“Aren’t we all?” Tanya asked with a wink. “What can I get the two of you?”
Finn and Nick each ordered a beer, with Nick adding wings and nachos. The drinks came quickly and Tanya promised the food would follow shortly.
As Finn took a long pull, he turned in his chair to survey the crowd. He recognized a number of people, and even more looked vaguely familiar. But there were also a handful of newbies sprinkled in, whether visitors to the area or new residents he couldn’t say. The fact that Starlight was growing made him more confident about the chances of turning things around at the bank for the long term. He didn’t want to admit how much Peter Henry’s dismal prediction had affected him.
“Some things never change,” he said quietly, taking a strange sort of comfort in that. The social scene he was a part of in Seattle consisted of trendy brewpubs and high-end restaurants. He’d thought that was what he wanted from his life, but the more time he spent in Starlight, the less sure he became.
“Aww, hell, no,” Nick muttered and Finn felt the immediate change in his friend’s demeanor.
“What’s wrong?” He followed Nick’s gaze to the back of the bar, where a cluster of high-top tables were situated around a couple of pool tables and a shuffleboard game.
He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary at first. Then a burly man in dark flannel shifted and he caught sight of a tumble of golden-hued hair. Awareness shot through him. He couldn’t get a clear view thanks to the group of twentysomething men surrounding the table, but by the look on Nick’s face, Finn already knew who occupied the table where his friend was staring.
“Did you do this on purpose?” Nick’s voice was sharp.
Finn shook his head. “I told you they were going to dinner. Why would two women pick the Trophy Room for dinner?”
“Wings,” Nick answered simply.
Finn glanced at him.
“Brynn loves wings,” Nick clarified. “Everyone in Starlight knows this place serves the best.”
“Sorry,” Finn said on a sigh. “We can leave if you want to. I’ll tell Tanya—”
“Look at the men,” Nick said. “They’re clustering around them like bees in a flower garden.”
“They’re two grown women.” Finn took a long drink of beer and forced his gaze away from where Kaitlin and Brynn sat. “I’m sure they can handle—”
“One of them just touched Kaitlin’s hair.”
Finn was out of his seat in an instant, slamming his beer to the top of the bar.
“Here’s the food, boys,” Tanya said, placing two heaping plates in front of them. “Enjoy.”
“I’ve lost my appetite,” Finn muttered when the bartender walked away. He messed with the brim of his ball cap. “What the hell are we supposed to do now?”
Nick plucked a chip from the plate of nachos, melted cheese oozing off the side. “Pretend you don’t care.”
“I don’t care. Not like that.”
“Liar.”
Finn gave a sharp shake of his head and then picked up the plate of nachos along with his beer. “Grab the wings.”
“I’m not going over there.”
“It’s about time you talked to her anyway.”
“I can’t talk to her in a crowded bar.”
“You have to start somewhere.”
“This isn’t about Brynn and me.”
Finn grinned. “I’m making it about you. Easier for me that way.”
Nick grumbled a protest but followed as Finn weaved through groups of people toward Kaitlin’s table. Her eyes widened when she noticed him, but she smiled.
“Hello, ladies,” Finn said, placing the nachos in the center of the table. “We come bearing food.”
Brynn’s mouth formed a small O as Nick approached.
“Hey.” One of their male admirers held up a hand in protest. “We were here first.”
Before Finn could answer, Kaitlin turned to the guy, her shoulders squared. “Excuse me? You say that like you staked a flag on the moon.”
“You know what I mean,” the man said with a smile that wanted to be charming. “We’re all hanging out. No room for anyone else.”
“You’re done here now,” Nick said, moving forward. Finn suddenly had a clear picture of the serious lawman his goof-off friend had become.
Two of the guys took the hint and stepped back but the third edged closer to Brynn, holding out his phone. “Put your number in and I’ll text you later.”
It was a good thing Nick was off duty because Finn was pretty sure his friend would have found an excuse to arrest the guy otherwise.
“No, thanks,” Brynn said simply. If she detected Nick’s brewing temper, she ignored it.
“We can keep things casual,” the guy said, not giving up.
Nick made a sound suspiciously close to a growl. This time Brynn did notice and gave him a quelling glance.
She turned back to her would-be suitor with a saccharine-sweet smile. “Let me set you straight, friend. I’ve been a widow for less than a month and am now the proud single parent of a son who I had when I was still in my teens. As fun as casual sounds, I’m not sure I have it in me at this point. You want to take that on?”
The man swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and slowly pocketed the phone. “Um...well... I should probably go. Have a good night, then.”
“You, too,” Brynn said with a little wave. She turned back toward the table. “I guess there are benefits and drawbacks to meeting new people.” She took a wing from the plate Nick still held and dipped it in the ramekin of ranch dressing. “I come with baggage, and most everyone in Starlight knows it.”
“Everyone comes with baggage,” Kaitlin said reassuringly.
“Tyler isn’t baggage,” Nick muttered, shoving over the nachos to make room for the wings.
“Would you date a single mother who just lost her husband?” Brynn asked conversationally.
Finn tried not to cringe as he watched his friend squirm under Brynn’s steady gaze.
“N-not you, of course,” Nick stammered after a moment.
Although Brynn’s expression didn’t change, something flashed in her eyes that made Finn want to slap Nick upside the head.
“Of course,” Brynn repeated softly.
“Who wants a nacho?” Kaitlin asked, her voice bright.
“You know what I mean,” Nick insisted, not taking his eyes off Brynn.
“I do.”
“Besides, you don’t want to date,” he continued, only digging himself a deeper hole as far as Finn was concerned. “It’s too soon.”
“Thank you for that insight,” Brynn told him wryly.
“The nachos look so good,” Kaitlin offered into the awkward silence that followed.
“They’re the best,” Finn agreed.
Brynn stood. “I think I need another beer to go with them.”
“Are you driving?” Nick asked, earning an eye roll but no other response from Brynn.
“Anyone else?”
“I’m set,” Finn said.
“Me, too,” Kaitlin agreed. “Want me to go to the bar with you?”
“I’ve got it,” Brynn answered and turned away.
She started toward the bar, then veered off to where the three men had moved.
“She can’t be doing what it looks like she’s doing,” Nick whispered.
But indeed, Brynn Hale, the sweetest and most accommodating girl Finn had ever met, took the phone of her flannel-clad admirer, tapped something into the screen and handed it back to him with a smile for the ages.
“She did,” Kaitlin said with a chuckle.
Nick rounded on her. “That’s not funny, and it isn’t the Brynn I know.”
“How well do you know her at this point?” Kaitlin asked.
Nick’s green gaze darken
ed.
“Kaitlin’s right,” Finn said, laying a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Even if you don’t want to hear it. Brynn’s been a married woman for a decade. She’s a mother. You can’t go right back to how things were in high school just because Daniel died.”
“I don’t want to go back to high school.” Nick’s tone was razor sharp. “But she needs...” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what she needs, but it’s not a random hookup.”
“Give her some credit,” Kaitlin said gently. “I don’t know her well, but nothing that she’s said to me so far has indicated that her husband’s death or the circumstances of it is going to send her off the rails. She wants to create a good life for her son.”
Nick hitched a thumb toward the trio of hipster lumberjacks. “Then what was that about?”
“I think it was a reaction to your reaction,” Kaitlin told him, and Finn appreciated her honesty. “Finn told me how close you and Brynn were in high school. She’s not that girl anymore. If you want to be her friend now, figure out how to do that with the woman she’s become.”
“Good advice,” Finn said, gratified when Kaitlin shifted slightly closer to him.
“Yeah,” Nick agreed, then drained his beer. He put the empty glass on the table. “But I’m not sure I know how.” He nodded at Kaitlin. “I’m glad you and Brynn connected.”
“Me, too,” Kaitlin agreed.
“You mind giving Finn a ride home?” Nick asked. He drew in an unsteady breath. “I’m not great company right now, and I don’t want to irritate Brynn any more than I already have.”
Kaitlin nodded. “Sure.”
“I can come with you,” Finn offered.
“Stay,” Nick answered. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Nick is like a brother to me, but he was out of line,” Finn said when they were alone.
“Are you sure he was the only one?” Kaitlin gave him a look like he was a recalcitrant schoolboy.
“What did I do?”
She rolled her pretty eyes. “You know I can handle myself in a bar, right?”
“Yes,” he said slowly. “Although I didn’t expect to see you here tonight. When you said the two of you were going out for dinner—”
“Brynn wanted wings.”
“That’s what Nick guessed. Are you mad that we came over?” He shrugged. “Am I cramping your style?”
She flashed a saucy smile that had his blood heating. “I don’t have that kind of style, nor do I want it. I’m glad to see you, Finn.”
He released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
“If we weren’t keeping things between us on the down low, I’d kiss you right now.”
He groaned softly. “Killing me here, Kaitlin.”
“Is Nick interested in Brynn?” she asked suddenly, and all of that glorious heat disappeared.
He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Brynn was still at the bar. “She’s newly widowed,” he told her as if she didn’t know the story.
“That doesn’t answer my question. I know they were friends, and then she and Daniel were married when she got pregnant. Did she leave Nick heartbroken back then?”
He shook his head. “It definitely rocked his world along the lines of ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.’ Who knows what their new normal will end up looking like?”
“Where’s Nick?”
He turned as Brynn slid back into her seat. “He had to go.” Finn smiled. “It’s good to see you out, Brynn.”
She glanced at her watch. “Actually, you’re about to see me disappear. Tyler’s car pool will be dropping him off in about twenty minutes.”
Finn realized she’d returned empty-handed. “What about that other beer?”
“I didn’t want another beer as much as I wanted to avoid Starlight’s finest doing his big brother routine with me. Ever since Daniel’s death, Nick looks at me like I’m an abandoned puppy. Helpless and pitiful.”
“He doesn’t think either of those things about you.”
She didn’t look convinced but only shrugged. “Thank you for a fun night,” she said to Kaitlin. “I hope Mara can join us next time.”
The two women hugged and Brynn whispered something that had Kaitlin giggling.
“What?” Finn demanded.
“Nothing,” Brynn said, then hugged him. “It’s nice to have you back in town, even temporarily.”
His gut clenched at that reminder, and he purposely didn’t look at Kaitlin until Brynn was gone.
“We’ve got a lot of nachos to get through,” he said, his tone light despite the lead balloon currently occupying his insides.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
Damn. Was this the part where she came to her senses and cut him loose?
Then she leaned closer. “I don’t want to ruin my appetite when you promised me dessert. Remember?”
His hulking doubts about the future morphed into a million specks of dust flitting through him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the bar like a raging fire licked at their heels. “Where are you parked?” he demanded, surprised he could make his voice work normally when every inch of him was on edge.
She pointed across the street toward her small sedan and he led her forward. Pulling the key fob from her purse, she unlocked the car. They got in without speaking, and Finn wondered if Kaitlin was as blown away by the potent attraction between them as he was.
Then the car lurched forward and she tossed him a sexy grin. “Sorry,” she said in a laugh. “You haven’t even done anything yet and already my body’s reacting.”
“That sounds almost like a challenge,” he told her, but she playfully swatted away his hand when he would have rested it on her jeans-clad leg.
“I’d like to get home in one piece.”
“Good point,” he admitted. “I guess for safety reasons you’ll just have to imagine all the ways I want to touch you right now.”
She sucked in a breath and glanced at him again. “Just so you know, Finn, I have a vivid imagination.”
“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all night.”
Chapter Fifteen
Kaitlin wasn’t sure how she managed the drive from downtown to the Samuelson property with all the wicked thoughts swirling through her mind.
Finn didn’t say much, but every few minutes he’d let out a devious little chuckle like he knew exactly how worked up his implied promise made her.
“The main house,” he told her as she pulled up the driveway. “I want you in my bed.”
She nodded, ignoring the fact that the guest bed in his father’s house didn’t belong to him. Just as she’d ignored Brynn’s comment about Finn being in Starlight temporarily. Kaitlin had learned from a young age to be a master at compartmentalization. She’d had no idea it would serve her so well in her dating life.
Or not exactly dating life. If she had to admit the truth, the back-and-forth between Brynn and Nick had gotten to her. Were she and Finn the definition of casual? A convenient scratching of an itch neither of them could ignore?
Except nothing about her feelings was convenient. Complicated didn’t even start to do it justice.
But like a moth drawn to a shining light in the dark, she seemed to have no self-preservation instinct when it came to this man.
She parked the car in front of the house, and he took her hand as they walked to the porch. His thumb traced tiny circles on the inside of her wrist, sending shockwaves of awareness through her body.
Finn was a man on a mission. As soon as they were through the door, he headed for the hallway that led to the bedrooms. “You and me first,” he said, his voice low and rumbly. “Actual dessert later.” He laced his fingers with hers. “Does that work for you?”
When he glanced at her, she nod
ded, not trusting her voice to speak. Anticipation built within her, and the moment they crossed the threshold into the guest bedroom, he turned and drew her close.
The kiss was electric, every part of her lighting up like a night sky on the Fourth of July. They tore at each other, need and desire making their movements frenetic. It was difficult to tell where Kaitlin ended and Finn began, which was exactly how she wanted this moment to go.
So when he pulled away, she fought back a whimper of protest.
“I can’t go slow,” he told her, his gaze at once fierce and tender.
“Then don’t.” She toed off her shoes and shimmied out of her jeans. “I don’t want to wait, Finn.”
It was all the invitation he needed. He reached for her again, and they were a tangle of arms and kisses until both of them were undressed and tumbling into the bed together.
Once the condom was in place, he entered her in one long thrust, the shock and pleasure of being filled so completely taking her breath away. They moved together and it was like nothing she’d ever felt. Finn seemed to inherently know exactly how to touch her to drive her wild. It was as if he understood what she wanted before she even realized it.
When her release came, her body turned electric once more and the intensity of the pleasure made her want this moment to last forever. He followed her over the edge a few seconds later. Kaitlin felt like her heart had transferred to the outside of her body, as if she were wearing every bit of her feelings for this man on her skin. Surely he could sense it, that all of her talk about rules and boundaries had disintegrated into a thousand pieces in the wake of what he did to her.
“You’re amazing,” Finn whispered, rolling onto his back and taking her with him.
I love you.
She rolled her lips inward, pressing them tight to prevent the words from popping out unbidden. If she said those three words to him now, it would ruin everything.
He climbed out of the bed and padded to the bathroom as she tried to control her breathing.
She’d fallen in love with Finn Samuelson. All her talk about being independent and living her own life had just gone straight to hell. Goals and priorities, and she was completely enamored of a man who wasn’t going to stay.
The Best Intentions (Welcome To Starlight Book 1) Page 15
