Beers, Hens, and Irishmen (Warbler's Point Series) (28 page)

             
“Do you have any chocolate covered strawberries?”

             
Sophie gave him a flirty smile. “And why would you need chocolate covered strawberries.”

             
Liam chimed in. “He has a hot date tonight.”

             
Sophie’s smile faded for a second but was right back in place again. Finn thought that was odd but was not going to look too much into it. He never could look too much into Sophie because of Liam. Finn always felt a connection with Sophie that he thought Liam never had with her, but he could never, ever act upon that connection because that would be breaking the man-brother-best friend-every kind of code you could think of. Sophie was strictly off limits and Finn accepted that but occasionally he could see it in her eyes, that if circumstances were different, there could have possibly been something between them.

             
“I do have a date, a really hot date.”

             
Sophie put her elbows on the counter and her head in her hands. “Tell me about it.”

             
Finn pulled up a chair, while Liam handed him a cup of coffee. “It’s the Sheila’s sister.”

             
Sophie’s mouth dropped. “The Sheila? He has a sister?”

             
“Yea, and she is drop dead gorgeous.”

             
“Like Photoshop gorgeous.” Liam chimed in.

             
Sophie punched him in the gut. “No need to make me feel bad.”

             
Finn laughed. “You are gorgeous Sophie and you know it.” That made her smile.

             
“Give me specifics.”

             
“Well I don’t know her bra size but if I had to guess…” That comment gave Finn a punch to the stomach.

             
Sophie walked away. “Men…”

             
Liam leaned in and said, “What do you think The Sheila’s sisters bra size is?”

             
Finn leaned in further and said, “No less than a C.”

             
Liam patted Finn on the shoulder. “Lucky dog.”

             
“Don’t I know it? I’m just grateful Bradon wasn’t there last night. Can I be honest with you for a second?” Liam nodded his head. “I’m kind of nervous about tonight. Last night Blaire made it seem like we will be staying in all night and I haven’t really been with a woman in a couple of months.”

             
Liam was actually respectful in his response which was comforting because Finn knew if he was having this conversation with Bradon, he would most likely be laughing in his face by now.

             
“I’m going to tell you this Finn, coming from a guy who has had a rollercoaster of a sex life. Sex is like riding a bike. You never forget, you might be a little wobbly at first but you never forget.”

             
“I sure hope so. My only hope is to focus on her needs and hold out as long as I can because Lord knows once I get in there I will explode in two seconds.”

             
Liam laughed out loud. “As long as you have a plan of attack then you should be good.”

             
Sophie came out of the back with a wrapped box that had a clear top so Finn could see the giant chocolate covered strawberries. They looked amazing. He could only imagine how they tasted. He thought about how he was going to get wine for tonight but decided not to, instead he was going to pick up some champagne. He needed all the help he could get tonight.

             
Sophie rang him up. “I hope these help with your date tonight.”

             
“I know they will. What girl is going to turn me down with these in hand?”

             
Sophie looked at him shyly and said, “So you plan on, you know…getting some tonight?”

             
Finn couldn’t help but laugh at her little attempt at being coy. He did feel slightly awkward having this conversation. They could talk to each other pretty much about anything but when it came to sex it always got awkward and Finn always wondered if it was because of the tension between them. 

             
“Uh, yea I hope to get some tonight. If I don’t then she’s an awful cock tease.”

             
Sophie’s face scrunched up. “Is she a hooker or something? She already offered herself out to you?”

             
Liam cut in, “She’s not a hooker. She just couldn’t resist an O’Leary boy.”

             
“Ha, believe me, it’s not that hard.” Sophie scoffed.

             
In unison both Liam and Finn said, “Hey!”

             
“You give yourselves too much credit, honestly the only good looking one out of all of you is Fiona. The rest of you just work that damn Irish brogue and you get any lady you want. It has nothing to do with your scruffy faces.”

             
Liam turned to Finn and said, “Looks like our little lassie here is wearin’ a shade of shamrock.”

             
Sophie rolled her eyes and tore Finn’s credit card out of his hand. Finn matched Liam’s Irish accent. “Tis quite a shade of shamrock. Not t’at t’all flatterin’, if I do say so me-self.”

             
“You guys are idiots.” She handed Finn the receipt and the packed up the strawberries. “Now get out of here, both of you. It’s time for me to close up and I don’t need you bothering me.” She shoved them both out the front door without being able to get out a word. When she closed the door on them and locked it, Liam turned to Finn and said, “Well, I guess the Irish brogue doesn’t work on all women.”

             
Finn chuckled. “Guess not. I should get going anyway. I have to pick up some champagne and then get back to my place to freshen up before my date.”

             
“Well don’t blow it tonight…and I mean don’t blow it too early.”

             
Finn didn’t miss Liam’s innuendo and punched Liam in the arm. Liam raised his eyebrow up insinuating if you do that again I will knock you to the ground. Finn raised his hands stating he was backing off but said, “Listen, don’t talk to Bradon about what I said earlier. He will never let me live it down.”

             
Liam gave Finn a sympathetic look, that older brother look that defined Liam. “Don’t sweat it. I know you would never tell him about my horrible sex life, so I wouldn’t do that to you. That man is like a machine. I swear he has a new girl every night which is confusing because where the hell do they come from. It’s not like we live in a metropolis or anything.”

             
“I have no clue, but all I know is when its tourist season it’s like putting a kid in a candy store for Bradon. I don’t know how he has the stamina for it.”

             
“It will come back to bite him in the ass.”

             
Finn nodded in agreement and shook Liam’s hand. “Thanks for the talk. I will give you the details tomorrow.”

             
Finn took off in his car thinking about all the possible ways he could pleasure Blaire before he sunk into her. Just thinking about his moves got him all worked up causing his need to cool down before he went into the store to get the champagne.

                                                                                    ***

              Fiona was in heaven, she wondered if the plane actually crashed and she was in heaven. The hike up to the Juan Diego falls was a little labor intensive but she could handle it especially since the scenery kept her moving forward, she wanted to see more with every step she took. She already filled up one of her memory cards and was on her second one. When they finally made it to the falls, she had never seen anything so spectacular in her life. The water was beautiful and the way it ran off the rocks and the moss was breath taking. The foliage in the forest was nothing she had ever pictured before. She had seen photos on her computer of exotic places but pictures don’t do the places justice. Puerto Rico might just be her new favorite place.

             
The tripleta sandwich Booker and her shared at lunch was like rewarding her taste buds for being such great companions throughout her years. The chicken, ham and beef were all seasoned perfectly and Fiona’s favorite part of the sandwich was the fried potato sticks that graced the top. Booker of course liked the steak the best. After they ate, since they had small portions, they took a dip in the pool at the bottom of the falls. They were the only ones in the area, thanks to the Juan Diego falls being the best kept secret of El Yunque rain forest. Booker provided bathing suits and of course hers was a bikini but she didn’t care because she was in a beautiful place with the most handsome man she had ever seen.

             
They swam around and then wound up kissing under the falls, for a very long time. The whole day was absolutely magical and something she would never forget. Now they were in a hotel room that Booker reserved just so they could take showers, separately, and get ready for dinner. There were two rooms and when she opened the door to hers there was a bright green sultry strapless dress that hugged her waist but flowed right above the knees, perfect for salsa dancing. There was a matching set of lingerie as well. When she went in the bathroom there was a plethora of make-up and hair product choices at her disposal. She felt like a queen.

             
She took her time getting ready. Booker said their reservation was at six so she didn’t need to rush. She dried and curled her hair into light waves that hung off her shoulders. She applied some make-up going with browns and gold to accent her eyes and slipped on her dress that fit like a glove. She had no clue how Booker pulled this whole day off and she wasn’t even going to try to figure it out. She took a look in the mirror and was shocked by what she saw. She came a long way from being a bar maid.

             
All of a sudden her nerves took over and her stomach started to flip again. She wasn’t sure if she could do this. All the hiking and sightseeing was in her comfort zone, she could hide behind her camera and enjoy herself, but now she was wearing fancy clothes and make-up. Was she pretending to be someone she wasn’t or maybe, just maybe, she was she enhancing what was already inside of herself? She tried to convince herself it was the latter.

             
She gave the mirror one last look and took a deep breath. She could do this. She opened the door to the suite and saw Booker sitting on the couch waiting for her. He was wearing a nice tight pair of slacks, a white button up shirt with the top two buttons open and a black blazer. He looked like a blonde James Bond but so much more sexy. He looked up at her and flashed that panty melting smile. Her heart skipped a beat.

             
He walked toward her, grabbed her hand and spun her around. “You look drop-dead gorgeous. I am one lucky guy.”

             
He was lucky? Did he even look in a mirror today? Watching him swim around in the pool earlier was undeniably one of the sexiest things she had ever seen, watching his muscles flex in the water was  treat but now, now he was competing with the pool scene. She wanted to bite into him he looked so sexy.

             
“Thanks. You look amazing.” She pulled him in and gave him a deep slow kiss. “Thank you, Booker. This dress is amazing, everything has been amazing.”

             
“You deserve it.”

             
She shook her head. “No I don’t. I haven’t been very nice to you and you are too good for…”

             
He stopped her sentence with a kiss. A very deep long kiss that made her toes curl. “You have only been protecting your heart and you actually deserve more. Now come on, I plan on getting my hands all over your body on the dance floor.”

             
Fiona felt herself blush as he pulled her toward the door. She followed Booker down to the restaurant that was in the hotel. On their way down in the elevator they were able to avoid minimal touching but Fiona didn’t know how long she could wait. Boy her motto changed from the beginning of the day. Her rule of no touching or kissing went right out the door…pretty quickly. Now she was finding it quite hard to keep her hands off Booker.

             
The restaurant was just as breath-taking as the hotel, the finest china was laid out on the tables, the wait staff was dressed to the nines and beautiful shades of gold graced the linens and walls of the establishment. There was a live band in the middle of all the tables and couples dancing together to the spicy music on the dance floor. The atmosphere was intoxicating. She already lost her promises to separate herself from Booker momentarily and was excited to get out there on the dance floor.

             
The maître d showed them to their table where there was champagne chilling on ice for them and what looked like banana chips on a plate in the middle of the table.