Page 12 of One Vow

There was no graceful way to get out of there. Not that I hadn’t done a walk of shame before, but I was on a boat, a yacht, with Finn Makenzie, who knew his way around not only my body but a boat kitchen.

He set a plate in front of me where I sat at a counter that doubled as a table. “It’s not much.”

It was an omelet with vegetables and cheese and goodness served to me by a bare-chested guy, bare-chested because I was wearing his shirt. And it was perfect. The omelet, the boat, the sun rising over the ocean, Finn Makenzie’s unbuttoned jeans. Everything was perfect.

And to be honest, I didn’t care about the omelet. Or the boat. Or the sun. I only cared about Finn. I wanted to know everything. All the little details that made him who he was…which just so happened to be more perfect than any guy I’d ever met.

“When’s your birthday?”

He squinted, then cocked his head and smiled. “January.” After a second, he added, “10th. When’s yours?”

“October 29th.” I shrugged. “I always had Halloween birthday parties. One year I went as a woodchuck, but everyone thought I was a groundhog, and every day until Christmas someone managed to find a way to ask me if I saw my own shadow.” Stop it with the too much information.

He chuckled. “That’s cute.”

And that was all he said. Didn’t elaborate with a cute little anecdote of his own. What he did was better. He took my fork, used the side to slice off a piece of the omelet then fed it to me. And as divine as it was, literally melt in my mouth goodness, it only took a second to realize that I wanted more than the religious experience of kissing him, sex with him, and now being fed by him provided.

“What was your favorite Halloween costume?” I was at my flirty best. Chest puffed out onto the counter. Eyelashes freshly mascara-ed and batting at optimal speed for attractive. Tongue swiping along lower lip with flawless precision.

And he turned away. Back to the stove, then to the sink with the skillet in hand. “I didn’t really…Halloween wasn’t my thing.”

Oh. And someone who hadn’t spent the last few weeks memorizing every expression, etching into my brain what each tone of voice meant wouldn’t have known I upset him. But I wasn’t just anyone. I’d sponged up all the things about him he probably didn’t realize then all the things he probably did.

“Finn?”

“I didn’t spend a lot of time in one place.” He turned to look at me, but leaned back against the counter, letting it stand between us as the physical manifestation of the mental wall I wanted to bust down. But I didn’t know what question to ask or if I should say anything. I stared instead. Creepy stared. Because no matter what I told myself, I knew I should say something. Something profound that let him know I was here, not judging, not pitying, just here. For him. But I managed zero words.

“My parents died when I was seven and I got bounced around from family member to family member. Wasn’t much time for Halloween costumes.” He didn’t look at me, he looked at the floor, and my heart melted for him as my throat tried to choke me to death.

Not quite a woodchuck story, but so much more than I expected. This was deep and meaningful. This was…real. Not that I’d made up the woodchuck story but this one had a depth mine didn’t. I stood and walked around the counter to hug him. “We’ll make up for it.”

He wrapped his arms around me and laid his cheek on top of my head as I listened to the steady beat of his heart.

“Every day from now on.” And I meant it. Because somewhere along the line I fell for Finn Makenzie. “I see a whole mess of matching costumes in your future, mister.”

“I love you, Felicity.” He tilted my head up and looked deep into my eyes. And I’d read enough romance novels and seen plenty enough rom-coms to know there were only three words I could say back and the three-second rule wasn’t just for dropped food. It applied here, too.

“I love you, too.” And if I sounded breathless and needy and desperate, it was because I wanted to make sure he knew I was for real. I didn’t add so much because his mouth brushed against mine and there wasn’t room for words.

This time when he carried me to the bedroom, when he moved onto the bed beside me, when he kissed me, I knew in my soul that Finn Makenzie was the man I wanted for the rest of my life.

5

Finn

In the last ten years, it had never occurred to me that I would ever wake up in this house again. Smelling her perfume on the borrowed pillow or seeing her shoes neatly lined beside the door. Hearing her voice, faded and in the distance, cursing.

I sat up on the blue denim sofa that could’ve used some serious breaking in. I held my breath and listened.

“Son of a bitch!” Sounded like she was outside, yet…above me?

In short, on the roof. I pulled on my jeans and a t-shirt then a jacket not nearly heavy enough for the wind blowing in off the ocean. When I opened the back door and saw the ladder lying on the ground across the yard and resting on the short fence, my heart attempted a speedy escape through my throat, and I risked a glance up to where a string of lights dangled over the gutter.

“Lis?” The only sound in the backyard was the wind. But I’d already heard her, knew she was up there. Or I would’ve been more freaked at the evidence around me. I moved the ladder back in place and climbed. She straddled the peak of the roof, holding a ball of tangled lights in front of her. “What are you doing?”

She motioned to the lights and shrugged.

“I tried wrinkling my nose and wishing, but it didn’t work.” She wrinkled her nose and moved it around, then frowned. “Might’ve even made the knot bigger.”