Page 83 of Finley

Chapter 24

THE WORST PART about any vacation was how quickly it flew by. Before Daniel knew it, he was waking up with only a week left.

The bed beside him was already empty, but that wasn’t shocking. Brantley had always been an early riser, and with the mornings by the beach, who wouldn’t be?

Sitting up, he stretched his arms over his head and then got to his feet. The sun was already filtering through the curtains as he walked over to them to pull them open. The distant sounds that only came from the beach had him closing his eyes and enjoying the relaxing wake-up call that was so far removed from his usual alarm blasting in his ear.

“Good morning.” Brantley strolled into the bedroom dressed in pressed slacks, a perfectly tucked-in shirt, and a tie. He was heading in to school today.

“You know, you’re going to spoil me with this. And when I get back home, I’m going to hate making my own coffee.”

Brantley grimaced, and Daniel immediately wished he could take his words back as he reached for the offered mug.

“Sorry.”

“No, that’s okay. It’s reality, right?”

“Right,” he said, looking out the window again.

As Brantley came up to stand by his side, he bumped their shoulders together. “At least we still have the week. I have final exams today and then I’m done and we can work out what we want to do for the rest of your stay. Sound okay?”

Daniel worried his lower lip with his tongue and then nodded. “Sure.”

“Okay. Well, I’m going to head out.” Brantley leaned up to kiss his cheek, where he said softly, “It really is okay,” as he ran a hand down his arm and then squeezed.

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you in a few hours? Think you can amuse yourself until then?” Brantley slung his bag over his head and body and smirked.

“I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

When Brantley ran his eyes down over him, Daniel swore he felt it like a caress.

“Well, don’t do anything that would be more fun with two. I don’t want to miss out.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow and then did something Brantley had always done to him. He pointed to the door. “Time for you to go. Out, professor.”

“See you soon, Finn.”

As Brantley walked out the door, Daniel turned back to the window and took another sip of his coffee. It had been made exactly the way he liked it.

Damn, he knows me well.

Thinking he might lie out on the deck before the sun became too hot, he finished his coffee and then got some clothes out for the day. Just when he was about to head outside, his phone went off and he groaned.

Normally, he would’ve let it hit his voicemail, but with the news he’d received last week, he needed to answer in case there were updates on anything regarding the partnership. The last he’d heard was from Todd when he’d called to congratulate him and tell him they were expecting the other two partners, Harry McNamara and Scott Ackerman, to fly in from New York the week after he returned to meet and go over everything.

Grabbing the phone off the bedside table, he recognized the number immediately.

“Well, hello there, Moira. How are you this morning?”

“Very well, thank you, Daniel. You sound happy.”

“I am happy, thank you very much.” He chuckled at her observation. “Enjoying the relaxation only the beach life and great company can give you.”

“Oh, I bet. I haven’t been to a beach in…gosh, in years.”

“That’s a damn shame. Does your boss not give you vacations?”