And he’d lied for me.
I remember a time when we were in college when Sarah Hamlin wanted to date him, and he felt horrible that he didn’t feel the same. He’d tried to force it, but it just didn’t work. She wanted to be angry with him, but he’d told her the truth. He’d tried, and it just wasn’t there.
Finn had always believed what his father had told him about meeting Alana, Finn’s mom.
That when it happened, he’d know it.
But it just hadn’t happened.
And he was fine with it because he’d been so focused on his career, and when he wasn’t working, he liked to have a good time.
There was no shame in knowing what you want.
“Well, I don’t know about that. Tell me what’s going on at the shop,” I said, trying to change the subject.
I was lying to so many people I cared about, and it didn’t sit well with me. What was everyone going to think when all of this came to an end?
“Business is great, and things always get crazy busy heading into the holidays. Guess who came in yesterday?”
“Who?”
“Christy Rae Lovell.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “It seems she’s not too happy about Carl hiring you to design his new office.”
Ahhh… trouble in paradise.
“Really? It’s not like they live together. He and I are still friends. He’s just trying to help me out with the new business.”
“I don’t know. She was talking to Sally Cauldon, and I was just doing what small-town locals do best,” she said with a wink. “Eavesdropping like my life depended on it.”
My head fell back in laughter. “Well, I would expect nothing less here in Cottonwood Cove.”
“Yeah. It sounds like they get down and dirty at the hospital, though. She was telling Sally that she pulled him into a storage closet, and they went at it in there between seeing patients. Doesn’t that feel a little, I don’t know… dirty? For a doctor and a nurse to be banging between seeing sick people?”
My chest squeezed, and I made a conscious effort to keep my face even. “I don’t know. I mean, that stuff happens on Grey’s Anatomy, right?”
“True. But that’s with McDreamy and McSteamy. This is… Carl. If Finn were a doctor, I’d think it was perfectly fine. He’s got that swagger. You two must be having a lot of fun.” She shook her head. “The cowboy boots and the backward hat, and don’t even get me started on those abs he showed off in the finale of Big Sky Ranch. Ugh. I’m totally fangirling over your man. You know I’m very happy with Brex. I just got a little off track.”
We both laughed.
“Hey, I get it. You won’t get an argument here. And he’s all mine.” I fanned my face because my best friend was hot, and I totally understood why everyone gawked at the man. And he’d shared that his lack of sex was making him very horny around me. I’d ignored it, and obviously, we hadn’t acted on anything, but I couldn’t get what he’d said out of my mind.
“You lucky biotch.” She chuckled. “So, what will happen when he goes back to filming? He’ll be gone for months at a time, right?”
Yes. We’d stage an amicable breakup. Long distance wasn’t easy for anyone, but with him being a famous actor, it would be impossible to maintain at that point.
So, I had until after the holidays to get things back on track with Carl.
“We’ll just do whatever it takes to stay together,” I said with the confidence of someone in love.
“Good. I like seeing you happy. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you smile like this. It looks good on you.” She pushed to her feet.
Hadn’t I always been happy?
My light had probably been dulled by doing a job I didn’t feel inspired by. I was sure a lot of what she was seeing now was that I had opened my own business. I was doing what I loved.
I started my days riding Millie and ended my days racing Finn down to the beach before the sunset.
That was hard to beat.
“Thank you. I’ll be coming by later this week to look for a dress for Finn’s work party this weekend.”
“Perfect timing. We just got all new inventory. The cutest dresses you’ve ever seen. And we got a bunch of lingerie in, too. You’ll have to get a little something-something for after the party, too.” She waggled her brows, and I chuckled. “And we’re still on for happy hour with the girls tomorrow night?”
“I think I’ll have to take you up on that lingerie, and we are absolutely on for tomorrow night.” We were going with a few high school friends to Reynolds’ for happy hour. I hugged her goodbye and gathered up my iPad and my sketch pad to head to Carl’s for our design meeting.