Sweet Little Lies (Heartbreaker Bay, #1) - Jill Shalvis Page 0,29
of anguished, and for that Finn was grateful. He brushed a quick kiss on Elle’s cheek. “Thanks.”
She kissed him back and gave him a look that said take care of her, and he knew better than to not do what Elle wanted.
Besides, he wanted the same thing.
A few minutes later he got Pru and Thor upstairs.
“Thanks,” she said quietly. “But I’m good from here.”
Oh, he got that message loud and clear, but he was still holding both her dog and her box so he stepped into her apartment behind her.
He could see her small kitchen and living room and the wall dividing them that had a square door right in the middle of it. It was a dumbwaiter, which cut through this whole side of the building, a long-ago leftover remnant from when the place had at one time been all one residence belonging to one of the wealthiest, most successful dairy families on the west coast.
Finn knew this only because he’d seen the dumbwaiter in Archer’s office. Archer employed guys with major skills and they kept those skills sharp with company-wide training. Once a month that training came in the form of a serious scavenger hunt, and somehow Finn had once ended up one of the things on the list of items to gather.
Archer’s idea of funny.
Team One had captured Finn in his sleep once. He’d escaped before they could win though, and he’d been lucky enough to use the dumbwaiter to make his hasty exit. He’d been unlucky enough to end up in the basement in nothing but his boxers, showing up at an illicit poker game between the building’s janitor crew and maintenance crew.
He’d joined in and won two hundred bucks, which had kept him from trying to kill Archer.
Pru had the dumbwaiter door latched from her side. Smart girl. That didn’t surprise him.
What did surprise him was that there was almost no furniture in the entire place.
“Where did you move from?” he asked.
“Not far. Fisherman’s Wharf.”
“You didn’t move your furniture yet?”
“Uh . . .” She headed into her kitchen and was face first into her fridge now, leaving him a very nice view of her sweet ass in her snug yoga capris. “My place there was mostly furnished,” she said. “But yeah I have a few things left to move over.” Her tank gapped away from her front, affording him a quick flash of creamy, pale skin.
“You work out of Fisherman’s Wharf too,” he said. “At Jake’s charter service, right?”
“Yes.” She straightened and faced him. “He’s got that huge old warehouse on Pier 39. I both work and lived there.”
“With Jake.” Wow, listen to him all casual, when his stomach had literally just hit his toes.
“He’s got a lot of space. Not all of it is used for business. It’s residential too.”
Not, Finn couldn’t help but notice, exactly an answer. He knew Jake. Knew too a little of the guy’s reputation, which was that maybe his legs didn’t work, but everything else most certainly did. That guy saw more action than Finn, Archer, Spence, and Sean all together.
Times ten.
“You and him . . .?” he asked calmly, while feeling anything but.
“Not anymore.”
Somehow this didn’t make him feel better. He was still holding Thor and the box. Pru came back toward him and took Thor, setting him down, unhooking his leash. Then she turned back to Finn and reached for the new box.
Their hands brushed but he held firm, waiting until her eyes met his. He let his question stand. He had no idea why it mattered to him so much. Or maybe he did. In any case, he was usually good at letting things go, real good, but for some reason this wasn’t going to be one of those things.
Finally, she blew out a sigh. “Did you think I’d kiss you if I was with someone else?”
“Do you always answer a question with a question?”
Making an annoyed sound, she tugged the box from his arms, her momentum taking her on a half spin from him but at the last minute she whirled back with something clearly on the tip of her tongue.
Problem was, he’d stepped in to follow right behind her. Which was how he ended up with the corner of the box slamming right into his crotch.
Chapter 11
#LoveBites
Pru felt the impact, took in where the box had hit Finn, and staggered back a step in horror. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! Are you all right?”