Page 42 of Anxious Hearts
‘That’s why I said everything’s fine.’
But it wasn’t fine. Not really. For the first time in a decade, he had almost broken their vow. He had come so close, been so swept up, wanted it so much, that he had almost kissed her again. He had to say it. Had to get the weight off his conscience.
‘I’m sorry I nearly kissed you.’
Kelly stiffened. ‘It’s not your fault. I know you didn’t want to any more than me.’
Finn exhaled. She was right, of course. He hadn’t spent ten years training himself not to desire every part of her just so he could break the discipline for a cheap publicity stunt on live television. He’d been swept up in Gerry Carpenter’s nonsense. But now that they were away from the lights and the makeup and the cameras, they were just them again. Kelly and Finn. Nothing more.
Just Kelly and Finn.
By the time they returned to Finn’s apartment car park, they’d both relaxed. ‘I’ll just grab my bag and use the bathroom before I go,’ Kelly said as they stepped out of the car.
Finn nodded and she took off while he grabbed his own bag out of the boot and locked the car. He rode the lift alone and when it opened on his floor, Ashley was heading for his apartment.
‘Ashley,’ he called.
She pulled up short and spun around. ‘Finn?’ she said, as though it couldn’t possibly be him.
‘Are you okay?’ he said.
‘Yeah, I just … I thought I already heard you come home, that’s all. I was coming to say hello.’
Finn smiled. ‘Well, hello.’
She relaxed her shoulders and smiled. ‘Somebody definitely went into your apartment, Finn. So you’re probably being robbed right now.’
‘It was just Kelly.’
‘You’ve been with Kelly today?’
‘We were on the Care for our Kids Telethon. It was a short appearance to try to drum up some donations. Not exactly riveting television. Kelly’s just grabbing her stuff and then heading home.’
‘Her stuff?’
‘Her bag. She met me here and we went in together.’
‘Right. YourfriendKelly.’
They stood in silence, staring at each other. Ashley smiled and placed her hand on his upper arm. ‘I like you, Finn. But be honest with me. Am I wasting my time here?’
Her touch. Again. It did something to him he had thought only Kelly could ever do. He smiled back at her. ‘You’re not wasting your time at all.’
Chapter Twenty
Kelly grabbed her backpack from the spare room and flung it over her shoulder as she heard Finn come in. ‘I’ve left a surprise in the toilet for you!’ she called. She sniggered as she walked out of the room, amused at her own capacity for juvenile humour. Must be all that time she spent with kids.
She was still chuckling when she saw Finn and Ashley standing in the middle of the apartment. Finn was shaking his head. Ashley didn’t seem to know where to look.
Kelly’s face burned red. Fuck, how embarrassing. ‘Sorry, Ashley, I didn’t realise you were here.’
‘Evidently,’ Finn said with a ridiculous grin.
‘Okay, yeah, well, let’s all move on from that,’ Kelly said. She turned to Ashley. ‘Finn tells me you’re a fashion designer. I heard you took him to your show.’
The goddess smiled. ‘That’s a bit of an exaggeration. It wasn’t my show. But I was showing some of my outfits.’
Kelly nodded, trying to understand how a 23-year-old had managed to get her designs into a fashion show. She knew she shouldn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help herself. She’d worked so bloody hard to get where she had that anyone whose success seemed to come easily felt like a natural enemy. ‘So you got into fashion design through your modelling? Is that what got you into the show?’
