“Considering I’ve never missed a day of work before, I don’t think he can say too much.” She peeked over my way. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
I stopped and glanced up at the sign. WARD SOLAR
“I need to check in on something for one quick second.”
Rory glanced up and nodded. “Is this your father’s place?”
“No. My brother Wes and I started it.”
Her mouth fell open. “You have your own business?”
With a slight laugh, I replied, “Don’t be so surprised, Rory. I do know something other than fighting fires.”
“No, I think that’s amazing. What do you do?”
Holding the door open for her, I answered her question. “We install solar panels. My brother is actually more of an investment partner, but he’ll come down every now and then and help do an install.”
“Hey, Joyce. How are you?”
Joyce, our part-time receptionist, shot me a quick smile and a thumbs-up as she continued on with her phone call.
Taking Rory by the hand, I led her into my office. “I just need to make sure everything is set for an install, and then we can head out.”
Rory took a seat and watched me intently as I talked to Josh, the foreman we used when I wasn’t helping with an install.
After making sure everything was set, I looked over at her and winked. “Bored yet?”
She shook her head. “No. I find it fascinating you own your business. Are you very busy?”
“We’re getting there. Business is picking up. And I have to do fewer and fewer of our installs, it seems like.”
Standing, she took my hand when I reached out for hers. “Wow. That’s really great, Finn.”
I drew her up against my body. “I think so too. Now, you ready for our date?”
She giggled. “I’m so ready. Lead the way!”
After staying goodbye to Joyce, we headed back out.
“Are we close? Can I ask that much?”
With a smile, I pointed to the building on our right.
“The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum?”
“The gardens, to be exact.”
Her face lit up. “How did you know this was one of my favorite places?”
I stopped walking and faced her. “Are you serious?”
She responded with an excited “Yes! I’m totally serious. My mother used to bring me here all the time when I was little. Then when I got older, I’d come here to the gardens to study. I love the romantic, peaceful feel of it.”
My heart soared, and my fingers itched to touch her body. Every single inch of it. Instead, I leaned in and gently brushed my lips across hers. “Remember that ‘romantic’ part.”
Taking her arm in mine, I headed into the museum. The moment we stepped in, you could hear footsteps echoing on the marble floors. Whispers from a tour group carried across the entrance. I loved this place, and I was over the moon to find out Rory loved it as well.
A younger woman approached us, a grin on her face. “Hello. Are you here for a tour?”
I extended my hand. “Finn Ward. I’m here to see Alex Montell.”
“Oh yes, he informed me he wanted to speak with you and that you’d be visiting.”
She focused on Rory. “I’m so excited you’re visiting. Please follow me.”
Rory’s hand squeezed mine while she tugged on my arm. “Who is Mr. Montell?”
“A good friend of mine. His family has given a lot of money and time to the museum.”
As we walked, I couldn’t help but notice how Rory’s gaze searched everywhere. She’d probably been here often, yet she acted as if she were seeing it for the first time.
“Please head on inside—he’s on the phone, but should be wrapping it up.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Enjoy your lunch.”
Rory’s brow furrowed. “Are we eating with your friend?”
I winked at her, and a smile tugged at her lips as she whispered, “Your surprise, I take it.”
Alex grinned from ear to ear when we walked into his office. He held up his finger to motion he wouldn’t be long, and Rory and I sat down.
“Thank you so much. We look forward to helping with your event. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Alex hung up and quickly stood to make his way around his desk. I followed his lead, and we quickly embraced and gave each other a solid pat on the back. “Son-of-a-bitch: Finn Ward. Man, it’s good to see you.”
“You too, Alex. Congratulations on the engagement.”
His face beamed with happiness. “Thank you. I can’t wait to tell Theresa I saw you.”
“Alex, this is Rory. Rory, this is a good friend of mine I’ve known since elementary school.”
He extended his hand to her, and they shook. “Our parents are good friends. Finn’s dad saved my father’s life in a fire.”
Rory looked at me. “Really?”
“Yep. Ever since then, they’ve been the best of friends, and so have I with the infamous Ward brothers.”
Her brow lifted as she repeated, “Infamous, huh?”
With a roar of laughter, Alex slapped his hands together. “Let’s just say the three of them had their fair share of getting into trouble.”
“Dude, I’m on a date! Really?”
Rory giggled and replied, “We may need to talk later, Alex.”
“Speaking of dates,” Alex said with a grin. “I’ve got everything set up—the garden is yours for the next two hours.”
“What?” Rory gasped.
“My father is the head gardener here at the museum. Has been for the last twenty years.”
Rory covered her mouth in surprise. “I’ve spoken with him a number of times! He’s an amazing and talented man.”
I could have sworn Alex’s chest puffed out. “That he is.”
“Do you also work in the garden?”
“Oh hell no. I work in the museum’s financial operations.”
“In other words, he’s a math geek, and always has been.”
Alex punched me in the arm. “If you want to enjoy your lunch, you’ll stop talking.”
I lifted my hands. “Lead the way, oh mighty one.”
“That’s better.”
We talked quietly as we made our way to the gardens. The second we stepped out into the atrium, I knew I had hit a home run. Turning to see Rory’s face, I was overcome with joy at seeing her so happy. These new feelings I was experiencing both freaked me out and gave me a warm fuzzy, all at the same time. I made a mental note to talk to Preston to see if this shit was normal. The one thing I did know for sure was, I wanted to see that look on her face every damn day.
She covered her mouth and slowly shook her head before she whirled around and threw herself into my arms and said, “It’s beyond beautiful.”
My eyes lifted and caught Alex’s. He gave me a thumbs-up and retreated back into the museum. When I turned my body, I continued to hold Rory in my arms while I took in the table in the middle of the courtyard.
Holy. Shit. I was going to owe Alex big-time for this one.
Chapter 14
Rory
Gardens and surprises
I loved the feeling of being wrapped in Finn’s arms. If there hadn’t been a beautiful table set up in the middle of one of my favorite gardens, I would have kept my arms locked around his neck. Reluctantly, I let go, and loved that he held on and slowly lowered me down. The feel of our bodies together was enough to almost make me combust.
When I turned to the courtyard, I let out a giggle. “Finn, no one has ever done something so amazing for me!”
“Good. Then I score some extra points.”
I hit him lightly on the stomach, and he quickly took my hand in his and led me down to the table.
“I wish I could take the credit for thinking of this on my own, but my baby sister gave me the idea.”
“Angela, right?”
His smile widened. You could see the love he
held for her swimming in his eyes. “Yeah, Angie. She’s the best, and going through some hard times right now.”
When he pulled out my chair, I stopped and looked at him. “Is she okay?”
He tossed his head back and laughed. “Oh yeah. It’s called the wrath of our mother. Angie’s getting the whole it’s-time-to-start-thinking-about-settling-down thing from our mom.”
Constricting my brows, I asked, “How old is she?”
“Twenty.”
I let out a laugh while waving my hand in a dismissive manner. “She’s a baby still. Why is your mom pressuring her to settle down at such a young age?”
Finn sat and looked at me with a serious face. “Because that’s my mother. When my brother Preston found Harmony, and then they found out they were having a baby, all hell broke loose, because my mother insisted the rest of us follow.”
“A baby! How far along is she?”
“She’s due any day.”
“Oh, how exciting!”
Finn let out a halfhearted laugh.
I couldn’t help but watch his face. “Do you not like kids?”
Snapping his eyes up to mine, he replied, “I love kids. Why would you ask me that?”
“I don’t know—you just didn’t seem very thrilled for your brother.”
He laughed. “Hell yes I’m thrilled. Been giving him hell about it for weeks. He was a little freaked about becoming a dad. I finally had to stop teasing him when he threw up and tried to hide it from Harmony.”
I chuckled. “Poor guy. ‘Harmony’ is a beautiful name.”
Finn’s face softened. “Yeah, it matches her personality. She had it pretty rough, though. Lost her husband and young son in a car accident. Preston was one of the firefighters who responded to the wreck. Tried to save Harmony’s son, but couldn’t.”
My hands covered my mouth. “That’s terrible. To lose both your husband and your son at the same time. That poor woman.”
“Yeah. She was pretty young also. Only twenty.”
A feeling of heartache hit my chest for this poor woman I’d never met.
“But then her and Preston became really good friends and fell in love. He says she saved him, and she says the same about him. They were meant to be together….I have no doubt about that.”
I was caught off guard by how tenderly Finn spoke about his brother and sister-in-law. I had a feeling there were many layers to this man sitting opposite me. I looked forward to peeling each one back.
“Anyway, you’ll love Harmony when you meet her.”
A warmth spread over my body at the idea of meeting Finn’s family.
“Mr. Ward, Ms. Adams, may I get you something to drink while we wait for your rosemary roasted chicken?”
My stomach picked that moment to growl, and my cheeks heated. Finn winked and answered the young lady. “I’ll have a water, please.”
“Water for me as well, thank you.”
Tilting my head, I said, “May I ask you something?”
“Of course,” Finn responded with a knock-me-off-my-chair smile. That dimple. Lord, that dimple had goosebumps erupting all across my skin.
With a warm smile, I questioned him. “Why did you do all of this for me?”
“It’s our first date. I wanted it to be special for you, because you’re special to me.”
That saying “melted your heart”? Yep. It’s true. His words wrapped around my heart and completely melted it.
“Why?” It was the only thing I could think of to say.
“Because the first time I ever saw you, I knew you were different. Sure, it was a physical attraction at first, no doubt. But the moment you opened your mouth and spoke…I knew. My mother used to tell us, when someone special is in your life, you do things to make them happy. I wanted to do something to make you happy.”
Speechless. I was actually rendered speechless.
He smiled weakly. “Are you happy, Rory?”
My voice cracked as I replied, “Very happy. Thank you.”
We spent the rest of lunch talking and getting to know each other. I told Finn my favorite all-time movie was Steel Magnolias and he told me his was the first Jason Bourne movie. I liked country and pop, and so did he, with a bit of rock thrown in the mix for the fun of it.
The sweet girl who was taking care of us brought out a dessert of fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Finn and I both thanked her, then dug in.
Letting out a moan, I gushed, “Oh wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had such fresh strawberries before.”
“Alex’s dad grows them. They have land outside the city with a massive five-acre garden.”
“That would be a dream of mine.”
His brows lifted. “To have a five-acre garden?”
I giggled. “No. To live outside of the city and have land.”
Finn smiled wide. From his reaction, I was going to safely assume living outside of the city was something he wanted someday as well.
“My folks live outside of the city. So do Preston and Harmony. They just finished building their new house.”
“Perfect timing for the baby,” I replied with a grin.
Finn leaned back and took me in as he balanced the chair on two legs. “Tell me more about yourself.”
“Like what?”
“Tell me something that would surprise me.”
I dabbed the corners of my mouth, then placed my napkin on the table and lifted my eyes in thought. “Something that would surprise you?”
I wasn’t sure why in the hell I said it…but it slipped out before I could stop it. “I haven’t had sex in five years.”
Finn did something with his body that caused the chair to go back farther, and before I knew it, he was on the ground.
I jumped up, ran over to him, and kneeled down. “Oh my gosh…are you okay?”
He looked up at me with a look of sheer panic. He opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut.
“Oh my! What happened?” the young worker cried out as she ran up and kneeled beside us.
“He um, he fell back. I think he’s okay. Maybe just in shock.”
Yeah, totally in shock. From you telling him you haven’t had sex in forever and a day. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
Finn shook his head and sat up. “I need a moment, ladies.”
We both stood and took a few steps back.
The girl leaned over and whispered, “Why is he in shock?”
I cringed. “I might have said something he wasn’t prepared for.”
“Oh,” she whispered, and looked directly at me. “You told him you loved him?”
“What? No! I told him I hadn’t had sex in a while.”
I cringed internally. For the love of all things good. I did it again.
Her mouth dropped open.
“Oh God. I did it again.”
She nodded. “Yeah, ya did.” Turning back to Finn, who was still sitting on the ground and was now mumbling to himself, she stated, “Poor guy.”
“Why him the poor guy? What about me?”
She took me by the arm and led me away. “Now you’ve put pressure on him to perform good.”
My lips pressed together. “You think?”
She pinched her brows. “Oh yeah. It’s probably like being with a virgin all over again. Guys freak out about stuff like that.”
“I’m not a virgin!” I practically shouted. Finn moaned, and I slapped my hand over my mouth before dropping it and giving the young woman a dumbfounded look. “Why are we even talking about this?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You brought it up.”
I let out a huff and walked back over to Finn. “For Pete’s sake, stand up already.”
Alex came walking up. “What happened?”
Pressing my lips together, I made sure I didn’t blurt out anything to him. “Nothing. Finn was leaning back in his chair and slipped.”
The girl giggled, but quickly stopped when I shot her a dirty look. I pointed to her and then made a mot
ion of zipping my lips. She nodded and mimicked throwing the key away. “If that will be all, I’ll start cleaning up, Mr. Montell.”
Alex directed his attention to her and replied, “Yes, Nancy, thank you.”
“Nancy! I’ve been meaning to ask your name. Thank you for the lovely lunch,” I stated while shaking her hand.
Her face turned red as she watched Finn stand up and come over to my side. “Yes,” he said. “Thanks, Nancy. It was…delicious.”
With a quick nod of her head, she answered. “It was my pleasure and um, good luck.” Her eyes darted down to Finn’s pants, then over to me. “With everything.”
My mouth fell open as she gathered up the plates and headed off into the museum.
Finn’s breath hit my neck and caused me to shiver. “I think that was a compliment in my direction.”
I nudged him in the stomach with my elbow, then spun around and faced him. His green eyes sparkled. Even if I’d wanted to, I didn’t think I could ever truly be upset with this man. “You’re bad, Mr. Ward.”
He waggled his brows, “Oh, you haven’t seen nothing yet, Ms. Adams.”
My lower stomach clenched and I fought to hold back a moan.
“Okay, well, I feel like I’m a part of a private conversation,” Alex cut in, “so I think I’ll walk the two of you out and you can continue this somewhere else.”
“The library,” Finn said with a smile, guiding me with his hand on the small of my back.
As Alex walked on ahead of us, he mumbled, “Whatever floats your boat, Ward.”
Chapter 15
Rory
Books and first times
“The library? You’re bringing me to the library as part of our first date?”
Finn took my hand as climbed the stairs. “You have a thing against libraries, Rory?”
“No, not at all. I love to read.”
“Good. You can help me then.”
Before I had a chance to ask what he needed help with, we were walking into the library. The smell of the books hit me, and I couldn’t help but smile. Reading was one of my favorite hobbies. Unfortunately, I never had the time to read anymore. I made a note to myself to change that and make the time.
As we walked farther into the library, I could hear the flip of pages and a few people coughing. I also couldn’t help but notice how many women’s mouths fell open as Finn walked by. It felt kind of nice knowing he was holding my hand as we passed them…giving them a clear picture he was mine.