Page 25 of The Boss I Can't Stand

“’Cause I can clock a waist measurement from ten feet away. Put them on.”

Finn huffed. “Let’s at least go back to the costume shop.”

“But what if I find something else?” I reached for a leather jacket. “Like this beauty!” I pulled it close and ran my hands over the well-worn material.

“Fine,” Finn grumbled. “Turn around.”

I smirked. “I’m not looking at you.”

He walked around to the other side of the rack, glaring at me over the top of it, holding eye contact as I heard his zipper lower. I lost the game of chicken, flushing and looking away as he shoved his pantsdown. I could hear him give the others a shake before putting them on.

“I’m probably going to get some disease from these.”

“It’s a costume, not an old ham sandwich,” I said, licking my lips and turning away. I couldn’t see anything, but that didn’t stop me fromimagining.

“Couldn’t tell by the smell,” he grumbled, pretending to shiver as he yanked the pants up. He walked around the end of the aisle to show them off. “Well?”

Damn, they fit well.Reallywell. “You forgot the shirt,” I said, tossing it at him.

His nostrils flared in annoyance, then he started undoing the buttons of his dress shirt.

I bit my bottom lip, watching as he removed his shirt and shrugged into the one I’d picked out. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his sculpted shoulders, from the cut of the muscles across his chest, from the definition of his abs. Every inch of him rippled like…God, was it hot in here?

I turned away again, swallowing hard as he finished buttoning the shirt. To distract myself, I leaned over and sifted through a box of old costume jewelry, picking up a small box full of several sets of cufflinks.

All I could think about were Ro’s dirty fantasies. Wait until I told her about this! Finn caught my eye as I turned around again. He’d put on the leather jacket as well.

“Do I pass for James Dean or what?” he said.

My mouth went dry as he leaned against the costume rack, raking a hand through his dark hair. My heart thumped so hard that the box ofcufflinks tumbled out of my hand, scattering across the floor near Finn’s feet.

“Oh, shit…sorry,” I said as he kneeled to pick them up for me.

“You think this is a real sapphire?” he asked, holding one of the cufflinks up for me to inspect.

“Why do you think it’s a sapphire?”

He shrugged. “Same color as your eyes.”

I blushed at his words. I wanted to look anywhere but at him as I reached for the cufflink. I froze as my hand touched his. Our eyes locked for an endless moment, tension coiling around us. It tightened like an elastic, trying to drag us together.

Shuffle. Thump.

I glanced at the door as Finn lurched to his feet. We waited in the lingering silence, breaths held, but no one was there.

“I should get back to the costume shop,” I said, feeling awkward and embarrassed now that the moment was over.

“Yeah, I should…” he plucked at his shirt. “Change out of this.”

“Thanks again,” I said. I didn’t even stop for my chair. I just hurled myself out the door before he could see how red my cheeks had turned.

10

FINN

Flying J Diner looked like a complete dive from the outside. That was what I liked about it. I ditched my suit jacket in the car—there was no need for it in a place like this—and hurried through the front door, getting slammed with a cold wave from the AC unit.

“Seat yourself!” a middle-aged waitress yelled over her shoulder at me, not even bothering to glance up from the table she was busing.