From Winter's Ashes: Girl Next Door Crime Romance Series - Book Two (22 page)

The man’s legacy was not a fine tribute to the word “family,” and Joselyn’s own father—though no blood relation to Demetrios Verraros—followed in those same callous footsteps.

And while Joselyn knew her mother had been warm and caring when she was alive, she could only vaguely remember being swaddled in her arms. The years had wiped away any tangible memory.

Now, in Finn’s solid arms, she felt something so foreign it was like a drug—altering her brain chemistry to the point of desperation for another fix. And that was the scariest thing of all.

Realizing she wanted to stay right where she was, forever.

A piercing array of blues and greens peeked out from sleepy lids. Snatching her hand away, she attempted to right herself, but his arms tightened around her back. A slow, lazy grin etched disarming dimples into his handsome face. “Hi.”

Her stomach flip-flopped in response to the rumble from his chest. Or maybe the grin and the dimples. Or all of the above. Tough to say.

“Hi.” Feeling uncharacteristically demure, she tilted her lips in a shy smile, her hand settling on his chest.

Holding his stare, it felt like he could see straight into her battered heart and wasn’t repulsed by what he saw. Not yet, at least. It was as if no one and nothing else existed in the world. She’d never been the center of anyone’s anything. It was heady stuff.

“Now that you’ve said your hellos, maybe you guys could get up.” The illusion was ripped away in an instant. Standing in the doorway was Sadie. With hands propped on her enviably curvy hips, she looked like mama bear coming to protect her cub. Or maybe both cubs. From themselves.

Finn and Joselyn jumped up from the bed, untangling their embrace in record time under the watchful eye of the warden. “Finn, I don’t recall bunking being part of the deal when I agreed to let you check on her.” There was a slight twist in her lips and a glimmer of a teasing twinkle in her eye, but she stood her ground for an explanation.

“Pfff, Sadie, please. Nothing happened.” Finn looked a little nervous, like he didn’t feel that was entirely true. Even though it was.

Well, nothing beyond the scorching make-out fest and the all-night cuddle.

So Joselyn came to his rescue. Clearing her throat with extra pizzazz, she said, “I do believe you and Archer,” lifting her hands to use quotations, “‘shared a bed’ when that seedy motel in Kansas only had one room left.” Joselyn cocked an eyebrow, knowing she’d hit her mark.

Sadie’s mouth gaped open for a soundless moment before she clamped it shut and scowled. “That was an extenuating circumstance—a man was dying. And we fell asleep, okay, nothing happened.”

Joselyn shrugged. “Same here.”

Sadie crossed her arms. “Okay, fine. But my brother’s making breakfast.
And
doing the dishes for his defiance of house rules.”

Scrambling out of the room from the sparring women, Finn smirked back at Joselyn, “A small price to pay. I’ll take it.”

Chapter 28

Finn Carson

Had he ever felt this good? It was worth pondering. Last night, with Joselyn in his arms—her kisses still searing into his lips—it was better than every dream he had the whole senior year he’d spent pining away for her.

After prom, any dreams involving Joselyn were either nonexistent or mercilessly cruel. And as of late, there hadn’t been any dreaming. Only nightmares. But last night was the first in months that he’d slept peacefully.

Flipping the chocolate chip pancakes in the skillet, he withdrew four perfectly golden rounds, scraped four more sizeable dollops from the mixing bowl into the pan and relived the glorious moments before he became a first-class jerk and raging idiot.

They say old habits die hard, but nothing had been harder than witnessing the look on Joselyn’s face when she’d unloaded the loneliness of her past. All because Finn’s bitterness—stockpiled from the past ten years—kept spilling over.

Please, forgive me for acting like an arrogant fool.

No wonder Joselyn had been so frosty in high school. She was all alone, having been uprooted from her home and Yia-Yia and her school to live in a virtual ivory tower—deprived of love from the one person she wanted it from the most.

Distracted with his growing contempt against Declan Whyte, Finn failed to flip the batch of pancakes before the first side got cast iron crispy. He’d choke down the burned ones.

It made more sense that she’d had fallen for Cody. She’d been so desperate for attention—something Cody gave freely to each and every attractive female within shouting distance—and maybe she thought, with his family situation, he might be able to relate.

Something soured in his gut, something sick and jealous when he thought of them together. Even now, the whole night was crystal clear.

“Ooo, Finn, I love this song. Let’s dance.”
Renee Ross’s fake nails clawed at Finn’s hand as she attempted to drag him from his seat.

Finn growled his response of “No thanks” to the painfully annoying prom date Cody had set him up with. But she either wasn’t smart enough to pay attention or she refused to read the blatant revulsion for her written across his face and tugged at his hand once again.

“Aww, come on. We haven’t even danced, and the night’s almost over. She pinned him with an evil glare, and he begrudgingly let himself be dragged to the dance floor.

“One dance,” he snapped. This had obviously been a huge mistake. Renee was more Cody’s type of girl—skimpy dress, even skimpier brain power, and a reputation that wasn’t skimpy at all.

Why on earth had he agreed to this?

The answer was clear. The very thought of Joselyn made his choice to come along on this charade of a revenge date worth it.

His date’s cackling hyena laugh struck his eardrum even over the blaring music, and Finn remedied his momentary lapse of judgment.
Almost
worth it.

Renee’s moves were quite possibly too explicit to witness, so Finn turned away and preoccupied himself by bopping along to the stupid rap song that was about a hundred decibels too loud.

Finn’s head was throbbing from the incessant grating noise, and he hadn’t caught a glimpse of Joselyn all night. And his eyes had been glued to the dance floor for that very reason.

He knew it was a form of torture to come along and see her here with him. But up until now he’d never even seen them talking. Or together. During class, the only times Joselyn spoke it was to the teacher or to Finn.

Cody’s relay of her rejection echoed in his mind.
“She said guys like you were beneath her. Can you believe that? That it was laughable you thought you might actually have a chance with someone like her.”

And after he’d escaped the close-encounter with the impromptu guitar lesson/almost kiss, he’d accidentally overheard her and Sadie talking about prom. He’d never forget the laugh she’d forced out when he heard her say, “Puh-lease. As if I would go with
him
. I’m holding out for a better offer.”

He sucked in a breath upon remembering the sting of those words. How they’d tunneled down into his deepest insecurities and built a nest.

The song died off, and Finn was ready to bolt. From the dance floor. From the prom. From this whole stupid mess. It was time to move on.

But when he turned to go, he saw her. His heart stalled out. She was a vision, almost angelic, as every light in the room seemed to spotlight her in a perfectly incandescent glow.

Man, it hurt to look at her. She was breathtaking. The ethereal white dress shimmied mercilessly over her slight curves, but that wasn’t where he was looking. What he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from was her face. Radiant with her sparkling eyes, dewy pink lips, and a silky pile of black curls gracefully swept up, framing her elegant features.

He pried his gaze away and saw Cody leading Joselyn out onto the dance floor. He was trying to say something in her ear, but she seemed to be preoccupied looking for someone until … her gaze found Finn’s, and everything crashed all around him, leaving his foolish eyes for her alone.

Cody tugged on her arm, and she stumbled against him. His hands clamped possessively around her lower back. Then he turned her, and Cody’s dark eyes met Finn’s across the expanse of the dance floor where couples were drawing together for the last slow dance.

It was that moment when Renee crashed into him. “One slow dance, cranky. And then we can go back to my hotel room, and I’ll turn that frown upside down,” she cackled in Finn’s ear. He was so disgusted he about turned away … but then Joselyn swiveled back into view.

So Finn got even. Grabbing hold of his awful date, he held Joselyn’s gaze to remind her of everything she had passed on. Okay, so maybe not passed exactly. But he’d all but blurted his love for her in grand sonnets every time she was near. Dropping hints and flirting every way he knew how to prepare for the moment he’d been dreaming about since the day he’d first laid eyes on her.

But before he’d gotten his chance—or maybe worked up the nerve—she’d stomped his heart and his self-worth beneath her designer shoes.

He struggled to keep a hardened look on his face as he watched her. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of witnessing his pitiful infatuation.

But she didn’t look happy. And she wasn’t smiling. Even still, the whole thing was like salt in his wounds. Well good riddance. He hoped she had a terrible time tonight.

By the look on her face, it seemed that wish was coming true.

Mindlessly flipping another burned batch, Finn came out of his agonizing flashback, making a note to himself not to meander down memory lane while making pancakes—especially when preparing them for others.

After dumping a few of the worst ones, and scraping the charcoal from the others, he emerged from the kitchen with the stack and some maple syrup, and joined the girls at the table.

“Sorry ladies. But if you ask a man to do a woman’s job you gotta prepare yourself for the consequ—Ow! Sadie, you have got to stop punching people!”

His feisty little sister smirked and stabbed at the top pancake with her fork. “I’ll stop punching people when you men stop staying asinine things that justify a beating. Deal?”

“Relax, Cujo. Just a bit of sarcasm.” Finn was getting his hide handed to him left and right between these two. While he had his hot buttons like anyone else, he was generally easy-going. Though admittedly his sarcastic talents hadn’t fully developed until after prom night.

Finn’s dad always claimed sarcasm was the lowest form of wit. He said Finn used it as a defense mechanism, but Finn didn’t much buy into all that psychobabble and embraced his new identity as a man of confidence. Even arrogance if that meant no longer being the nice guy who finished last.

Joselyn cut into his thoughts. “Oh, Finn. I forgot to thank you for the flowers. Though, you should know now—since we’re dating,” she fluttered her lashes teasingly, “that my favorite flowers are daisies, not lilies. But still, it was very thoughtful.”

Finn’s chewing slowed, and he spoke around a syrup-drenched briquette. “Sorry, what are you talking about?”

Her smile went cockeyed, and she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder to a grandiose bouquet of big white blooms. Lilies, she’d said. As if Finn knew the slightest thing about flowers.

“The flowers you sent me.”

Great, she’d probably gotten flowers from one of her many admirers. Now Finn was going to look like a jerk. Again. Why hadn’t he thought to get her flowers?
Idiot!

“Uh, Joss, I didn’t send you those.”

She furled her brow, looking at him as if he’d been dealt a short stack between his ears. “But the card said it was from you.”

They all sat in silence for an extended moment, looking to each other for a simple explanation.

“Wait. Didn’t you get a similar bouquet after the fire?” Sadie set her fork down, that sleuthing look sparking in her eyes.

Finn’s stomach lurched, and air crawled sluggishly through his lungs as he too set the now bent fork in his hand down on his plate.

“Well, yes. I assumed they were from my dad. White lilies are his flowers of choice. At least, for funerals. Needless to say, the gesture didn’t exactly give me the warm fuzzies.” Joselyn sprang up from the chair and retrieved the card attached with the flowers, with Finn following right behind her.

I hope I am always there to rescue you. Get well soon.

Love, Finn

A growl emerged from Finn’s throat, and he used every ounce of his restraint to keep from ripping the note from her hand. “Sounds like a threat. To both of us.” He could scarcely articulate those words with the angry bind of his jaw grinding it shut.

“Hey, hey! Be careful with that.” Ever prepared, Sadie rushed to their side, Zip Lock and tweezers ready. “That’s evidence.” Bagging the note, she set it on the table.

Finn snatched up Sadie’s phone and dialed out.

“Morning, gorgeous. Missing me already?”

“Oh, yes, terribly.” Finn grunted, and Archer barked a laugh at the mix up. But Finn didn’t much feel like laughing at the moment.

“Arch, you better get over here.”

“I want every available hand tracking down where these flowers came from. That means local florists, grocery stores, online orders, anything you can think of. You find out where they came from we might get a description, a bank account number, or maybe a surveillance video. Don’t come back until you have something for me, we clear?” Archer’s orders were clipped and efficient, true to form for the ex-military sergeant he was. And with their assignments, the agents he’d brought with him scattered like ants, the local PDs on speakerphone chorused their agreement and signed off.

“Can I do anything?” Joselyn’s face blanched, her fingers clasping nervously in front of her stomach.

The thin fabric of her form-fitting sleep shirt had inched up around her waist, exposing a slice of smooth, creamy skin. Several of the agents that had been present a few moments ago hadn’t bothered to veil their appreciation for her figure, nearly tempting Finn to flare his nostrils and paw at the ground in warning.