Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
A check of my watch told me I’d better get moving. Breakfast in the Manor would be finished soon. Tenn would have already left to drop the kids off at school, and any help Parker had allotted for the move would be showing up any minute. She was a mini drill sergeant, and she had everyone organized.
I looked at the pile of duffel bags on the floor, and hefted them back into my arms with a groan, crisscrossing the straps over my shoulders until I was surrounded. They bounced against my hips with every step, but I had to get everything out of the way so people weren’t tripping over bags while they carried furniture. I headed for the stairs, tossing one of the duffels down the hall to Nicky’s bedroom before stomping up the stairs with the rest, awkwardly dropping them in the closet on top of the boxes Finn had deposited the day before.
Finn. A quick flash of memory hit me. Those heated moments on the counter. Somehow, I had not seen that coming, even though I’d thought about it more than I wanted to admit. I’d thought about Finn kissing me, touching me. I’d wanted it. If I was honest with myself, I’d dreamed about it in the dark of night, tucked into my lonely bed. Finn. His hands. His mouth on me. What it might be like with him. But still, I hadn’t seen that coming. I wanted it, but I never thought it would happen. Not for real.
Now that it had, I couldn’t help but wonder when it would happen again. I didn’t doubt that it would. Putting aside Finn’s arrogant promise of soon, I knew I wanted it to happen again, ideally within hours. Even as I had the thought, I knew it was ridiculous. For one, I was still sore. The achy twinge between my legs was a pleasant reminder, but Finn had been right about that. Two, today was for moving, not illicit sex with my boss’s brother.
I laughed at myself as I headed back downstairs to unpack the coffee maker. The coffee maker Finn bought for me. He didn’t get it at the local big box store. They had a decent selection of kitchen stuff, but nothing this high-end. He didn’t order it. Packages went through Hawk’s team and then came to me. So when had he had time to go into Asheville? Why did I care? Was everything today going to make me think of Finn?
I hoped not. I pushed that thought away. Finn was complicated, but he didn’t have to be. We were both adults. We could handle a little sex. No big deal. But the last thing I needed was for anyone to figure out we were sleeping together. Then we’d have to explain it, and I couldn’t explain it to myself just yet.
Neither of us was looking for a relationship. I had no idea what I wanted, but I knew I didn’t want a boyfriend, or a partner, or anything like that. I hated the word lover—it felt so old-fashioned, like something my grandmother might have said. Fuck buddy was too casual. I mean, whatever we had was definitely in that territory. It sure as hell wasn’t serious, but the word buddy was too . . . friendly. I had a lot of feelings about Finn, for Finn, but none of them were exactly friendly. Friends with benefits? Maybe. But benefits was too pale and transactional a word to describe sex with Finn. Could something that mind-blowing be a benefit? It felt more like winning the sexual lottery.
Never mind. I didn’t need to label it. And that was all the thought I was prepared to give to Finn Sawyer today. Today was for me and settling into my new house, not for my new friends with benefits/fuck buddy/whatever.
I finished unpacking the coffee maker, stuffing the Styrofoam packing material bag in the box and rinsing off the carafe. It occurred to me that I had a brand-new gourmet coffee maker, but I’d forgotten to bring over any coffee, creamer, or mugs. Everyone helping out would want coffee or cold drinks. That was normally the kind of thing I would have taken care of, but I’d been distracted by the details of moving.
I’d stashed cold soda and water in the fridge a few days before, but coffee had completely slipped my mind. I could run back to the house and get coffee mugs and all the rest of it in a few minutes. First I’d have to run a few pots of hot water through the coffee maker to clean the system out. Might as well get started on that. I had the first carafe of hot water almost full when the door opened and Parker swept inside, a big box in her arms, followed by Scarlett, Sterling, and Hope.