Page 59 of Strictly Business
She stepped closer and I straightened to my full height staring down at her. Her chest practically touched mine, and I tried to calm the thoughts racing through my mind — especially the one about the lack of a bra under my shirt. “I guess, I wouldn’t mind.” Her words sent a pulse straight to my dick. The silence around us deafening before she started giggling. “Don’t think my brother would be too keen on you taking advantage of his little sister, though.” She stepped into the pair of shorts I had given her before pushing passed me. When she was gone, I let out the breath I didn’t realize I had been holding, but that wasn’t the only problem I needed to address.
“You made breakfast?” she asks now stealing a piece of bacon from the plate.
“I made breakfast,” I confirm.
“Finnley Sheffield knows how to cook, who knew?”
“Well, if you really want to know…”
“I don’t,” her kiss like a period at the end of her sentence. She smiles and takes the plate from my hands to start filling it with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and potatoes. “You have any…orange juice.” She takes the jug I hold out to her with a smile. “You just so happened to know I’d want this?”
“You always have orange juice with your breakfast, never coffee.”
“It’s weird that you know that.”
“We’ve known each other a long time, Shortcake. Whether or not we were friends, we know things about each other.”
“I don’t know things about you, Finn. Not like that, not like only having orange juice with your breakfast.”
“Well,” I plant a soft kiss on her forehead, “there’s plenty of time to learn. Though, I do have one question.” She pops a piece of bacon in her mouth waiting for me to continue. “What’s with the tattoo?”
Her laugh brings a smile to my lips. “Late night in college… I was trying to be spontaneous, so I chose dare instead of truth. I keep it hidden because Mom and Dad would lose their mind if they knew about it.”
“Jimmy has them.”
“Jimmy isn’t their daughter.” She hoists herself onto the counter and eats another piece of bacon. “I decided to go with the Pisces constellation because it wasn’t completely basic, but it wasn’t anything outrageous either.” My hands grip the silky skin of her thighs spreading her legs so I can stand between them. Her arms drape around my shoulders lacing together at the base of my neck. “But, I’d like to keep it our little secret. Josh would probably freak out if he knew.”
“You’re a twenty-eight-year-old woman, Michaela. Why does it matter what your brother thinks?” I grip her chin lightly, bringing her eyes to mine. “You can’t always worry about what they’re gonna think, Shortcake. You have to be yourself.” I press a gentle kiss to her mouth before wrapping her legs around my waist and stepping away from the counter.
“Finn!” Michaela giggles as I walk to the couch. When I lay her down on the chaise, she refuses to let go and pulls my mouth to hers, again.
“We need to eat,” I mumble, and a pout forms on her lips when I pull away untangling her legs from my torso. She’s quick to find her spot on the couch, bundling up in the green throw blanket draped over the back.
“Can I ask you something?” she asks as I grab both plates and bring them back to the couch. “You started Sheffield House to help kids. Help them find a family, find a home… Kids who need a chance, like you, but…”
Like me?
“…you don’t talk about your adoption. Why?”
It takes me a moment to register what she just asked.
“You could help so many kids by telling your story, I don’t—”
“How do you know about that?” The words come out a lot harsher than I mean them to, and she recoils. There’s only a handful of people who know the truth and I’m sure I know who it was that told her. My family doesn’t discuss it because discussing it would mean admitting Oliver had failed at something. And he couldn’t fail at anything. “Michaela, who told you”
“Josh mentioned it at Coney Island.”
“Of course.”
“Finn, I—”
“I don’t talk about it,” I interrupt her. “None of us do. Oliver and Hayley adopted me when I was five, and I was just happy to have somewhere to call my own. Happy to feel wanted after being in and out of different foster homes and group homes. And you know Oliver, how he is… The dream only lasted so long and as much as I came to hate him, as much as I got myself into trouble, I didn’t care because at least I had a place of my own. And then, when I went to Bridgeport, I had a family with the Davises, so it wasn’t too bad.”
“Even with me around?”
Finn smiles, “Even with your pain in the ass.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine