“Funny you should say that,” Finn told her. “My mom has actually never once invited me down to the theater, and I realized today that she’s purposefully kept me from meeting Sophie.”
Kiera looked surprised, but Maya grinned.
“You must be a womanizer or something,” Maya said.
Sophie frowned at her friend, but she heard Finn laugh. The sound was husky and rolled over her like a soft touch. She consciously worked not to shiver in delight.
“Why do you say that?” he asked.
“Well, like I said, Angie takes care of Sophie. There must be a reason she hasn’t introduced you,” Maya said. “Do you drink, gamble, sleep around?”
“On occasion, no, and define sleep around,” Finn replied.
Sophie wanted to turn around and see the grin she knew was stretching his face, but she kept her feet planted. “Maya—”
Maya waved her hand in a shushing gesture. Sophie sighed. If Maya wanted to give Finn the third degree, then she’d give him the third degree. And there was no way Kiera, Zach, or Rob would step in to stop her. They all looked highly entertained.
“Okay, let’s see…a different woman every night,” Maya said.
“Then no.”
Sophie couldn’t help it. She was a little interested in this.
“Okay, the same woman for a few nights but you don’t even know her last name,” Maya said.
“Always get a last name,” Finn replied easily.
He didn’t sound offended. And Sophie supposed that if he was, he could always leave, which would make her life a lot easier.
“Okay, so you see the same woman for at least a few nights, you know her last name and even where she works, but you never talk about anything deeper than the weather and you basically just go straight to the bedroom?” Maya asked, mischief in her eyes.
Sophie felt a very unwelcome and completely idiotic jolt of jealousy shoot through her at the idea of Finn going straight to the bedroom with anyone, and she frowned harder at Maya. Maya needed to stop giving Finn a hard time. And she needed to stop giving Sophie things to be idiotic about.
“You think my mother didn’t introduce me to Sophie because I’m not creative enough to use other rooms of my house?” Finn asked, sounding amused.
Sophie pulled in a quick breath and then worked to cover the fact by coughing lightly. She wasn’t opposed to hot sex on the living room couch or even the kitchen table, of course, but she didn’t think she’d complain much in Finn’s bedroom.
And those were exactly the kinds of thoughts she shouldn’t be having.
Maya grinned. “Okay, fair enough. But you never introduce the women you…get creative with…to your mother, right?”
Sophie almost groaned. She didn’t want to listen to this. But she really, really did at the same time.
“You’re right on that one,” Finn agreed.
Maya looked intrigued. Hell, Sophie was intrigued.
“Well, there has to be something wrong with you,” Maya concluded. “Angie loves Sophie like a daughter. If she’s keeping you apart…” She trailed off. “That’s it,” she said. “She thinks of Sophie as a daughter and you as a son…Obviously she can’t handle the idea of you two being together like that.”
Like that. Two simple words, a vague phrase, but Sophie felt heat curl through her stomach. She wanted to be with Finn like that. And she’d just met him. And had a hundred great reasons not to. Maybe she’d inhaled a bunch of toxic fumes in the fire. That would make more sense than all of this.
Before either of them could address Maya’s comment, the front door of the theater banged open, and the lobby filled with guys. Big, loud guys. With tools. And they just kept coming, until the lobby was crammed full with noise and muscles.
Typically Sophie would have shared a holy-crap look with Kiera and Maya at a time like this. But she was having a hard time looking away. She assumed Kiera and Maya were similarly afflicted. Of course, they were both madly in love now. Maybe that kept them from looking at other men.
For some reason her gaze skipped to Finn. And she realized that her friends could absolutely appreciate all the guys surrounding them like a wall of testosterone while still really only wanting one man.
Sophie shook her head. Wow. She’d never before felt anything close to the spark she felt with Finn. This had to be a case of wanting what she couldn’t have. Or the things Angie had told her about Finn. Or his smile.
That smile broke over his face as he greeted his friends. Yeah, it was at least in part his smile.
Finally Finn quieted them down. He turned to her. “Sophie, these are my friends and family and coworkers. Guys, this is Sophie. She owns the theater.”
“Wait. Sophie?” one of the men asked. “Like short for Sophia?”
The man asking was at the front of the crowd and looked a lot like Finn—dark hair, good-looking, and built tall and solid. But his smile seemed to come more easily. And he had his mother’s eyes. She nodded and smiled. “I’m Sophie Birch. And I’m guessing you’re Colin.”
Colin laughed, the sound low and husky. And it did nothing to make her heart beat faster the way Finn’s did. Which was good, Sophie told herself. He was Angie’s son too, so also off-limits. But one of the other guys could have a sexy voice and a great ass and gorgeous dark eyes, couldn’t he?
“So you’re Mom’s Sophia.”
Sophie’s attention swung back to Colin—making her aware her eyes had wandered to Finn again.
She was Angie’s Sophia, and that made her heart beat faster too. In a whole other way, of course. But she loved Angie, and more, she was loved by Angie. Sophie gave Colin a big smile. “Yes.”
“And that means you know that I’m the sweet one,” Colin said, moving in and extending his hand as if he wanted to shake hers.
Sophie laughed and took his hand. She did know that, in fact. “You’re also the big talker.” Colin was the charmer, the joker, the laid-back, easygoing one. Finn was…none of those things. He was the serious, responsible one. Except that in her office earlier he’d seemed a little flirtatious. Until he’d gotten all gruff and protective.
Again her mind wandered to the big guy a few feet away. She could feel his eyes on her in spite of the other guys talking and laughing with him, and knowing he was watching her made her feel jittery. Not in a bad way. At least not entirely. But she got the impression that Finn didn’t miss much, and she wasn’t sure she wanted him figuring her out. She was sure, however, that he wasn’t missing the fact that his brother was flirting with her.
Flirting was fine. Colin was, no doubt, also a great guy. But she liked gruff and protective and responsible and serious better. She’d been raised by a laid-back charmer who was quick with a joke and flirted with anyone who’d give him two seconds of their time. And it was all fake. She had a hard time trusting charm and flirtation.
“So she did tell you all about me,” Colin said, still just holding her hand. “She told me about you too. How funny and imaginative you are,” he said. “I gotta admit, I have a thing for girls who like to be…creative.”
Creative. The word made her thoughts bounce to Finn and the rooms in his house. And yes, she was creative, as a matter of fact. Blatant flirting and innuendo were exactly what she’d expect from Colin based on his mother’s stories. Sophie opened her mouth to respond but suddenly Finn was there. Right there. Nearly on top of them and pulling their hands apart. Literally.
“Knock it off,” he muttered to his brother.
Colin smirked at his brother, not seeming at all surprised that Finn was insinuating himself into their introduction. “I feel like I already know Sophia here,” Colin said. “This is more like a reunion than a first meeting. Don’t you agree, Soph?” he asked. “It feels like we can just skip all the small talk and get-to-know-you stuff and just jump into more serious things.”
Sophie was far more intrigued by Finn’s glowering at his brother than she was by Colin’s invitation. “More serious things?” she
asked.
“Yeah, like where you see yourself in five years, if you want a big or small wedding, how many kids you want.”
Sophie wasn’t even looking at the man who wanted to talk about weddings and children. She was watching his brother’s jaw tighten and his eyes narrow. Yeah, apparently serious did it for her. “I want a huge wedding and a dozen kids,” she said absently.
She realized what she’d said when Finn’s head snapped around and his gaze met hers. She did want a huge wedding and a bunch of kids. Deep down. Deep, deep down. But wanting and having were very different things. She also wanted to be able to eat an entire cheesecake by herself and lose weight. That didn’t mean that she could make entire cheesecakes a part of her life plan.
So why had she said that? It was never going to happen. Not as long as she had to be worried about their grandfather conning their lunch money out of her kids. And sleeping in her guest room and sponging off her hardworking, bighearted husband who would love her more than anything. For real. Forever. Because that was really what she would go for. Serious or charming, responsible or carefree—none of those mattered if the guy made an honest living, cared about others, and truly, deeply loved her.
Sophie’s heart felt as if it had jammed itself into her throat, making it hard to breathe and think. She stared at Finn. His family would insist on a huge wedding. And that was the craziest thought and stupidest thing to make her stomach flip over, ever.
“Having a dozen kids takes a lot of practice,” Colin said.
She nodded, her eyes on Finn. It did. A lot of practice.
“Get to work,” Finn said, his voice low and firm.
She knew that he wasn’t talking to her, even though he was looking at her. Sophie felt her eyes get wide, but Colin chuckled, clearly not a bit concerned by his brother’s annoyance. Sophie wasn’t exactly concerned by it. More…captivated by it. Why was he angry about Colin talking about how many kids she wanted to have and the practice it would take?
But she thought she knew. This…whatever…between them was not going to be easy to ignore or brush off.
“Okay, come on, guys,” Colin said. “We’ve got work to do.” He gave Finn another little smirk and then winked at Sophie. “We’re here for you, Soph. No worries.”
“And stop calling her Soph,” Finn practically growled.
That simply made Colin grin wider as he turned and headed toward the inner theater doors, followed by the herd of men.
Sophie was only then aware that not only had Finn witnessed the whole exchange with Colin and Colin had witnessed Finn acting sort of possessive—or definitely possessive—but so had all the other guys. And so had Kiera and Maya.
She resisted looking at her friends. There was no good way to explain any of this. Except for the toxic-fumes thing. Or that Frank had stirred all of her emotions up to the point that she wasn’t sure what she was feeling and for who. And it didn’t matter. It was all moot. Finn could act possessive of her all he wanted. She wasn’t his and never would be. The pang in her chest at that thought was probably just heartburn or something.
Finn watched over his shoulder until the door bumped shut behind them. Then he focused on her. “Don’t flirt with my brother.”
She arched a brow. “I think he was flirting with me.”
Finn gave a single nod. “He was.”
“And you didn’t like it.”
“Not even a little.”
She felt a swoop in her stomach but tried not to show it. “Because it would upset your mom?” The mom who was the reason she shouldn’t step closer to him.
“My mom would totally expect that from Colin,” Finn said.
“So you didn’t like it because your brother is mostly full of crap and didn’t mean it and you don’t want me to be let down?”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “He is mostly full of crap, but I think he meant an awful lot of that.”
“So why didn’t you like it?” And why was she poking at this? It. Didn’t. Matter.
“Because I saw you first.”
Oh, that was why she was poking. She’d really wanted to hear him say something possessive. Which was ridiculous. She shouldn’t like that. She certainly shouldn’t encourage it. But no one had ever been possessive of her before.
“But I told you that nothing can happen,” she reminded him. And she realized she kind of wanted him to argue with her. And convince her that it would be okay.
He took a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah.”
Her heart sank. Also ridiculous.
“But that doesn’t seem to matter when I see another guy holding your hand.”
And her heart bounced up again. A little. With caution.
“I won’t hold your brother’s hand anymore,” she said.
“Or anyone else’s.”
Sophie fought a smile. “Ever?” Again with the poking. What was she doing?
Finn’s eyes darkened, and he took the tiny step that brought them closer. The one she hadn’t been willing to take. “That would be preferable, yes.”
“You shouldn’t say stuff like that to me.”
“I know.”
There was that raw honesty again. That put-it-all-out-there. Damn, she liked that too. There was no guessing with Finn.
Then he headed into the theater.
Sophie watched him go. This was so, so bad. She could not have a huge, all-at-once, raging infatuation with Finn.
But she did.
“What was that?” Maya demanded from behind her.
Crap. Her friends were still there. Sophie turned slowly to face them. “What was what?” she asked. But no way did her voice sound as casual as she wanted it to. Not even a little.
“The holy-shit, sexual-tension, no-other-guy-can-have-you thing with Finn,” Maya said.
“It’s just…lust,” Sophie said. She could hardly deny that there had been major sparks pinging back and forth between them. Maya and Kiera were way too observant not to have noticed, not to mention in love themselves.
“That was the hottest thing I’ve seen in a long time,” Kiera said.
“He’s very…” Maya trailed off, and Sophie filled in a few adjectives mentally.
Hot, big, bossy, intense.
“…not your type.”
Sophie blinked at Maya as her friend finally finished her sentence.
“No?” Sophie asked.
“Well, actually,” Maya said, seemingly thinking out loud, “I don’t know if that’s true. Because I’ve never seen you look at a guy like you were looking at Finn.”
How had she been looking at him? With drool on her chin?
“But when you do date,” Maya went on, “you go out with serious, white-collar guys who are super sophisticated.”
She did. For sure. She went for men completely unlike her father. They were employed in office jobs that required a lot of brainpower and gave a lot of stability. They were also very nice men, but they weren’t flirts, they weren’t especially funny, and they had almost no impulsiveness. She knew some women loved surprises and spontaneity. She’d had her fill of the unexpected by age sixteen.
But Finn didn’t seem spontaneous. At all. He seemed…solid. Not physically—well, not just physically—but in that his life had a very firm foundation. He was a cop because his dad had been a cop. His whole family was in Boston and always had been. He had people who counted on him, and he never let them down.
Finn was the opposite of her father in almost every way. But…
She hated the buts. There were always buts. But she was single and had no plans to change that. Her father was enough of a wild card in her life. Sophie hugged herself. She simply didn’t know if she could ever fully believe that someone else could give her the absolute stability she craved.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, needing to end all of this before her friends put even more craziness into her head. “He’s Angie’s son.”
“Yeah, that kind of sucks,” Maya said.
“But An
gie would love to have a dozen grandkids,” Kiera, the gamer-girl-turned-hopeless-romantic, said.
Sophie felt her cheeks heat at the reminder of how she’d blurted out the dozen-kids thing. Then she instantly shut down every thought of just how much Angie would love that and what an amazing grandmother she’d be.
“Look, it’s obviously possible to want to do dirty things to another person within five minutes of meeting them.” Or five seconds. “But I’m not seeing baby nurseries and family Christmas photos with Finn, okay?” That damned heartburn came back, tightening her chest as she thought about babies and holidays.
Damn Frank. If only he’d just been a loser jerk who had never been able to get a girl. But no, he’d gotten them. He’d had Christmases with them. Sophie didn’t remember her nursery, but she’d had a pink princess room at Maggie’s. And she wanted all of that again. She wanted the home, the dinner every night, the family movie nights on the couch, the huge birthday parties.
And at the same time, she was scared of having it all…and losing it.
“But it could work out,” Kiera said. “I mean, I never thought I’d fall in love either. And not with someone like Zach. But here I am.”
Oh God, is Kiera thinking about baby nurseries? Sophie made herself breathe and not let on how hard the wave of jealousy had just hit her. Like a monsoon. And something else hit her too—Kiera and Maya were both moving on. They’d be getting married soon and thinking about, then having, babies. Kiera and Maya were going to have families. Homes.
Sophie took a deep, shaky breath. She was so, so happy for her friends. She wanted them to have everything they wanted and deserved. But they were her family. They’d been her permanence these past few years. And that had been incredibly naive of her.
The three of them weren’t going to live together as roommates forever. Of course life would move on and they’d fall in love and make families and homes. And they’d leave her.
Sophie didn’t resent it. But she did envy them. Deeply.
She forced a smile. “The chances of Finn being my Zach or Alex are slim,” she told them. That was reality. The probability of her meeting a guy she could love and trust like Kiera and Maya did Zach and Alex was small to start with. The odds of that guy being Finn Kelly were…a billion to one. And she wasn’t a gambler.
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