Page 45 of Faking Ever After

He hesitated as I released him and we both folded our arms on the edge of the pool, looking out at the sea. “I’m not sure if it’s my place to say,” he said at last.

I nodded and swallowed. “Your opinion is important to me.”

Finn looked at me with something not unlike gratitude on his face. It made me want to hold him and kiss him. He didn’t haveto be grateful because he mattered to me. He just needed to be his happy self. “Benny’s out to get you,” Finn said.

I let out a little laugh. “What gave him away?”

Finn shot me a reproachful look. “We laugh, but he worries me.”

“He’s not the first schemer with a well of business ideas for me,” I said, trying to reassure Finn that I was perfectly safe having my little laugh at the expense of a man who had no moral compass.

Finn rested his head on his folded arms, his biceps swelling with tension and his face shining with the drops of water catching the sunlight. “But he’s using your aunt, Percy.”

“Finn, I promise you that Judith can take care of herself,” I said.

“Do you really think that?” Finn asked, almost as if he didn’t dare to believe me. “Because he’s charming her all day long.”

I tried to make myself laugh to lighten the mood. “Do you really think she doesn’t see through all that flattery?”

Finn shrugged. “There are evil people out there. They’ll say and do anything that’ll put them closer to what they want.”

I looked at Finn for a short while, wondering if we should have this conversation. It was his story to tell, not mine to be curious about. Even so, the need to connect to this wonderful soul was stronger than me. “You’ve met people like that.”

He was quiet, gazing at the thin wisps of clouds in the bright blue sky. “I just don’t want to see Judith hurt by a snake oil salesman. I’ve seen what things like that can do to people.”

“To you?” I asked.

He rolled his shoulders non-descriptively. “My family. My sister, mostly. Her college fund went down the drain.” He chuckled bitterly. “I was never meant for college, but she was. It’s ironic.”

“It’s never too late to study,” I proposed, seeing a clear way forward except for the fact that Finn was a proud man who wouldn’t let me meddle. Not yet, at least. He wouldn’t want that dynamic in our relationship.

“Look,” he said softly, directing his gaze at me again. “I want to tell you everything. You make it easy to share things, but this has to wait.” He tilted his head apologetically. “I know there’s a rift here, Percy, and I hate it. Every fiber in my being is screaming to just drop it, but I’ve gone to such lengths that I just can’t drag anyone else into it.”

“Take your time,” I said, trying to sound as reassuring as I could. “I don’t think of myself as a gullible person, Finn. Benny’s a scammer and we all see it. Let Aunt Judith have her fun with him. That doesn’t mean I trust easily. And with that said, I trust you.”

Finn released the edge of the pool and let himself be carried to me. His arms wrapped around my neck as soon as I faced him and his lips pressed hard against mine. We kissed in the sunshine, floating and sinking in the clear pool and letting our bodies touch. At first, it was just a gentle, passing brush of muscles against muscles, but we neared one another until we were pressed together like two inseparable beings melting into one.

The only sound on the planet that could separate us now was precisely the one that sauntered out on the terrace, calling, “Percy-boy!”

Finn’s fingers dug into my upper back and he bit my lip briefly. “Drown me,” he croaked, sinking under the surface.

I looked at the terrace where Benny Tupper dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief, waiting for a reply.

Sooner or later, Aunt Judith would have to get rid of him. He was cock-blocking me and my boyfriend both at every turn and I was on the very edge of my nerves. I would have dragged myselfout of the pool grumpily had I not already had a raging erection and a chest full of frustration as I watched my boyfriend swim away.

Benny helped himself to some of the better wine he insisted on having on hand. He seemed happy to wait for me in the shade with wine in his glass. Beside him was a briefcase, undoubtedly filled with business ventures ripe for a billionaire to flood with cash. And I knew that money went easily down the drain the moment it was deposited. I’d been around long enough to know exactly who the Benny Tuppers of the world were.

For Finn’s sake and everyone else’s, something had to be done.

CHAPTER 17

Finn

Percy’s geniusidea to take his yacht out to the open sea for a day of lounging and love-making was all I could have hoped for. He would be mine and only mine.

Possessive, greedy desire filled me whenever I neared him, but we had company on almost all occasions. And if the company was limited to Emily, Alicia, and Lawrence, nobody would bat an eye at Percy and me disappearing for a few hours and reappearing with wrongly buttoned shirts.

The trouble was Benny Tupper, an angel investor to countless unnamed startups, an expert on all the topics that might arise around the dinner table, and a certified Casanova in Judith’s eyes. She giggled and flushed and let him charm her without a break while everyone watched with growing unease.

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