Page 81 of Study You

Gillian lifted a hand and cupped Finn’s cheek. “I want a future with you, too.”

“I know. I see it in your eyes when you’re trying to play all of this down.” Finn smiled. “When you don’t want to believe you’re in too deep.”

God, Finn knew Gillian better than she knew herself. “I’ll try harder.”

“You don’t have to try harder when it comes to anything, Gillian. You’ve been perfect this last month or so. And I get it, okay? When someone has done you over like that, it affects a person. So long as you believe me when I tell you that I see so many things I love about you, then everything will be okay.”

“Come here.” Gillian pulled Finn on top of her, the weight of her body anchoring. “I just want to lie in the silence with you.” She reached blindly for the remote control on the bed, turning the TV off. “I know this is the perfect opportunity to enjoy one another, but I just need you like this right now.”

Finn lifted her head and smiled. “I can have you whenever I want you, babe. This is perfect.”

Chapter 27

Finn watched Gillian where she stood at the bar, mesmerised by everything this woman was. If they weren’t already dating, Finn would have been charming her way into Gillian’s bed tonight. She looked…fuck, she looked so good. Though, she always did, in Finn’s opinion. From the very second they’d locked eyes, Finn had felt that shiver work its way through her entire body. Head to foot. Then came that handshake. A fire had spread, heating every last inch of her skin, those intriguing eyes only pulling Finn in. Had she wanted it? Not necessarily. Had she been able to think about anything else from that day on? No.

“You know, this has been the perfect couple of days away from home.” Gillian slid into the booth next to Finn, their table out of the way of the throngs of people on the dancefloor. Finn may have been significantly younger, but she hated nights out with too many people around. Still, Gillian had been the one to decide on this cocktail bar. “Thank you for making everything so special.”

Finn leaned in and kissed below Gillian’s ear. “Anything for you, babe.”

“Really. Thank you.” Gillian’s hand settled on Finn’s thigh, caressing her.

“You work so hard. You needed the break. It’s important that we look after ourselves, and sometimes that calls for a hotel, a massage, and cocktails.”

“I can’t believe you’re drinking a cocktail. I’m so used to seeing you with a beer in your hand.”

Finn quirked a brow. “What can I say? I can change it up a little when required.”

“And why was it required tonight?”

“Because,” Finn whispered, turning her body to face Gillian. “I have the hottest woman in town on my arm. I have to fit in.”

“Baby, I don’t give a fuck what people think. You fit in with me, and that’s all I care about.” Gillian captured Finn’s lips, surprising her. While she wanted it, always wanted it, it felt foreign. Kissing in public wasn’t on the agenda until now. But wasn’t that the entire reason Finn had picked a hotel so far from home? “God, I’ve wanted to do that to you for so long.”

“I know.” Finn held Gillian’s chin, going in for another kiss. She slid her tongue past Gillian’s lips, provoking that sexy moan she was becoming used to. “Fuck, you’re so hot.”

“You should be careful. Anyone would think you wanted to get your hands on me.”

Finn lay a palm on Gillian’s bare knee, aware that she could move a little higher if she wanted to. There was a reason she had chosen a table so out of the way, and it wasn’t just down to the mass of people dancing. “I do want to get my hands on you.”

“You…you’re so different from anyone I’ve known before, Finn.” Gillian’s dark eyes studied every inch of Finn’s face. “You make me feel excited. As though I don’t know what’s coming next. In my book, that is quite an achievement.”

“I like seeing the fire in your eyes.”

Gillian lifted her cocktail and sipped, not losing Finn’s gaze as she watched her over the rim of the martini glass.

“And I always watch you, wondering what you’re thinking.” Finn inched her palm higher, smiling when Gillian took her own bottom lip between her teeth. “Like right now. You seem relaxed. You seem…switched on. And when I see that in your eyes, I have to wonder if you’re thinking about us together.”

Finn knew a long-term relationship came with so much more than just sex, but Gillian was getting the hang of a new life, and Finn would be a fool to think for one minute that the sex they had wasn’t off the scale. She knew what Gillian liked, knew she adored being wanted, and oh…Finn wanted her in so many ways.

“Finn, I’m always thinking about us together. It’s the only time I feel happy and at peace.” Gillian shifted a little closer, draping her arm over the back of the booth and behind Finn. “You’ve given my life a new meaning. As cheesy as that probably sounds, you really have. I laugh more, I have the greatest sex of my life, but that’s not all you are to me or all you do for me. Just this…bringing me away from home so we can be together, it means so much.”

“Because I see you.” Finn grazed her nails down Gillian’s thigh. “I see the need for something more in life. To have fun and explore. To discover who you are and what you want. You’ve chosen me to be that person by your side, and I’ll never let you down, babe. Fuck the people who hurt you in the past. Life is about the here and now.”

Gillian smiled into a kiss, touching her forehead to Finn’s. “Even the things you say to me are incredibly sexy, Finn. Your character and your personality turn me on so much that sometimes it’s hard to think straight.”

“I’ve told you before. What you see is what you get.”

“And I love everything I see,” Gillian whispered against Finn’s lips. “Thank you for never giving up on me. I know there were times when you couldn’t handle me, my situation, but thank you for seeing it through.”

---