///
"Nah," he says with a cheeky smile. "I'd ask one of the girls hanging around to get me some."
"Of course you did." My nose wrinkles with annoyance.
"Give me a little credit, Chess. I'd buy them now if I had to."
"Hmm … " I eye him, trying not to return his smile. If only because it's more fun when he teases. "So why are you in this aisle now, if not for potential nosebleed needs?"
"That's easy." He steps closer, a warm wall of muscle and clean scent. "I heard your voice."
For a second I just blink. "You recognized my voice?"
His gaze darts over my face as if he's trying to get a read on why I'm gaping at him. "Not to be … ah … rude, but you're loud when you talk on the phone."
"Yeah, but … You recognized it." We'd only just met. It occurs to me that I'd recognized his both times he'd snuck up on me. Then again, his voice is distinctive, flowing like hot honey when he's relaxed or hammering down like iron to rock when he's taking command of a situation.
A soft flush of pink tints the tips of his ears. If I wasn't staring at him, I might have missed it. He shifts his weight. "Was I not supposed to?"
"No. Yes." I shake my head and laugh. "I don't know."
He grins then. "You're cute when you're flustered."
"I'm not flustered." I am.
As if we've come to some silent agreement, we head down the aisle to the register, drawing a double take from some skinny guy buying a bag of M&Ms. The cashier gapes at Finn, but doesn't say a word as she rings me up. She also misses the bag by a foot when she attempts to put my gelato in it. I help her out by bagging my own stuff so she can continue to stare at Finn.
Out on the street, Finn nudges me with his arm. He does it gently, barely a tap, and yet I feel the strength in him. "This makes two times now we've run into each other," he says.
"I'm still not convinced about the whole stalking thing."
He leans down a touch, so we're nearly face-to-face. "I think it's fate saying we should hang out."
"Hang out, huh?" The truth is, I don't want to go home now. I want to linger on this humid sidewalk and hear what ridiculous thing will come out of him next. But I have gelato melting. "I don't know why. We've been at each other's throats since we met."
"Ah, Chessie, that's just the way we play." He nudges my shoulder again. "Tell me you haven't had any fun with me. Come on."
I can't. And he knows it.
His smile turns soft. "I like you."
He likes me. I want to grin like a twelve year old. I imagine this is how it feels to be passed a note by the hottest guy in school.
"Is that so hard to believe?" he asks.
Not hard exactly. More like unexpected and strange. Yesterday, he was just some dickhead jock giving me shit. Now he's tell me we should hang out. And what does that even mean?
I've been silent for too long because he speaks again, soft, cajoling. "I think you like me too."
Hell. I do. That's the most unexpected thing of all. He's unlike anyone I know. A challenge and yet easy to talk to. He's also a famous, extremely hot football player who has beautiful women throwing themselves at him. In a world full of bad bet men, he's at the top.
"I'm just not sure what you expect to get out of this," I explain. "A date?"
Finn rubs the back of his neck, looking as perplexed as I feel. "I'm fairly crap at dating, Chess."
Disappointment hits me like brick to the chest. But I nod in understanding. "I'm fairly crap at hookups," I tell him. "I've run through that playbook and don't particularly like it."
His brows lift with a pleased expression. "Look at you using football terms."
"I thought I'd speak to your level." I bite back a laugh.
He snickers but quickly sobers. "Last night, I did see you from the street. I went into the bar to talk to you. Even before that-at dinner-I was thinking about you."
I think I make a sound of shock.
He doesn't seem to notice. "I dreaded that photoshoot. You turned it around and made it bearable. All the bullshit just went away."
"That's part of my job," I say, lamely. It isn't a lie. But with him, I'd stopped thinking about getting a good shot. And though we've just met, he appears to know that too.
///
"And last night at the bar?" he counters. "Right now? You aren't working."
"I … " Shit.
"Everyone in my life is connected to football. I don't get true interactions very much. And, if I do, they're fleeting. But I have them with you." A line creases between his brows. "Does that make sense?"
I might not be famous, but I feel the same sense of isolation, as if I'm going through life underwater and everything is muffled and distorted. When I get within a few feet of Finn Mannus, there is clarity. It scares the hell out of me; I need stability too. But I can't lie.
I clear my throat. "It makes sense."
He smiles then, pleased and happy. And it takes my breath. His expression turns earnest, his eyes scanning mine. "I want to know you, Chess Copper. I don't know why. I just do. I could make a play to get in your pants. But I don't want to. A one night stand with you doesn't appeal to me."
"Oh, well thanks." It's one thing to agree that sex is a bad idea. It's another be told you're unappealing.
Finn shakes his head as if I'm slow. "Pay attention, Chester. I said I want to know you. I don't get to know my hookups."
"So were going to … What? Be friends."
He looks almost boyish then. "Yeah. We are." His eyes spark. "Fair warning. I'll still be picturing you naked half of the time. So get used to a bit of leering."
I snort. "You just had to go and ruin the moment, didn't you?"
"Probably should get used to that too."
Chapter Four
Finn
* * *
"So?" Jake gives me an expectant look.
I have to hand it to him, he waited a whole two minutes before pouncing, the nosy bastard.
"So what?" I maneuver my pickup around a plodding bus.
Jake snorts, because he knows as well as I do that I'm stalling. "You tap that, Manny?"
"She's not a keg, Ryder."
"Okay, fine." He rolls his eyes. "Did you hook up with Ms. Chess?"
"Nope."
"Bummer."
"I told you I wasn't trying to get in her pants." I feel his stare boring into me and glance over. "What?"
"You're attracted to her. Anyone with eyes can see that."
I give him a lazy shrug as we stop at a red light. "Not denying it."
"So you want me to believe that you're fine with striking out?" He says it with incredulity, as if the possibility of not having sex with a woman is sacrilege.
"I didn't strike out. I didn't even try. She made it clear she wasn't interested."
"I'm pretty sure you could have persuaded her to change her mind."
We pull up in front of a squat cinderblock building on St. Charles. "I don't want to persuade a woman into bed. Jesus."
Jake nods. "You're right. It's not like either of us has to go searching for it." He looks me over in clear confusion. "So you just walked her home and that's it?"
"You're awfully curious about my business."
"I know, right?" He grins happily. "I'm like a kitten over here."
"I think I'm going to need an antacid. Where's my bag?" I reach behind me to grab it, and earn a flick on the ear. My head rears back. "You did not just … "
Jake flips me the bird. "Bring it, Manny pants."
Things devolve from there as we give each other smacks on the head.
"Okay, fuck, I give!" Jake yells when I get him in a headlock. An older woman walking by peers into the cab of my SUV with suspicion. I give her an innocent smile and let Jake go. He pushes off me, adjusting his shirt with a mutter. "Touchy priss."
Grabbing my bag, I get out of the car and he follows, grabbing his own gear.
"When's the last time you hung out with a woman," I ask. "One that wasn't trying to take a selfie with you or rifle through your stuff when your back was turned?"
Jake's expression scrunches up as we head for the building's entrance. "Uh, freshman year." He laughs. "Of high school."
"Exactly." I pull open the door, and we enter the freezing haven of air-conditioning. "Chess is just Chess. I don't need to fuck her. I just want to be and not have to explain it."
"Frankly," he says, as we jog up the stairs. "I'm more surprised she even talks to you. I could have sworn she hated you."
"I grow on people."
"Like fungus."