Page 106 of Sweet, Sweet Jewel: A Sweet Treats Novel

“True, given you stalked her, paid someone to steal her purse and seduced her while actively lying to her for days, I can understand why.”

Finn slanted his friend a look.

“But you did rescue her from Kross and help her get over her fear of interacting with men. The guys told me she’s even going to counseling to reconcile with… everything. Pretty soon, she might find a boyfriend, settle down…”

Finn closed his fingers into fists. “You’re doing that to aggravate me.”

“We’ve both seen Jewel. How long do you think she’ll stay single after she gets over the whole I’m-scared-of-being-touched thing? And what if she needs a partner to experiment on? You won’t be there, but some hot, black guy with massive pecs might.”

“Don’t you have better things to do than annoy me?”

“Nope.” Nolan slapped his laptop lid closed. “I actually cleared my schedule for this.”

Finn glared at him.

Nolan wisely hopped off the desk. “If you must know, Jewel’s still got her friend Carrie’s phone. She uses that messenger app that’s so popular now. You know.” Nolan shrugged. “Just in case.”

“Leave.”

“Alright, alright. I’m going.” Nolan shot him a mischievous smirk before scrambling out of the office.

Finn dropped into his chair with a deep sigh. An image of Jewel smiling at some other guy, flashing those dimples and laughing made his heart squeeze in his chest.

Finn spun his chair around and covered his face with his hands. He didn’t do relationships. Found out long ago that he wasn’t the type. But that was before Kross was out of the picture.

Now, he could be anything he wanted to be.

Shaking his head, Finn pushed the thought from his mind and tried to focus on work.

A few hours later, he got home, showered, and parked himself in front of the TV. He was staring down the barrel of another lonely night.

Nolan’s warning kept running through his mind. Restless, he grabbed his phone and flicked to Jewel’s number.

Should I?

Somehow Finn found the courage to dial. If she didn’t answer, he’d take it as a sign that he should never try again and move on.

A moment passed.

Two.

He was about to hang up when he heard a click.

“Hello?” Jewel’s voice danced over the line.

His throat closed up. Finn couldn’t speak.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

“Hey.” Finn heard the huskiness in his voice, but was powerless to correct it. He was nervous as hell. To be honest, he hadn’t thought of much past the point of picking up his phone and dialing her number.

“Finn, is that you?” Jewel sounded shocked.

“Yeah, I’m just checking up. I saw the article about the court case.”

“Those are out already? Wow, news travels fast.”

“Are you okay?”

---