Untold Page 5

  Finn grabbed the other two bottles, putting them back before he snatched two shot glasses from the stack, setting them on the counter between them. And then he was twisting off the cap of the rum. In turn, he tipped the bottle over each glass, the amber liquid splashing at the bases before moving up and coloring them to the rims. He set the bottle down, grabbing one glass and lifting it as he put his forefinger and middle finger down on the bar and pushed the other shot toward her.

  “Ready?” He raised his eyebrows.

  Brie’s answer was to reach forward, grabbing the glass and downing the rum. He copied her movement, the alcohol making its way down his throat, a slow burn to his stomach. It had been awhile since he’d done shots of rum, but he was ready for it.

  Brie on the other hand was not. She coughed, her hand coming to her mouth and her eyes watering. “Another one please.” Her voice was slightly choked as she set the glass down on the counter and pushed it forward.

  Finn put his empty glass next to hers, only filling hers up this time. Brie reached for it the second it was filled, tipping it back into her mouth. The second shot she’d been ready for, and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting the alcohol set in.

  “That bad?”

  “Worse,” she whispered, opening her eyes.

  “That doesn’t sound good.” He grabbed a glass and filled it with water before setting it down on the counter in front of her.

  “Thank you.” She grabbed it, lifting it to her lips and drinking.

  He watched her, waiting for her to finish half of it before she set the glass back down. “Does this have to do with the unpleasant business you came into town to deal with?”

  “Unwanted, unpleasant business.”

  “Yes, the unwanted, unpleasant business,” he amended.

  “It does, indeed.” Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath and let it out.

  Finn had the sudden and unexpected urge to fix it; he wanted to take that tension and worry away from her. It didn’t matter that she was a stranger…the need to help her was overwhelming. “You want to talk about it?”

  “Not even a little bit.” She opened her eyes again as she shook her head.

  “You want another one?” Finn held up the bottle of rum.

  “I should probably slow down. How about a beer? Anything. Surprise me.”

  “Coming right up,” he said as he grabbed a clean glass and went over to the tap.

  * * *

  It had been almost two hours since Brie had gotten to the Sleepy Sheep. She was now nursing her second beer—the first had been an apricot wheat, the second a huckleberry blond ale—in between sipping on the ice cold water Finn kept refilling for her.

  Every time he grabbed her glass, she’d get distracted by his hands. She’d pictured them on her more than once. Had thought about one at the small of her back as he guided her through a room, any room. She’d imagined both of his hands at her waist as he held her steady, leaning in close, his lips hovering over hers. And then she had a vision of those hands sliding down her bare body, Finn moving between her naked thighs as he kissed her over and over again.

  Good grief, she needed to get a grip on herself. She was in the midst of an almost-breakdown (or she had been when she’d walked into the bar), and here she was imagining sex with an almost-stranger. Yeah, it was safe to say that she was losing it all right.

  But being there in that bar filled with people felt normal, and she needed normal. And talking to Finn? Well, it felt right. Really right.

  It wasn’t like he’d only been standing in front of her for the last two hours. He’d gone back and forth between helping other patrons, but he’d always come back to her to talk. The topics of conversation weren’t anything important or terribly personal. She’d said she didn’t want to talk about what had happened, and he didn’t pry. Instead he explained the hockey game playing behind them—she knew nothing about the sport—in between talking about movies, music, and TV shows. He liked Sherlock, too.

  The more they talked, the better she felt. And it was because as they talked, she forgot about everything else. This wasn’t the first time it had happened, either. It had happened the night before, too.

  He somehow just made her forget.

  Made her forget everything she was going through. Made her forget as his deep, steady voice filled her ears. Made her forget as she looked into his eyes. Those blue, blue eyes.

  Good Lord she needed to cool her jets. She wasn’t drunk—the glasses upon glasses of water had seen to that—but she wasn’t thinking clearly.

  She was still thinking about his hands. And his mouth. Whenever he’d come back to her, elbows on the bar as he leaned in close, her gaze would move to his mouth, and she imagined it on hers. Imagined his lips trailing down her throat.

  He made her not think about why she was in Mirabelle, not think about anything besides him and whatever they were talking about. She wanted a whole night of not thinking with this man. Wanted to know what it was like to have him press her against something solid. Anything solid. A wall, a table, a mattress, the floor. She didn’t care.

  Brie wasn’t what anyone would call impulsive. She was a planner. Knew what she was going into when she started something. That was probably why everything that had happened in the last week was throwing her off so much.

  It had been a last-minute decision to drive down to Mirabelle the day before…she’d already decided against coming to the funeral. Yet, she’d changed her mind. Now another wrench was getting thrown into her plans with the reading of that damn will.

  And that damn house.

  But she didn’t want to think about any of that at the moment. She didn’t want to think about anything except for Finn and what it might be like to be a little impulsive with him.

  “How you doing over here?” he asked as he slid in front of her again.

  “Better and better by the minute.”

  “That’s always good to hear. You want another one?” He nodded to her almost empty beer on the counter.

  “No.” She shook her head as she picked up her glass and finished off her drink. “I need to be able to drive back to the inn.”

  “Are you leaving soon?”

  “In a bit. I want to see the end of the game.”

  “Really now?” He leaned in close to her again. And for what was probably the fiftieth time that night she could smell the clean masculine scent that clung to him. Soap and maybe a little aftershave combined with him. He smelled incredible.

  So. Damn. Good.

  “Yeah, I’m a Stampede fan now. I’m in it to win it.” She couldn’t stop herself from leaning in a bit closer herself.

  “Commitment…I like it.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” His smile grew and his eyes got more intense, the blue getting deeper. “It’s not the only thing I like, either.”

  “What else do you like?” Her voice dropped low as she spoke. Oh God, the more time she spent with him, the more he affected her. The closer he got to her, the more he affected her. The more he looked at her, the more he affected her.

  He just affected her.

  “About you? The list keeps growing, and growing. Give me twenty minutes and I’d be happy to tell you about it. In great detail.”

  Her stomach flipped and the air in her lungs caught. This time her inability to breathe had nothing to do with suffocating pressure. “What happens in twenty minutes?” she somehow managed to ask.

  “The game is over.” He turned just a little bit so he could incline his head toward the TV, not taking his eyes off of her while he did it.

  “You don’t need to stay here? Until closing?”

  “Nope, just came in to help with the rush during the game. I’m free after that.”

  “Right.” She nodded slowly, her stomach doing another flip. “And if I said yes? What happens then?”

  He moved back so that he was standing directly in front of her again, leaning in close. The nearness of him co
mbined with the way he was looking at her and the topic of conversation—that she was 99.9 percent sure was one about them having sex—was making her pulse race. And that wasn’t the only thing he was doing to her. It was taking everything in her not to squirm in her seat. She somehow managed to subtly press her thighs together. It was all she could do to combat the swelling ache.

  “You said your bad night had to do with the unwanted, unpleasant business you were dealing with while you’re in town.” He reached over, pushing a strand of her hair back and out of her face before his finger traced the shell of her ear. Goose bumps spread out and across her body. “Brie, if you say yes, I swear to you, I can make the rest of your night really pleasant.”

  She didn’t even wait a second to respond. “Yes.”

  * * *

  It had been a few months since Brie had had sex. Seven to be exact. It wasn’t her longest dry spell, not by any means. No, her longest dry spell had lasted a year and half and had been right after her last serious relationship.

  It hadn’t broken her heart when she and Aaron had ended things three years ago. The breakup had happened because he’d believed she’d been far too focused on school. He’d gotten tired of playing second fiddle. She hadn’t blamed him when he’d ended it, either, mainly because she’d known he hadn’t played second fiddle because of her focus on school.

  After the breakup, she’d gone full tilt into her studies and hadn’t come up for air, or a date. Which wasn’t all that shocking when it came to Brie’s social life. Thus, her current seven-month dry spell.

  Besides her parents, it wasn’t an easy thing for her to let people in. Her parents had always been honest with her that she’d been adopted. Though she’d heard that word a lot as a toddler, she hadn’t really understood it until she was around six. But even before then, she’d always been more content to be on her own.

  Sure she had friends, and there were a handful from her childhood she was still close with as well as a few here and there she’d made and kept along the way. But boyfriend relationships were a different story. What did it say about her that she’d always been slightly relieved when they ended?

  Probably nothing good. Relationships were dangerous. Just another way to get your heart broken. She didn’t need any more heartbreak in her life. That was why this whole thing with Finn was beyond perfect. There was no doubt in her mind that he was just offering a night of mindless pleasure.

  No strings. She didn’t want strings.

  Once the game had ended—the Stampede beating the Nashville Predators four to two—Brie had excused herself to go to the bathroom while Finn finished up a few things behind the bar.

  She was a little nervous, but it was an excited nervous. Her hands shook just slightly as she rubbed them under the cold water. Once the soap was washed away, she kept them in the steady spray, moving so that her wrists were now taking the direct hit, hoping to cool herself down.

  But cooling down didn’t look to be a reality, a fact made perfectly clear the second she walked out of the bathroom. Finn was coming out of a door at the end of the hall, just a few feet away.

  His mouth quirked to the side when he saw her. “Come here.”

  He reached forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her back the way he’d just come. There was no resistance from her, she followed willingly, the warmth of his hand melting into hers and moving up her arm and through her body.

  The light was flipped on, illuminating the room, and the door closed behind them. Brie didn’t see anymore than a desk on the back wall and a black leather sofa off to the side. The next second she was pushed back against the wall and Finn’s hands were on either side of her face, his thumbs moving across her cheeks. It was the only place he touched her, and yet she could feel it everywhere.

  “I believe I’m supposed to give you a list of the things I like about you, and describe them in great detail.”

  “Th-that was the agreement.” Brie nodded, her hands going flat behind her, palms to the wall. She was trying to pace herself, trying to keep her control. She wanted Finn to make the next move, and if she touched him she knew she wouldn’t be able to wait for that.

  “Where to start.” He leaned in closer to her, his lips just grazing her cheek.

  Brie closed her eyes, breathing in deep and filling her lungs with Finn’s clean, warm scent. It had been months and months since she’d been touched like this. Too long. Way too long. She savored the simple, light press of his mouth as he moved down. And then his lips were brushing over hers.

  “Look at me, Brie.”

  His breath mingled with hers as she opened her eyes, looking straight into his. God, they were so freaking blue, and she had a front-row seat to the intense desire that was solely for her. But it was more than desire…it was carnal. Raw.

  His eyes dipped to her mouth and he moved one of his hands down, his thumb tracing over her slightly parted lips. “I think we should start here.” The pad of his thumb was gentle as he brushed it back and forth. And he didn’t stop with the movement as he brought his gaze back to hers. “What do you think?”

  “I think that’s an excellent idea.” She spoke against his thumb that was still touching her lips.

  “Good.” He moved his hand to her jaw, pressing up at the same moment that his mouth moved down, closing over hers.

  Brie opened for Finn on a sigh, her hands leaving the wall as she reached for him, grabbing on to his sides and pulling him closer. He was flush up against her as he slid his tongue past her lips and into her mouth.

  It was sensory overload, feeling the hardness of every part of his body that touched hers. Her breasts were pressed against his firm chest, her thighs aligned with his oh-so-very-solid ones, his erection pressing into her belly.

  Yeah, hard was the operative word, and Brie experienced all of that hardness as Finn completely and totally took possession of her mouth. He tilted her head back just slightly more as he sucked on her bottom lip. She couldn’t stop the moan that rumbled from her throat when he twisted his tongue with hers.

  God, the way this man kissed was exquisite. She’d never known it was possible to be that exquisite, either. Because if she had known, she probably wouldn’t have gone seven months without it.

  Finn’s mouth slanted over hers as one of his hands dropped down to her lower back. His fingers spread wide at the base of her spine as he held her to him.

  Scratch the probably in her earlier statement. If she’d known this was what kissing had to offer she wouldn’t have gone a month…or a week…or a day. And this was just the kissing part of the evening. If Finn delivered on his promise of making the rest of the evening pleasant, she was in for something spectacular all right.

  Brie was just a smidge breathless by the time Finn’s mouth left hers. He trailed his lips down to her throat, pushing the material of her sweater away as he sucked and nipped at her skin, kissing his way across her collarbone. His lips landed on the tiny diamond pendant that hung from her necklace. He moved his mouth back up and over the silver chain, pressing more kisses along her throat and to her ear.

  “So number one on the list of things I like about you is your mouth. I like the way you smile, and how your lips quirk to the side when you’re thinking, the sound of your laugh, and how you kiss.” His teeth grazed her earlobe and she shivered against him. His hand stayed firm on her back, his fingers tightening fractionally. “Second, I like the way you taste. Your lips, your mouth, your tongue, your neck.”

  He moved back just enough so that he could look into her eyes. For just a second she couldn’t pull any air into her lungs.

  “And I bet I’m going to like the taste of you everywhere, Brie.”

  This time when his mouth came down over hers it was at a slant, and he deepened the kiss as his tongue found hers. It was then that she realized her hands, which just moments before had been holding on to his sides, were working up and under the soft fabric of his navy-blue flannel shirt. His skin was hot under her palms, and he groaned
into her mouth as she lightly raked her nails across his sides and to his abs.

  “Fuck.” He pulled back from her, resting his forehead against her.

  “W-what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong.” He was breathing unevenly now. “I just need us to not be here, in this office.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if we keep going I won’t be able to stop until you’re naked and underneath me. And as I have every intention of not only keeping you there for a while, but making you beg for more over”—he nipped at the underside of her jaw—“and over”—he nipped again—“and over again, this office just won’t do.”

  “Then let’s get out of here.”

  He pressed his mouth to hers in another quick kiss before he pulled back, grabbing one of her hands from his stomach. Their fingers linked together as he led her from the office, turning the light off before the door snapped shut behind them.

  Chapter Four

  A Long List of Likes

  It took a total of three minutes and forty-seven seconds to drive from the Sleepy Sheep to the Seaside Escape Inn. Finn knew because he counted every single one of those seconds. He’d visualized each one of those numbers, taking deep steadying breaths. In through his nose, out through his mouth.

  It was the only thing that kept him sane. The only thing that kept him from replaying Brie’s throaty moans as he’d touched her…as he’d kissed her.

  She was in the car in front of him, and he couldn’t help but grin as he looked at the back of her MINI Cooper. It was so tiny compared to his black Chevy Silverado. Her plates said she was from North Carolina, but he had no other insight on her…or what she was doing in Mirabelle.

  He didn’t really care, either.

  When they pulled into the lot of the inn, Finn parked his truck next to her car and was out the door in a flash. Brie was standing next to the wooden staircase, the outside lights from the inn illuminating her face and clearly showing that she was chewing on her lower lip.