Page 41 of Flirting in Traffic

“There’s a lady here. Now cut it out,” Finn finally said as he wrestled one of his older, more boisterous nephews while trying to stop two giggling nieces from tickling his ribs. “Go and hide again. You guys conquered this Wolf Man. Another uncle is going to come get you.”

“Who, Uncle Finn?” the boy who wrestled with him demanded.

“I don’t know, but I’m gonna tell him to hunt you down first if you don’t get out of here, Aidan. Hurry up. He’ll be out here in a minute.”

“Are you okay?” Finn asked softly as the sound of the children’s voices faded.

“Yes,” Esa said with a laugh as she sat up. “Except for the leaves in my hair.”

His hand spread along her neck, his fingers reaching to tangle in her hair. “I’m used to leaves in your hair. It’s one of the things I like about you.”

Esa froze. Something about the warmth in his tone had taken her by surprise.

It had taken her by pleasant surprise. So pleasant that Esa had been caught with her guard down. First there had been a burning-hot desire followed by the playful antics of the children. To have such lighthearted pleasure and fun followed by that indefinable something in Finn’s voice just now…the indication that he liked more than one thing about her left Esa mentally spinning.

She wondered if he sensed the tension as well when he suddenly removed his hand and stood. He reached for her hand and pulled her up.

“How about we get some food after all that wrestling?”

“Wrestling, huh? Is that what they call it these days?” she asked, joining in his obvious effort to lighten the moment.

His deep laughter made her smile into the darkness. She couldn’t decide as they walked through the yard whether or not she was relieved or disappointed to be back in familiar territory with Finn.

Chapter Thirteen

Esa had a good time over the next hour eating her supper in the crowded kitchen at a huge lovingly restored antique oak table with two long benches on each side of it. Finn, Dina, Glory, Ellen, Mary Kate, Danny and Finn’s garrulous, good-looking cousin Caleb Madigan all sat at the table, along with two of Danny’s friends from graduate school. Apparently Finn’s youngest brother Micah had been detained at school by a midterm on Monday morning.

Everyone had already eaten besides Finn, Mary Kate and Esa, but they all talked so much that Esa didn’t feel self-conscious about stuffing her face with a cheese veggie burger and delicious homemade potato salad.

She was a little envious of Finn for belonging to such a large, warm, easygoing family. Rachel and she had always been very close with their parents, but four hardly compared to the double- or even triple-digit total number of Finn’s close-knit extended family.

She’d discovered during their meal that Caleb was the oldest son of Finn’s Uncle Joe. Joe and Ed, Finn’s father, had been exceptionally close and owned Madigan Construction together. The two families were closely tied as a result. The fact that the two brothers had died within months of each other pulled those familial bonds even tighter. Caleb looked more like a brother to Finn than a cousin, with burnished brown hair like Danny’s and green eyes like Jess’. Unlike Finn or his brothers however, Caleb wore a sexy, neatly trimmed goatee.

Despite all the possible distractions of the loud, friendly banter, the good food and Finn’s gorgeous cousin and too-cute little brother, Esa’s attention was captured almost completely by Finn, who sat next to her on the wood bench. She was hyperaware of his body next to her, of every casual brush of their arms, of the pressure of his hip against her own.

Once she glanced up to find him watching her with those incredibly blue eyes. What she saw in their depths made her stop chewing. She resumed a second later when she felt him place his hand on her thigh under the table and pull it next to his own hard length but she found it extremely difficult to swallow.

He wanted to make love to her again tonight. That was what she’d read as clearly as a neon sign in his eyes. And Esa knew that was what she wanted too…more than anything.

There was something else Esa knew for a fact in that moment. She was putting much, much more than her self-respect at risk by carrying on this way with Finn. Every minute that she remained with him would just amplify her pain when he eventually stopped wanting to see her. That moment might come as early as tomorrow morning or next month but it would inevitably come. He’d been engaged to be married just a month ago. Rebound relationships never worked out, at least in Esa’s experience.

“Hey, I hope there’s no hard feelings about giving Finn your phone number, Esa.” Caleb interrupted her tumultuous thoughts as Mary Kate and Danny served everyone pumpkin cake and cinnamon ice cream for dessert.

“You should apologize,” Finn interrupted before Esa could respond. “You gave me th

e wrong numbers, Sherlock. So much for the dependability of the state of Illinois’ law enforcement.”

Caleb looked surprised. “Couldn’t have.”

Finn just gave him a wry glance before he ate a bite of cake.

“I think that Caleb was referring to the infringement on my privacy for non-police business,” Esa explained patiently. Finn didn’t bother to respond to the obvious however, and just continued to eat his cake.

“You don’t live at 989 North Michigan Avenue?” Caleb persisted.

Esa paused in the process of spooning some ice cream. “So that’s how you found me,” she said softly to Finn. He smiled as he chewed his cake and gave her thigh a tight squeeze.

“See. I gave you the right information,” Caleb said, obviously feeling vindicated by the information. “How could I have gotten the address right and got the phone number wrong?”

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