Page 61 of Finlay

I studied his face closely, searching for any artifice, any clue that these were the same lies that had once tripped off Matt’s tongue too. But I found none. Just a bone deep sincerity that this was what he believed.

He truly thought I was worth it.

I didn’t know how that made me feel.

No. That was wrong. I knew exactly how it made me feel, I just wasn’t ready to acknowledge it just yet.

Finn misread my silence. “Only if ye can fit me in though. You might be super busy. Or not want to make your own bouquet. Fuck, should I have gone to a different florist? Maybe you don’t even like having flowers at home. Yer surrounded by them all day, after all?—”

I cut off his babbling with a kiss. I tried to pour everything I couldn’t say into it. My appreciation for his thoughtfulness. My awe and wonder at how he saw me. The luck I couldn’t believe I had that this wonderful man had taken a second glance at me.

I think Finn understood what I was trying to communicate. He relaxed into my kiss, his fingers curling in my hair as he held me to him.

When we finally broke apart, I kept my hand on his chin. “I love having flowers at home. I never think to take any, so you ordering them for me is unbelievably sweet.” I kissed him once more. “And I definitely have time to fit you in.”

“Good,” Finn breathed, his eyes twinkling. “That’s all very good.”

I released him with a chuckle and pulled out my notepad. “Okay, so what were you thinking for this piece?”

“Like I said, I want this man to know I’m thinking of him. That I couldn’t concentrate in my meeting because I kept remembering how responsive he was to my touch—” He ran a finger up my arm, smirking as I proved his point by shivering. “—and how beautifully he moaned my name. That I’m already counting down the hours until I can persuade him to let me into his bed again.”

I fanned a hand in front of my face. “Um. That’s a lot of specific information for the flowers to convey.”

Finn laughed, running a hand down my burning cheek. “Aye. I have faith ye’ll come up with something great though. You always do.” His fingers paused on my face. “Add pops of blue too.”

“Blue?”

“Blue.” He stepped away with a grin. “To match his eyes.” He winked before spinning and leaving the shop.

Alone, I raised a hand to touch the spot he had.

“To match his eyes.”

No serious relationships. That was what I wanted.

Right?

Later that night, I was sat in my living room, doing the same thing I’d been doing for the past hour: Staring at the beautiful bouquet of flowers from Finn. They stood beside the first bunch he’d brought me. Had that really only been yesterday?

Who’d have thought so much could change in a day?

We’d flirted some more when he’d come back in to pick them up. Well, they hadn’t technically left the shop, but he’d wanted to give them to me personally.

Be still my beating heart.

I’d tried not charging him. After all, it was silly for him to pay considering the gift was for me. He’d argued though, insisting it couldn’t be a gift unless money exchanged hands first. He was so suave that I’d found myself handing over the card machine before I knew what was happening. I’d had enough foresight to give him a hefty discount though, just as I had with the other orders he’d placed with me.

What Finn didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. I wasn’t even sure why I’d done it the first time—it was business, after all. But something about Finn, about how he’d spoken of Sarah and Maria, had touched me from the very start.

Or maybe it was as simple as me having a crush on him. I’d known he was special as soon as he’d stepped over the threshold of Thistle Do Nicely, it had just taken me a while to see it.

The moon was high outside but I couldn’t sleep, not with the storm rattling the house. Rain thundered against the windows while the wind whistled eerily over the loch.

I burrowed deeper into my seat and sighed. It wasn’t that I was afraid of bad weather. I wasn’t, but storms here seemed to remind me how isolated I was.

How lonely.

It was a shame Finn couldn’t come over. He’d given me the flowers along with a reminder that he was busy tonight.

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