Page 70 of Twist of Fate
“Obviously.” And then I add as she starts to walk away, “And don’t forget the chocolate.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Finn and I begin down the trail, walking side by side as the mature trees close in around us.
“I think your mam loves me.” Finn chuckles.
“Well, not to burst your bubble, but considering the last guy I dated, her standards are quite low at the moment.” When his brow lifts in amusement, I realize I’ve messed up. “I didn’t mean to imply that we were dating or that we’re going to date.” I let out a sigh and add, “Shit. Can we just forget I said that?”
He laughs. “Absolutely not.”
“I hate you.”
“Ouch, and here I thought I was doing so well, winning over your ma like that.”
“Well, she did seem to like Clint decently well?—”
“That daft eejit?”
I let out a laugh. “And then there was the cab driver who took us from the airport.”
“What?” he nearly groans. “And here I thought Deidre and I had something special.”
I shrug. “Sorry.”
We walk in comfortable silence for a while until he finally asks, “What were you doing in Dublin that night—when we ran into each other?”
I think back. It feels like a lifetime ago, but in reality, it’s only been a few days. “Mom had succumbed to her jet lag and gone to bed early, and I just needed to get out of the hotel for a bit. I don’t know why, but I decided to take a cab back into the city instead of wandering the sleepy streets around our hotel. Of course, I got lost?—”
“Not lost.” He flashes me a grin.
“Right.” I roll my eyes. “Not lost. Justsearching for something. By the way, I still maintain the belief that you made that up on the spot.”
“Then you’d be absolutely right.” He laughs. “Total bollocks on my part. But it got you to stop and talk to me, didn’t it?”
“It did,” I reply and can’t help but ask, “Why didn’t you follow through? I kept expecting you to invite me to the pub or ask me out to dinner.”
“I should have.”
“Why didn’t you? Did you have plans?”
For once, Finn genuinely looks embarrassed. “No, my best friend, Rian, had to catch an early flight and canceled on me, so I was on my own for the night. He was actually headed to the States.”
“Yeah?”
He nods. “Seattle. He thinks they might move him there permanently.”
“That’s a beautiful part of the country. Rains a lot, but I suppose he’s used to it. I’d take rain any day over a blizzard.”
“I can’t say we see many of those around here.” He pauses and turns his head. “I regretted not coming after you almost immediately.”
“Is that why you ignored me the next day at the pub?” I don’t intend for it to sound as harsh as it does, but I might still be a bit bitter about how our second meeting went.
“No.” He lets out a sigh, his gaze shifting to the water. “I was frustrated.”
“Frustrated?”
“Yes.” It’s then that I realize we’ve both stopped walking, standing in the middle of the trail, facing each other. “I’d sat for hours at a pub a couple blocks away from where we ran into each other, hoping I’d see you walk through the door. But you never did. And then the next day, there you were at a completely different pub, only this time, I?—”
