Hot Mess - Elise Faber Page 0,47
time of day.
Luckily, he seemed to feel the same way about her since the kiss went on long enough to steal all the air from her lungs, leaving her gasping and her pulse thundering in her veins.
“Morning,” she said once she could summon enough oxygen to force out the word.
He grinned, brushed his lips over the tip of her nose. “Morning, Blue Eyes,” he said, his voice no longer sleepy, hand dropping to her hip, fingertips tracing tiny circles. He pressed one more kiss to her lips then pulled back. “We should get to Rylie.”
“That.”
She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until his brows drew together.
“That?”
Shan’s first instinct was to deflect, to pull back, to get up and use the bathroom and rush back to her daughter. But . . .
She’d lived a long time hiding who she was.
She was done with that.
They’d spent nearly every day together for more than a month, and Finn, well, he’d taken absolutely everything she’d thrown at him, all the little scary pieces she’d been afraid to share, vulnerabilities she’d been terrified to put out there, he’d treated them carefully. He’d protected and sheltered and treaded carefully.
A month might seem like too little time.
But he’d proven himself time and time and time again.
“Finn,” she said. “I—”
Her words were cut off by the loud rumble of a truck, its almost ear-piercing engine noise breaking the early morning silence.
“What?” Finn pushed out of bed, slipped out into the hall.
They had a road that backed up to the row of beach cottages, but it was beyond quiet, narrow, and hard to navigate big vehicles on it. Even the UPS truck only came down if there was a package that was too heavy to carry . . . or a multitude of boxes to collect.
Her stomach twisted into knots.
She had no reason to feel this way, but a sinking sensation crept into her gut, and she followed Finn out of bed, rushing down the hallway to peek through the blinds next to him.
A moving truck.
Parking behind her house.
What the fuck?
She watched another car pull behind the truck, saw a trio of shadowy figures make their way down the concrete path that led to her door, and her throat seized up.
She turned, rushed back to the bedroom, searching for her clothes, but Finn was already there and ahead of her. He tossed a pair of pajama bottoms, a T-shirt, and a sweatshirt on the bed.
“Get dressed.”
Then he grabbed clothes for himself, yanking them on and grabbing their cells.
“Come on.”
They rushed to the front door, pushed out it, ran for her deck, and—
Brian.
Fucking Brian.
“What are you doing?” she exclaimed, eyeing the two boys who looked to be college age standing behind him.
He crossed his arms. “The house sold. It closes today. You need to be out.”
There was a multitude of problems with his words.
But all she could summon was silence.
Because she was trying to process what in the ever-loving fuck her asshole of an ex was saying.
Then his words hit home, and her heart convulsed.
Then the anger hit.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” she snapped, clenching her hands into fists. “Please, tell me that you’re not fucking serious. That you didn’t promise me this house for our daughter and then sold it out from beneath me. That you didn’t ignore our settlement or my requests or my fucking lawyer and do this.”
He rolled his eyes, made a noise of disgust. “Don’t be dramatic.”
“Don’t be—” Her hands twitched with the urge to punch him.
“Who’s this?” Brian’s gaze drifted over her shoulder.
She shook her head. He was telling her he’d taken away her daughter’s home, and he was concerned about the man standing at her back. “How was I stupid enough to waste so many years with you?”
“How was I stupid enough to waste so many years with such a dumb bitch?” Brian countered.
“Don’t call her that.” She felt Finn take a step closer, his chest brushing her back.
Brian rolled his eyes.
“You would do this to our daughter?” she asked. “Show up out of the blue on a Sunday morning? Where are we supposed to go?”
He shrugged. “I’m sure Pepper will let you stay with her.”
“And our stuff? What about Rylie’s things?”
Another shrug. “They’re here to pack up for you. It’ll go to a storage unit, and you can retrieve it when you’re ready.” He pulled out a piece of paper, shoving it at her so she had no choice but to take it. “Your half of the sale, minus the moving fees and six