Page 54 of Seas the Dating Coach

“Yeah.” He rolls his neck. “It wasn’t a full-blown one, thankfully. That would’ve put me out for the rest of the day.”

“That’s good.” Awkwardness expands in my throat. It’d been so easy to banter with him earlier, but I’m almost afraid of doing that again. Whenever that happens, we always end up too close.

“And thank you for lunch. You didn’t have to do that.”

Finn rubs his jaw as he glances at the ground, his ball cap momentarily hiding his face. “It was no trouble.”

I open my mouth to ask if he got himself something to eat first, but my ringing phone interrupts. “I should get that.”

I’d concocted a simple cover story of spending the day at Wendy’s house, but if Brynn figured out I was lying, it’d be better to own up to it sooner rather than later. The idea of my twin sister rallying the town, using the mass texting service that islanders only utilize for emergencies to organize carpools to the mainland to support me, makes my jittery muscles soften. Asmall smile tilts at the corner of my mouth as I fish my phone out of my tote bag.

Except, it’s not my sister calling.

Finn steps behind me when I continue to stare at the ringing device, unmoving.

“Answer it.” His voice is low over my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. He’s so close I can feel the heat of him through the back of my dress. “I’ll help you if you need it.”

Right. Because at the end of the day, Finn is still my dating coach, so of course he’d help me answer this call from Atticus. A sour taste stings my tongue as I answer, pressing the phone to my left ear.

“Hello?”

“Vivian?”

“Um…” I falter for a second.

When Finn whispers, “You’ve got this, gorgeous,” my lashes flutter closed. I sway backward unconsciously, putting me dangerously close to Finn’s chest.

My eyes pop open a second before I answer Atticus. “This is she.”

“Oh, good. Just wanted to make sure because otherwise…well, that doesn’t matter now.” Atticus sends a noisy snort over the line, and I grimace reflexively. “I was wondering if you wanted to go over your books tomorrow. I have some time in the late afternoon.”

“Tomorrow afternoon?”

I push a few wayward strands of hair away from my face, only to have the sea air slap them right back into my eyes. An irritated sound leaves my lips as I tug a particularly unruly lock out of my mouth.

“What’s that?” Atticus asks.

“Nothing,” I spurt.

“Give me your hair tie,” Finn murmurs.

I’m confused until Finn tugs on the hairband around my left wrist. I switch the phone to my right ear so he can slip it over my fingers. Then my knees almost buckle when Finn collects all my hair and gently secures it in the elastic. He does so expertly, like he’s pulled up a woman’s hair into a ponytail before. I don’t have time to fully flesh outwhyhe would have this particular skill, because Atticus is giving me details about our business meeting, rambling about the most recent update to my bookkeeping software and inquiring whether I’ve downloaded it.

“I…uh…” Fainting is a very real possibility when Finn scoops a flyaway from my nape and tucks it into the hair tie. His fingers grazing the back of my neck pull an involuntary hum from me, which Atticus takes as confirmation that I have, in fact, updated my software.

“Excellent,” Atticus chirps. Has his voice always been so high-pitched? “So I’ll see you tomorrow at 4:30. Bring your laptop.” He disconnects the call before I can say goodbye, but I use the abrupt end as an opportunity.

If Finn really didn’t want me to lean in and eliminate the space between our mouths earlier, if he doesn’t feel this insane electrical spike when we’re inches from each other, he won’t mind my news.

I spin, my heart leaping when I catch his hooded gaze trained on my neck. Finn’s eyes have that dark quality again, his pupils demolishing the tranquil amber of his irises. My breath hitches as his focus stalls on my lips before raising to my eyes.

“I’m meeting Atticus tomorrow.”

I’d planned on saying “I have a date with Atticus tomorrow” but chickened out when Finn bit the corner of his lip the second our gazes collided.

A heavy pause settles between us, and I feel weightless, like I imagine someone bold enough to skydive feels for that split second before gravity takes over. Every cell in my body begs forhim to kiss me. But then, there’s a quick shuttering in Finn’s expression, and my stomach sinks to my toes.

“Good,” he says, stepping back and swallowing hard. “That’s good.”

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