As she got to the house, she saw that the lights were on but he wasn’t outside with Murphy. Maybe he’d gone out.
Maybe you wish he’d gone out, you big baby.
Just to shut up her annoying conscience, she rapped loudly on the door.
Murphy barked, and a few seconds later the door swung open.
“Oh, hey. You should have texted to tell me you were on your way over. I’d have met you halfway.”
Even if he was mad he’d have done that, because that’s who Finn was.
“No big deal. I thought we could talk.”
“Sure. Come inside. Mosquitoes are vicious tonight.”
“Don’t I know it. I already have like fifty bites on me.”
She followed him in and he turned as they made their way into the small living area.
Murphy came over, excitedly wagging his tail. She bent down to give him some love.
“Didn’t you put repellent on?”
She straightened. “I forgot.”
“Ouch. Let me get you something before you swell up. Grab yourself a drink. I’ll be right back.”
“That’s not—” But he had already disappeared into his bedroom, Murphy trailing behind him.
She shrugged and went to the fridge. Seeing an open bottle of chardonnay, she pulled it out and found a glass to pour some into.
“I have lotion that’ll kill the itch,” he said as he came back in. “Where did you get bit?”
“My arms. My neck.”
“Come on. Take a seat here and let me take care of you.”
“I can do it.”
He held some cotton balls and the lotion in his hand, then smiled at her. “More fun if I do it.”
Evidently he wasn’t angry with her. Or at least not as angry as she’d thought. “Okay.”
She picked a spot on the sofa and he sat facing her, poured some of the lotion onto a cotton ball and dabbed it onto each of the bites on her arm. It instantly cooled and calmed the annoying itch, giving her relief. But she supposed she couldn’t sit there silently, not when she’d come over with specific intentions.
“I came over to apologize for my behavior earlier.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes. I was momentarily freaked out about you and me doing all these things together and continuing our fake engagement.”
He patted a few spots on her shoulder. “Understandable. You had a plan and now your plans are messed up. Unless you tell everyone we broke up, which is easy enough.”
“I suppose that’s true. But then there’ll be all the questions about what happened. And you made all those new friends.”
His lips curved. “I’m sure I’ll survive if that’s what you want to do. You don’t need to worry about me, Brenna.”
He would say that, giving her an out if she wanted one.
Was that what she wanted?
“You know,” he said, dabbing a spot on her cheek, “that get-together with Esther and Brock after their honeymoon means Allison will be there. Do you really want to put up with her questions about the two of us breaking up?”
“You have a point.” And now he was giving her a way back in, which for some reason gave her comfort. And felt right.
He gently patted a bite on her collarbone. Damn mosquitoes. But as he got closer, the clean scent of him swirled around her, making her want to crawl onto his lap and forget all about the reason for her visit. But then things between them would be unresolved, and she hated leaving anything hanging.
“Okay, I’m sorry for the way I acted. I overreacted. And I gave you mixed signals, getting close to you during the wedding, then putting the brakes on after. It was a terrible thing for me to do.”
“I’ll admit it was confusing. If you want something, Brenna, you need to tell me what it is.”
A million thoughts swirled through her head, so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t form the right words. “I know. It’s . . . hard for me to do that.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Why?”
She inhaled, let it out. “I don’t know. Just be patient with me? And forgive me for acting like an ass?”
He nodded. “You’re forgiven.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Just like that?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. And I overreacted, too, so I’m sorry for walking away. I should have stayed so we could talk it out.”
“In retrospect, a cooling-off period for both of us was probably the best idea anyway.”
“You may be right, but I don’t like leaving things unresolved.”
Maybe they were more alike than she thought. “Then we’re good?”
“We’re good.”
“And I’d like to go to those events with you, if you’re okay with it.”
He gave her an easy smile. “So the fake engagement continues, then.”
“I guess it does. And, Finn?”
“Yeah?”
She swallowed, her throat gone dry. “Maybe we should explore the whole dating-each-other thing?”
His lips curved. “Bet that was painful to get out, wasn’t it?”
“A little.”
“We’ll take it a day at a time. How does that sound?”
Relief washed over her. She felt warm and comfortable and finally at ease. “Good. Really good.”
He laid the lotion and cotton balls on the table, then leaned in. “We should probably kiss on it. Seal the deal, you know.”
Her heart rate accelerated. “Make it official?”
“Yes. Since you’re wearing my ring and all, it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t.”
She felt his ring encircling her finger. Something else she wouldn’t be giving back just yet. Which was all right with her.
She moved closer and slid her hand around his neck, the softness of his hair teasing her fingers. “Then you’d better kiss me. And Finn?”
His mouth was inches from hers.
“Yeah?”
“Make it a good kiss.”
His lips curved. “Good kisses are my specialty.”
He wrapped his arm around her, scooted her against the arm of the sofa, and then he kissed her.
Was it a good kiss? Oh, no. A good kiss was the kind that made her feel warm and tingly.