Page 28 of Hard to Love

“Good. Now, I’d tell you to behave but a small part of me wants you to be a pain in the ass for Finn. Just because.”

“I may currently be doing just that.” My smile is bittersweet. I’m already missing my friends, but I know she’s right—that I need to get back to my everyday life.

“Good for you.” Her laugh makes me smile.

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I stare at my cell for a few seconds before shaking my head and deciding to wander once again. I’m restless as I move through the casino, and I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t have Vivi and Jordan to keep my thoughts at bay or because I’m afraid to go back to the hotel room and face the consequences of my actions.

Both are equally crappy.

I yelp when I turn the corner and run smack dab into Finn. His eyes glint with a frustrated anger and his expression isn’t much better as he grabs my bicep and holds me firmly in front of the casino’s ticket booth for its big show.

“Christ, woman. You’re infuriating,” he grits out.

The sight of him knocks me from my funk and gives me exactly what I need—a sparring partner to take my frustration out on.

My smile is taunting, his words just what I want right now. “You like the challenge and you know it.”

He snorts. “I like a lot of things, but chasing you through a hotel at this hour when my body is on East Coast time isn’t one of them.”

“Then what is it you do like, Finn?”

My words hang there as the doors open abruptly and people begin swarming out of the casino’s theater. Finn and I are jostled to the side of the somewhat dim hallway so that we’re all but pressed against the wall. His hand is still gripping my bicep, but it’s his body now that is pressed against mine, bringing back thoughts and sensations from the other night.

Thoughts and sensations I can’t ignore.

I don’t know why I do it. Whether it’s because I remember that I thought it would be fun to break him and have something to use against him or because I’ve thought about doing it way too much during the dinner tonight, but I rise on my tiptoes and lean in to press my lips to his.

But he holds me in place so that my lips are a whisper away from his. I can feel the warmth of his breath. Can feel the thunder of his pulse where he holds my arm. Can see the desire darkening in his eyes while we stare at each other in the suspended state of anticipation, as patrons bump against us as they pass by.

“Kiss me, Finn,” I whisper just above the fray.

I know he hears me. It’s in the quick intake of his breath and the reflexive squeeze on my arm as his eyes hold mine in a way that tells me he’s contemplating doing just that.

“Finish what we started,” I murmur, my lips just barely touching his with their movement.

I hold my breath, already tasting his kiss before it begins.

But it never happens.

His lips never meet mine and take what I thought we both wanted.

Instead, he releases my arm and steps back with a shake of his head. A shake that I can’t seem to forget as I watch Finn Sanderson walk away and disappear into the casino crowd.

STEVIE

“STEVIE, IT’S RYAN CHURCHILL HERE. Hey, I hope you’re doing well. I didn’t realize you were shopping for an agent. Rumor is you’re thinking of signing with Finn Sanderson. He’s good for sure, but not someone I see you meshing well with. To be frank, he’s not what you need at this point in your career and life. You need more guidance and less demand. Someone to help you through all of . . . what you have going on. I’d love to be the one to provide that for you. Maybe we can sit down and chat. I’d be happy to let you know how I operate.”

I delete the voicemail as I walk into my suite and look at the four other numbers below it in my inbox, which no doubt sound much the same. I switch over to my texts and know just by the previews that the first six are more agents.

All of them are fishing to see if the rumor around town is true. I’m not even sure how it got out there but it’s now being shared nonetheless.

I scan through the texts. Each one is an introduction. Each one is a reason I should look at them for representation. And the one other consistent inference in each and every one is that Finn is too harsh for me because apparently, I need coddling. Coddling?

Does everyone think I’m fragile and that I’m going to break?