Page 13 of A Doctor's Promise
Jeez, Finn, anyone would think you’re nervous.
At least the dinner was going swimmingly, even if his own brain wasn’t. The doorbell rang out; an actual bell with a rope pull attached to the wooden porch at the rear of the house. Finn had discovered it on his first morning in his house. He’d only heard it ring once before, when the postman delivered a bundle of new clothes to him a few weeks later, ever since then the postman had known to leave his parcels in the empty stables, as Finn was more often than not at work. It would have been nice to hear the bell clanging through the farmhouse now, were it not for the fact the noise had made Finn’s heart leap into this throat and now he couldn’t breathe.
“Coming,” he yelled throatily, shoving the casserole back in the range to keep warm and throwing the oven gloves onto the marble worktop.
“Evening,” Edie said, her violet eyes catching his before she looked over his shoulder and craned her neck, not so subtly, to see inside the house.
“Evening,” Finn replied, his nerves evaporating with the calmness Edie brought with her. “I can tell you’re pleased to see me?”
They both laughed and Edie looked down at her shoes.
“Sorry,” she said, biting her lip. “It’s just, ever since we were here the other day, I’ve been dying to see what your house is like inside.” She shrugged her shoulders. “What can I say? It’s my dream house. That and I’m nosy. It helps with my job.”
“Well you’d better come in then,” Finn said, standing back and wishing hehadtaken the time to get out the duster and polish. “It’s very much a working farmhouse, so there’s a lot of the usual grime that goes hand in hand with the animals. The resident spiders help me out with the flies in return for me not squashing them and the lack of soft furnishings are due to the lack of…”
Finn stopped in his tracks, he was going to say the lack of a female in the house, but not only did that feel a bit forward, it also felt like a betrayal to his wife and unborn daughter. He cleared his throat.
“…lack of time I spend here. Please come through to the kitchen and I’ll get the kettle on.”
Edie faltered just long enough to let him know she’d seen his stumble, her eyes brimming with concern. Finn could have kicked himself for his faux par so early on in the evening.
Edie was being pulled between wanting to set foot inside Finn’s gorgeous home that smelt as enticing as it looked and running away as fast as her feet could carry her. He was quite obviously going to intimate about how there was no female in his life and Edie found her heart strings being tugged to help him change that.
I can’t get involved with him. He’s my boss and I’m pregnant with another man’s baby.
Ever since they’d walked back to this very farmhouse and relaxed in each other’s company, Edie had felt that Finn was wanting. He’d not said it in so many words, but she felt the deepness of his looks and the way her breath caught in her throat each time she saw him made her acutely aware that his feelings were totally reciprocated by her. Perhaps coming over here was a bad idea. They should be keeping things professional.
Finn had stepped back into the house and Edie wasn’t sure how long she had been standing there deliberating her feelings. She smiled coyly and stepped in behind him. Edie was glad she’d opted for casual wear—a three-quarter sleeve floaty midi-dress—because Finn was also sporting a laid back look in jeans and a smart black t-shirt that hugged the muscles in his arms. Edie felt a hot flush coming on as she caught sight of how it clung to his stomach too, the definition of muscles more suited to a model than a world-class surgeon. Luckily, Finn didn’t seem to notice.
He led the way through the stone-tiled hallway and round into a kitchen that looked as though it was straight out of thefarmhouse kitchenpage Edie had filled on Pinterest. Solid wooden cabinets, marble tops, a range cooker, an island with perspex stools and huge glass doors could literally have been pulled from Edie’s mind if someone had asked her to picture her ideal home. The old, battered, brown leather sofa in the corner she could give or take. Archie looked over from where he was sprawled out in front of the range and gave her a small whine.
“That’s his way of saying hi,” Finn said, walking over to him and scratching the dog’s ears.
“Better than being knocked off my feet again,” Edie laughed, feeling her nerves evaporate now she was inside.
She walked over to say hi to Archie too, catching a whiff of Finn’s aftershave; the mixture of spices and musk made her knees weak. Archie leant into her hands as she tickled him behind the ears. When she stood back upright Finn was right in front of her. Her cheeks heated as she caught his dark eyes. They grew darker the longer she stared into them.
“Drink?” he asked, his voice throaty.
Edie didn’t trust her own voice, so she simply nodded in return.
“Are you ready to eat as well?” he asked, nodding towards the range cooker and breaking the spell enough for Edie to remember to breathe. “The casserole is done. I hope you’re hungry.”
“I’m ravenous,” she replied, mischievously and silently reprimanded herself for flirting back so she added. “Always ready to eat” to dampen any raised eyebrows.
Edie was enjoying this moment. It had been so long since anyone had flirted with her and she could flirt back. Her ex-husband had never prioritised making Edie feel wanted, and it had been such a long time ago that they had been in the throes of a new relationship, that Edie couldn’t remember the last time her heart fluttered so wildly. She hoped the endorphins were good for the baby, instinctively reaching up to touch her stomach. Flirting was fine, but she was not going to take it any further than that. Especially with Finn. Gorgeous, intelligent, brooding, Finn.
“Come with me,” he said, and he opened a pair of double doors that led to a dark dining room with a table big enough to feed a whole football team.
There was an acrid smell that reminded Edie of bonfire night and catching sight of the extinguished candles on the table, she could see where the smell was coming from.
“This is a bit formal for a dinner chat, isn’t it?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you mind if we sit in the kitchen? I’d hate for you to go to loads of trouble setting the table just for me, and your kitchen is perfect enough. Even the old sofa.”
Finn’s shoulders dropped from around his ears and Edie smiled at him.
“You’re perfect,” he said, his eyes growing immediately wide. “It’s perfect.IT’Sperfect. Eating in the kitchen is perfect. It’s where Ialwayseat. I barely even come in here but I thought perhaps you might prefer eating at a proper dining table.”
Edie felt her heart hammering in her throat. This was going way past harmless flirting, they both were so awkward with each other.
