Chasing the Wild Sparks (14 page)

“He only pushes you because he knows you can do it. He likes you.”

“He does?” I ask in astonishment.

“He does?” Finn echoes edgily.

Ivan brushes a few crumbs from his white T-shirt and laughs. “Whoa! As a client.”

“He talks about me?” Probably about my chubby thighs.

“He knows you and Morgan are friends and that Morgan and I are together.” Why does Rod call him Jethro? He doesn’t even have an accent?
Rod, Rod, Rod.

“Oh. Well, I still think he’s a hardass,” I complain.

“You can tell him yourself, if you want. I have his number right here and I just talked to him about 20 minutes ago.” Ivan holds up his phone.

I cringe and fervently shake my head. “No, thanks. He’ll own my ass tomorrow.”

Finn leans in close to me and softly teases, “You won’t need to work out tomorrow once I’m done with you tonight.” I bite my smiling lip and look down at my lap. I feel him grinning against my ear.

“Cut it out over there!” Rod yips across from us.

Finn sits back. “Cut what out?”

“Making out, or whispering sweet nothings to Hadders.”

“You think this is making out?” Finn pulls my face to his and kisses me passionately in front of everyone, his tongue slipping into my mouth, his hand determinedly rubbing my shoulder as he kisses me. I feel all eyes on us, like we’re a museum exhibit. Why is he doing this again? We’re with our friends, but we’re still very much in public. Amazingly, he doesn’t seem to care right now.

“Come on, you two! This is a family event! Let’s not try to make a family here and now,” Rod grouses and throws his uneaten sandwich at us. “I want to see both of your hands, Wilder, above Hadders’ dress. Don’t try to get her off in front of us!”

Finn immediately stops kissing me and scoots away. I can feel the hot irritation rolling off of him. I’m not sure if he’s pissed at Rod’s comment about getting me off, or if he’s mad because Rod insinuated that Finn would even want to have a baby with me. Probably both.

Finn suddenly stands. “Finn?” I grab for his hand, but he moves out of my reach. He strides to and behind the massive tree we’re all parked in front of. His back is to us, but I still notice that his index and middle fingers are brushing his bottom lip. Shit. He’s deep in thought. What’s going on with him now? I want to go over to him, but I’m afraid he’ll push me away, maybe physically; definitely emotionally.

What is wrong with my boyfriend? What is he hiding from me?

Morgan’s gaze trails from Finn to me. She says to Rod while staring at me, “Play a good tune, Rod, and I think you know what I want.”

“No way, Mortgage! Do I have to play it?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

Morgan swings her head over her shoulder to Rod. “Do it!”

Rod pouts as he picks up his iPod. “You always make me play it!”

“It’s Hadley’s and my song! Play it!” I glance at Finn and he’s still in his own galaxy. Is he mad at me? Rod?

Rod sighs as he peruses through his music library. “You know how I love to dance, but you two seem to have some kind of moratorium on anyone else dancing with you when this song is on.”

Morgan stands and pulls me up with her; however, my eyes are still on Finn’s back. He has a hand on a hip and his fingers are still working his lip. “That’s right, Dick Rod!”

“Damn it,” Rod mutters. He puts the iPod into the speaker and Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” starts.

“Come on, Hadley! Dance with me!” Morgan shakes her hips to the beat and lets go of my hand to twirl around. This song does things to us both. You won’t normally see Morgan dancing like this for anything. Only for this song. Shortly after meeting at the firm, we discovered our shared love for this song. We play it all the time for each other, especially when we get ready for our workouts at the gym. It’s our anthem. I have a song with both of my girlfriends.

Morgan grabs my hand and spirals me around, under her hand, singing as we dance in front of the blanket, dodging Rod’s laser beam glares. She can sing. I try, but successfully fail. Morgan grabs both of my hands and pulls me to her, and we sing loudly to each other. My ponytail bounces along my shoulder and back as we jump around like kids. That absolutely cannot be helped when this song is on. This song came out when I was in middle school. I think I killed the cassette tape I had to it.

We dance over to Rod and he irritably pushes us away, making us giggle crazily. Dancing away from him, something catches my eye. Finn is leaning against the tree with his strong arms crossed over his chest, his legs crossed at the ankles, watching me. His expression is unreadable, his sensuous lips unsmiling and his brown eyes don’t leave me as I twist and sashay with Morgan.

Pulling me forward, Morgan swings me and I stop short right in front of Finn, who doesn’t blink as he continues to stare down at me. Morgan dances over to Ivan and pulls him up to dance with her. At least he’ll dance.

I look into Finn’s unfaltering gaze. I wrap my fingers around his intersected arms and attempt to pry them apart, but it’s like trying to reposition a bronze statue. “Come on, baby. Dance with me.” He doesn’t reply as his eyes pore over my face, his jaw muscles rolling underneath his stubble. I drop my hands to his hips and try to pull him to me, but he doesn’t budge. Okay. I dip my fingers into his front pockets to try it that way. Nope. His gaze darkens and his irises are almost black. Is he mad? Turned on?

“Please dance with me.” I do my best to plead with my eyes. A lazy smirk finally emerges and he shakes his head. With his arms still crossed, he leans forward, scraping against the bark of the tree and whispers, “You know I don’t dance.”

“There’s something Finn Wilder
doesn’t
do?” I whisper back mockingly. Besides get married and have kids. “Are you afraid?” I inquire, using Belinda’s song as inspiration.

“No,” his deep voice asserts, but his eyes scream yes.

“Hey! How come your men are allowed to dance to this song, but I can’t?” I see Rod standing and crossing his arms. Unlike Finn’s crossed arm stance, which is an obvious defense mechanism, Rod’s is out of petulance, like a small child who had a toy taken away from them.

I stretch up close, to Finn’s lips. “Are you my man, Finn Wilder?”

His eyes silently roam down to my lips, my breasts and then back up to my eyes. “Always.” I speedily spin around and lean against him. His arms instantly wrap around me as I sway to the beat with his chest alongside my back. I look over at Morgan who is kissing Ivan, her arms snug around his neck and his bulky arms holding her to him. Finn’s muscles are more defined than massive like Ivan’s. To me, Finn’s body is so much sexier, especially when he uses those muscles to make love to me.

To the other side of me, Rod appears to be pretty repulsed by Morgan and Ivan, but he doesn’t look away from them either.

Finn’s hands slide down to my hips and I push back into his fly. He swiftly leans down to my ear. “You have to stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Brushing up against me like that, especially when wearing this dress. Remember this morning?”

I angle my head up at him and his eyes fall to mine. “Oh, yes.” I move my hips to grind into him again, but his grip stops me.

“Becks, I mean it,” he pleads. “Stop.”

“I’m only dancing, Finn.”

His lips drag along my earlobe. “Against my dick. I’m ready to lift this dress up again and unzip my jeans in front of everyone.”

“So, if I would turn around right now and kiss you, what would you do?”

I close my eyes as he whispers into my ear, “Just don’t.”

I look up at him and grin, my pulse racing. I reach up and pull his ear closer to my mouth. “That sounds dangerous, baby.”

“It is,” he growls into my ear. Finn pushes me slightly away and I turn around to face him. His arms are immediately around me once more, his fingers running along my lower back through my dress.

“Do I turn you off that much?” I give him a faux dismayed expression, rocking my hips side to side along with the song.

His eyes are on fire as he asks, “What are you trying to do me?” He sinks his teeth into his lip, causing his jaw to delightfully undulate.

“I bet you say that to all the girls who try to get you to dance.”

His dark gaze bores into me. “Never.”

Rod’s voice breaks into our whispering. “I’m feeling really left out over here! Knock it off!” Looking at Rod, I laugh and release my hands from Finn, but he possessively holds me against him.

Before I realize it, Morgan swings by and yanks me away from Finn. “Let’s finish this song!” she shouts. I look behind me and Finn has his back to us again, this time one hand is buried in his hair, while his other hand is flicking his fingers agitatedly. What the hell now?

Rod jumps in between Morgan and me and dances outrageously to a whole different rhythm to the beat. I know he’s doing it to piss us off because he really is an awesome dancer. I love dancing with Rod at office parties. Since Finn doesn’t go with me because he always seems to have to work, my coworkers are quite accustomed to me going to the parties alone. Therefore, Rod is my normal dance partner and everyone at the firm loves watching us dance together.  Val, especially, encourages Rod and me, which is funny since you would never expect her to do such a thing. We’ve also gone to clubs and danced with Morgan and her sister. Rod and I are no Fred and Ginger, yet we always have a blast. Rod can get raunchy when he dances, so I’m glad Finn hasn’t been around to witness that. Even if he claims he’s not the jealous type, I think he would rip Rod’s head off if he saw him bumping and grinding with me; thus, the reason why I don’t want Rod dancing with me right now.

Rod picks up my hand to pull me to him, spinning me around. As I twirl, I grab Rod by the T-shirt and yank his ear down to me. “Finn’s watching. Please behave.” He stands straight and I let go of his shirt. Rod looks over at Finn and then back to me. Rod suddenly turns away, and when he turns around, he has the goofiest look on his face as he starts exaggeratedly gyrating his hips around, while whipping his hand in a circle above his head, like he’s preparing to lasso a pig. Morgan rolls her eyes and shoves him away from me. He stumbles and falls forward onto the blanket, making us laugh.

Checking on Finn, I peer over and he’s again leaning against the tree. Does he wish he didn’t come with me? I walk to him and scrunch my fingers into his shirt. “What are you doing to me, baby?” I ask. His unresponsive expression swiftly morphs into a questioning one.

“Me? I’m standing here. You’re the one who is driving me crazy.”

“Oh, no. You are, Finn. You’re standing here looking sexy as hell, refusing to dance with me.” I lick my bottom lip. “Teasing me.”

He glances away from me and sighs. “I’ll dance with you, just not in front of everyone.” I slide my hands over his arms to his elbows before dropping my hands to his sides, tickling him.

Now put off guard, Finn slumps his folded arms and lightly laughs, but tries to sternly warn me. “Becks, don’t.”

“Twirl me then.” I offer my hand to him and he raises my arm above my head so that I can spin around. I giggle. “You can do better than that, Wilder.”

“I can?” He takes me in his arms and I forcibly sway us together, making him hunch a little so I can put my arms around his neck.

“There you go, baby,” I encourage him. He smiles good-naturedly, closing his eyes. I kiss his prickly cheek and my hands climb happily into his brown and blonde marbled hair. He rests his forehead against mine. After I have him slow dancing with me, he lifts his forehead up, his beautiful eyes open and I smile at him.

He smiles back at me and says, “I love you, Becks.”

I smirk and using his words in the car, I tease, “Who doesn’t?” Finn’s lips are instantly on mine, where they linger, his body clinging to me like plastic wrap as we dance together until the song ends.

“Okay, guys. Gather ‘round. I have something I want to tell you,” Morgan suddenly announces. Turning, I see her standing in the middle of the blanket. Finn wraps an arm around my stomach and leans me against his chest.

Rod lowers the volume as we watch Morgan pace in a small circle. “I wanted to tell all of you something, some of you more than others.” She pointedly looks at Rod.

He frowns. “Don’t worry. I’ll cover my ears so your banshee scream won’t deafen me.”

She anxiously plays with a handful of curls in her hair. “I don’t know which to tell you first.”

Walking over, Ivan grins, his dimples prominent. “I want to say something first.” Morgan looks up at him, looking grateful, yet confused.

“Morgan, I love you. Ever since meeting you, I’ve been the happiest man on Earth. You are my better half, a part of my soul, and my moon beam.” He reaches into his jeans pocket and removes a small, black, velvet box. He takes a deep breath and gets down on one knee. He opens the box and looks up at Morgan happily, not looking too nervous about her answer. “Morgan Iris Yates, will you marry me?”

Holy fuck. I stop breathing as Finn’s fingers dig into my stomach. Oh, shit. He’s hurting me.

Morgan smiles as tears begin to cover her cheeks. “Oh my God! Yes!” Ivan takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto Morgan’s shaky ring finger. The rock is roundish, huge and the band is covered entirely in diamonds. Definitely Morgan’s taste.