Worth the Weight (7 page)

But
for
now the spotlight was on her.

“Well, I’d hardly say ‘that’s it’. Opening my own firm was a pretty risky step. I did have some friends who I knew would come on board as clients, but still...”
S
he was cut off as
he
held up his hand for her to stop.

“Whoa
. I didn’t mean to diminish your professional achievements. I’m not surprised that you’re doing well for yourself. In fact, I would have been surprised at anything less than you owning your own business. The ‘that’s it’ meant you didn’t say a word about anything other than business. Surely there’s some personal life stuff to tell after all these years?”

“What do you mean?” she asked. She took just a second to bask in how matter-of-fact he was about her being successful. Like there was never any doubt in his mind.

“Well, you said the other night that you never married. Were you engaged? Do you have children? Live-in boyfriend? Tell me something about
you
.”

How could she possibly explain to
him
what the last fifteen years had been for her? The feelings of shame that putting weight on had brought her. Blocking out feelings. That opening her own business had been a distraction of sorts so that she wouldn’t have to deal with anything personal. How do you relate the stuff that took you the last three years to figure out, over a bottle of Bud?

You don’t. She’d just tell him something smooth and be done with it. He had no more interest in knowing about her foibles and triumphs in the past than she did of knowing his.

But
she
was
interested in
Finn
’s past. Why he married at twenty-three? Why he was divorced? And what had happened to his horses?

But that wasn’t what this was about. This was purely a means to an end. The end of celibacy. The beginning of the future.

Instead of trying to explain the unexplainable, she answered, “Uh, that would be a no on all of the above.”

He
waited for her to go on, and
she
sighed, knowing there was no choice. “Never met the right guy. Too busy with work. You know, the usual reasons a woman my age is still single.” She rambled the words out, as if she knew them by rote. And she did. People she met asked her that question a lot in the last three years.

She’d never been asked it before.

“Yeah, okay, I guess.” He let it go, but only for now. There was a look in his eyes that made
her
think he didn’t buy her simplistic explanation.

Eager to get him off the subject of her personal life, or lack thereof, she asked, “You said you were divorced seven years ago? So, only married that once, then?”

“Believe me, once is enough.” There was a bitterness in his expression that
she
thought looked foreign on
him
. Or at least the
Finn
she used to know. She guessed a bad marriage could do that to you.

Come to think of it, he did look…harder. Of course,
a seventeen
-year span would age a person, but the
Finn
she’d known, though saddled at a young age with much responsibility, was still full of dreams. The man in front of her had definitely seen many tough days and they showed on his face.

He still looked good to
her
.

It wasn’t a classically handsome face, though he possessed the chiseled cheekbones of a male model. His nose was crooked from a fight in eighth grade. There was a tiny scar through his eyebrow that he’d received when trying to take a whiskey bottle away from his mother at seventeen. Both experiences he’d told her about on a blanket at the beach, one with laughs, the other with tears.

His blue eyes, now serious and knowing, were light and teasing years ago. His mouth was firm and drawn tight, like he grimaced frequently, but his lips were still full, and tempting.

He looked as though the years of a hard life had caught up with him.

She
didn’t care. For her purposes she need only to be attracted to him, not to understand him. And she was absolutely attracted to him.

Sitting across from him, sparring with him like they used to, she knew she’d made the right choice.
Finn
was the one to bring her out of hibernation. He was sexy. He wanted her. She knew she’d enjoy their time together. And most importantly, she’d be able to walk away from him.

“So, no plans to remarry
?” she teased. He’d made it perfectly clear in his tone that one would be his limit.

“No way. What about you, ever think about it?”

She
shrugged. “Sure, I’m open to it. Actually, I’ve become more open to the idea in the last few years. My business is in a good place, I’ve got great people who work for me. I’m able to slow down and smell the roses, as it were, so, yeah, I guess I’m looking.”

She
thought she saw a flash of panic in
his
eyes, but he kept his cool and only nodded at her summat
ion. She waited a second or two,
the
n let him off the hook. “Relax
. I’m not looking tonight. Or for the next two months.”

He let out a breath that he probably didn’t even realize he held. He fastened his steely blue gaze on her and asked, “What
are
you looking for tonight, and
for
the next two months
?”

This was it. The moment of truth. Lay her cards on the table and see if he plays. She leaned forward, her breasts resting on her forearms, her eyes locked on his. “No strings. No commitments. Just some laughs, some fun, some good old-fashioned messing around.”

He seemed taken aback at first, then leveled her with his aw-shucks smile and said, “Then, Elizabeth, I’m your man.”

They didn’t order dinner. They had one more beer each, which they nursed for the next hour. The conversation turned to mundane things, neither of them wanted to spoil the evening with more personal talk. After all, it was looking like they may begin a purely sexual, short-term fling, why bring anything personal into it?

Finally,
Finn
paid the bill, over
her
argument that she asked him out - she should pay. “Not while I’m still breathing does a woman pay on a date with me,” he snorted.

They left the restaurant. The air was warm and there was no breeze, which was unusual. The
sky seemed to sparkle. Because it was so clear, with no pollution at all, the stars shone much brighter
here
than they did in the city. The downtown area of both Houghton and Hancock ran parallel to the
man-made
canal, with the back entrances to the businesses situated on a bike and jogging path that ran alongside the water. She could faintly hear the waves from the canal as they gently lapped against the seawall. She was taking in the stillness of the night when
Finn
asked where her car was parked.

“Just around the corner, in the
parking deck
.”

He
only nodded, took her hand in his, and started in that direction. His hand was rough with calluses. You didn’t get hands like that from making popcorn. His fingers entwined with hers as he glanced over at her. His pace quickened and
she
had to nearly jog to keep up with him. She was excited, too, could feel the tension building between them.

“Which car?”

“The black Navigator.” She pointed to the vehicle, parked in the corner by itself, in a dark part of the small lot.

“Big city girl like you should know better than to park in the corner, out of the light.”

She giggled, a sound that made
him
grasp her hand a little tighter. “I do know better. And believe me, in the city I park by the entrance and under a light, but that’s what I love about being home, I don’t have to do those things. I even left my car unlocked.”

He gave her a frown. “We’re not totally immune to crime, you know. No need to be foolish.”

“I wasn’t being foolish. I was just putting my faith in my fellow Yooper.”

His
frown vanish
ed
. They reached her car and he pulled her around to the passenger side. He edged he
r against the passenger door
then disengaged their hands and placed his on her waist.

Oh God, her waist! Of course he’d have to go for her worst area first. She tried to gauge if there were any rolls or handles where his hands were placed and came away feeling as confident as she could with a body that hadn’t been out of the garage in fifteen years.
Only driven three times, folks, by a little old lady who always drove the speed limit!

If she placed her hands up on his shoulders, raising her arms and lengthening her spine, it would elongate her waist. Kind of like a yoga move. She did it, barely taking the time to notice how strong and firm his shoulders felt.

Her hands went around his neck as he took a step closer to her. “
Seventeen years
. It’s the longest I’ve ever waited to have a woman, that’s for sure.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “You weren’t waiting for me,
Finn
. I’m willing to bet you haven’t thought about me once in all that time, so don’t give me that.”

“You’d lose that bet. I thought about you plenty for the first few years. Then, well, you know, life kind of happens and your priorities shift.”

She laughed. “You mean taking me to bed wasn’t a life long priority for you? I’m hurt.”

His smile went right to her gut. Maybe a little lower. He stuck a work boot-clad foot between her sandals and nudged her feet apart, creating a nest for himself between her legs, which he flew into like a homing pigeon. “Oh, it was a priority all right, it just slipped a few notches on the list.”

“Yeah, like a thousand notches.” She put a slight pressure on his neck, coaxing him even closer. The heat of his body in front of her a stark contrast to the cool metal of her car along her backside.

“Well, E-liz-a-beth, you’re right back at the top of the list now.” He lowered his head and
nuzzled her neck. She let out a soft sigh, luxuriating in the touch.

“I hate to disappoint you, but even though I never married, my virginity’s not up for grabs anymore.”

His head shot up. “God, I hope not! First of all, I’d never believe a woman who looks like you could remain a virgin till thirty-
five
. Second, I’m not twenty years old anymore where the idea of being someone’s first is exciting. I want my woman to know what she’s doing. I don’t want to have to break anybody in.”

He leaned back in and brought his mouth to hers for their first kiss in
seven
teen years.

Her
first kiss in
fifteen
.

How had she thought his mouth looked hardened? It was anything but. His lips, soft and moist, gently wisped over hers. She opened her mouth under his and felt his immediate response. He angled his head to get better contact and his body moved into hers, connecting them with a current that seemed to electrify them both.

“Oh God, Liz. Yes.” His hands left her waist and held the back of her head, tilting it backward, as his tongue teased her lower lip.

Riding a bike. Riding a bike
.

She flicked out her tongue to engage his. It was all the encouragement he needed. His tongue swept deep inside her mouth, tasting of  beer, tangling with hers, trying to sample all of her, as if his tongue could remember her taste.

Her hands left
Finn
’s neck and swept to his chest. She had to tightly wedge her hands between their crushed bodies to feel him, but her determination was strong. She wanted her hands on him. She moved them down to his waist so that she could place her breasts against his chest. They felt heavy and aching and it was almost as if
Finn
’s broad chest could give them more support than any underwire could.

His breath hitched when he felt her breasts against his chest. It was as if he remembered that she was a whole woman not just a soft, wet mouth.

She
didn’t think it possible for the kiss to become even deeper, but she was wrong. His gentle lips turned hungry and she responded in kind, meeting his every demand. Her head leaned against the window of her car and he must have felt confident enough that it would not budge to let his hands roam down her body. His right hand swept around her back where it began to smooth over her spine. His left hand went right to her breast.

That was the
Finn
she remembered, no pussyfooting around, take what you wanted. This was one part of her body that he could play with as much as he wanted. They weren’t cute and perky, but her breasts were full and lush, a breast man’s dream. And
Finn
had always been a breast man. Though years of gravity were quickly catching up with them, they’d still be in okay shape for another couple of years. For the next two months at least.