Page 131 of When The Rain Falls

“You did?”

“Yeah. Something red.”

“Ooooh.”

“And shiny. And something with a removable top.” I press a button and watch the moonroof slide open.

“Oh my God! You bought a convertible?” Aimee squeals.

I tell her goodbye and hang up quickly. She’s going to fucking kill me. But possibly not if my family is there.

48FIRST DATE

AIMEE

I just booked a new client.A small, local climbing gym. I shook hands with an exec, he gave me a tour of their facility, and then I signed a contract. Like arealcontract. One with big words likeforce majeureandindemnification. I don’t know what those words mean, but my lawyer reviewed it and gave me the thumbs up. And my lawyer is really hot. I trust him implicitly.

I’m going to design the content and the copy for their website as well as some posters for the interior of the space. This is so much better than photoshopping camel toes out of swimsuits. I’m not going to lie, though. It’s going to be difficult not to constantly make sex jokes about ropes and hard, craggy surfaces. But I’m a mature adult. I am abusiness ownernow. I can handle it.

I’m singing to myself and practically skipping up the driveway, ok, maybe not a fully mature adult, when I nearly collide with Finn. He’s got a shoulder propped against the side of the house and a very suspicious twinkle in his eye.

“Who let you out of the house looking so sexy?” Finn greets me with a hitch in his eyebrow and seduction in his voice. I look down at my oversized hoodie and then back up at his admiring face.

This is very suspicious.

I narrow my eyes over him as I run a finger along the grooves of his chest. When I take in the way his shirt clings to his shoulders and how his sleeves tighten around his biceps, I almost forget that I’m supposed to be feeling suspicious. I have to blink a couple times before I can fully focus.

“Why are you grinning like that?” I question him. “That’s your up-to-something grin,” Finn is still a first class scowler. But he also has an up-to-something grin, a melt-the-stars-from-the-sky smile, and a you-have-one-minute-to-remove-your-clothing smirk. I enjoy all of them. I kind of wish he was using that last one, though.

“We’re going on a date,” Finn says matter-of-factly. He pushes off from the side of the house and hooks a finger through the belt loop of my jeans as he draws me closer. Our hips collide and it sends a spark of desire right through me.

“Oh, we are?”

“Yeah,” he says, swaying me side to side with his hips. “I’ve never taken you on a date before. Not a proper one. And I’m going to fix that.” I can’t help but be amused by this announcement. Because I moved in with him last week and outside of work, we’ve done everything together. It feels weird to go on a formaldate.

“But last night?—”

“Going to Shady’s for midnight fries doesn’t count as a date,” he laughs and kisses the top of my head. “At least, according to Tyler anyway.”

He raises an arm over my head and clicks the key fob to the minivan. He smiles when it gives a cheery honk. I roll my eyes. You’d think the key fob was a magic wand the way he’s always waving it proudly around the house and giving it a test click,just to make sure the doors are locked. All this power is going to his head.

“Yes, bear,” I tease. “Everyone knows how good you are with buttons. You’re particularly good with mine.”

Finn laughs. Then he grabs my ass and squeezes as he walks around me to the driveway. When I turn to follow him, he puts up a palm to stop me.

“No, you wait here,” he says. As he walks towards the van, I admire the saunter in his hips. And the way his jeans fit across his backside.

Focus, Aimee. Focus.

“Why?”

When Finn gets to the driver-side door, he pulls it open and stands behind it. He flashes me a pleased grin. “I’m going to pick you up.”

“Seriously?” I gawk at him. “I’m ten feet away.” I cross my arms and pop a hip. Finn’s eyebrow shoots up as he rakes over the now accentuated curve of my body.

“Aimee,” he scolds me. “You need to wait on your tippy toes, with bated breath, as you watch for me to round the bend. Your heart needs to be racing, your chest fluttering with butterflies. That’s how first dates work.”

“Bated breath?” I cackle. “Bear, you drive aminivan. Who gets bated breath over a minivan?” If he wanted me to have bated breath, he should have bought the red convertible.

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