Page 49 of Stirring Up Love
“That obvious, huh?”
“Yep. But not like I blame you. This is so different from back home.” Instead of grass and trees in the parkway, there were palm trees and cacti poking out of a rocky landscape. Different, and beautiful.
“Especially now. I’m not loving the idea of going back to six feet of snowfall.”
“Please, it’ll be a foot and a half, if that. And fresh snow is so gorgeous.” She let a sigh escape at the prospect of a trail ride with Willow in the powdery snow.
“Oh no.” Finn was squinting at her. “Is my partner a snow-vangelist?”
“Not your partner.” Not now, not ever. “And a who-in-the-what, now?”
“A snow-vangelist. You’re gonna want the right lane, by the way.” He leaned in, grinning, and she felt herself tipping toward him. Righted herself before she tumbled into the whirlpool of Finn’s charm.
“Someone who tries to convert everyone to share their misguided love of snow,” he went on. “You’re one of the people who post photos on social media of snow angels on the first day of winter. You categorize shoveling as ‘healthy exercise.’ And even though you’re, what, twenty-five?”
“Gross, way to fish for my age.”
“Twenty-six, then.” She shoved his arm, and he laughed. “Even though you’re twenty-seven—”
She couldn’t help but join in. “You were right the first time, jerk.”
Triumphantly, he went on. “Even though you’re twenty-five—like me, not that you asked—you will mow down schoolchildren on the sledding hill who get in the way of your snow-induced glee. Am I close?”
“I hate you so much.”
His bouncing laughter echoed around the car. “We make a good pair. Crazy cat guy”—he put a palm to his chest, fingers splayed, then bowed to her—“mad snow queen.”
Spotting the hotel chain up on the right, she swung in under the covered entrance. “So, when did you graduate high school? Fifteen years old or something ridiculous, like Doogie Howser?”
“What?”
“Your lie,” she reminded him. “You said you got your GED at twenty-one.”
“Oh, shoot.” He grinned, sheepish. “I forgot I was supposed to come up with a lie.”
“That’s literally the name of the game! The game you wanted to play, might I remind you.”
“Games aren’t really my strong suit.”
“Ya think?” she asked, laughing, but caught herself. She didn’t want him to think she was laughing about his diploma. “Can I ask why? You don’t have to say.”
“Why I dropped out of school, or why it took me so long to finish?”
“Whatever you want to answer.”
The engine idled loudly in the silence following her question.
Finn looked down. “There are a lot of reasons, but the main one is, I didn’t think I was worth it.”
Didn’t thinkIwas worth it. Notitwas worth it. The distinction wasn’t lost on her.
The lights in the overhang cast oblong shadows across Finn, cutting his face into geometric planes. She wanted to reach out for his hand, wishing in that moment for a way to show him just how worth it he was, but then he was opening the door and climbing out. “I’ll grab the bags and wait for you inside.”
When he disappeared through the sliding doors, she drove off to a parking spot at the side of the building. Finn Rimes made it way too hard to hate him. She’d have to settle for dislike and hope that was enough to keep her heart intact when she booted him out of the deal.
Finn was leaning an elbow on the glossy white counter when she strode in, all disheveled hair and rumpled clothes and hot man mess. When he saw her, his whole face lit up like a Vegas billboard. Like he was happy to see her. Like helikedher.
“Bad news, Simone. They only had one room left. Just one twin bed. ” He tapped the key cards on the desk and bounced his brows, the corners of his mouth upturned. “Cozy, though.”
