Page 84 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

He cut me off with his lips on mine. Evidently, all he’d needed was permission.

Warmth immediately enveloped me, shooting to every limb and pooling in my stomach as his lips moved over mine. There was a hunger to his kiss this time, a hunger that echoed the one I felt deep down, not knowing when this might happen again. Texts and FaceTimes were great… but I couldn’t kiss him through the phone. And I meant to take advantage of every second now.

His hand came to my jaw, wrapping around the back of my neck and gripping me to him as if he never wanted to let go. His lips teased mine open, deepening the kiss, and it was perfection. Kissing Finn was like all things with him—all encompassing. It was our mouths and our hands. But also how it felt in my stomach and my chest and everywhere.

He pulled back,but not for long. My chest rose and fell heavily as he pressed a kiss to my lips, each cheek, my nose, and forehead. He peppered me with kisses until I was laughing.

And then his lips were back on mine, making my mouth swollen and my heart so freaking happy.

“You’re going to miss your plane,” he said between kisses.

“At the moment, I can’t bring myself to care.”

I felt his smile just before he pulled away. But his hands stayed. His fingers brushed back my hair and trailed delicious, feathery lines along my jaw, down my neck, across my shoulders.

“But I can’t have you missing your plane. Not after how hard we worked on getting you that job,” he said, his voice rough.

I nodded, reaching out and smoothing down a part of his shirt I had grabbed in my fist during our kisses. He captured my hand before I could pull it back, pressing a kiss into the palm, looking up at me with sparking eyes. “I’m going to come visit,” he said, kissing the tips of my fingers. “We’ve got a lot more of this we need to do.”

I knew my face was growing warm, but I didn’t care. Let him know how much he affected me. He was willing to cross the Canadian border for me, the least I could do was let him see that I appreciated it.

He lowered my hand from his mouth, but kept it in his as he put the car in reverse and backed out of short-term parking. In less than a minute, we were in front of the gates. Goodbye was here, but it didn’t seem as scary as it had.

He got out and ran around the car, opening my door then going for the back where he got out my bag and brought it up to me.

I took his face in my hands, feeling the rough stubble from his beard beneath my palms as I pressed my lips to his. His hand snaked around my waist, holding me flush to him, and forcing my head back into an even deeper kiss. Somewhere, someone catcalled.

He looked the tiniest bit chagrined, but mostly proud of himself when we pulled apart. He pushed his hands into his pockets as if he couldn’t be trusted to have control over them and took a step back. “Coming to visit, don’t forget. Clear your schedule. We’ll celebrate your promotion.”

Chapter 26

Long-Distance

Finn

“Canyouhearmebetter if I stand over here?”

I couldn’t help smiling as I watched Lucy shuffle to another corner of her apartment. Sure, the reception was a little spotty on our video call, but it might be worth it to get uninterrupted time just taking in her beautiful face.

It had been three days since I’d seen her. Three days… ish. Really just one full day, and the end of the day I’d dropped her at the airport. And half of today.

Really, all anyone needed to know was that it had been too long since I’d seen this pretty redhead. We’d texted, but it wasn’t the same.

“Yeah, I can hear you great there.”

“Awesome. I wanted to go over some of the details for the U-Pick event. I reached out to a few businesses regarding our farmers market, and so far, we have gotten six or seven on board. I’ll send you their names in an email.”

My same, stupid smile was plastered on my face as she tucked the pen she was holding into her bun. “Lucy, you’re amazing and wonderful, and I appreciate all of your help… but can we not start this like a business call? I’ve missed you. I want to know what’s going on in your life.”

She bit her lips together, but her eyes scrunched on the sides in a smile. “Sorry. I think part of me still believes you just want me for my brain.”

“That too, but I like the person it belongs to more.”

She sank into achair, holding the phone in front of her, but for a moment it dipped and all I saw was the top of her head. It had only been three days and already I was realizing what she’d been worried about. Not to say I wasn’t just as committed in the relationship as I had been at the airport, but it was a lot of moving pieces.

Last night, while we’d been texting way past my bedtime, I’d had the thought of moving to Salt Lake. Gram and Pops were going to sell, so once Pops was better—because he would get better, he had to—they wouldn’t need me so much. It would be pretty easy to slip back into life in Utah. I may have been young when I left, but it was still familiar.

But that was crazy. You didn’t just move to a new country because you liked a girl. Even if you really liked her. Even if other “L” words had started coming to mind.

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