Moore?”
“That’s him. I saw him walking outside the daycare once, with an entourage of business suits. He commands a presence, that’s for sure.”
If there was ever an opening to talk about work and my personal life, this was it. I took another encouraging sip of wine and nodded.
“Yeah, I know Finn. We’re actually sort of…working together.”
She walked out of the kitchen with a knife in her hand. It was covered in chocolate icing. “You work with him? Like…in the same office?”
“Yes.”
“Holy shit. How come you didn’t tell me this?”
I laughed. “Because I only met you two days ago and I’ve been stuffing my face with French dip since I got here. And the wine…I was too relaxed to talk about work.”
“I’m not talking about work, I’m talking about Finnigan Moore. As in, dark eyes–blue, right? He was kind of far away, I couldn’t really tell. And dark hair. And suits that make me think he visits the gym a lot more than I do and rarely indulges in chocolate cake. Definite eye candy.”
The combination of her words and the wine made me giggle. I had to give her that. Finn was attractive in an edgy way. He was too rough to look like he really belonged in the world of business suits and fancy dinners and million dollar houses, but too polished to hang out down at our level. Even in college, people had talked about him. Old money, a father who’d built an empire, and his two sons that stood to inherit. Finn’s father and mine had both died during college, within a year of each other, and maybe that was what had bonded us the most in the beginning.
Paige set pieces of cake on two plates. She brought forks with her to the living room and handed me mine with a mischievous grin.
“Okay, spill.”
I grinned, not willing to give in so easily. “Not much to spill.”
“Which means there’s a whole story there you’re not telling me. Come on, I fed you. That’s got to be payment for at least half the story.”
“Half the story,” I considered, taking a bite. The cake was smooth and rich and I was too relaxed to feel guilty about how big a slice Paige had cut for me. Which half of the story did I want to tell her? Both were interesting. Both had taken pieces of my heart.
I started at the beginning. “Finn and I knew each other in college. We–”
“Please tell me you dated. And then give me details.”
I laughed and settled into the cushions on the couch, taking my cake with me. “Yes, we dated. That half of the story has less to do with now than the fact that we both took a lot of the same classes. He wanted to be an architect and we sort of came up with this idea for an all-inclusive community, where you could live your entire life inside this gigantic facility.”
Paige grinned. “Kind of like Oasis.”
“Kind of like Oasis. It was underdeveloped and just a dream. But we did a lot of dreaming back then.”
We’d been partners, if it came right down to it. One time he’d told me he wasn’t intimidated by my genius. In fact, he’d been excited by it. The more ideas we came up with, the more he seemed to fall for me. I thought he’d loved me then. It had looked like it. I would have bet my life on it.
And maybe he had. But he’d been too scared. What about now? Were those same feelings still there for him?
“So how come you didn’t get here sooner?” Paige asked. “To help with everything or, I don’t know, be the boss like Finn?” She smiled. “I’m calling him Finn since you called him Finn and that seems even more romantic.”
“That’s the other half of the story,” I said with a laugh. “The part you don’t get to hear right now.”
Though the thunder had quieted, clouds still swirled outside and drops of rain tapped the windows. It was getting late, the night looming closer. But this was still the most relaxed I’d been since I got here. That said something for the wine, sure, but also the company.
Paige joined me on the couch and sighed,
“That’s him. I saw him walking outside the daycare once, with an entourage of business suits. He commands a presence, that’s for sure.”
If there was ever an opening to talk about work and my personal life, this was it. I took another encouraging sip of wine and nodded.
“Yeah, I know Finn. We’re actually sort of…working together.”
She walked out of the kitchen with a knife in her hand. It was covered in chocolate icing. “You work with him? Like…in the same office?”
“Yes.”
“Holy shit. How come you didn’t tell me this?”
I laughed. “Because I only met you two days ago and I’ve been stuffing my face with French dip since I got here. And the wine…I was too relaxed to talk about work.”
“I’m not talking about work, I’m talking about Finnigan Moore. As in, dark eyes–blue, right? He was kind of far away, I couldn’t really tell. And dark hair. And suits that make me think he visits the gym a lot more than I do and rarely indulges in chocolate cake. Definite eye candy.”
The combination of her words and the wine made me giggle. I had to give her that. Finn was attractive in an edgy way. He was too rough to look like he really belonged in the world of business suits and fancy dinners and million dollar houses, but too polished to hang out down at our level. Even in college, people had talked about him. Old money, a father who’d built an empire, and his two sons that stood to inherit. Finn’s father and mine had both died during college, within a year of each other, and maybe that was what had bonded us the most in the beginning.
Paige set pieces of cake on two plates. She brought forks with her to the living room and handed me mine with a mischievous grin.
“Okay, spill.”
I grinned, not willing to give in so easily. “Not much to spill.”
“Which means there’s a whole story there you’re not telling me. Come on, I fed you. That’s got to be payment for at least half the story.”
“Half the story,” I considered, taking a bite. The cake was smooth and rich and I was too relaxed to feel guilty about how big a slice Paige had cut for me. Which half of the story did I want to tell her? Both were interesting. Both had taken pieces of my heart.
I started at the beginning. “Finn and I knew each other in college. We–”
“Please tell me you dated. And then give me details.”
I laughed and settled into the cushions on the couch, taking my cake with me. “Yes, we dated. That half of the story has less to do with now than the fact that we both took a lot of the same classes. He wanted to be an architect and we sort of came up with this idea for an all-inclusive community, where you could live your entire life inside this gigantic facility.”
Paige grinned. “Kind of like Oasis.”
“Kind of like Oasis. It was underdeveloped and just a dream. But we did a lot of dreaming back then.”
We’d been partners, if it came right down to it. One time he’d told me he wasn’t intimidated by my genius. In fact, he’d been excited by it. The more ideas we came up with, the more he seemed to fall for me. I thought he’d loved me then. It had looked like it. I would have bet my life on it.
And maybe he had. But he’d been too scared. What about now? Were those same feelings still there for him?
“So how come you didn’t get here sooner?” Paige asked. “To help with everything or, I don’t know, be the boss like Finn?” She smiled. “I’m calling him Finn since you called him Finn and that seems even more romantic.”
“That’s the other half of the story,” I said with a laugh. “The part you don’t get to hear right now.”
Though the thunder had quieted, clouds still swirled outside and drops of rain tapped the windows. It was getting late, the night looming closer. But this was still the most relaxed I’d been since I got here. That said something for the wine, sure, but also the company.
Paige joined me on the couch and sighed,
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