Finn groaned. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I’m trying to distract you.”
“From what?”
“Fixating on the model,” James said. “If you start obsessing about her, things are just going to get tougher.”
“I’m not obsessing.”
“Is that her?”
Finn’s head snapped in the direction James pointed. “No,” he said, shaking his head irritably. “You did that on purpose.”
“Payback is a bitch.”
Despite his brother’s jovial attitude, Finn was busily scanning the crowd. He wasn’t sure Emma would be back. If he was her, he would have dropped the second day of the boat show altogether. He wasn’t her, though.
He blew out a relieved sigh when he saw her walking in their direction, his body stiffening. James followed his gaze, whistling low in appreciation.
“Good grief, man. Is that her?”
Finn nodded mutely.
“She is really hot,” James said.
“You have a girlfriend,” Finn reminded him, never taking his eyes off of Emma. “One you love dearly.”
“I do,” James agreed. “That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how hot that woman is.”
“Are you trying to piss me off?”
“Is it working?”
“You have no idea,” Finn replied.
James was silent for a minute, watching Emma. Her eyes landed on Finn briefly, her expression unreadable. Then she’d moved to the back of the display so she could change her clothes. When she stepped back out, James felt like one of those cartoon characters with bulging eyes.
“Holy crap.”
“You have a girlfriend,” Finn repeated.
“Dude, I’m not moving in on your turf,” James said. “She’s just … incredible.”
“I’ve noticed,” Finn replied dryly. “If you don’t stop staring at her, I’m going to tell Mandy.”
“No you won’t,” James scoffed. “You know I would never cheat on Mandy, and you’re too good of a guy to hurt her like that.”
“Fine. Will you just stop staring at her?”
“I’m looking at the diamond.”
Finn shifted his eyes to his brother, noticing the smirk playing at the corner of his lips. “You weren’t even really looking at her, were you?”
“I looked at her,” James said. “She is very pretty.”
“You’re so far gone that you don’t even care about a model,” Finn said. “How does that happen?”
James shrugged. “I don’t want anyone else.”
“Ever?”
James stilled, his face conflicted.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot,” Finn said. “I’m not asking if you’re ready to propose anytime soon or anything.”
James remained silent.
Now it was Finn’s turn to smirk. “You’re thinking of proposing, aren’t you?”
“Not yet,” James said. “I think it’s still a little early. We’ve only been together about seven months.”
“You’ve considered the timing of it, though,” Finn said. “That’s … that’s huge. How do you feel about it? Are you freaked out?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Finn shook his head, glancing at Emma for a second. “How do you go from never wanting to settle down to not being freaked out by the idea of settling down?”
“I think you’re missing the point,” James said. “I’m already settled down. I go to bed every night with one woman. I wake up with that same woman every morning, and I’m perfectly content. Sometimes, when it happens, you just know.”
“And you know?”
James shrugged. “I’m getting there. I’m not quite ready yet. I don’t think she is either. I guess you could say I’m getting ready to be ready.”
“That’s great, man.”
James shifted next to him uncomfortably. “You can’t tell anyone, especially Ally. She won’t be able to keep her mouth shut.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Finn promised. “When do you think you’ll be ready?”
“I don’t know,” James admitted. “I figure, just like everything else, I’ll know when I know.”
“And you know she’s the one?”
James shifted his brown eyes to his brother’s matching set. “I know she’s all I want in this world.”
Finn couldn’t keep the silly grin from his face. “I think that’s really great. She’s always been a part of our family. It’s nice to know, somewhere down the road, she’ll be a part of our family for real.”