Page 54 of The Best Friend Problem
Still laughing, she slapped the button on the base, cutting off the powerful suction and releasing him from the pump’s vacuum pull.
“I’m sorry, Finn.” Pru laughed, turning down a dial that had been suspiciously set to maximum. “But you looked like you were going into full panic mode. It was a distraction.”
Okay, he probably deserved that.
“Touché.” He grinned. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah.”
They paid for the items she’d picked out. She did, anyway, because she refused to let Finn help, claiming he drove here. Whatever—a few miles of gas did not equal the hundred dollars she spent on baby stuff. But he had to remind himself, this was her show and he promised to stand back and help with anything she wanted help with. Nothing more.
It was getting harder to remember he was simply a side player in all this when he found himself wanting to be more.
They headed back to the car, where he pulled out three more bags of the nausea pops from his trunk, which he’d bought earlier that week. She might not let him purchase any of the things for the baby, but she couldn’t stop him from taking care of her. She thanked him with only a slight roll of her eyes, tucking the candy into her shopping bags.
“Thanks for coming with me today, Finn.” She turned in her seat to face him when he parked in front of her building. “And thanks for helping me through my tiny, almost, not-really freak-out in the store.”
He chuckled, knowing how much Pru hated to admit to any kind of weakness or need for help.
“You’re welcome. I’d thank you for almost ripping my nipples off, but to be honest, it still kind of hurts. I’m going to have boob hickies for a week.”
She laughed. “Oh, poor Finn. Want me to kiss them and make it better?”
She was teasing, but the thought of Pru’s lips on his bare skin again shot a bolt of desire straight to his groin. It must have shown on his face, because her laughter died. Her tongue came out to drag along her lower lip in an unconscious, sexy move that made him hard as hell.
Screw it. He needed one more taste.
He cupped the back of her neck with his palm, pulling her forward. Her hands landed on his chest, lightly rubbing over skin that was sensitive in no way due to his experience with the breast pump and in every way because of the sexy, tempting, confusing woman before him. He stared into her dark brown eyes, asking the question without using words.
“Kiss me, Finn.”
She knew what he wanted without him even having to say it, because she wanted it, too. They were both screwed up. So why not be confused together?
He dipped his head, capturing her lips with his, reveling in the soft, mewling moan of hers that filled his ears as he took the kiss deeper. She opened for him, hands sliding up his chest and neck to rub against the buzzed sides of his hair. Yes! This was what he needed. The sweet, heavenly taste of Pru was a balm to all the confusing swirling mess of emotions that had been rioting inside him for weeks.
A horn blared behind them, breaking the spell. Pru pulled away, fingers leaving his scalp to rub over her swollen lips. Lips red and plump from his kisses. A blur of motion caught the corner of his eye as someone rushed by them to hop in the very rude and loudly honking taxi behind them.
“Okay, so, that was…” Pru shook her head and quickly gathered her bags then opened the car door and hopped out. “Bye, Finn.”
Bye, Finn? She kissed the holy hell out of him, and now she was running away like his car was on fire. If it was, the firefighter in him knew how to put it out. But damn if the aching, confused man inside knew how to extinguish this burning need he’d suddenly developed for his best friend.
He watched as she hurried into the building, stepping into the empty elevator and staring back at him with hungry, questioning eyes.
“Bye, Pru,” he whispered to the empty car, watching as the elevator doors closed, wishing he knew the answers to the questions those dark eyes asked.
Chapter Thirteen
The past few weeks, Pru had been waking in the middle of the night with nausea or the urgent need to pee. Tonight, something entirely different and much more irritating was keeping her from slipping into slumber land. Grabbing her phone from the bedside table, she groaned when the screen lit up to show a time just after midnight. Her groan turned into a growl as she focused on her lock screen picture—an adorable shot of her favorite, furry, four-legged creature in the arms of the very reason Pru couldn’t sleep.
Finn.
Why the hell had she kissed him earlier? Why had he kissed her back? And why for the love of all the chili cheese fries in the world had it been so damn hot that she lay there, hours later, going over the damn thing in her mind? Replaying the kiss made her remember other kisses in other places on other nights.
“Yeah, and look where that got me.”
Her hand unconsciously rubbed her stomach. She’d noticed a slight bulging to her abdomen in the past few days, evident by the fact she couldn’t fit into any of her jeans lately. Good thing she had a drawer full of leggings. Her doctor told Pru she might start to show earlier with twins, and the doc had been right. Everything seemed to be happening faster, more intensely than she planned. She hadn’t even suspected she’d be pregnant yet but figured it would take at least two tries before she conceived.
But I didn’t even get to the “try” part, did I?
