Love or Luxury

by Heather Thurmeier

  Finn felt his pulse pounding in his throat. Who was this guy buying Rebecca jewelry, and why the hell was he so jealous about it?

  He took a deep breath. This had to be a misunderstanding. "I'll tell her."

  "Great. Thanks so much."

  "Who exactly should I say is coming to get her for the gala?" he asked, his jaw clenched.

  The guy on the other end of line sounded so chipper, Finn wanted to jump through the phone and throttle him for it. "Her boyfriend, of course."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rebecca wrapped a towel around her hair, twisted it, then flipped it backward and stood up straight. With her hair tucked up to dry, she pulled the last towel from the rack and rubbed her skin dry then slipped into Finn's button-up shirt he'd hung on the hook behind the door. She leaned against the vanity and brushed her teeth, staring into her reflection.

  She looked happy.

  Really happy. Happier than she could remember being in a long time, and it was because she'd been with Finn all night. Repeatedly. And it had been the most wonderful night in history.

  Finn made her happy.

  "Damn it," she mumbled around a mouth full of toothpaste. She spit into the sink and rinsed her mouth before narrowing her eyes at her reflection again. "You weren't supposed to get involved with him. You weren't supposed to get attached to him. Finn was supposed to be a fun distraction, that's all."

  But she couldn't seem to stop these feelings for Finn from developing any more than she could force herself to start loving Reid. Maybe if things with Finn had stayed flirty and casual like it had been at the beginning. But it would never be that way again. Not when he made her feel the way he did when he kissed her, when he touched her… Her heart said one thing, but her head said another.

  She opened the bathroom door a crack. Finn stood shirtless with his back to the door near the bed. He had an amazing back. Her eyes traveled down his body. And an even more amazing ass, which was currently hiding in a pair of boxer briefs.

  Maybe there was still time before they had to get started with their day to get him back out of those cute boxer briefs and into bed again.

  She tiptoed across the floor and snaked her hands around his waist. His skin was soft under her fingertips. Going up on her toes, she kissed the back of his neck, the scent of his cologne greeting her and making her feel slightly lightheaded. Or maybe it was Finn who did that to her.

  Her body trembled with need even after their multiple adventures last night. She couldn't satisfy her desire for him. Rebecca licked the very edge of his earlobe as she slid her hand down his abs.

  "I know we just got cleaned up," she whispered in his ear, "but you wanna get a little dirty?"

  "Stop."

  Finn's voice sounded more stern and authoritative than she'd ever heard it. This wasn't the voice of the laidback guy she knew.

  "What's wrong?" She ducked under his arm and stood in front of him, so she could see his face. She wasn't thrilled with the expression she saw. "What's going on?"

  "You tell me." Finn met her gaze, his jaw set, his lips forming a hard, straight line. "Your boyfriend called. He said he'd pick you up for the gala at nine."

  Rebecca's hand froze in place, which happened to be on its way to explore Finn's southern regions. She swallowed while trying to formulate a response more complete than "Say what now?" in her head.

  "Say what now?" she asked, sounding completely moronic.

  "Your boyfriend. Yeah, he called."

  "Reid. You spoke to Reid? What did he say?"

  "That he'd pick you up at nine sharp, and that you are supposed to wear the diamond necklace he bought you." His forehead furrowed as he said the words, his pain clearly evident.

  "Finn, it's not what you think."

  He took a step back. "You're not even going to attempt to deny you have a boyfriend? How could you sleep with me if you had a boyfriend?"

  "Reid's not my boyfriend. Let me explain." Her voice came out squeakier than she meant it to.

  "Really? He certainly sounded like a boyfriend to me. You certainly seemed to know who I spoke to without too much trouble."

  Finn paced beside the bed while she stood there watching, not sure what to say. How could she explain herself when things didn't make a whole lot of sense to her lately?

  "I-he's not—"

  "Well, that clears everything up now, doesn't it?" Finn stopped pacing and faced her, his eyes burning into her, making her feel even lower than she already did.

  "I did go on a date with him while I was seeing you, but I didn't think this thing between us was going to become anything more than a date or two. I didn't plan on getting serious with you."

  Finn folded his arms across his chest. "Really? Was I another toy for you to play with for a while until you got bored? Just some joker who you thought you'd slum it with for a while? I should have known you Meadow girls were all the same. Silly me. I thought you were different."

  "Don't say that; it's not true. I actually defended you to my friends. When they called you down for being in construction, I stood up for you and told them you were a boss, not a worker."

  "And that's supposed to make me feel better?" His voice rose, anger coursing through it. "I'm supposed to be happy you told your stuck-up friends I'm not some lowlife construction worker? Some of my best friends are the guys on my crew."

  "You're twisting my words." She tried to keep her voice calm and level, but that was quickly becoming impossible. "Finn, I stood up for you because I really like you. I'll admit, I agreed to our first date because I thought it might be fun to date a guy from outside the Meadow for a change, but I never thought we'd actually develop feelings for each other. I thought it would end between us long before we ever got to this point."

  "So you kept your rich boyfriend on the side for when you got tired of me. Nice."

  "That's not true."

  "Yes, it is, Rebecca. Admit it."

  Her chest constricted as he said her full name. Gone was her nickname and with it, her ability to fight back tears. They rolled down her cheeks faster than she could wipe them away. "Finn, I'm sorry."

  "If you really started to have feelings for me, then why didn't you break things off with him before you got into my bed? And I want the truth."

  How could she tell him the truth?

  "I," she paused, unable to form the words.

  "Just say it. I'm a big boy. I can take it."

  "I've always planned to marry Reid, but he went away to college and left. I didn't know if he was ever coming back. And then you came along. And then Reid came along right after you. I figured since I didn't see a real future with us, since you would never marry me anyway, I—"

  "You what?" he pressed.

  She sighed, the words tearing her apart before she even said them. "I figured I may as well see where things went with Reid since out of the two of you, he was the only one who would offer me the things I thought I wanted." She moved toward him, but he stepped away from her. "But that was before I started getting feelings for you."

  Finn shook his head, looking at her with so much disgust it made her nauseous. "You said it yourself. You didn't think we would last. And now we haven't. Now you can go back to your… Reid," he said, practically growling the name, "and live happily ever after in a fancy house in the Meadow."

  Rebecca wrapped her arms around his shoulders, threading her fingers into his short hair. "I was wrong about us. This isn't what I thought would happen, Finn, but I'm totally falling for you."

  She kissed his neck and up to his jaw, but didn't make it any further. Finn reached up and took her arms from around his shoulders and stepped away from her. Her arms fell to her sides.

  "You need to leave now. I'm sure your boyfriend would love to see you." With that, Finn walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

  * * * *

  Rebecca stood beside the wall of windows in the Royal Magnolia ballroom at the club. The planning committee had gone above and beyond for th
is fundraiser. A million twinkling lights decorated the ceiling, giving them the impression they stood under a perfectly clear, starry sky, instead of inside a building. Orbs of flowers dangled from the rafters like disco balls. And on every table hurricane lanterns with pillar candles flickered. The overall effect was breathtaking. She'd have to find out who decorated so she could use them for her next event.

  She picked at the crudités on her plate. Normally, she loved the strong flavors in the dressing the club served with them, but today the flavor was bland and unappealing. So instead she simply covered them with her napkin and handed them to a waiter passing by with a serving tray.

  "Still not hungry?" Eliza asked quietly while Bryn and Scarlett chatted about the successes and mistakes in the room. The gala was always a spectacle of beautiful gowns and few fashion disasters.

  Rebecca shrugged. "It doesn't taste very good tonight, that's all."

  "I know it's not easy, but you have to take care of yourself. You look a little pale tonight."

  "What's wrong? Still not over your fling with the construction worker?" Bryn asked. "Hasn't it been like a week already?"

  "Almost." And in that week, there had been complete silence from him. Every second that ticked by with no word from Finn made her realize how over they really were.

  Every hour made her chest ache a little more, made her eyes tear again and again until she'd had nothing left to cry.

  Bryn smiled. "Then it's time for you to post a no trespassing sign on the construction site and take your relationship with the doctor to the next level."

  Rebecca did her best to ignore Bryn's unsympathetic comment. She didn't have the fight in her tonight to try to call Bryn out on her attitude. Besides, with the way Rebecca's luck was going lately, she'd piss Bryn off too much and then who knows what would happen. Bryn would probably tell Reid the truth about Finn right here at the gala to spite her.

  "Did Reid ever ask about the guy who answered your phone so early that morning you were with Finn?" Scarlett asked.

  She'd thought about it before he'd asked on the phone one night and had come up with an excuse. On an early stop at the shelter and while she was working with one of the families, Ben, one of the other volunteers—a grandfather-like, elderly gentleman—had answered her phone for her. Thankfully, Reid had accepted her response without question.

  "Yep. I told him it was Ben who answered."

  "Good thinking."

  "Is it going okay with you two tonight?" Eliza asked, glancing to where Reid spoke to a few colleagues on the other side of the room.

  "Sure. It's been great. I know I seem a bit down, but I'm actually having a really great time tonight."

  Rebecca kept hoping maybe if she said it enough times, she'd finally convince herself it was true. It hadn't worked yet. But the night was still young, and there was still plenty of party to suffer through… enjoy.

  She looked around the room at the sea of glamorous people from Meadow Ridge. A few danced to the orchestra playing while others sat at tables laughing and eating. Most mingled around the room, stopping to chat with each new face, only long enough to leave an impression, before moving on to the next.

  Everyone appeared to be having the most exciting evening. And on any other night, Rebecca may have been one of them. But not tonight.

  Sure, she was with all of her friends, and it was fun to stand around and chat about what everyone was wearing and who they were dating and who'd just broken up. But somehow, it didn't seem to hold her interest as much as it used to. She'd been looking forward to wearing her stunning new gown and diamond necklace, yet now that she was here, she couldn't quite seem to work up the excitement everyone else had.

  And it wasn't only because her heart ached for Finn, or how she tried to convince herself she'd made the right choice not fighting for him because he couldn't give her the life she wanted to live.

  Tonight, as she looked around the room, for the first time ever, she felt as if she was looking at the Meadow through clear eyes. And she wasn't sure she liked what she saw.

  She took a deep breath and forced those negative thoughts from her head. No. This was the life she'd always dreamed about, damn it. This was the life she'd worked her ass off to save for the last six months. This was the life she'd waited so long to share with Reid. And now it looked like she was actually going to get everything she'd always wanted.

  She was going to enjoy it, damn it. Rebecca took a nice long sip of her cocktail then forced a smile to her lips.

  Better.

  "Not to add more to your plate or anything," Scarlett started, "but I overheard Reid earlier, and he said he had something special planned for you later. Any idea what it could be?"

  Rebecca gnawed on the inside of her cheek. She had a pretty good idea. The whole ride over here, Reid had been very touchy-feely while giving her long, heated looks. If she had to guess, she figured he was hoping tonight, after the gala, they'd finally move things along to the next level.

  They hadn't gotten to the bedroom stage yet. And honestly, after everything that had happened with Finn, she wasn't sure she would be ready for that with Reid anytime soon. It wasn't that she didn't find him attractive, because she did. But something about the thought of him touching her in that way made her uncomfortable. Probably because they hadn't been together very long. More likely, it was because the memories of being with Finn were still vivid in her mind.

  Despite what Finn probably thought of her right now, she wasn't the type of girl to sleep around and use men. In fact, she could count the number of men she'd slept with on one hand, including both Finn and Reid.

  She thought back to the first—and only—time she and Reid had sex in high school. It had been right after his senior prom. It had been her first time with anyone.

  And it had sucked.

  But surely, in all of med school, the student nurses had taught him a thing or two, hadn't they? Certainly he would be better at it now than he was all those years ago. But did she want to put herself in that situation to find out?

  Being with Finn hadn't sucked. Far from it. She forced the sensations of Finn's hands touching her body out of her mind for the hundredth time.

  "Are you guys finally getting serious?" Bryn asked. "Because you should know, word on the street is Reid is the Meadow's hottest new bachelor. I've overheard a few girls talking about how they were faking chest pains to get appointments with him, so they could get some one-on-one time with the hot new doctor in town."

  Rebecca didn't doubt it. Girls in the Meadow were all the same. She certainly wasn't the only one looking to invest in her future. She should have known news about Reid's availability would surface soon, and the claws would come out.

  "You may not want to wait too much longer, or you could lose your chance with him all together," Scarlett said. "I was at the hospital yesterday dropping off care packages, and his name came up at every nurse's station I passed."

  They were right, of course. She did need to move things along with him, or she was bound to lose him. Then she'd really be screwed. Her fling with Finn had nearly screwed up everything for her future. Did she want to risk something else going wrong which could prevent her from having a future with Reid?

  "You guys are right. I have to stop moping around about Finn and focus on what I have with Reid. I do like him, even if he does work a lot. And is maybe a tad on the boring side."

  "Trust me," Bryn started. "Once you're happily married for a year, you won't care if Reid works late anymore. You'll be living the dream." She laughed and sipped her cocktail.

  Living the dream.

  That was exactly what she'd always wanted. And Reid was her only shot to get it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rebecca sat back against the couch and carefully balanced her glass of champagne in her hand. The couch was rigid and firm, forcing her to sit up straight in a way that wasn't at all relaxing. Not that she could relax in her evening gown anyway. They'd stayed at the gala almost until it
ended, much later than she'd expected Reid to stay. Normally, he went to bed so early and wasn't really interested in staying out late drinking or dancing or socializing.

  Now she was the one who was tired and ready for bed. It had been a long day on the heels of an even longer week—one with lots of tears and little sleep. What she needed was an aspirin, a tall glass of water, and her bed. But Reid had insisted she come home with him, so she did.

  She adjusted her position on the couch, trying to find a comfortable way to sit. There wasn't one on this piece of cement posing as a couch. Why on earth had he picked this couch for the so-called family room? It belonged in a very formal living room, a room that was only used on rare occasions and never for very long. One where you wanted everything to look beautiful, but feel as uncomfortable as possible so people wouldn't stay long.

  This couch wasn't something she'd ever pick for her house. Of course, if she stayed with Reid, this would be her house.

  Aside from the God-awful uncomfortable couch and a few questionable pieces of art, the house was stunning. It had everything she'd ever imagined it would have—a gourmet kitchen, dark wood floors throughout, an open layout for entertaining, and even a pool with a waterfall and hot tub out back. She hadn't been upstairs to see the bedrooms yet, but she had no reason to believe they wouldn't be huge, well-appointed, and tastefully decorated.

  The private horse stable and access to the Meadow Ridge Riding Academy trails was like something out of a storybook. And if she stayed with Reid, it would all be hers.

  In short, it was her dream house.

  "Did you enjoy the gala?" Reid asked.

  Conversation with Reid still seemed a little stilted, like he didn't know how to talk to her, even though it had never been a problem for him in high school. Maybe he was still trying to figure out where their relationship was headed as much as she was. Maybe, if she loosened up a little around him, he would loosen up too.