Page 62 of Hard to Love

I blow out a sigh and lean against the counter thinking about my call from Chase Kincade today. “Possibly.” I take a sip of my beer. “I’m trying to steal a pitcher away from another agent and it’s proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated.”

“Is this the part where you find some dirt on the other agent and use it as blackmail to get the new client?”

“Jesus,” I bark out in a laugh.

“Isn’t that what you guys do? Play dirty?” Her smile is mischievous and her eyes look more alive than the first time I met her.

It’s good to see.

“Well, this particular agent I have a lot of info on, but I won’t be using it against her.”

“Her?”

It’s as if that singular pronoun is a calling card to Stevie.

“Yes. Her.”

Stevie eyes me, her smile growing wider, as she moves around the counter toward me. “Finn? Did you sleep with this her?”

“I never kiss and tell,” I deadpan and then laugh when she pushes playfully against my chest.

“You did, didn’t you? And now you’re trying to steal her client?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. To both questions.” I shrug nonchalantly. “It’s just . . . it’s complicated.”

“So let me see, you had a thing with this hot female agent—”

“How do you know she’s hot?”

“Because it’s you,” she says with a chuckle. “And—”

“And while I may have dirt on her, the dirt she has on me is way worse,” I confess, my own smile playful.

Stevie narrows her eyes as she studies me. “You cheated on her, didn’t you?”

The look on my face must give away the answer. “Finn! You’re a bastard.” This time when she swats at me, I grab her wrist and somehow, we end up chest to chest, our faces inches apart.

The rise of her chest in the fall of mine.

Her smile is still on her lips but her eyes darken as we stare at each other. “I was,” I murmur. “I had my reasons for what I did. Good, bad, or wrong, I did what I did, and I’ve made amends with her over it.”

“And she’s okay with it?” she asks in disbelief, as her eyes dart down to my lips and then back up to my eyes.

“She’s happily married so I think she moved on just fine.”

“Oh. You’re still a bastard, though,” she all but whispers as my pulse roars in my ears.

“I know.”

“I found some fresh cherries at the market,” Faith says.

Stevie and I jump apart like two kids getting caught kissing, seconds before she walks in with bags of groceries.

“I know I said I was gone for the day, but that farmers’ market was set up down the street and I just couldn’t resist,” she continues on, oblivious to the kiss she almost interrupted. “I know how much you like cherries, Finn.”

Stevie lifts her eyebrows at the comment and swallows her laugh with a cough. “Thank you, Faith. I’m going to go take a shower.” Her eyes meet mine and a smile toys at the corners of her lips. “Enjoy your cherries, Finn.”

I watch her ass sway as she walks away. Faith prattles on as she often does. I half listen and respond when required as she puts the groceries away, but my mind is definitely on the woman taking a shower.