Page 91 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
“That’s good. I still have a call coming in from the security company, though. Should have them in place in the next couple of days.” He twisted until he could squeeze her fingers. “Eat.”
The food was delicious, which got Karen to wondering. “We never did get a chance to do things like cook together. I mean, back at Whiskey Creek.”
“I was too busy trying to figure out how to crawl in your bedroom window without being caught,” Finn reminded her.
She laughed. “We got up to mischief in so many places other than my bedroom, Finn Marlette.”
“If by mischief you mean fooling around and sex, you’re right. And that doesn’t count all the places Ithoughtabout taking you.” He caught her fingers and brought them to his lips. Kissing them before turning the tease into a nibble. “I’ve got a list of all the things we’re doing once I get this cast off.”
“I can’t wait,” she told him honestly. “But I’m serious about the cooking part too. It’s nice that we both like to cook. We’re not going starve.”
“Is this when I’m supposed to say something cheesy like ‘we can live on love’?”
“I would snicker, but I’m too busy enjoying my grilled cheese—what did you put on here? It’s delicious. Some kind of jam?”
He pressed a finger to his lips. “I’m not giving you my secret grilled cheese recipe.”
Karen leaned forward on her elbows. “Which means that you get to make them any time I get a craving.”
Finn stuck out his hand. “Deal.”
With a snicker, she linked their fingers and gave his hand a firm pump. The instant he let go, she snatched the final sandwich triangle off his plate, scooting from the table to where he couldn’t reach her.
“Hey, give that back.” Amusement danced in his eyes.
“No way.” A little sad that she didn’t have any ketchup to dip it in, she gobbled the section down, moaning as her taste buds lit up.
Finn folded his arms over his chest and gave her a pretty good mock glare. “I ought to paddle your butt for that.”
“Promises, promises.” She swung back to his side and wrapped her arms around him. The next step was to press a noisy kiss to his cheek. “That was yummy. Thank you.”
He dipped his chin. “Thanks for the work you did this morning.”
“Not a problem. It interrupted my—” Which brought back to mind another interruption from earlier in the day. “Shoot. Hey, when my dad called this morning, he said he’s been trying to get hold of your dad. You got a phone number I can pass on? Seems the one he’s got is no longer current.”
Amusement drained from Finn’s expression, leaving his face grey under his tan.
Karen pulled back with concern. “Finn?”
He shook his head. “Last night you said something pretty powerful. About you and me and making this stick, and I’m with you all the way on that. Which means there’re no secrets between us. No real secrets, anyway.”
Worry raced through her belly. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
20
Karen pulled her chair closer and grabbed his fingers. “You’re kind of scaring me, Finn. Are you in trouble?”
“What? No. This isn’t actually about me.” He made a face. “Okay, it is, but the trouble is the secret isn’t mine, so I had to get permission to tell you.”
No way would she untangle that one, so she just sat and waited. She knew well enough that sometimes tough stories didn’t progress forward in a linear manner.
Finn looked pensive. “The instant I left Whiskey Creek, I knew it wasn’t right. But you couldn’t leave either, so I had to go figure things out at home before I returned.”
This wasn’t where she’d expected the conversation to go. “I don’t hold anything against you from back then, Finn. You made a promise to your parents. Kind of like I made a promise to the Coleman clan. Neither of us could up and leave.”
Uncomfortable in a way she’d rarely seen, he took a deep breath and met her gaze straight on. “We went home. Me, Levi, and Duncan. Levi, as you heard, discovered he was soon to be a daddy, which has been nothing but a blessing in his and Chelsea’s life. But Duncan—the closer we got to being back at the ranch, the quieter he got, which is saying something.”
