Page 69 of On Thin Ice

Jacob knew he could clean up fairly well; he’d even tried tonight to take more care than he normally did.

ButFinn.

Jacob didn’t know whether to curse or fall to his knees in abject praise.

“You alright there?” There was the slightest hint of a dimple in Finn’s cheek as he grinned at him, like he knew just howdelicious he looked. And since he no doubt owned a mirror,he knew.

Which meant he’d done this—done this to Jacob—entirely on purpose.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” The words came out rougher and harsher than he’d intended.

But Finn’s smile didn’t waver. “Not really, no, but it seemed like a good idea, anyway.”

“To drive meinsane?” Jacob questioned and took his arm, sparks racing along his fingertips as they dug into the fabric.

“Is that what I’m doing?” That dimple deepened.

“You know exactly what you’re doing,” Jacob ground out.

But Finn only continued to look absolutely fucking delighted. “Are we going in to dinner?”

“I’m tempted to dump you back in a car and send you home. Insist you take that suit off.”

“Oh, I bet you’d like taking it off a whole lot,” Finn purred under his breath.

That was the whole fucking problem, wasn’t it? As mouthwatering as Finn looked in the suit, he’d look even better out of it. Lying in Jacob’s bed without a single fucking stitch on, as Jacob looked his fill.

“You’re playing with fire,” Jacob told him.

And we’re gonna get burned.

“And you’re not?” Finn reached up and cupped hisbarecheek. And okay, yes, he’d shaved his beard off. It had begun to look a little straggly plus it made him look even older, and as he’d stared in his mirror tonight, he’d thought,it can always grow back.

And maybe he’d been thinking, in the back of his mind, of the way Finn touched him sometimes, the way he was doing now, fingers curled around his jawline.

He’d wondered how it would feel, skin to skin, with nothing in the way.

He knew now.

“I . . .it was time,” Jacob stuttered. Didn’t want Finn to know that it had anything to do with him, even though Finn had just made it plenty clear that every mouthwatering inch of his look tonight was entirely for Jacob.

“I like it,” Finn said and patted his cheek. “Like the beard, too, but this is nice.”

“I . . .”Tell him it wasn’t for him.But Jacob couldn’t get the words out.

Instead he changed the subject to something that felt reasonably safer.

Dinner.

“Come on,” Jacob said, “Sophie and Mark are waiting for us inside.”

Finn nodded and followed him inside, weaving through the restaurant until they reached the private dining room he’d reserved.

Sophie pinned him with a look the moment he entered. “What’s going on, Jacob? Who are we waiting for?”

Finn stepped out from behind Jacob and Sophie looked more than a little surprised.

Mark said, “Well, you certainly had usconvinced last time that you weren’t going this route.”

---