Page 52 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

I shook my head, walking toward the door. Finn fell into step with me as I left the kitchen and went for the stairs. “I feel like I didn’t even really know you despite having more than half our classes together for a year and a half.”

“You could get to know me now. At dinner tomorrow?” His eyes were slanted toward me, though the rest of him still faced forward as we ascended the stairs.

I sighed. “I don’t know, Finn. I still don’t think it’s a great idea. This is a work trip. You live in a different country.”

He stopped on the landing, so I did too.

“It’s not like I live in England or something. There isn’t some big ocean separating Canada from the U.S.”

I quirked a brow. “You live on an island.”

“Yes, but it’s very close to the rest of Canada. Don’t hold it against me.”

I laughed despite myself. With him looking down on me like that, and the whole last twenty-four hours leaning heavily on my mind—and heart—I was this close to giving in. “This” being a forefinger and thumb just a centimeter apart. “Let me think about it.”

His face registered success. So, I put on a stern expression.

I don’t think it worked very well because his smile didn’t even waver.

“It might still be a no, Finn. I… I don’t date. Not much, anyways.”

“Okay. Okay, if it’s really a ‘no,’ I won’t push you. But I make no promises against a little enticement until then.” Something glinted in his eye, and he took a step closer.

Almost against my will, my chin lifted to maintain eye contact. But his eyes dropped to my mouth.

So, I did what any sane woman who was in my position would do.

I ducked around him to escape.

Chapter 16

Rollercoaster of Emotions

Finn

Thetreesnearlyswallowedus as the group began down the path into the Haunted Wood. Lucy had her phone out and a document app open, but her eyes were anywhere but on it. A group was coming toward us from the other direction, and Lucy had positioned herself smack dab in the middle of the trail, chin lifted as she gazed at the tops of the trees.

I waited, but she didn’t move, so I walked up beside her, placing my hand on the small of her back and guiding her to the side.

She didn’t jump or glare at me. Instead, she turned that beautiful smile on me. “It’s perfect.”

I didn’t move my hand. I was happily pushing my luck here, but I’d warned her I planned to convince her to go out with me. My hand was warm, and I itched to tiptoe my fingers around her waist and pull her to me.

And why not? Again, I’d promised enticement.

So, I let my hand skim across her thin cotton shirt until my palm was against her side and I could tug her just a little closer. Not as close as I wanted. But closer.

She shivered, and her cheeks turned pink.

I felt analmost primal level of pride at that. I’d better watch out—my attempts to convince her were just digging my hole deeper and deeper, and if she turned me down, I’d be stuck at the bottom with no ladder.

My brain didn’t particularly want to listen to logic right now, though.

It took longer than I’d expected, but she disentangled herself from me, sending me a halfhearted glare. It was the halfhearted part that gave me hope.

“Gemma,” she said, skipping forward away from me. “I don’t think I’ve asked where your family is from. Are you guys in the Salt Lake area?”

The sweet woman shook her head, her hand clasped in her husband’s. “We are in Arizona, but we had a layover in Salt Lake.”

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