Page 74 of Stirring Up Love
Memories of last night came flooding back. He’d pulled off a Jenga victory, then convinced her to play the board game Life for rights to the bed. She suspected he knew there was no other way her pride would allow a sick man to sleep on the couch. But he’d jokingly reminded her of how she’d warned him bad things would happen if she didn’t get a good night’s rest.
Looked like the couch had treated him well, because he stood there beaming like the poster child for vitamin C. Dressed and showered, from the looks of his damp hair, his brown eyes sparkling but no longer feverishly bright.
She called upon her dwindling reserves of animosity to fight back against the onslaught of charm. “How are you healthy all of a sudden?”
“I never stay sick long.” Was he puffing out his chest? “Constitution of a horse.”
“And yet one swim in an icy river was enough to do you in.” She fumbled for the lamp pull and clicked it on, illuminating Finn’s smile in all its predawn glory.
“But not for long.” He winked.Winked!Ugh.
“Long enough,” she said.
He laughed, like her barbs rolled right off him. Like she was more pine cone than cactus. And strangely, that didn’t feel so terrible, to not be prickly.
He pressed a coffee into her hands. “You wanted an early start, right? Or I can let you sleep till sunrise. You could use the rest.”
Stealing her lines, this man. Infuriating.
Irresistible.
She shook her head at his offer—no way would she allow him to one-up her—and then tilted the cup to her lips and took a sip. Sweetener, no cream. He must’ve remembered from breakfast in Phoenix. Another sign of his attentiveness.
Maybe she’d misjudged him too. One on one, he didn’t seem to care about winning or losing, or choosing sides, and maybe he didn’t want to steal her company and destroy her dreams either. Maybe he just wanted to carve out his slice of happiness and help others do the same, just like her.
Or maybe this was all a big scam.
She couldn’t imagine Finn going to such lengths to trick her. Then again, she’d been wrong before. But Monday was still days away. Would it hurt to live in the moment, just this once? Shift her focus from the pressure to perform to existing, here, in this moment with Finn?
Fifteen hundred miles before the real world called, and they’d face a decision that might sever their connection and send Finn out of her life for good. But for once she wouldn’t let tomorrow’s worries mar today. But one question nagged at the back of her mind ...
Would fifteen hundred miles with Finn be enough?
Sometimes it creeps up, that worthless feeling.
Finn’s words from last night haunted her. She knew he’d healed. Developed strategies to refute self-doubt and fend it off. But she intended to give him another reminder that the worthless feeling was nothing but a lie.
The detour would take them two hours out of their way. A small price to pay for showing Finn he was the furthest thing from worthless. She might not be able to give him half her company, but she could give him this. A reminder that the things he cared about mattered.
He mattered.
Worried GPS would spoil the surprise, she’d memorized the route. But it turned out secrecy wasn’t necessary because Finn dozed off on the shadowy switchbacks out of the canyon. His face was still pale under the stubble, and smudges lurked under his eyes like half-healed bruises from a fistfight, a jarring reminder of their battle royale on set.
The whole early-rising, healthy-as-a-horse thing must’ve been an act. A selfless ploy to get her on the road and not delay them any longer. Her heart squeezed. This man. This awful, thoughtful man.
Still, his weariness worked in her favor. With him asleep, she followed the Park Service signs that shone in the headlights. Swung into a spot in an empty lot and killed the engine.
“Finn.” She kept her voice low, but he jerked to alertness and pawed at his eyes.
“Shoot, did I doze off? Why’d we stop? Gas?”
She shook her head at his flustered questions. “I’ve got a surprise. It’s not the Desert Botanical Garden or a butterfly house, but ...”
He blinked and looked out the windshield. “But you brought us to the freaking Grand Canyon!” He was out of the car in seconds, and she followed him out into the chill of early morning.
When she caught up, he said, “You do realize this wasn’t on the itinerary, right? You could get us in big trouble with the tour director. She’s a beast about staying on schedule.”
“Yeah, but there’s this pesky tourist who keeps bitching about stopping to smell the roses.”
