Hot Mess - Elise Faber Page 0,31
had a safety line,” he said. “It was perfectly safe.” A beat. “Except for the fact that I’d packed on thirty pounds of muscle for the role and every time I tried to pull my heavy ass back up the rocky side, the stones crumbled and fell apart in my hands.”
Another gasp.
“There were five of us that day.” He shook his head, remembering how helpless he’d felt. “And I think that all together they weighed less than me at that time. They couldn’t get me up, so we had to call the fire brigade.”
“Brigade?”
“We were in a remote part of Scotland at the time,” he explained. “They had me back up in minutes, and I swear I spent a fortune on Scottish whiskey for them and the crew in order to keep their silence.”
“That’s blackmail.”
“Blackmail I was willing to pay in order to confiscate their phones and delete the videos and pictures they took that day.”
She laughed, eyes dancing. “I bet that was quite a sight to see.”
“I imagine it was.”
Her head tilted.
“What?”
“I’m trying to imagine you with thirty more pounds of muscle,” she said, tone teasing. “You must have been huge.”
“Words a man dreams of hearing,” he deadpanned.
She swatted him. “You know what I mean.”
He waggled his brows. “I sure do.”
“Oh, my God.”
“Yes.”
A groan and he leaned over his chair, brushed his lips over hers. “What will I have to pay in order for you to keep your silence about my story?”
“Hmm.”
Calculation in bright blue eyes, and Finn braced himself almost without realizing it, the slice of uncertainty drifting forward unbidden, because even though they were laughing and joking around, this was the point that most people asked for big things. Things he could give, but requests that were often more than he wanted to give.
“You’ll bring me a mug of coffee sometime,” she finally said. “However you made it this morning, you’ll replicate that and bring me one large mug with extra cream.”
“Coffee?” he repeated. “That’s it?”
She shrugged. “That’s it.”
Relief.
Respect.
Like. Fuck, he liked this woman a lot.
They finished eating, exchanging more war stories, though this time none of them included the fire brigade, then they packed up the garbage, and she called Rylie in for homework and bath time, admitting with a chagrined look that she had some tweaks she needed to make to her lesson plans based on a few “surprises” from her class. Finn read that as she had a couple of challenging students under her charge, but when he asked, she just shrugged and said, “Meh. It’s just part of the job.”
“Superhero,” he murmured.
She rolled her eyes. “Not so much.” Her eyes darted away then back to his. “Thanks again for dinner.”
He nodded.
She nibbled at that bottom lip.
“Can I kiss you goodnight?”
Shy eyes on his, but what made his heart skip a beat was the lack of sadness within those blue depths.
After spending the evening with him.
Yeah, that felt good.
What felt better?
Her mouth against his. Her body pressed flush to his. Her tongue, her lips, her arms wrapping tight around his neck.
Yeah, all that was better.
So much better that the second he walked into his cottage, he pulled out his cell and told his assistant when he picked up the call to, “buy me a house on this beach as quickly as possible. I don’t care how much it costs,” he added when his assistant sputtered. “I just want it done as quickly as possible.”
Then he hung up and went to sit on his deck, listening to the waves as darkness fell around him.
For the first time in years, he’d finally found peace.
For the first time in years, he’d finally found something he wanted to pursue and ferret out and explore further.
For the first time in years, he was excited to see what life would hand him.
Unfortunately, what Finn didn’t realize was exactly what that call had set in motion.
Thirteen
Thirty Pounds of Muscle
Shannon
The next morning there was a cup of coffee waiting on her front deck.
It was held by a world-famous movie star, but that was no big deal.
Ha.
Who was she kidding?
It was a thousand times better because it was held by the Finn.
“Morning,” he said, extending the cup.
“Morning,” she murmured, taking it and bringing it up to her lips for one glorious sip. “Oh my God,” she moaned. “You’re the best ever.” She took another sip, moaned again.
“Killing me, sweetheart,” he said softly.
“Wh—” She glanced from the cup to his face and felt her cheeks go hot. “Oh. I—”
Rylie barreled from the kitchen, her