Page 20 of Never Too Late

“It’s Friday today.”

He gave a small laugh. “Interesting! A speaking calendar. I’ve heard of the speaking clock, but that’s a new one.”

“Tomorrow’s the weekend.”

“Yeah, the weekend always follows Friday.”

“Do you have any plans?” The pause was too long for Finn just to be thinking about his answer. “Spend it with me,” I said quickly, before he could make up a lie.

“Doing what?”

I made up an itinerary on the spot. “I’ll pick you up at eight and we’ll go for breakfast. I’ll find out who does the best croissants in Paris and we’ll go there. Then we can do something touristy. Visit The Eiffel Tower. Or go to The Louvre. Or do something else, if you’d rather. You’ve probably already done those things.”

“I haven’t,” Finn admitted. “Most of my friends here are French, so aren’t interested in doing anything touristy.”

Sensing a chink in his armor, I carried on. “We’ll find somewhere nice for lunch. Somewhere we can just watch the world go by. In the afternoon, we can take a stroll down the Champs-Élysées or go on a river cruise. Wherever the mood takes us. And then we’ll go for dinner. Nowhere posh. I’ve learned that about you now. Just somewhere that does good food and where we can talk some more. Like we did last night. You enjoyed last night, right?”

“Cillian…”

The edge in his voice had panic coalescing in my chest. “Don’t say no. One weekend, Finn. That’s all I’m asking for.” There was pleading in my voice, but I didn’t care. “Let me romance you for two days. Let me show you what it could have been like if I hadn’t had my head stuck so far up my arse that I couldn’t see daylight.”

At least that got a laugh from Finn. “And then what?”

“What do you mean?”

“What happens after we’ve spent two days together?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe you’ll realize that everything you ever thought about me was right, and you’ll be pleased you can move on with your life with a righteous glow of satisfaction.”

“Maybe…”

I took heart from Finn not sounding too convinced. “Say yes.”

Silence. This time, I let it hang between us until it was excruciatingly painful. For me, anyway. I couldn’t speak for Finn. If I could, this conversation would already be over.

“What happens if I say no?” Finn finally ventured. “Do you turn up at my door, anyway? I moved to Paris. That was supposed to be a no, but you took no notice of it.”

“That’s not fair,” I said. “You didn’t even tell me what you were intending, never mind give me a chance to say goodbye or talk you out of it. And yes, I take some responsibility for my part in that. Not all of it, though. You admitted yourself that it wasn’t the right way to go about things.”

“I feel like…”

When Finn went silent, I prompted him. “What?”

“I feel like we’re going around in circles.”

“One weekend,” I repeated. “How terrible can it be?”

“I’m not worried about it being terrible.”

I smiled at the nugget of honesty. “I know. You have my word that things will never go back to the way they were. I fucked up once. I’m not stupid enough to do it again.”

“Easy to say.”

“Which is why I’m asking you to let me show you. Just give me a chance. No pretending that we’ve only just met. No raking each over the coals for past mistakes. Just me and you enjoying each other’s company and having a nice time together. Two days. Forty-eight hours.”

“Is this how you do deals?”

“No. I go in a lot harder. Because I don’t care as much about the outcome. If they choose to go with someone else, it’s their loss. If you choose to go with someone else, it’s mine and no one else’s.”

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