Vegas Vacation (Destination Desire) (14 page)

The kiss was all lips and teeth and tongue as their need spiked. He slid his hands over her soft curves, filling his palms with her ass. Backing her against the shower wall, he pulled her up so she could cinch her legs around his waist.
God, yes.
He plunged into her, going deep on the first thrust. Her nails scored his shoulders, and she moaned.

His heart raced, the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. His lungs heaved as he struggled to draw in air fast enough, still he didn’t release her mouth. The squeeze of her slick sex on his cock was fantastic, the friction mind-blowing as their bodies moved under the hot spray. His muscles burned as he pistoned in and out of her, faster, harder, wanting to forge them into one, wanting to make sure she knew she was his whether she liked it or not. The roughness of his possession was unlike him, but she pushed him beyond all semblance of control. He took her hard and fast and he fucking loved it. She whimpered into his mouth, her pussy fisting on his cock with every hard shove of his dick into her. She was close. He could sense it, feel it. The last few days had given him the ability to read her body.

Rolling his hips, he ground himself against her clit. Her thighs clamped on his waist, and she threw back her head, crying out as orgasm shook through her. “Finn!”

A groan was his only response and he slammed into her, driving toward his own release. One, two, three more thrusts and he was shuddering against her, come jetting from him.

He let his forehead drop to her shoulder as he sucked in oxygen. Her hand stroked through his wet hair, and he liked it too much. He liked her too much for his own good. All he could do now was pray. He hadn’t been this desperate for some kind of miracle since his mom got sick. God help him if this ended as badly as that had.

Chapter Eleven

“Dad offered to pick us up, but I wasn’t sure if that was going to mean twenty minutes of awkward silence with his girlfriend or what, so I just said we’d take a cab.” Finn rambled, repeating something he’d already said. Twice. He sounded nervous, so Meg slid her hand into his and squeezed. He closed his eyes and tightened his fingers around hers. “We’re almost there.”

“It’s going to be okay,” she soothed. “Even if it’s really bad, I’m here and I’ll do what I can to deflect the badness.”

They turned into what looked like a sprawling condo community. The cab took them past a pool and a rec center. The pool had an aqua aerobics class going on and a few seniors with yoga mats were walking into the rec building.

She craned her head to look around. “It’s busy around here.”

“Yeah.” He swallowed, his thumb rubbing over her palm. “I think my dad likes that about the place. He said it didn’t feel like a convalescent home where people went to die.”

“Good call.”

Nodding, he braced when they went over a speed bump. “He toured a few places before he picked this one. I liked that they had medical staff on call at all times. My dad’s in amazingly good health, but you never know. What if he falls and breaks a hip or develops a condition that requires extra care?”

The taxi pulled to a stop, and Meg waited while Finn paid the driver. She glanced around, but the buildings all looked the same. Tidy, newly painted, but with the blandness of any planned community. “I can see how that would take a load off your mind. My parents are still a few years off from a retirement community, but I’m making a mental note for when they do start looking at them.”

Finn took her hand to steer her toward one of the staircases. “My parents were in their late thirties when they married and had me, so they were always older than most of my friends’ parents.”

“Mine were pretty young when they had me. Still in their teens.” Which might have contributed to some of the problems they’d had later. They’d been too young, too immature. Especially her dad. He hadn’t known what he wanted out of life, and when he’d tried to experiment and figure himself out, his marriage had imploded. Not that she was making an excuse for him—she had always painted him as a pure villain in the situation, without thinking about what might have caused it. Her parents had fought a lot before he’d strayed. He should have ended things before he found a new bedmate, but that spoke to a lack of maturity too.

 Funny that she’d never thought of it that way. She’d always just seen how it affected her and how not to go through that again. Selfish, perhaps, but she’d been a teen when they broke up. Teens were self-absorbed.

Finn drew her over to a door with a massive fish emblazoned on the welcome mat. She pursed her lips to stop a grin from forming. “I can guess what your dad’s hobby is.”

“Yep. We take a backpacking and fishing trip at least once a year. He also likes baseball, for the record.” He let a breath ease out, then turned and caught her face in his hands. “Thank you for being here tonight. Even if this could be a suckfest.”

“I’m glad I’m here for you.” And she meant it. Even if she couldn’t be with him in the long run, she could do this for him. Everything this week had unraveled for her. She felt like she was coming apart at the seams. What she knew was wrong felt so right, and what she shouldn’t want, she craved. Her orderly world wasn’t as safe as she’d thought it was—the future wasn’t as clear as it had once been, and that was dangerous. But she could be here for Finn now, and worry about the future later.

He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “All right. Let’s do this.”

The door opened before he could knock, and Meg came face-to-face with what Finn would look like in forty years. Except for the brown eyes, the similarity was uncanny. It was a bit eerie to see the two men together, especially when Finn’s dad dragged him in for a hug and then they stood right next to each other facing her.

“Dad, this is Meg Phillips.”

He could have qualified it and said they were friends or they worked together, but he didn’t. Because none of those things were the truth—not the whole truth anyway.

She smiled and held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Walsh.”

“Call me John.” His grin was wide, welcoming, and a little bit speculative as he glanced from her to Finn and back again. He engulfed her hand with his, giving a firm shake. “Come on in.”

The condo was larger than she expected. There was a wide living room, what looked like an office opening off one side, a kitchen and a long hall with enough doors to indicate several bedrooms. The decorations were worn, and she assumed they were from the house he and his late wife had shared. There was definitely a feminine touch.

“Can I get you something to drink? Water, juice, wine, beer? I might even have the fixings for a margarita, if you feel like a cocktail.”

Over John’s shoulder, she saw a woman step out of the kitchen. She was short and round with cropped salt-and-pepper hair and a ready smile. She also wore eye shadow in a shade of electric turquoise not found in nature, a bright purple caftan, and at least a pound of jewelry hung around her neck. There was a large, sparkly ring on every finger that flashed when she waved. “Hi, I’m Ursula.”

Well, this should be interesting.

Finn was relieved that the woman didn’t look a thing like his mother, but the eye-searing shades she was sporting made him do a double take. That was one hell of a fashion statement.

Ursula came toward them and thrust her hand out for him to shake. “It’s good to meet you, Finn. Your father talks a lot about you.”

He couldn’t say the same for her, but he kept that to himself. This whole experience was surreal. He took her hand. “Nice to meet you too, Ursula.”

“I doubt that,” she said bluntly, softening it with a smile. “But maybe it will be after you get to know me.”

The honesty was refreshing, and he had to chuckle. “I hope you’re right.”

“I’m sure of it. I’m very likeable.” Her dark eyes twinkled, and she pivoted toward Meg before he could respond to her statement. “Is it Meg or Megan? I couldn’t quite hear from the kitchen.”

“Just Meg, thanks.” Meg’s eyebrows arched as she took in the colorful appearance of the older woman, which only got more flamboyant when Ursula was close enough to see that every stone in her rings was a different color and from her necklaces hung a crucifix, a Star of David, a pentacle, and a portly little Buddha. Meg met his gaze, and he saw merriment shining in her gray eyes.

Just like that, he relaxed. This might be strange, but it would be all right. Meg was here, his dad seemed to be the fishing nut he’d always been, the condo looked the same, and Ursula was an exotic bird that Finn had no doubt would be entertaining.

Letting out a breath, he smiled for the first time since they’d left the hotel. “I’ll take a beer, if you’ve got one. Meg…you probably want a glass of water?”

“Yes, please.”

Dinner was less uncomfortable than he’d thought it would be. It helped that his dad and Ursula didn’t do any public displays of affection. She occasionally put her hand on his shoulder or arm, but that was it. Finn appreciated that they were letting him ease into them being touchy-feely. Ursula was a riot. There was no other word to describe her. She was born in Kansas, but in her twenties had left home and joined a commune, decided she didn’t like commune life and floated like a gypsy around the world until she ended up in Vegas. She’d met his father on a trip the retirement home had organized several months before. They didn’t specify when meeting had turned into dating and Finn didn’t ask.

It also helped that Meg sat next to him during dinner and had her leg pressed against his under the table. For some unnamable reason, the physical contact kept him grounded. He didn’t miss the way Ursula and his dad looked at Meg and him. The older couple seemed to be hoping for some kind of explanation of Finn and Meg’s relationship. But Finn wouldn’t have known where to start, so he kept silent on the subject, and Meg did too. Instead, Meg took the focus off Finn and regaled them with hilarious stories of her three best friends, babysitting Anne’s crazy sisters, dealing with some of her own wacky and wild students, and competed with his dad on baseball trivia.

“Okay, I’m just going to ask,” Ursula started, but his dad’s hand came down on her arm, squeezing her into silence.

“We’re just colleagues. Really.
Just
colleagues.” Meg’s smile was too bright to be real. “Where’s the restroom?”

Dad pointed her in the right direction, while Finn stood and began gathering the dinner dishes. Didn’t it just figure that the most awkward moment in the evening would come from
his
love life rather than his father’s? Finn didn’t know whether to laugh or put his fist through a wall. He did neither, just took the plates into the kitchen, set them down and braced his hands against the counter, blowing out a breath. “Fuck.”

“It’s hard, loving a woman.” His dad came up behind him, setting a hand on Finn’s shoulder.

“I don’t—”

“Don’t you?” The question was quiet, but it shut Finn down.

Yes, he did love her. Jesus. He’d been holding back, telling himself not to go over that cliff, but it was too late. The truth slammed into him with all the power of a sledgehammer to the chest. He was in love, and she still insisted they were
just
coworkers. What a fucking nightmare.

“I like your Meg. I hope things work out with you.”

His laugh was a painful, awful sound and he felt tears burn the back of his eyes. He dropped his chin to his chest, glad his father couldn’t see his face. “I like Ursula, too. She seems nice.”

“No one will ever replace your mother, but this is different. Not more or less, just…different.” His dad paused. “It’s been nice having someone to spend time with. I’ve missed that, the companionship.”

Finn would miss that too. Just…talking to Meg, being around her, laughing with her. He was going to lose her, only unlike his mother, she hadn’t died. She just…didn’t want him anymore. That sliced through his soul like razors.

“Have you told her that you love her?” Dad asked.

He glanced over his shoulder, incredulous. As if he was going to discuss that with anyone. So he turned the tables. “Have you? With Ursula?”

Clapping him on the back, Dad chuckled ruefully. “Like father, like son.”

“It’ll be over when we go back tomorrow,” Finn admitted, to himself as much as to his father. What hope did he have left? Meg had been clear about her position before she’d fled to the bathroom.

There was a long moment of silence before his dad spoke again. “If you let her walk away without telling her, you’ll regret it. You’d be folding before you played your trump card, giving up without letting her make a fully informed decision on where you both stand.”

“I don’t think it’d make a difference.” And didn’t it rankle to confess that?

“There’s only one way to know for sure. Think about it.” Dad stepped away, reached into the fridge, and pulled out a frosty bottle of beer. “I think you could use one of these.”

Snorting, Finn accepted the offering, popped the top, and took a deep swig. The slightly bitter brew fit his mood perfectly, but it didn’t wash away his dad’s words. They nagged at him the rest of the evening, through the drive back to the hotel, and on the walk to his room.

He’d come into this thinking he was all in, that he’d be playing to win, but somehow during this week, he’d started to hold himself back, realizing he might be risking far more than he could afford to lose. His very soul. But she’d taken it anyway. She just didn’t know it, and he doubted she’d even want it. And yet…he knew she cared, knew this wasn’t a simple fling for her. She wasn’t the kind of woman who had simple flings.

Should he tell her the whole truth? Risk everything? If she still left, knowing how he felt, it would gut him. It would be so much worse than saying nothing. But what if knowing he loved her made the difference?

Shaking his head, he pulled out the key card for his room. “Sorry, I forgot to ask if you wanted to stay in my room or yours tonight. I was on autopilot.”

“Your room is fine.” Tilting her head back, she searched his face, but he had no idea what she’d see there. She gave him a wan smile. “Let’s end where we began.”