All About You (All Series Book 6) (9 page)

She took a step back, but not far enough that they released their hands from each other. “I guess it’s time for our night to end.”

“I need to get Trey.”

“I understand. Maybe we can do this again sometime.”

“Definitely. I’ll let you know when I can work it out.”

“Then I’ll see you on Monday,” she said, reaching up and kissing him again. If she had to go home alone, then she wanted to have one more taste of him to hold her over.

Twenty minutes later, sitting on the couch in the guest suite of Sophia’s house, she stared at her phone. She wanted to call someone and tell them about her date. Tell them how much fun she had tonight. How it wasn’t all about staying out late and partying, drinking until you couldn’t remember what you did.

No, sometimes one glass of wine with dinner was enough. Enough to relax you and keep your wits about you, but let you appreciate the night just the same. To let you enjoy sitting across from a handsome man that you would have never looked at in a different time in your life, and you never would have suspected how happy you could be that you took the risk by being with him tonight.

But there was no one to call.

All her so-called friends were overseas. They’d probably still be up and partying, but they wouldn’t understand, and she didn’t want anything to remind her of the life she walked away from. The life she couldn’t run from fast enough.

She could go up and talk to Sophia, but she wouldn’t. Ian would be in bed, probably Addison too. It was Sophia and Phil’s time to relax as a couple. She wouldn’t intrude on them.

She picked her phone up before she lost her nerve and quickly typed.
I had fun tonight
.

She didn’t think Finn would respond. He was probably getting Trey ready for bed, but she wanted to tell someone she enjoyed her night and thought she might as well tell the person she shared the night with.

Almost instantaneously, her phone vibrated.
Me too
.

She wouldn’t bug him, so she typed back quick.
Sweet dreams
.

It was a frivolous thing to say, but she was feeling that. Feeling giddy too.

You too.

She would have those sweet dreams now.

Baby

“How was your date last night?”

Olivia tried to hide the sigh when Sophia asked that question. She should have figured nothing would get past her sister.

“How do you know I went on a date last night?”

“You really need to ask that? Let’s see, you have a fresh manicure.” Sophia paused in her explanation and looked down at Olivia’s bare toes. “And a pedicure.”

“Maybe I wanted to pamper myself.”

“Could be. But I noticed your sex-on-a-stick heels by the door this morning and put it all together.”

“You went downstairs this morning when I was sleeping?” It shouldn’t bother Olivia, it was Sophia’s house, but still, she didn’t expect her sister to do that.

“No,” Sophia said, her lips twitching. “Phil and I went out to feed the ducks off the dock while the kids were still sleeping. We walked by the glass doors on our way back to the deck and I noticed them off to the side.”

“Oh.” She shouldn’t have doubted Sophia. “Feeding the ducks, huh. That glamorous lifestyle of yours.” Phil snorted on the couch, and Olivia felt bad saying what she did. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”

“No worries,” Phil said. “I always wondered what she was doing with me, too.”

“I’m only with you for your body,” Sophia said, drawing a laugh out of Phil and a blush from Olivia.

“I won’t touch that comment.”

And she didn’t want to. Yes, she’d always wondered what Sophia saw in Phil. Not that he wasn’t handsome, because he was, but he was the complete opposite of Sophia. Not to mention living in this remote area of the lake. It was as far removed from Manhattan, where Sophia last lived, as Olivia felt standing in this room. Yet she could see how happy Sophia was with her life right now.

“Chicken,” Sophia said.

“Leave her alone,” Phil said, his tone anything but stern, more like laughter.

There Phil sat on the couch, feeding Addison, looking down at his daughter, the light and love in his eyes shining so vividly across the room. That was what Sophia saw daily, and that was what Olivia wanted. Desperately. The fairytale ending that Sophia seemed to have.

She wondered if Finn was like that when Trey was a baby. She knew he’d raised Trey alone almost since he’d been born, and she could see Finn holding his son like that, putting him first.

Or was Finn bitter? Did he resent being left alone to raise a child on his own? He’d never shown any signs of that that Olivia had seen.

Matter of fact, he only ever talked about Trey in a proud manner. Not that they talked about Trey much. Olivia got the feeling that was still off the table, so she shied away from it. If Finn wanted to talk about Trey, she’d be more than happy to, but she’d come to realize it would be on his terms.

“So, are you going to tell me where you went last night?”

“On a date,” Olivia said, playing coy.

“Couldn’t have been much of one, you were home pretty early.”

Olivia walked over and sat in the chair facing Sophia and Phil on the couch. “Spying on me?”

“Hardly. But as you so gladly pointed out, my glamorous life is pretty quiet, not to mention hearing you come home last night. It’s a little hard not to notice the roar of your engine. What could your father have been thinking when he sent you that car?”

Olivia shrugged. “Who knows what goes on in his mind? Anyway, it was an early night. My date had someone to get home to.”

“He’s not married, is he?” Sophia asked, sitting up straighter.

“Of course not. Married men are off limits. Any man in a relationship is off limits.” Olivia tried not to be offended, but she was. What did Sophia take her for? She wasn’t a homewrecker. “I’m not Mom.”

“I’m sorry. I know you aren’t. I shouldn’t have asked that, or even assumed. And even Mom drew the line there. You know that.”

“Did she?”

“She did. I know you didn’t see as much of it as I did, but I don’t ever remember her being the other woman. She’d been cheated on a few times and knew how it felt.”

“How can I forget?” Olivia may have been young, but she’d heard enough over the years on how her father cheated on her mother with the nanny. Talk about cliché.

“So, a child he had to get home to, then?” Sophia asked, still being nosy.

“Maybe.”

“Does this father have a name?”

“Sophia, leave your sister alone,” Phil said gently, but there was a bit of sternness in his voice this time.

Olivia looked over and smiled at Phil, silently thanking him. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop her sister. “She’s my baby sister. I’m entitled.”

“She’s hardly a baby,” Phil pointed out.

“She’ll always be my baby sister.”

“Hello, I’m sitting right here.” She didn’t want to be the subject of their disagreement, though honestly they weren’t fighting. Nope, they were both doing their best not to burst out laughing, she could see. “If I tell you his name, will you stop?”

“Maybe,” Sophia said. “Depends on his name.”

Olivia debated on saying it. She wasn’t sure if she should, but since Finn had said he’d been willing to pick her up at home, she assumed it was okay to say it. “Finn Abraham.”

“Finn as in the sexy fireman that works for Harper’s? The same one that Kaitlin said was yummy at the park, and you scolded her for being a married woman and saying that?”

“Hey,” Phil said. “You’re a married woman, too. What’s this with describing someone as sexy that isn’t your husband?”

Here they go again, Olivia thought. She’d always thought Phil was quiet, but he really wasn’t. At least not around family. He just didn’t always have a ton to say, but when he did you listened, or you laughed. Now she was laughing.

“That’s right, you give her hell, Phil.”

“And you,” Phil said, getting a look in his eye she wasn’t sure she liked right now. She didn’t even know what the look was about, having never seen one like it before. “What do you know about Finn? He’s quite a bit older than you.”

“Ha,” Sophia said. “Now who’s acting like a big brother?”

“I’ve had years of practice with Kaitlin.”

“And she turned out just fine,” Olivia said, trying not to get aggravated. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. She didn’t need a father figure or older brother this late in life. “I know enough about Finn. He’s a nice guy, and he seems like a great father. And yes, I know he is thirty-six, nine years older than me. So?”

“Oh boy, I know that look,” Phil said, turning to see Sophia’s smirk.

“What do you know about Finn?” Sophia asked Phil, and Olivia was happy. She didn’t want to ask; she didn’t want to seem like she was going behind Finn’s back finding out anything, but if Sophia asked and she happened to be in the room when Phil answered…well, that was okay.

Phil pulled the bottle out of Addison’s mouth now that it was drained and put her on his shoulder, lightly patting her back.

“Not much. He’s a fireman, but you know that. He’s worked for us a few years now. Alec has more interaction with him than I do. I’ve seen him a few times on job sites. I guess you could say he is more of a father figure on site.”

Olivia had noticed that too. “Is that a shot at his age, which is younger than you?”

“Nope, just that he stays to himself and keeps the crew in line. The younger ones can get playful at times. He keeps everyone on track. Alec wanted to make him a foreman a few years ago, but Finn turned it down.”

“Why?” Olivia could see he would be a good one. It seemed to her he pretty much controlled things now.

“Said he had enough responsibility at the firehouse and didn’t feel he could give it everything it demanded on this job. The fire department comes first, and we know that. Brynn and Alec put him on jobs where he can run the show anyway, and Andy or one of the other foremen can just come and go as needed. They’ve got a lot of faith in Finn and his ability.”

Olivia nodded. She’d seen that too at her store. The crew looked to Finn with questions more often than not.

“What about his son? Trey, right?” Sophia asked. “What do you know about that situation?”

Since the question was directed at Phil, he answered, “Not much. Single father, no clue about the mother. It’s never come up. I really don’t know anything personal about him, sorry. But I haven’t heard anything bad, either.”

“Thanks, Phil,” Olivia said before Sophia could ask another question. She was starting to feel guilty talking about Finn right now. Not that she brought it up, but she figured she’d better stop it.

“Just be careful.”

“I will.”

Play Fair

Finn dropped Trey off at school and climbed back in his truck, drove to the firehouse, parked, grabbed his hat off the seat, put it on his head, and walked in to relieve the captain on shift. “Quiet night,” he commented.

He kept the scanner next to his bed so he knew if there were calls or not. He had to be available if there was a punch out, all men on deck called in.

“Yep. Let’s hope you have one too. Just one call and it was a false alarm last night.”

They always wanted quiet nights. Quiet nights meant no lives on the line.

“Have a good day. See you in a few,” Finn said and watched the other captain walk out the door to his own family.

One by one, Finn watched the shift change, looked over what needed to be done today, and started scheduling the work out.

“You’re doing work at that new jewelry store on Broadway, right?”

Finn looked up to see Chris, one of the code enforcers, talking and flipping through the list of stops he had for the day. “Yeah, why? Time for an inspection?”

“It’s on my list. Anything I need to look out for?”

“Since I’m working there, you know everything’s in line.”

Finn was a code enforcer too. He’d been one before he was a captain and still had those responsibilities, but he couldn’t sign off on his own work.

“Hardly. Just tells me it’s going to be an easy site visit. It’s quiet here today. Why don’t you ride with me on the visits?” Chris asked.

Finn looked over at their assistant chief. Every shift had a captain and assistant chief on duty. “Sure, go on. Get out of here and enjoy the day. Chris has been complaining how lonely he’s been going on inspections. I don’t want to listen to any whining today.”

“Sounds good. Let me know when you’re ready to leave.”

Guess today was his lucky day. He hoped Olivia would be in today. She knew his schedule by now. Or at least, he tried to remind her when he saw her. But he knew she was going to be in and out all week running errands and getting things ready for the store’s grand opening.

An hour later, they pulled in front of the store and got out, put their hats on—part of the uniform—and walked to the front door.

“If it isn’t Finn. Here in official capacity?”

“Nope, just a ride-along on this one. Everyone defer to Chris. Hey, Andy, I didn’t know you’d be here today.”

“Someone has to keep these guys in line when you aren’t around.” There were a few chuckles when that was said, but it was the truth. “I want to get the guys started on the bathrooms today.”

There was one bathroom in back off the vault room. The same bathroom the guys used if need be right now. Also a conference room and gallery kitchen, as well as a permanent workspace for Olivia and an office, but neither of those spaces were completed. Now they were getting ready to put in the two public bathrooms for the store.

“Chris, if you have any questions, Andy is your man.”

Finn was looking around trying to figure out the best way to see if Olivia was in or not. Since they parked in front, he wasn’t able to see if her car was out back.

“Pretty lady is working if you want to say hi,” Bob said, not doing a very good job of hiding his smirk.

Guess it wasn’t much of a secret at this point. Olivia had flirted enough with him in front of the men, not to mention they’d had lunch again yesterday. Left and returned together in her car, no less.

“I’ll just go say hi then.”

He walked back, saw the door closed and was going to just open it without knocking, but thought better of it. Instead he rapped his knuckles once and waited.

She opened the door a crack, the shock written all over her face, then the pleasure and he couldn’t have been more thrilled.

“Finn, what are you doing here?”

“Working,” he said around a grin. “Well, riding along for work. Chris is here doing an inspection.”

“Oh,” she said, opening the door wider to him. “Come in. Do I need to go do anything?”

“No, Andy is walking around with him. I can’t sign off on anything. Conflict of interest,” he explained.

He watched her eyes staring at him, starting at the white hat on his head, his white shirt, dark trousers, and down to his black polished shoes.

“You’re an officer. You never mentioned that.”

“I’m still a fireman,” he pointed out.

“I suppose so, Captain Abraham.” She tapped her nail to his nametag, then leaned behind him and shoved the door shut. “You aren’t playing fair right now.”

Her hands were moving up his chest, slow and precise, her eyes staring into his. What was she saying? Oh yeah, playing fair. “How’s that?”

“You know.” She leaned up close to his mouth and whispered, “Every woman loves a man in a uniform.”

He’d heard it before, and had used it to his advantage many, many years ago. A time when he didn’t have responsibilities and could just go out and have fun, even be a bit reckless. This time though, this time it did something to him to hear her say it, even though he’d put that life behind him.

“Maybe.”

“It’s working. Of course it would have worked better if we didn’t have a room full of men outside that door.”

She still hadn’t kissed him, and it seemed she was waiting for him to make the move. “Guess we should be quiet.” Then he sealed her lips with his, wanting to feel more of her than just her hands on his chest running along the outside of his shirt.

He returned the favor, sliding his hands under her shirt, touching the soft smooth skin of her waist, and thought for sure he was going to combust.

This wasn’t a good idea. One of them had to get control of the situation, and unfortunately, he wasn’t sure it could be him. Not with her scent filling him, the feeling of her skin under his hands, and all of his senses on full alert.

“You know we need to figure something out.”

He didn’t need to ask what she was talking about since it was pretty obvious. “We do.”

“Any suggestions?”

He was lucky he could think at all right now. “I’ll work on something.”

“Work fast.”

He exhaled and dropped his forehead to hers. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“What’s that?”

“Making it hard for me to walk out of here and not have anyone guess what we were doing, or what I’m feeling.”

She laughed. “Sorry, wasn’t thinking. Phil and Sophia know I went on a date with you Friday. I hope that is okay.”

That comment was just as good as cold water being splashed in his face. “If you were trying to cool me off, you just did.”

“That was the goal. So, is it okay?”

“Sure. My sister knows too. She blackmailed me into giving your name in order to watch Trey.”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“Didn’t think it was relevant. And the guys suspect it at the very least. I think it’s safe to say it’s out in the open.”

She nodded. “Well, you better go back to work then before they start to wonder what we’re really doing back here.” She stopped and looked down at the front of him. “I’d say you’re good to go now.”

“You’re evil.” And he was loving every minute of it.

She wiggled her eyebrows. “I can be.”

***

All Finn’s visit did was reaffirm in Olivia’s mind that it was time for her own place. The minute he left, she put her work away, grabbed her purse, and locked up the back room. She stopped to see Andy quickly first.

“I’ll be gone the rest of the day. Let me know if you need anything.”

Brynn’s father smiled at her, a knowing smile that made her feel uncomfortable, and she wondered how fast the news was traveling about her and Finn. “I shouldn’t need anything. Enjoy your day.”

Olivia walked around back, trying to get control of her treacherous body. A few more deep breaths and she was good to go. First stop, Harper’s main office.

She parked her car and walked to the front door.

“Hey, Olivia, here to see Phil?”

Olivia fought back the cringe that statement caused. She hadn’t been thinking at all when she decided to come here. “No, Mary, actually I was wondering if Brynn was in?”

Mary pushed up her flamingo-colored cat-eyed glasses and said, “She is, but she’s in with someone right now. Can you wait, or should I buzz her?”

“No, I can wait. I’ll just sit out here if it’s okay?”

“Sure, but Phil is in his office if you want to go in there.”

Olivia didn’t have a chance to say no before Phil showed up at the front reception area. He’d obviously heard Mary and her talking. “Everything okay, Olivia? Is there a problem at the site, or a change?”

“Everything is good. Don’t worry, no changes. I know how much you hate that.”

It was a running joke how much Phil couldn’t stand it when someone made a change last minute or during construction, and he was forced to push other work aside and adjust or create new drawings.

“I would make an exception for you. Do you mind me asking why you’re seeing Brynn?”

Olivia could say she minded and Phil would probably drop it, but since he owned the company he’d know, and it was better coming from her.

“It’s personal. Can we go in your office?”

“Sure.”

She followed him but stopped him when he went to close the door. “Not that personal. It’s fine. I’m going to ask Brynn about finding a house.”

“For you?”

“Yeah. I think it’s time I move out.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay as long as you like. Sophia enjoys having you and you’ve been helpful to her with the kids.”

“I know. I love staying there, I really do.”
But I feel like I’m imposing on you both
, though she didn’t say that part. “I think it’s time I get my own space, though.”

“Is this about Saturday morning?”

“No.” She didn’t want him to think their questioning about Finn was pushing her away. “I’ve been there a month now. It was only temporary anyway, and we all knew that going in. But I’m putting roots down and its time. Besides, you know as well as I do, it’s not like I’ll be moving out in a week. It will probably take time to find something.” Which just dawned on her as she said those words. Damn.

“As long as you don’t feel like we’re pushing you out.”

“I don’t. I know I’ve got a place to go if I need it. And a place to stay until I’m ready.” It was the truth.

“Does Sophia know you’re here?”

“No. I’d like to tell her myself. I’m actually supposed to meet her in an hour anyway to go over things for the store. I’ll tell her when I’m there.”

“Mary said you wanted to see me,” Brynn said from the doorway.

“Hi, Brynn. Do you have time to meet?”

“Sure do, come on in.” Olivia walked out of Phil’s office and followed Brynn into her office, stepping over the fat bulldog in the middle of the floor. “Ignore Droopy. I don’t normally have him in here when I’m meeting with clients, but he didn’t want to wake up and move. Thankfully the last person didn’t mind.”

“He sure does snore loudly.”

“You should hear him at night,” Brynn said, laughing. “What did you want to see me about? Ready to move out?”

“How’d you guess?”

“You stayed longer than we all thought you would. Then again, I hear there is a sexy man in your life.”

“Sophia told you.” She should have figured.

“No. Phil talked to Alec and me about it. He just wanted to find out a few things on Finn.”

“He didn’t,” Olivia stated and hoped her jaw didn’t drop, but had a feeling it did.

“He did. No worries. We didn’t say anything bad about Finn. Not that there was anything bad to say anyway. He’s a good guy. You’re in good hands.” Brynn stopped and smirked. “Or you will be when you get your own place.”

Wow, okay, now she was wondering what everyone was saying behind her and Finn’s back. “Does everyone know?”

“No. Sorry, I couldn’t resist picking on you. I’ll restrain myself now though. Tell me what you have in mind.”

“Fast. I want a place fast.”

“Ha, I knew it. Sorry, being good now, I promise.”

Olivia was tired of being good herself.