Page 5 of Making Home with You (The Rockport Beach #3)

Sarah

I hate to run out on Finn, but the time is getting away from me, and to make my ruse believable I need to pick up dinner and get back to Erin and Ryan’s.

My phone chimes, dull and muted, muffled by my purse and the distance as I picture it lying by the front door.

“Fuck,” I mutter, scrambling from the bed. “Sorry, I feel like me bailing on you is becoming a regular occurrence, but I gotta go.”

Finn doesn’t say anything, his hands tucked behind his head as he watches me struggle to get dressed in a hurry, a relaxed and sated look on his face.

I’m currently crawling around on the floor looking for my underwear and a lone sock, when Finn leans over the side of the bed, and says, “I’m starting to think you don’t like me.

This whole fuck and run thing; isn’t that the guy’s job?

” He gives me a cheeky grin and beckons me over with a hook of his finger.

I crawl over, looking up at him as he slips his hand to the back of my neck, pulling me closer.

With his lips nearly touching mine he whispers, “I hope you don’t find your underwear because then you’ll have to stay a little longer.

” His lips press into mine, soft and gentle and I run the tip of my tongue along his bottom lip.

“Just to clarify, I like you… a lot,” I say feeling my cheeks grow warm and my gaze drift away from him.

“The feeling’s mutual,” Finn says, as reaches under the blanket and pulls out my underwear. “I’ll give these back to you if you agree to spend the night with me tonight.”

We both know that’s not an option. How the hell would I explain that to Ryan? I don’t know a soul in this town and suddenly I’m staying out all night?

“You know I can’t,” I tell him, the disappointment apparent in my tone. “Nice try though, you cheeky shit.” I grab my undies from his hand, slipping them on along with my jeans as I give up on finding my other sock.

“Then tomorrow,” Finn says, a persistence in his voice, and when I don’t respond immediately he adds, “I’m not going to give up, Sarah.” The way he says my name makes my heart flutter and settle in my throat. Why would I walk away from him?

“What about Ryan?” I ask, knowing I’m going to once again have to come up with an excuse to leave, and knowing that it was a concern of Finn’s.

“We’re both adults,” Finn states, but the way he begins to gnaw on his finger tells me he doesn’t believe his own words. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about Ryan finding out. Lying to Ryan is not how I wanted to start a relationship with his sister.”

It’s the last line of Finn’s statement that gets me. Is he referring to us starting a relationship? Is this a relationship?

“Is that what this is?” I ask Finn. “A relationship? I just figured we were fucking around. I don’t live here…” I try to act casual but inside everything is exploding with anxiety and before I can add anymore Finn cuts me off.

“Sarah,” he nearly growls and my heart stutters in my chest. “I don’t fuck around with women and I definitely don’t ask them to sleep over.”

I watched multiple women throw themselves at Finn last night, but every time he turned them down, his gorgeous blue eyes always on me instead.

“Okay,” I mutter, still wondering why he chose me.

“I’m serious, Sarah,” he says, this time his tone firm. “For the last few weeks, you’re all I can think about.” He stops himself as if he’s trying to choose his words wisely. Narrowing his eyes, he grabs for me, pulling me back onto the bed and positions himself on top of me.

He bites down on my bottom lip before moving to my neck, where he sucks and bites until I’m squirming under him.

His lips next to my ear, his voice low and deep, he whispers, “I dream about you, I jerk off to you, and when I come, it’s your name on my lips.”

“Okay,” I say again, it being the only word I can seem to form in my cloudy brain, but the muffled sound of my ringing phone causes both of us to stop dead.

“You need to go, but I want you here tomorrow.”

I nod quickly in response to his words as I clamber from the bed and head toward the front door.

Fishing around in my purse, I find my phone and toss it to Finn as he walks over to me, now dressed in just his sweatpants.

“Put your number in, and I’ll text you later.”

With my feet now back in my boots and my coat on, I pull my hat from my pocket and cram it over my now messy hair.

“What the hell am I going to bring back to Erin and Ryan’s for dinner?” I ask, taking my phone from Finn’s outstretched hand. I’ve been gone for at least an hour and I know the text and phone call were Ryan questioning where I am.

“Stop at the market. They have take and bake pizzas and salad,” Finn responds, giving me quick directions while opening the door to see me out.

My purse slung over my shoulder, I press up on my toes and give Finn a quick peck on the lips.

I step out the door, but Finn stops me, his hand on my wrist. He steps onto the front porch, taking my face in his hands he kisses me hard.

“I want you to come back, Sarah,” he murmurs and I smile, feeling my stomach flip in response to his words.

“I know you do, and I will.”

I wave to Finn who is still standing on the porch and his wide smile makes me giggle like a teenage girl causing me to nearly run into a woman walking a little fluffy dog.

The dog yips wildly at my feet, jumping and racing back and forth, and I bend down to pet it. I comment to the woman that her dog is cute, but she says nothing back. She just stares at me, her eyes like daggers and her mouth set in a firm line.

I shrug my shoulders and without haste, make my way to my car.

By the time I finally make it back to Erin and Ryan’s it’s been at least an hour and a half and I begin to wonder if Ryan has called the police and reported me missing. Thank fuck Erin is there, because I’m hoping she’s talked him down from the level of crazy I know he can get to.

I pull into the driveway, my headlights shining into the front window of the house and the front door swings open.

“Where the hell have you been?” Ryan yells from the porch and I can’t help the eye roll or the look on my face that says leave me the fuck alone.

“Back off, Ryan,” I demand, pushing past him to find Erin sitting on the couch shaking her head. “I live with Mom and Dad, and I’m never fucking alone. Maybe I just wanted a minute to myself. Ever think of that?”

I walk into the kitchen and turn the oven on. Without waiting for the oven to pre-heat, I toss in the pizza and storm off into the bedroom.

As I close the door behind me, I hear Erin’s hushed voice chastising Ryan for bothering me. He tries to argue with her, but she shuts him up fast and the conversation ends almost immediately.

A few seconds later there’s a knock on the door and Ryan opens it cautiously.

“Can I come in?” he asks, poking his head in and looking sheepish, and for a second I feel guilty for yelling at him.

I know his old job has made him paranoid, and I also know it’s not just his job that has made him this way.

He filled me in on what happened with Erin and her family, and their mob connections shortly after it all went down.

He has reasons to worry and I know that. He’s seen a lot.

“Yeah,” I respond, nodding my head too.

“Sorry, Sarah,” Ryan starts and I shake my head as if to tell him it’s okay, but he keeps talking. “I worry, but I know shouldn’t, and I guess I didn’t really think about the fact that you still live with Mom and Dad and have no privacy.”

“It totally sucks, but that’s on me and I shouldn’t take it out on you.” I let out a long sigh, and add, “But I sent out tons of resumes over the last week so maybe something will come up.” I force out a fake smile, knowing my words are hopeless.

“Yeah, maybe,” Ryan says with a shrug of his shoulders. “I gotta run to the market to pick up some ice cream for Erin. She wants ice cream.” He rolls his eyes and I laugh knowing this won’t be his last pregnancy-craving run. “You want anything?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

I hear the front door close and I emerge from the bedroom to find Erin checking on the pizza in the kitchen.

“I’m fucking terrible when it comes to pizza,” she says, opening the oven again. “I burn the fuckers every time.”

“It’s pizza. It’s good no matter what.”

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” she asks seemingly out of nowhere, her eyebrows raised as she leans back against the counter and for the first time I can tell she’s pregnant. Her normally flat stomach rounder and fuller, but it looks good on her.

When I don’t say anything she adds, “So you want me to guess?” She pauses, but again I’m silent.

“Okay then. You’re hooking up with someone, but I now know it’s not Chris that hired bodyguard thug.

This time, I’d put my money on Finn, and I’d also say it isn’t the first time you hooked up with him. ”

I scrub my hand over my face, swallowing hard as I try to push the lump down that has formed in my throat. And after a few more seconds of silence I unload everything on her.

I leave nothing out; telling her about the random bathroom hook up and then him cornering me in the hallway on New Year’s Eve, and how I just spent the last hour in his bed. But more than all that, I tell her how he wants to see me again.

“I swear I had no idea who he was when I did it with him in the bathroom and then he walked up to our table on New Year’s and fuck my life…”

With a satisfied smile on her face, she pats my cheek and says, “Well, fuck me. I think you just landed the hottest bachelor in Rockport. Watch your back, darling. There are going to be some pissed off women in this town.”

I stare at her with a stupefied look on my face, and she proceeds to fill me in on how no woman has ever been good enough for Finn.

Too busy working and too many straight-laced women throwing themselves at him, he chose to remain alone.

But not without the occasional fuck from a tourist he knew he’d never have to see again.

“Don’t tell Ryan,” I beg, and Erin laughs. I can feel the panic rising up in my throat at just thought of him finding out. My heart is racing and my palms are growing sweaty as I picture Ryan going ballistic on Finn; I’m not sure who would win and I don’t ever want to find out.

“Of course not,” she says, smiling at me reassuringly. “He and Ryan have this on-going pissing contest since the shit went down with my dad and everything, but honestly Ryan would kill Finn just over the age difference alone.”

Age difference? What the fuck?

“How old is Finn?” I ask, my tone full of apprehension.

“Thirty-four,” Erin says, smirking naughtily.

“Fuck,” I breathe out.

He’s nine years older than me.

“He’s also the chief of police here in Rockport,” Erin adds, this time laughing at the irony in it all. I can’t seem to get away from these overprotective cops.

The pizza gives off a smell that says it’s nearing done, so our conversation stalls out for a moment. I open the oven and set the pizza on top of it as Erin asks, “So, are you going to see him tomorrow?”

“I want to, but I’m not sure how with Ryan around.”

“He’s going to find out eventually, especially if it’s serious, but don’t worry about Ryan. I’ll take care of him,” Erin says, winking at me. “And by the way, it is serious, Sarah. I’ve known Finn a long time and he’s never had a girlfriend.”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” I chide, but she wrinkles her nose at me and she nods her head.

“You are,” she whispers, laughing as we both hear the front door open, the alarm chime ringing out.

“Erin, did you burn the pizza again?” Ryan calls out, his voice scolding, but the laugh that comes at the end tells us both he’s teasing her.

His relationship with Erin is something I never thought I’d see, but I’m so glad they found each other. Ryan is happier than he has ever been in his life, and with the baby on the way, I see things only getting better.

He pulls Erin into his arms after setting the ice cream down on the counter, pressing a kiss to her lips, he moves his way down to her neck, nuzzling against her.

“Excuse me,” I say, clearing my throat.

Ryan flips his hand at me and Erin giggles, shoving Ryan away as she moves to cut the pizza.

We sit down at the table, eating and chatting about the baby and Ryan tells us he has to spend some time at the pub tomorrow working on new menu items and testing out recipes.

Erin looks over at me, smirking a little as if to say there’s my opportunity to sneak away to see Finn. She then asks Ryan, “What time will you be done?”

“Not sure. Why?”

“I wanted to go to Gloucester to look at baby furniture. Can you be done around five? Then we can check out some furniture stores and have dinner.”

“Sure,” Ryan says, blissfully unaware that his baby mama is setting it up for his sister to hook up with a guy.

“We might even need to go into Boston,” Erin adds. “There aren’t many furniture stores around here.”

By now Ryan isn’t even paying attention, just nodding in agreement to whatever Erin says, and I remind myself to thank her later.

My night ends with me texting Finn.

Me: It’s Sarah. Still up for getting together tomorrow?

Finn: Of course. Thinking about you right now.

Me: What time and where?

Finn: My house? I’ll be off work around 6.

Me: I’ll be there.