carrie.”
Joel blinked. “What about us?”
Finn’s heart raced. “I just don’t get it. I mean, I watched the pair of you last weekend, and…” He swallowed. “You seem to really get along so well. What the hell happened? How come you guys divorced?”
Joel lifted his chin. “It just wasn’t meant to be, that’s all.”
Finn looked him in the eye. “How long were you married?”
“Twenty years.”
That accounted for their ease with each other, but something still didn’t add up. “And how long ago did you split up?”
Joel put down his napkin with a sigh. “We agreed to a divorce last December. I moved out January, and it became final last month.”
Now it made even less sense.
It wasn’t like Finn to be this bold, but he’d been thinking about little else since he’d met Carrie and seen their interactions. “Okay, if I’m overstepping the mark here, you can tell me to take a swan dive off the poop deck, but…”
Joel’s eyes twinkled briefly, but then all trace of humor fled, and his gaze grew a little pained. “You’re going to be around here for a while, working on the deck. And you’ve already proved yourself to be a great guy. So I guess I can tell you the truth.”
One glance into those blue eyes told Finn whatever truth Joel was about to share, he was scared shitless at the thought of it.
How bad could it be?
Chapter Ten
Where the hell do I start?
“Carrie was the one who asked for a divorce,” Joel admitted. “Not that it was much of a shock. I mean, we both knew it was coming.”
“Had things been that bad between you?”
“Not at all. There was no acrimony. She just sat me down, and said it was obvious—to her at least—that we’d grown apart. We were more like roommates than a married couple. And she was right.” The relief that had accompanied that conversation… It had felt so wrong to experience the lightness that had suffused him on hearing her words, but Joel had quickly realized Carrie had felt it too.
“I think it’s great you both felt comfortable enough to be honest with each other.” Finn’s voice was warm. “Listening to the way you and Carrie chat and joke around reminds me of how I am with my friends. We’re talking about the people I’m closest to in the whole world.”
Joel envied him that. He had few friends, and certainly none that he could say the same thing of. Thank God for Carrie. “This is why I count myself lucky. I lost a wife but gained a friend. Having said that, it could have gone very differently.” And isn’t that the truth?
“What do you mean?”
Joel studied him. He liked Finn, but then again what was there not to like? How much do I tell him?
There was only one answer to that, if he was to gain Finn’s trust and friendship. And Lord knew, he wanted that.
“You want some more juice?” Without waiting to hear Finn’s reply, Joel got to his feet and went to the refrigerator, his pulse quickening. He knew he was delaying the moment, but fighting his nerves was proving more difficult than he’d anticipated.
“I’m good, thanks.”
Joel poured himself another glass of juice, then rejoined Finn. He took a deep breath. “You know there’s more to come, right?”