It took every bit of willpower she possessed in her body not to roll her eyes. She made his schedule, and there wasn’t a thing on it.
She passed over a stack of papers she’d cleared off his desk yesterday and sorted through to make sure they were taken care of. She found staying three steps ahead of her father saved her a lot of hassles in the end. “We haven’t discussed these yet, but I went ahead and got them taken care of. They just need your signature where I’ve indicated.”
He grunted as he took them from her, barely glancing at the papers as he scrawled his name next to the flags. “Mighty nice of you to do something before I had to ask you to.” Once he’d signed them all, he placed them off to the side and leaned back in his chair, hands folded over his rounded belly. “I'll have to look ’em all over, of course, but good job getting the jump on something. It’s nice to see you workin’ hard finally.”
Well, would wonders never cease? It might’ve been backhanded as hell, but was that an actual compliment coming from her daddy’s lips? Seemed after five years of busting her butt, he was finally paying attention.
“Um…thank you.”
“Now, don’t go lettin’ it go to your head. I’m just pleasantly surprised, is all. I thought for sure with those Thomas boys back in town, your attention might be…diverted.”
Willow froze, her entire body going ice-cold. She and her father didn’t speak about her relationship—past or present—with Finn. Which meant…had someone seen Finn and her together? Or worse, seen her fleeing his apartment well past midnight, which meant they’d been up to only one thing?
“But you’re smarter than that now, aren’t you?” he continued. “Wouldn’t get mixed up with the likes of him now that you’re not a dumb teenager, rebelling against her parents.”
She breathed out a sigh of relief, realizing it wasn’t based on anything but her father wanting to hold her past mistakes over her head. To him, that was all she and Finn had been—a mistake. An act of teenage rebellion, despite the fact that it had been love, plain and simple. An impassioned love her daddy had swept aside as a crush, or worse, an infatuation.
Had it really been less than an hour ago when she’d thought it wouldn’t a big deal for her to swing by the bar, maybe go out to dinner with Finn? That was laughable. Her daddy would never let her live it down, would make her life even more unbearable if he even caught wind that something was going on between her and Finn.
The two of them hadn’t discussed the details, but if they were going to keep seeing each other, they’d just have to do it on the down-low. Keep it to themselves and not involve everyone in Havenbrook. That’d be better in the long run anyway. Because no matter how she cut this, he was still leaving. At some point, once the bar was up and running and his job here was done, he’d get on a plane and fly back to California, once again leaving her behind.
This time, she just had to make sure he didn’t break her when he left.
* * *
HavingWillow’s luck meant she could go all week never crossing paths with Finn, then make a decision to keep their interaction a secret, only to run into him half a dozen times in a single afternoon.
The first time had been the hardest. He’d spotted her and started strolling her way with that Finn grin she loved so much on his gorgeous face. Her daddy had been coming down the steps at that exact moment, and she’d panicked. Just spun on her heels and walked in the opposite direction.
And so it began. If Finn’s facial expressions were anything to go by, he’d only gotten more pissed as the day had worn on.
She’d considered shooting him a quick text to give him a heads-up of the situation but figured that particular tidbit of information might be better delivered in person, where she could hopefully plead her case.
However, she didnotwant that in-person discussion to happen in her office, which was why she’d made Avery deal with Finn when he’d come in with a made-up excuse to see her, and why Willow was currently peeking out her office window, holding her breath as she watched Finn storm out of the building. Pissed as hell, thanks to her. Then, as if he could sense her watching him, he looked over his shoulder, straight up at her window.
With a yelp, Willow ducked out of the way just as her office door flew open and her best friend blew in without so much as a hello.
“Care to tell me why I just spent fifteen minutes with one of the hottest men I’ve ever seen in real life, when I know for a fact you were perfectly able to take his impromptu meeting?” Avery asked.
Willow settled herself at her desk, straightening a stack of papers. “Um…not particularly.”
“Tough shit.” Unlike earlier in the day when she’d let Willow off the hook with that phrase, apparently, Avery wasn’t going to be so easily appeased. She shut Willow’s door, blocking them from the outside world and any chance someone would overhear. Never a good sign. “Your father’s gone, and it’s after five, which means it’s officially quitting time.”
“Well, all right then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Nice try. You’re not going anywhere until I get the scoop on whatever the hell is happening between you and Finn.”
Willow opened and closed her mouth several times, just praying something intelligible would come out. Something that was sort of the truth, but maybe not all of it. She had to keep a few things just for herself, didn’t she?
Okay, that wasn’t it at all. What it really boiled down to was she didn’t want to hear theI told you so’s when Finn up and left again. But it was different this time, wasn’t it? She wasn’t going into it blind. This time, she had her eyes wide open. She knew what she was getting into, what the end game was, and she wasn’t going to be blindsided again.
Willow cleared her throat and avoided eye contact. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Avery gave her The Look. The one she could have trademarked that proclaimed loudly and very clearly that she was not here to take any of your shit. “Then it was just a coincidence that you turned tail and ran away every time you came across Finn today?”
“I did not!” She totally had.
“No? Never mind the fact that I actually saw it with my own two eyes, but your ex-boyfriend just ratted you out.”
