He pulled his head back and grimaced. “Why?”
Shrugging, I replied, “I don’t know. I’m just trying to figure it out. With the way I’m working, I have no idea how I’m supposed to date, let alone think about a family.”
He frowned. “Are you seeing someone?”
Yes.
“No. But I wouldn’t mind having a life outside of being a lawyer.”
My father stood and rubbed the back of his neck like he was worried. “Well, this is coming out of left field, Rory. I thought you were dedicated to your career.”
I was positive my jaw was on the floor. “So you’re saying I can’t have a career and a social life?”
He chuckled. “That’s not what I’m saying, but do you really want that distraction now? You need to focus on your career and not worry about men.”
Great. Not only would he disapprove of Finn, he would disapprove of me dating in general.
Standing, I brushed off imaginary lint from my dress pants. “I better get back to work. Thanks for showing me your office. Next time a tour of the station. I love this old historical building.”
There was no hiding the fact that I was not going to have this conversation now.
He frowned, knowing I had just sidestepped our conversation. “Stop by anytime and I’ll show you around.”
I wiggled my eyebrows and teased, “Or one of the guys can.”
He grunted while I laughed.
After opening the door for me, he led me toward the stairs. I snuck a quick peek over to the pool table, and my chest tightened.
They were gone.
Finn was gone.
Staring down the stairs, I heard my father yell out as I hit the second-to-last stair.
“Flash, no!”
The dog jumped up on me and pushed me forward. Closing my eyes, I prepared to hit the ground.
I knew it the moment I was in his arms, because my body erupted in a wave of tingling. Opening my eyes, I smiled.
“I got you,” Finn said with a crooked smile. Those dimples and emerald eyes made my heart flutter like I was a silly schoolgirl.
Opening my mouth to speak, I saw my father standing next to us, asking if I was okay.
Finn let me go once I got settled on my feet, and I was pretty sure I moaned in protest.
“I’m fine. Thank you, Finn.”
He seemed to be caught off guard by me using his name.
“Yes, thank you, Ward, for being so quick on your feet. Rory told me how the two of you know each other.”
Finn turned his attention to my father and gave him a blank stare. “The union meeting?” my father stated.
“Yes. We’ve bumped into each other a couple of times since,” I quickly added.
My father grunted and had begun to say something when the alarm went off and my heart dropped to the floor.
“Engine 33 respond to motor vehicle accident, nine-nine-one St. James. Closest box is St. James and Berkeley.”
My father took off, but Finn took a moment to gaze into my eyes and smile before turning to leave. Grabbing his arm, I quickly spoke to him in a hushed voice. “I’m so sorry I left like that.”
He winked and replied, “Make it up to me on Friday.”
I blushed as I stepped out of the way and watched Finn quickly pull on his gear. From growing up around firefighters, I knew how they always kept their gear a certain way. Some put their suspenders on one side of their boots, some inside them. For a brief moment, I wondered if Finn did anything like that. My father never cleaned his helmet, I remembered him telling my mother.
Finn jumped into the truck and took off. Even though it was a car accident, my heart was pounding.
Once the truck pulled all the way out of the building, I followed and watched while it took off toward its call. When I could no longer see it, I walked out to the street and hailed a cab. Once in, I gave the address to work and leaned back against the seat, taking in a deep breath.
My phone buzzed in my purse. Reaching in, I grabbed it. I couldn’t help the immediate grin that spread across my face when I saw his name.
Finn: Don’t worry about the other day. By the way, you looked beautiful today.
My heart hammered in my chest as I reread his text. Closing my eyes, I clutched the phone against my body. My father would never understand my feelings for Finn. The way he touches my body and I feel like I’m seeing the light for the first time—the life I’ve secretly wanted, but never had the courage to go after.
Finn Ward was my weakness.
A desire burning so deep inside of me it was hard to ignore.
He was the wrong I knew deep in my heart was my right.
Chapter 22
Finn
She’s not a distraction
I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Sleep clearly wasn’t coming to me anytime soon. I wasn’t sure if I was more upset about Rory being at dinner with that asshole again or by her not texting me when she got home like she said she would.
Rolling over, I checked my phone again. This time, there was a message I had somehow missed.
With a wide grin, I opened it.
Rory: Home and exhausted and frustrated. Wish I could see you.
It was late, but I was responding back.
Me: I wish I could see you. Better yet, I wish I could hold you.
I was stunned when she replied.
Rory: How is Flash?
With a soft chuckle, I glanced down at the damn dog in my bed, snoring.
Me: At my feet. Damn thing won’t stop following me everywhere I go. He chewed up my shoe earlier. A station full of shoes and he finds mine to chew.
Rory: LOL! Means he loves you. How are Presley and Harmony doing?
Me: They’re great! Preston sent me a picture of them earlier. I’ll show you the next time I see you.
Rory: I can’t see now?
Me: Nope. I’m giving you something to look forward to.
Rory: Trust me…that is not what I’m looking forward to.
My dick jumped, and I sat up quickly. Taking in a deep breath, I blew it out slowly before I typed my response.
Me: What are you looking forward to?
I was playing with fire, but goddamnit, I liked playing with it.
Rory: Your lips on mine. Your hands on my body. Being in your arms again.
She was going to kill me.
Me: When can I see you?
Rory: Is it wrong I want to say now :(
Me: No, Éan, it’s not wrong at all.
The tone rang out for a fire—damn!—and I quickly typed a goodbye to her.
Me: Alarm. Have to run. Later, babe.
She instantly replied.
Rory: Stay safe, Finn. Please.
—
“Fire alarm, Engine 33 on-site. Smoke coming from two-story brick,” I transmitted back to dispatch.
A car pulled up and I saw Captain Adams get out. He quickly called in as fire commander. A lady ran up to me, crying incoherently.
“Ma’am, I can’t understand what you are saying.”
She started screaming and hitting me on the chest, then quickly turned and raced back into the building.
“Engine 33, resident ran back inside.”
Colton was next to me in less than two seconds as we took the fire hose and headed into the building.
This was my life. The rush I lived for. The one thing I needed.
My heart rate spiked like it always did and I hit my helmet three times. It was a habit I’d started the very first fire I went into.
Heading in first, Colton motioned with his hand to move forward. The second I stepped into the building, Rory popped into my head, and I came to a stop. Frozen in my tracks.
Colton turned and hit me on the arm. “Dude, you all right?”
The fear in Rory’s voice when the alarm tone went off earlier hit me full force, and my feet suddenly felt like they were melted into the spot I was standing in. What in the hell was wrong with me?
?
??Ward? Finn!” Colton shouted. I shook my head to clear it. Realizing I was standing there like an idiot. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s do this.”
—
Walking out of the shower, I stopped and looked at Colton. He was standing there with his arms folded across his chest.
“What in the hell happened tonight, Ward?”
I knew what he was talking about, but played dumb. “What do you mean?”
He shook his head. “When you froze walking into a damn burning building. Dude, you stood there for at least a good minute and a half before I snapped you out of it.”
With a shrug, I replied, “Not sure, but it won’t happen again.”
I knew that not only did my life hang in the balance, but so did the lives of all my brothers. The last thing I would ever want to do is put them in danger.
“Your damn right it won’t.” He stepped closer to me. “It’s Rory, isn’t it? Seeing her earlier today messed with your head. I saw you texting someone right before the tone went off. It was her…wasn’t it?”
My jaw clinched tight as I narrowed my eyes at him. Nothing ever distracted me on the job.
Nothing.
But today, it had. I’d been brought to a halt by the fear in the voice of this woman I hardly knew but whom I craved nonstop. And it wasn’t even to sleep with her. It was her touch. Her smile. The sound of her laugh that haunted my thoughts every fucking minute of the day.
Focusing back on Colton, I responded, “Fuck you, Harris. I haven’t been sleeping good with that damn dog. Hell, I couldn’t sleep before the tone went off, and who I was talking to is none of your damn business. It’s not like you’ve never froze up before. It was one moment—it won’t happen again.”
He stared at me, knowing the line of bullshit I was feeding him was far from the truth. “I sure as hell hope it won’t ever happen again. That one second might cost you your life, Finn. Or someone else’s.”
—
To celebrate Rory and I going out for a month, I made plans to take her on a canoe ride on the Charles River. Trying to coordinate when we were both off proved to be the hardest part of planning dates with Rory. So this would be a late evening date.
We walked hand in hand up to the canoe rental while Rory told me about her day.
She stopped walking and turned to me. “A picnic and a canoe ride?” Rory asked with excitement in her voice.
“I told you we weren’t just going on a picnic. I had another surprise.”
Her smile made my knees wobble. “I love your surprises!”
After getting the canoe and helping Rory in, I handed her the basket, pushed off, and jumped in.
I started rowing, and noticed how relaxed she was. Her head dropped back as the evening sun hit her face. “That feels so good.”
“Are you cold?” I asked.
Focusing her gaze on mine, she slowly shook her head. “No. Not at all.”
I picked up the pace some. Even though Rory had left work a bit early, the sun would still be going down on us quick. I’d made arrangements with Chuck, the owner of the canoe rental, to pick us and the canoe up.
“Finn, this is so beautiful. It’s not often I get to experience such peace.”
“I’m glad it was a nice surprise for you.”
She pulled her legs in and rested her chin on her knees. “So, do you read romance books or something?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “No! Why would you ask that?”
“I don’t know. You’re so…romantic. I’ve never had a guy do the things you do for me.”
“That’s because you hadn’t met the right guy.”
Her brow lifted. “Are you the right guy?”
The corners of my mouth lifted. “I hope so, Éan.”
Her eyes lit up, and she was about to say something when her phone rang. Reaching for it, she sighed. “It’s my mother.”
“Hello?”
I managed to turn the canoe and head over to the area Chuck told me he would pick us up at, a small park tucked along the side of the Charles River.
“Sorry, Mom. I can’t do dinner tonight. I’ve made other plans.”
She frowned and pushed out a exasperated breath. “No, everything is fine. Listen, I have to run, I’m late. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Not saying a word, she put her phone on Silent and replaced it in her purse. Looking up, she gasped.
“Finn!” she said, pointing. “Is this where we’re eating?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I smiled. “Yep.”
It was perfect. Picnic tables were randomly placed throughout the park, but there wasn’t a single other person there. I hit the shore and jumped out, pulling the canoe up. Rory grabbed the basket and I helped her out.
Sweeping my hand wide, I said, “Pick.”
With a chuckle, Rory walked over to a table. “This one. It’s perfect.”
We opened the basket and laid out the tablecloth. After I removed the fruit, wine, and cheese, I pulled out a single pink rose and handed it to her.
Gasping, she took it and buried her nose in the flower, inhaling a deep breath.
“Finn, this is amazing.”
“Happy one-month anniversary…ish.”
“Ish?”
“I honestly can’t remember what day we went to the museum on our first date,” I admitted as I poured us each a glass of wine.
Giggling, she replied, “Neither can I!”
We lifted our glasses. “To one month.”
She winked, “To one month-ish.”
Chapter 23
Finn
The Sox, Irish pubs, and my parents
I stood at the mirror and took a good look at myself. “Looking damn good, Ward,” I mumbled. Flash sat next to me and let out a bark. Glancing down, I asked, “Do you disagree?”
He barked again. I looked back into the mirror. “What? I bathed, put cologne on, shaved yesterday so I’d have a bit of stubble today. The girls like that look.”
The damn dog barked again, this time jumping up on me. “Get the hell off me, you damn mutt. I already took your ass for a four-mile run. You should be knocked out, sleeping on the sofa.”
Jumping and twisting in circles, he barked, then ran out of the room and down the hall. He barked from the kitchen, then ran back to me. I was stunned my neighbors hadn’t complained about him yet. Of course, it probably helped I’d slept with the Regina who lived to the right of me, as well as Casey on the other side. Both of them currently had boyfriends, but I must have made some kind of impression for them to ignore the constant barking of this mutt.
Flash jumped and barked again. “Yeah. Yeah. I hear you, Flash.” This dog lived for two things: eating and making my life as difficult as possible.
The second I headed into the kitchen, he made a beeline to his dish. In a bad attempt to hide my smile, I shook my head and decided to treat Flash to some canned food tonight.
My doorbell rang as I spooned the last of the food out and tossed the can in the trash. Jogging to the door, I opened it, and nearly had my knees buckle.
“Dear God. It’s an angel from up above.”
Rory rolled her eyes and pushed past me. “Don’t tease me. I take my Sox very seriously. This is their last home game of the regular season—precautions had to be made.”
My chest swelled with a feeling I wasn’t familiar with.
“Marry me right now. Because any woman who loves the Sox as much as you do is going to make an incredible wife and baby maker.”
She lifted a brow. “Baby maker? Seriously, Finn? How is it you can take me on one of the most romantic dates of my life, a wonderful canoe ride with wine and cheese, then turn around the next day and call me a ‘baby maker’?”
Flashing her the smile I’d quickly learned she liked, I answered, “It’s a gift I’ve been blessed with.”
“I swear, if you weren’t the holder of the tickets, I would have just turned and walked out of here.”
Placing my hand over my heart, I pretended
to gasp. “Why, Rory Adams, are you using me for my extra Red Sox ticket?”
She didn’t even flinch. “Yes. And dinner. You also promised me dinner.”
I slowly walked up to her and placed my hands on the sides of her face. “And a kiss.”
“Ah, yes. How in the world could I forget the kiss?”
Lightly brushing my lips across hers, I ran my tongue along her bottom lip. A small moan slipped from her mouth while my gaze searched her face. Then she closed her eyes and waited patiently for me to deliver that kiss. This woman was like crack. There wasn’t a second that didn’t go by where I wasn’t thinking of her in some way. She was also the only woman I’d gone out with in a very long time, and the first woman I hadn’t slept with after the second date.
Rory was worth the wait, and something told me she would let me know when she was ready. For now, I would enjoy having her fall apart on my fingers, and my dick hardened just thinking of making her come with my mouth.
I let my intense stare roam her face. The way her cheeks blushed made me smile. Her hair was pulled up into a pony and pulled through a Red Sox baseball cap. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. To hell with fancy underwear and bras. All this girl needed was jeans, a T-shirt, ball cap, and hardly any makeup. I was so turned on I had to force myself not to throw her over my shoulder and take her to my bed.
“Finn,” she whispered as her patience ran out.
“Rory,” I answered back before pressing my lips to hers and drawing her body up against mine. We were soon lost in each other. I walked Rory backward, and she bumped the sofa before slowly lying down on it. Flash jumped up and barked, causing us both to jump and break the kiss.
“You damn dog!” I shouted as my heart practically pounded out of my chest.
Rory giggled and turned to Flash. Giving him a huge hug and kiss, she glanced over her shoulder. “Does he need taking out before we leave?”
“No,” I mumbled, adjusting my cock in my pants and sighing. “A dog sitter is coming to stay with him, since we’ll be gone most of the day and evening.”