The Comeback Kiss (31 page)

It was below the tippy-top of the label now, but only just. She h
adn
’
t had much.

“
Jesus, what a lightweight.”
She giggled at the sound of her own voice, having no idea why it was funny but enjoying the feeling of lightness the giggling gave her.

The front door opened and she heard the
clack-clack-clack
of little doggy t
oes on the hardwood floors.

“
Wallace!”
she said, and leaned forward a little too fast. Bad idea, that. “
Whoa.”

Wallace hopped up next to her on the sofa and licked her face. She patted him on the head and sat back, pulling the gin with her. It wasn
’
t until
she tipped her face up to take another swig that she noticed Finn standing in front of her, watching her with an amused expression.

“
So, I guess the dog is allowed on the furniture, then?”
he asked.

Tessa finished the swallow
—
so much smoother than the fir
st swallow had been
—
and simply smiled and nuzzled Wallace closer to her. She
’
d already forgotten the question Finn had asked. A moment later, Finn was on the sofa next to her, although she couldn
’
t exactly recall him moving there. Gently, he pried the bot
t
le from her fingers and she let him, because she was fairly certain she
’
d had enough.

“
Seventy proof,”
he said, one eyebrow quirking up in a way that was so freakin
’
cute Tessa had to giggle.

“
And it
’
s lime-twisted,”
she said, pointing to the lime on the b
ottle. “
You don
’
t even need limes. I ask you, how freakin
’
convenient is that?”

Finn laughed, and it sounded so nice. He had such a nice laugh, all tickly down in his chest.

Tickly. Tickly. Man, that
’
s a weird word.

Finn rested the bottle in his lap, then
glanced casually at the clock on the wall before turning his attention back to Tessa, which, quite frankly, was where Tessa liked his attention.

“
So,”
he said, “
I
’
m willing to bet cash money that I missed something today.”

“
Oh, you did,”
Tessa said. Her he
ad was leaning on his shoulder, and she didn
’
t remember letting it fall there, but what the hell? “
You missed the big show, in which I realized that I
’
ve been busting my ass for a big, fat zero. You know what I learned today?”

She lifted her head to look a
t him and he looked down at her and
damn.

He was cute.

“
I learned,”
she said, pushing herself away from him a bit so as not to be distracted by all the cuteness, “
that it doesn
’
t matter how hard you work, or how good you are, how many envelopes full of cas
h you slide under people
’
s doors just when they need it most, you
’
ll never be safe from assholes with padfolios. You know?”

Finn gave a noncommittal hum and nodded. “
Sounds like you
’
ve had an eventful morning.”

Tessa sighed. “
Hmmm. But, you know, whatever.
”

She reached for the bottle, but he was too quick, holding it just out of her reach.

“
It
’
s five o
’
clock somewhere,”
she said.

“
Yeah,”
he said, chuckling. “
In Moscow, maybe.”

“
Hey,”
she said softly, “
that
’
s what I said.”

She pulled back from him a bit so
she could focus on his eyes. They were so blue. And so, so pretty.

“
I fear that I
’
m a lightweight,”
she said.

He lifted his arm up and over her, resting it behind her on the back of the sofa, his hand playing lazily with her hair.

“
I think that
’
s a reasona
ble fear,”
he said. “
Maybe you should go upstairs and sleep it off.”

She closed her eyes and let her head slump to the side flattening his hand against the sofa. She heard his laugh
—
tickly, tickly
—
and smiled, eyes still closed.

“
I don
’
t want to sleep it of
f,”
she said. She opened her eyes to see him with his head resting against the sofa, his face just inches from hers.

Man. He really was good-looking. Why was she resisting his charms again?

Oh, yeah. Took her virginity. Stole her car. Abandoned her when sh
e needed him most. Completely untrustworthy. Used to be a bird thief.

Blah blah blah ...

She raised her head.

“
You know what I want to do?”
she said, awkwardly pushing herself up from the sofa. The cushions seemed softer and more sucky than usual, but she
managed to get to her feet on her own, which was good.

“
I want to go skating,”
she said. “
Will you take me skating?”

Finn stood up. “
Aside from the issue of you landing face-first on the ice, I don
’
t have skates.”

“
No problem.”
Tessa walked over to the hal
l closet and rummaged through all the crap at the bottom. Worn-out shoes, discarded purses that she frankly couldn
’
t believe were ever in style, something that looked kinda like an old candy bar that she decided to ignore for the moment, and finally
—
bingo.
She grabbed the men
’
s hockey skates and stood up too fast.

“
Whoa.”
She blinked until her vision returned and held the skates out to Finn. He eyed her with a suspicious grin for a few seconds, then took them from her, turning them upside down to check the
number printed on the bottom. “
My size.”
He smiled at her. “
How did you know?”

“
Bought them for Joe a few years back, he didn
’
t like skating, though, so...”
She motioned vaguely toward the closet. “
They just sort of stayed here.”

“
They
’
re Joe
’
s?”
he said
flatly.

“
Oh, for Pete
’
s sake,”
Tessa said. The words were coming out exactly as she thought them. No editing. Nothing. Man, she liked gin. “
This thing with you and Joe is really stupid, you know that?”

Finn raised his eyes to meet hers. “
What about the thi
ng with you and Joe?”

“
There is no me and Joe,”
she said. Wait. How did he know about her and Joe? “
How did you know about me and Joe?”

It was like an echo.
Cool
.

“
Forget it,”
Finn said. “
I
’
ll wear the skates. It
’
s no problem.”

“
Did he tell you about us? H
e told you, didn
’
t he?”

“
He might have mentioned something,”
Finn said. “
I don
’
t know. I wasn
’
t really paying attention.”

“
Pffft,”
Tessa said, sending her bangs flying. “
Look, the thing about Joe
—
he
’
s a great guy.”

Finn held up his hands. “
You know what? I
don
’
t want to hear this. Sorry I asked. Let
’
s skate.”

“
No,”
she said, waving her finger in the air. “
No. You shut up and listen to me.”

One side of his mouth curved up in a grin. “
I like it when you take charge.”

“
Shut up,”
she said again. “
Joe is a great
guy. He
’
s honest, he
’
s honorable, and he
’
s really good-looking. And yes, we dated. Briefly. But he wasn
’
t...”

She stopped, knowing in her gut she
’
d regret it if she opened up on this one, but she couldn
’
t quite get up the motivation to lie about it.

“
He w
asn
’
t what?”
Finn asked, looking down at the skates in his hand.

“
You.”
Tessa
’
s heart gave a little flip as she said it, but what the hell? “
He knew it and I knew it and we broke up and he was really great about it and I don
’
t think either one of us has gi
ven it a second thought since.”

Finn didn
’
t say anything, just looked at her, at a loss for words.

Will wonders never cease?

“
Well, now that we
’
ve got that out of the way,”
she said. She walked toward the front door and felt as though her head might be cle
aring a bit. That was no good. She turned suddenly and slammed into Finn
’
s chest, which threw her equilibrium all to hell, and she stumbled. Finn caught her wrist with one hand and balanced her. She looked up at him and wobbled a bit.

“
I was gonna go get t
he gin. I don
’
t want to sober up.”

He released her wrist and put his hand on her neck, his thumb running over her face. “
You have to sober up, babe. Izzy
’
s gonna be home from school
—”

Tessa shook her head. “
She works at Margie
’
s today.”

“
Then she
’
ll be h
ome from Margie
’
s. That gives us, what, maybe five hours to indulge whatever this is, and hen we
’
ve gotta be grown up again. Okay?”

Tessa nodded, feeling the warmth from his hand seeping into her neck.

It felt so good.
So good.

“
Fine,”
she said. She took t
he skates from his hand and tossed them at the closet. She missed by about five feet and they took a small chunk out of the wall before rattling to the floor. Whatever. Tessa put both arms around Finn
’
s neck and pulled herself up against him.

“
Let
’
s indulg
e, then,”
she said quietly.

He laughed lightly, his eyebrows quirking together in a way that was really, well, cute.

“
Tessa...”
he started.

“
Shhhh,”
she said. She placed a finger on his lips and didn
’
t know if the
thump-thump-thump
she felt was coming from
her heart or his, but either way, it was time they did something about it. She lowered her finger from his lips, then stepped up on her toes and tilted her head slightly. All he had to do was lean down just the tiniest bit and meet her.

Which he wasn
’
t do
ing. She felt the hardness of him below, so she knew he was feeling something. She slowly lowered down on her heels and looked up at him.

“
Okay,”
she said. “
Well, I feel stupid, which means I
’
m definitely not drunk enough.”