by Claire Adams
"Pleasure's all mine." Finn reached for my hand with a look that told me I was already his, whether I wanted to admit it or not.
Cindy tugged him back and shook her head. "This sexy boy is the only one off limits, Chloe. He's mine."
Finn tilted his head to the side as if challenging me to step up. If there was anything bubbling between us, now was the time to do something about it.
A loud, balding guy from behind Finn leaned in and hiccupped. "I'm off limits, too. Getting married tomorrow."
I laughed, unable to help myself. "That's great. Stay off limits. No one likes a cheater."
"She's right, boys." A handsome guy in a suit extended his hand as he hit Finn with his hip, forcing him to move over. "I'm Brian. Seeing that my buddy Finn here is being stolen by your friend, would you care to dance?"
"Brian. Really?" Finn playfully pushed at him before being dragged back to the dance floor by Cindy.
"Yeah. Sure." I shrugged and glanced over my shoulder in time to see the bartender laugh at me. "Thanks a lot. If you would have just pulled the trigger..."
"Never." He winked and turned to help other patrons.
I walked to the floor with Brian, feeling a little off about dancing with one of Finn's friends.
You're being ridiculous. You don't know the guy and even if you did, he is just trying to get into your panties. Leave it be.
I moved into Brian's arms as a slow song started, the rhythm perfect for a first dance with someone you just met.
"You from around here, Chloe?" He smiled down at me, and I turned my attention back to him, not really wanting to see Cindy put her moves on the only guy around that had caused my blood to boil in the worst sort of way.
"I'm from Los Angeles. Just here for a few weeks." I smiled, enjoying the kindness I found in Brian's eyes.
"Oh, nice. You look like a beach girl. A good tan and a great smile. I'm surprised you're not beating the guys off around here." He smiled and then looked ill. "I meant... I didn't mean like literally beating the guys off. I meant like..."
I laughed. "Stop. You're digging a hole you're not going to get out of."
He smiled. "I do that often. I keep telling my friend Finn over there that he's going to have to teach me how to talk to women or I'll forever be alone."
"The more you do it, the easier it gets." I shrugged and took a glance toward Finn.
Cindy was tucked up against him, whispering something in his ear, but his eyes were on me and Brian. The anger in his gaze told me that maybe there was something more than a silly challenge sitting between the two of us. If that was the case, then it was better that he and Cindy leave together.
"I actually don't want it to get too easy." He glanced down at me, and I turned back to him.
"Why is that?"
"I don't know. I've seen Finn go through a lot of shit because he can talk to women so easily. Seems like it would be any guy’s dream to live as a bachelor with women throwing their panties at you, but I think he wants something more. He's lonely. I don't ever want to experience that." He shrugged, and I stiffened in his hold.
"Did he tell you to talk to me?" I lifted an eyebrow and pulled back.
"What? No. He doesn't even know you, right?" Brian studied me as I fumbled for the right thing to say.
"No. Of course not. Never mind." I slid my arms back around him and turned us so I could find the twins. They were dancing with the other three guys in Finn's group, having far too much fun.
The dance ended, and I was ready to head home, but it would seem that the party was just getting started.
We gathered back at the bar, and I nodded toward Cindy. "I'm getting tired, and my stomach's hurting. You guys ready to go?"
"Go? Hell no. We just got here," Kinsey laughed and wrapped her arm around me tightly from the side.
"Yeah, Chloe. Don't go yet." Finn turned his face from Cindy as she moved up to kiss him.
Bile rose in my throat, and I knew I had to get out of there. I didn't believe in love at first sight, but something buzzed with excitement inside of me at the very thought of the handsome guy before me. I couldn't handle the pressure of wanting to pull him from my friend and subsequently punch her in the face. I wasn't a violent person, but something about the way she draped herself across Finn left my blood boiling.
"Right, well, get another ride. I'm ready to go." I moved from the bar and started for the door before someone grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to the dance floor.
"Not until you tell me where I'm dropping these lovely girls off." Finn tugged me toward him and caught me as I tripped over the edge of the dance floor.
"I'm not dancing with you. I'm going home," I barked at him and tried to pull back, but he held me tighter.
"You're not leaving me with this crazy bitch. I've sworn off women for a month because I need to remember how to breathe. If you leave her here, I'll have no choice but to take her home or turn her over onto Brian. He's far too much of a gentleman to tell her no. Don't do that to him. Don't do it to me."
He smelled so good, and the strength of his arms around me left me dizzy. "What? I'm not doing anything to anyone."
"Yeah, you are, and you know it." He moved us to the middle of the floor and slid his hands over the top of my ass, squeezing softly as I pressed my forehead to his shoulder and let out a groan.
"I need to go," I whispered roughly.
"Why are you running from me? I'm a good guy. I just want to see you again, Chloe. No commitment, no promises, just a date." His voice was gravelly and filled with untapped lust.
I wanted to drown in it, to be consumed by the heat I felt pulsing between us.
My relationship with Seth had been good, but not great. Warm, but not hot. This, on the other hand, was intense, and I could lose myself in the man holding me. Fear raced through me, and I pulled back a little.
"I need to go. Spend the night with Cindy. She's a noncommittal kinda gal. You know..." I looked up at him and lost my breath for a minute, "No commitment. No promises. Just one night."
He released me and nodded. "Right. My kind of woman?"
"Perhaps. I don't know who you are, so figuring out what type of woman would force a man like you to settle down and cherish her seems impossible."
"That's ‘cause it is." He shrugged and walked past me, leaving me standing there, feeling like shit for tearing him down. He wanted me, and I wanted him, yet I wasn't just pushing, but stabbing him with every arrow I could find. Why? It seemed so out of character for me, and yet I wasn't ready to stop punishing him for being whatever he was.
It was unfair, and I was being an ass.
"Alright, have fun." I smiled and reached out to pull Cindy into a hug. "Call if you need me."
"Be careful on the ride home. I'll call on my way to the airport tomorrow." She snuggled up to Finn, and he turned toward her, lifting her face and leaning down to kiss her in the way I'd give anything for a man to kiss me.
I turned and half jogged to the front door, not realizing that Brian was following me until I walked out into the frigid night air.
"Hey. Can I catch a ride home? Sorry to bother you with it, but we drove a big van, and I'd rather not witness an orgy tonight." He chuckled.
"Of course. I don't know the town well, but if you can give me directions, I'm happy to drop you off." I lifted my hand and hit the key button, waiting for the SUV to light up. "Over here."
We walked to the car in silence. It wasn't until I had the heat on and had pulled from the parking lot that Brian broke the silence. It was a good thing he did. I was close to crying over witnessing a guy I'd just met and my best friend from high school kissing. I was an idiot. It didn't make sense, but my emotions were all over the place.
"I'm glad we got a chance to dance tonight. It was fun." He tugged at his seatbelt as if uncomfortable.
I needed to save him from making the mistake of asking me out. I wasn't sure if he was headed that way, but I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Mine were al
ready hurt enough.
"Yeah, it was fun. I rarely go dancing because my boyfriend in Los Angeles gets so overly protective, but my buddies from high school came into town, and as you can see...there's no telling them no." I laughed, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"You have a boyfriend?"
"Yeah. Why?" I looked over at Brian and gave him the warmest smile I could muster, which wasn't saying much.
Having a boyfriend was a great lie. Maybe that way Brian didn’t feel terrible that I wasn’t going to sleep with him.
"Finn said you were the girl of his dreams. I was good with it until we got closer and I got a good look at you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I chuckled, unable to help myself.
"You're beautiful and would break his heart. I thought you would be like the other girl's he's dated, but you don't seem to be at all. You're the designated driver, for shit’s sake." He snorted.
"He doesn't date girls. He sleeps with them and leaves them." I turned as he pointed to the house at the end of the street and gave me a few directions.
"How do you know that? You just met him tonight." Brian turned to me as I stopped in front of his house.
"Because he's a man whore. My dad's one, too, and there are a million on campus with me." I shrugged. "Have a good night, Brian."
He got out of the SUV and paused. "He's just looking for love, Chloe. People do it in different ways. I do it through my success at work. You probably have a different thing or person you use to feel wanted. Finn uses the warmth of a woman. He's no different in what he's seeking; he just finds it in places we don't."
I nodded and waited until he closed the door to shake my head in disbelief.
It didn't matter that I shouldn't care that he was taking Cindy home. It did. A lot.
Chapter Ten
Finn
"You going with me to church this morning?" My father's loud voice pulled me from sleep and scared the hell out of me.
I jerked up in the bed and looked around, making sure I was at my house like I thought I was.
"Yeah. Stop letting yourself in the damn door," I grumbled and got out of the bed before tugging on my jeans and walking out into the living room. "I could have had a girl in my bed."
"You almost always have a girl in your bed. I'd not be shocked by that. Seeing the same one more than once, now that would be heart stopping." My dad put his hand on his chest and acting as if he were having a heart attack.
"Funny. It's not like the old days, where your ma and pa put up a dowry and set you up with the perfect woman." I glanced over my shoulder and smirked at him. "You want coffee?"
"No. I already had mine, and I'm telling you that sleeping around might leave you feeling good for a night, but you'll soon hate yourself." My father was dressed in a nice pair of slacks and a button down shirt with a tie that matched, but barely.
"I already do." I shrugged and filled up a coffee mug before walking back to my room. "Give me ten minutes."
"You need to shower. I'm sure you had fun last night. You look like a mess."
"You're mistaken, but thanks for giving a rat's ass." I shut the door to the bedroom and slipped out of my jeans. I should have needed a shower with the way Cindy was pawing at me and rubbing up against me on the way back to the hotel, but I couldn't see myself taking her to bed.
Shit, I couldn't see myself taking anyone but Chloe. It was disturbing.
I wasn't sure if Cindy would remember me dropping them off, but when they woke up all piled in one room with my friends, I was sure they’d all start to remember of the events from the night before. I'd gotten all my friends and all of Chloe's friends into the hotel room Jared had rented and locked the door on my way out.
Why Brian hadn't stayed around to help me was a mystery. I'd have to get his ass later over it.
I walked back out in black slacks and a button down white shirt with my hair combed and my Sunday shoes polished.
"You almost look like a good guy," Dad snorted again and got up, pulling on his coat. "Grab a jacket. I'm thinking another cold front moved in early this morning."
"Yeah, I was carting around a bunch of drunk idiots when it hit." I grabbed my wool jacket from the closet and slipped my wallet in my back pocket. "You driving or me?"
"I'll drive."
* * * *
The service was lifeless, and the monotone voice of the preacher did nothing to help keep my eyes open. After only three hours of sleep, I was hurting as we sat there and stared at the choir loft. I wasn't particularly religious, but my father was, and having spent every Sunday beside him in a hard wooden pew, I couldn't think of another place to be on Sunday mornings. He wouldn't allow it, anyway. I would be married with kids, and his ass would still be showing up, making all of us go.
My lip lifted in a smirk at the thought of it.
I glanced around at the familiar faces of everyone who had been in my life for as long as I could remember and felt a sinking in my spirit. I didn't want to shovel driveways for the rest of my days. I wanted the promise of moving on, of building on my dreams like Brian kept reminding me of, but to build anything, you had to have money, and I was always in the red.
The only other thing that swept across my mind other than building a beautiful resort for families to visit in Aspen was Chloe. The hurt in her face as I bent down to kiss her friend the night before stung me. I shouldn't have done it, yet it had been far beyond my turn to throw a dagger. She laid me open with every word she swung at me on the dance floor. So I slept around. So the fuck what? Every guy my age and younger had done the same damn thing. She'd never had a one-night stand? I doubted it.
Anger burned through me, and I let out a sort sigh only to be elbowed by my dad.
"Behave," he barked quietly.
I was twenty-seven. I knew how to behave. The need to respond to him sat heavy on me, but I pushed it down and went back to thinking about Chloe. I was mad because she had judged me and done a good job of it. Because of her assessment, I had little chance with her.
She deserves better.
And she did, but I didn't want to take her to my bed and sneak out the next morning. I wanted to take her to dinner and kiss her on the doorstep, or teach her to ski better and roll around in the snow when we fell into it together.
I wanted a normal night of fun without the promise of sex. I wanted a date.
The realization rolled over me that I hadn't been on a date that wasn't planned for the sex since I was a teenager. I closed my eyes and tilted my head toward the ceiling as regret rushed through my veins. It would be gone soon, seeing that none of the women in my past had every wanted anything but sex, as well. I wasn't the one pushing for anything most of the time. I was used and therefore, I used.
Nice.
The preacher asked us to bow our heads, and I let mine drop, keeping my eyes closed and starting to work through not only how I was going to apologize to the pretty girl who had me captivated, but how I was going to see her again. I wasn't letting fate have another shot at me.
Cindy had let out that Chloe's last name was Burke. Now all I had to do was find someone with that last name that had been here off and on. Maybe my father knew something about it. I was pretty sure that there was a Burke on our client list. Maybe they were related.
We wrapped up the prayer and stood around, shaking old men's hands and hugging old ladies before my father patted my back and gave me a push.
"Let's go. You having lunch with me today?"
"Naw. I'm actually thinking about picking up a few extra jobs. I keep thinking about that lodge I want to build. I'm not getting there any faster seeing that I keep having stuff come up." I sighed and got into the truck. "You think Cliff would want a day off?"
"Not sure, but you can ask him." Dad started the truck and checked his phone before pulling out. Whatever he saw caused a smile to spread across his face.
"What's that about?" I nodded toward him.
"What?" His smile faded.
; "Who was the text from?"
"Milly. She was telling me something funny that happened to her." He shrugged and pulled out of the church parking lot. "And don't start on me. She's my secretary, and that's all she'll ever be."
"Yep. Your loss." I glanced out at the snow-covered mountains outside of my window and cleared my throat. "You know someone with the last name of Burke?"
I turned in time to see him stiffen. "Yeah. He's one of our clients. Jonathan Burke. He's as bad as you at sleeping around. Good thing the ugly bastard is only here for the winter."
I chuckled as excitement pulsed through me. "Why do you have him as a client if you don't like him?"
"I didn't say I didn't like him. I said he was a slutty bastard."
Dad shrugged, and I let it go. We had Chloe's dad on our listing at the office. She was going to find me in her front yard before she could blink twice. I only prayed that whoever was assigned to her house would give me the job. Money was tight, and it was the holidays, but one could hope.
* * * *
I stopped by the office after my dad dropped me off at home and checked the schedule. A huge smile lifted my cheeks as I spotted her last name. Cliff was scheduled to go later that afternoon. I couldn't have gotten any luckier.
It took me a few minutes to grab a few shovels and a warm pair of gloves from the stock room, but as soon as I was done, I called Cliff and got into my truck.
"Hey, boy. How's it hanging?" he answered the phone on the first ring.
"Hey, old man. You're scheduled for a shoveling this afternoon at the Burke place. Can I take it off of you?"
"Well, damn. You know things must be bad if you're looking to take jobs off of the shovelers. You ain't got nobody with a plow you can call? You need to rest. You ain't as young as you think."
"Ain't isn't a word." I smiled at the sound of his laughter and couldn't help but think of Chloe. She wouldn't believe for one damn minute that fate had slung us back together. Three times in three days? Impossible.
"You can have it if you want it, but you have to tell me why it's important to you."
