Dangerous Games (19 page)

The doorbell rang and Finn looked toward the hallway with an eagerness he hadn’t felt in a while. Monika stood, and walked out of the room.

“If it’s Evie, you better leave out the back,” Dylan whispered.

“Why do I have to go? I’m not finished with my beer,” Finn replied.

“Do you really want to do this today? She said she isn’t ready to see you, and if you’re any kind of man, you would respect her wishes.”

Finn understood where Dylan was coming from but he was privy to a whole other side of his best friend he’d never seen before. Being with Monika had actually caused him to mature and grow up. He made sense though Finn was too stubborn to take the advice.

The moment he heard Evie’s voice, his heart began to beat faster. He couldn’t believe she was so close yet so far away. She walked into the sitting room and froze when she saw him. Never had he seen her more beautiful. Although she’d lost weight, she looked cute in a pair of jean shorts and a white halter-top that covered her stomach. She’d finished the outfit off a fashionable pair of espadrilles with a wedge that was too high to walk in comfortably all day unless one was driving around everywhere in a city as large as L.A.

Evie stared at him and although her eyes brightened a bit, her stoic face settled into disappointment. “What are you doing here, Finn?”

He stood and walked towards her but stopped several feet away. “I’ve been here since mid-July. I couldn’t…it was too hard…without you, and Brandon told me I should face you once and for all.”

“Listen, I gotta go but see you for Sunday brunch, Monika.” She turned around and began to make a hasty retreat.

“Don’t do it, man,” Dylan warned him but he followed her anyway and stopped her just short of her opening her car door.

“What do you
want
from me, Finn?” Evie inquired with a tense desperation in her voice. “Why did you come all this way? Did you think saying sorry in person was going to make me forget about what happened that night?”

“No, but I had to try anyway.” He grabbed her left arm and glanced down to see she still wore his bracelet. “I know what I did, and no amount of apologizing is going to make you forget. I heard it the first time you told me but I
needed
to see you. I knew you didn’t want to see me but somehow being in the same city as you made it a little easier for me.”

“You’re the one who has been following me around?” Evie crossed her arms against her breasts. “I thought my mother had hired a private investigator, and she accused me of being paranoid but all along it’s been you, hasn’t it?”

“Yes,” he breathed, happy to get that feeling of being a stalker off his chest.

“Why do men think it’s romantic to stalk a woman when it is downright creepy? Either approach me or stay away. Don’t freakin’ follow me around L.A. like some teenage dirt-bag, and think I am going to find it charming, Finn.”

“I know you aren’t going to forgive me and I don’t expect you to.” He approached her and walked a bit closer until they were within arm’s length of one another. “Just don’t continue to shut me out…that’s all I’m askin’ from you. I can do the ‘friend’ thing, and you don’t have to make a commitment to me but I can’t breathe without you. My life is so empty and meaningless…and I know I sound like a bitch but it’s true. You were always my rock and my support. I didn’t know what I lost until you were no longer there, and I don’t want to lose you again.”

Evie grabbed his right hand with her left and held it tightly. “No commitments, Finn. You broke my heart and I can’t just get over it because I should. I don’t even know why I am doing this but…I need someone to turn to beside Monika. My mother is making my home life miserable as hell. I’m assuming you have your own place?”

“Yes, I do. I’m renting an apartment in Santa Monica. It’s a nice building and it’s mostly condo units. The owner has asked me if I want to buy it but I’m not sure yet—”

“Don’t. I’ll help you find a house here in L.A. You’re not prejudiced of the Valley because you didn’t grow up here so I am thinking somewhere in Sherman Oaks or Encino Hills might be perfect for you. It’s hot as hell down there and not nearly as cool as living here on the West side but at the same time, living over here has its disadvantages too.”

“So…this not committing…does it have anything to do with you and your stepfather?”

Evie’s gray-blue eyes turned cold within a single blink. “Etienne has nothing to do with this and even if he did, you don’t have that kind of permission yet. I’m going to make you earn back my trust, and if I feel like you really care about me then we can discuss being more than friends. Until then, this is the best I can offer you. Take it or leave it.”

“I’ll take it,” he replied without missing a beat.

She let go of his hand and allowed her hand to brush against his cheek. “Then I’ll see you around. Give me your phone number and I’ll send you a text back. Then give me your address. If I can get away tonight, I’ll come by and we can hang out.”

Finn said the number to his new Samsung Galaxy Note, which had the coveted three-ten area code and she immediately programmed it in her phone before she sent him a text back. He checked his phone while they both stood there and although she still had the same phone, her number was different.

He texted his address to her and she smiled at him before she pressed a button on her key and opened the door to her Mini Cooper.

“See you tonight.”

Finn smiled back despite himself. “Likewise.”

She waved as she drove off and he waited outside until her car was long gone out of sight. It would be a good evening, and it had only taken damn near the whole summer to convince her to see him again.

I
couldn’t wait to see Finn because it turned on a feeling south of my stomach I hadn’t felt in a long time. Lust, love, attraction and knowing he was mine for the taking.

I hadn’t gotten laid the whole summer, and school didn’t start until late September, one whole month away. I couldn’t believe the time had gone so fast. All the sudden, Finn was back in my life but he couldn’t have picked a better time as far as I was concerned.

Etienne and I had gotten close, much to the chagrin of my mother, and she was a complete nut job when it came to her husband. Fortunately, her movie was in postproduction, and came out shortly before Thanksgiving, which meant she would begin her world premieres in early November. Unfortunately, that was nine weeks out, and she drove me crazy more often than not.

I didn’t realize I was still wearing a ridiculous smile on my face until Etienne pointed it out when I got back home. He was out by the pool as I joined him though I didn’t change clothes. I had no intention of getting my hair wet but I would take a shower before I saw Finn.

All that sexual frustration that had been building could finally be resolved. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was highly attracted to my stepfather but if I crossed that line then what would happen to me? How was I any different from Finn? His hatred of trust fund kids had driven him to humiliate me in one of the worst ways so would I return the favor? Would my dislike for my own mother cause me to sleep with her husband?

I wasn’t a fool and he knew he was attracted to me too. Although I couldn’t tell if he really was attracted to me as a person or because I was youth personified, and something that he would never be able to have with my mother? She was getting old, and she knew it. All the expensive creams in the world from France and Japan together couldn’t halt the process of aging. She’d maintained her dignity at the moment, and hadn’t gone under the knife yet but she’d had plenty of Botox and chemical peels to last her a lifetime.

My mother had great skin but still, she couldn’t hide her age anymore than I was able to hide mine. It would be almost a year before I could get into L.A.’s hottest clubs
legally
but due to who we were related to, Monika and I could step foot anywhere we wanted. That still didn’t stop the bartenders from referring to us as “little girls” because they were well aware they were serving drinks to minors.

“Why are you so happy?” Etienne teased as I sat next to him.

My smile disappeared. “No reason…”

“Come on, you are absolutely aglow…what is going on with you?”

“If I tell you, will you promise not to tell my mother?” I whispered in his direction.

“As much as I hate keeping secrets away from your mother, my lips are sealed.”

“Finn flew all the way from Boston to see me, and is now living here in L.A.” I smiled but also watched the expression on my stepfather’s face.

“And that is good news how, Elvira?”

I winced because he only called me by my Christian name when I did something that he somehow “disapproved” of, and thought I should know better.

“Well, it’s not a big deal to you since you sleep with your wife every night but some of us need to get laid, and don’t want to find a different guy every time the feeling strikes us.”

“Are you seriously telling me you haven’t had sex since you and Finbar broke up?”

“Only with myself and self-gratification only gets me so far. I’m not a whore you know, and I’ve lived in this cesspool before. Men in L.A. are damned hard to find…why do you think my mother snagged you when she was in Montreal? This place is a complete and utter wasteland, filled with self-important assholes who are too busy looking at their own reflection to notice those around them. It’s not worth the time or effort especially when I’m not even promised an orgasm,” I explained in a casual manner.

Etienne pursed his lips as his blue-green eyes stared at me like daggers. “So you plan to sleep with this man that broke your heart?”

“Well, not exactly sleep but something like that.” It was my turn to glare at him. “Do you not approve?”

“It’s a slippery slope.”

“Not that slippery. I haven’t committed myself to him, and I don’t plan to until he makes up for what he did to me back in Boston.”

“And how exactly does he do that? I am genuinely curious.”

I crossed my arms against my chest in a defensive position. “Are you making fun of me? I mean, what is this crap, Etienne? Do you believe you’re the only one who deserves to be happy or have you been feeling like the cat with the cream these last couple of months? I come home all teary eyed, and tell you of my relationship woes and then you get to string me along while you’re sleeping in the same bed as my mother. How is that cool? And don’t you dare pull that ‘concerned step-dad’ crap out of your ass.”

“Evie, I am only concerned about your well being. You are very young and impressionable—what Finn did to you in Boston was wrong, and you shouldn’t ever allow a man to get away with that. My only concern is 
you
.”

“You could have fooled me. Since we are being so ‘open’ and ‘honest’ with one another, let’s acknowledge the great pink elephant in the room. You want to fuck me but you’re scared I might go back and tell Mommy. Or worse, she finds out and throws you out on your ass. I get it but don’t try to pretend you give a shit about my well being because we both know you don’t.”

Etienne laughed out loud. “Seriously, is that really what you believe? I could have had you when your mother wasn’t here, Evie. Or better yet, I could still fuck you, and you know what would happen? She would throw
you
out on your ass,
not
me.”

He laughed in my face cruelly and without an ounce of mirth. “Have you seriously deluded yourself to the point where you don’t understand your mother doesn’t really care that much about you? Getting you back to L.A. was about control, and by the way, she gave me
permission
to fuck you if I wanted to. The only thing that has held me back is you are a genuinely good person, and I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt. You are not easily in control of your feelings and you might fall in love with me. That would be bad news because I will never leave your mother.”

My smirk disappeared and I had no doubt he was telling the truth. My mother would throw me out on my ass, and the worst part was she’d be more than willing to take her husband over me, her own daughter.

I
managed to arrive at Finn’s shortly before seven in the evening. The sun had started its descent on the west side but was still high enough I didn’t need to use my headlights. I knew now what had always driven me to him, and it had more to do with love I had and never would receive from my parents.

Finn could be a world class jerk and asshole—hell, what man wasn’t?—but he loved me unconditionally, and would never let anyone hurt me. I suppose that made his betrayal that much more severe because he was the only person I knew I could depend on regardless what happened in my life.

Yes, he’d crossed the line but I just had a man—someone I’d barely known for two months—tell me to my face that if it was between him and me, my mother would choose him. I never had to wonder where Finn’s loyalty lay, and that in itself was a relief.

I knocked on the door softly and he opened it moments later. God, he looked better than I could remember. His light brown hair was mussed but the bright Los Angeles sun had caused blond streaks throughout. He was lightly tanned and his crystal blue eyes sparkled with an intensity I hadn’t seen in a long time. He’d recently showered and shaved; he smelled delicious and from the aromas wafting out of the open door of his apartment, he also happened to be cooking too.

“I didn’t know if you had eaten yet so I just made something simple. Baked salmon with a lemon-honey cream sauce, steamed asparagus and wild brown rice. I bought you your favorite—Ben & Jerry’s Cake Batter—for dessert…looks like you could put on a few pounds if you ask me. You’re as slim as a greyhound.”

“When in Rome…” I trailed off before I smiled shyly. “Everything is super healthy around my mother’s home, and she has her head maid do all the shopping. Did I mention she shops for me too? ‘Calories, calories…what you put in your mouth today ends up on your ass tomorrow.’ It’s all a bit too much for me but it’s only two years, and they are going to fly by.”

“For you, maybe, but when you weren’t there with me, I felt every minute of every day. I can’t believe I did that to you and to us. I know it doesn’t make you feel any better but just know that…whether you slept with Etienne or not, I don’t care. I just want you back, and I am going to do my best to make you trust me again. I swear it.”

I pushed him inside and shut the door behind me. “Can you please just shut up and kiss me?”

Finn grabbed me by the waist and before I could think clearly, his mouth is on mine and I was inhaling the very essence of him. It was a soul-consuming kiss that has our tongues swirling around one another in a single, perfect harmony. I didn’t want to rush our moment of togetherness, and wished to savor every gentle wave of magical heat we’d managed to create together.

However, once his hands wandered down and cupped my ass, I wrapped my legs around his waist and continued to kiss him with a feeling I could only imagine before he’d come back into my life.

He was the one who broke away from me first. “Are you hungry? I made food too just in case.”

I slipped my arms around his neck and replied, “Later. Right now, all I want you to do to me is ravage my body and then we can discuss food.”

“It’s been that long? I would have sworn you wouldn’t have waited all this time…” he trailed off.

“Yes, I waited for you because I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else, and I love you. I know we’ve had our differences in the past but I also realize I was being extremely stubborn about the situation. My feelings have a lot to do with something Etienne said to me today, and it definitely snapped me out of it. You’re one of the few people I can count on in this world, and I don’t want anything to ever happen to that.”

I paused and pressed my hands against his firm chest. “I know we have some trust issues to overcome but I am more than willing to work on them with you. I need you in my life, Finbar, and I know how silly I behaved but remember, I am young, and I’m going to make some very stupid mistakes.”

His crystal blue eyes stared down at me. “What are you talking about? You didn’t do anything wrong. I needed you to do what you did to me because I will never take advantage of you again. I promise this right now but I am more than willing to wait as long as you need to trust me again.”