Page 52 of The Neighborly Thing To Do
“You have literally seen and touched my tits multiple times now. I think you can get past the fact that I wear a bra, Finn. I’ll even show it to you later if you’re good.”
Something flashes in his eyes, hot and hungry. “And I look forward to it,” he promises. “But this one is on me.” He pullsout his wallet and takes my hand with his free one, walking us over to Martha Pound, who’s managing the money for the town events board tonight.
Martha looks up at us with eyes that see more than she lets on. She’s a seer, and she gets vivid flashes of the future as part of her magic. I’m half tempted to ask her if she ever saw me and Finn, but I don’t want to draw more attention to the unusual start of our relationship.
Finn pulls out cash and hands it over, and Martha shoos us into the party.
“Have I told you you look stunning?” Finn asks me suddenly, hand tightening around mine as we continue to walk.
I stop my perusal of the games to look at him and give him a soft smile. “You did. But I don’t mind hearing it again.”
His hand snakes around my waist, pulling me into him. “I’ll tell you all night long. People are staring at you, wife.”
My head whips around. “Really? Why?” Did I tuck my dress into my underwear? Did my hair get horrifically messed up in our flight over? Are they all calculating how they’ll vote at the town meeting?
“Because you’re gorgeous, baby,” he murmurs, bending down to press a kiss into my neck. “People are staring because you look good enough to fucking eat tonight. And I get it, because I see you too, but I’m learning that I’m a jealous man.”
“Just now?” Is my voice coming out breathier than normal?
“Just now,” he confirms. “Guess I never had anything to be jealous over before. But their eyes on you, it’s driving me crazy.” He nips lightly at my neck, his teeth scraping my skin. “Have to admit, I’m about a minute away from marking my territory.”
Well, that’s a thought. I shiver and subtly glance around, trying to see what he’s seeing. People are staring all right, but it’s most likely because we’re acting so damn weird. It’s not every day they get to see Finn, their reclusive gentle giant, make a public spectacle of himself.
“I think what I need to do is make you come once for every person I see staring at you,” he murmurs, voice low and only for me. “Make you remember that I’m the one who makes you come like that.”
Oh, fuck. I fight a moan. Who knew I’d find possessiveness hot? Or Finn’s brand of it, anyway. Still, I pull myself together, trying to seem supremely unbothered when I quip, “I’ll be sad when I don’t get to come tonight at all, though.”
He growls. “I’m going to make you eat your words, baby. You’ll see how many people look at my wife and are as spellbound as I am. But I’m the one who gets to touch you, lick you, fuck you, aren’t I?”
“You are.” I can’t hold my composure anymore, and we either have to fly away from here or pull apart. “I guess we’ll see then.”
He releases me, but not before he rocks once against me, and I can feel his hard cock against my back. “I guess we will. Lead the way, wife. Let’s find something to do.”
Finn doesn’t bring up the bet we made as we explore the festival, although the intensity of the way he watches everything makes me think he hasn’t forgotten it. We make our way through the games, neatly side-stepping Miles Peters getting scolded by his mother for using a half shift to give himself wolf fangs while bobbing for apples. Finn wraps an arm around me when the crowd gets tight, using his sheer size to help us push through.
We get past the games and into the rows and rows of food, perusing the tables. Finn grabs multiple plates, handing me one while he starts eating as fast as he can. Mrs. Jacobs shakes her head, muttering, “Where does he put it all?” as she sets out a few more plates of chicken.
I grin. “If only I knew,” I tell her, digging into my own plate as we keep walking. I stop to chat with a few people as we acquire more food, each plate only a few bites. As we make it down to the dessert end, the sun has set enough to help ease the stickiness of the day.
We’re finishing our blueberry cobbler when Mayor Davies catches up to us, drifting through the table.
Finn groans. “Not this guy,” he murmurs, not as quiet as he thinks he’s being. “We’re not supposed to have to deal with him until tomorrow.”
“Ah, just the people I wanted to see. Hello, Delaneys.”
I fight to keep my face neutral. I don’t have any overt attachment to Prylor—for a long time, I’ve wished G and I shared a last time and both had Wright—but it’s weird being assigned a completely new last name.
Mayor Davies knows I haven’t legally changed my last name, too. I haven’t changed any paperwork or records. But still, he calls me Delaney, and I can’t decide if I like it or not.
“Good to see you,” I lie through my teeth. “Enjoying the party?” I know part of being mayor is being social and making sure you know everyone’s business, but a ghost has no reason to be near the food. He hasn’t eaten in, what, a hundred years?
“Oh, it’s a lovely night, isn’t it?” he says amicably. “Listen, I wanted to talk.”
“We’re here to celebrate tonight,” Finn cuts in. “Don’t bring up Hugh.” He puts his hand on my stomach again, pulling me back toward him like this is an attack he needs to protect me from.
“We need to consider him, though.” The mayor is evidently bad at following directions. “The reality is, this is a big deal for Hearthstone. Each of Hugh’s hotels has done well, and it always benefits the town. You two can live in Finn’s home. Surely it’s greedy to have two—”
“In my one bedroom apartment over my workplace that I don’t even own?” Finn interrupts. He steps around me, putting himself between me and the mayor. I appreciate the gesture, but I’m not being attacked, and I don’t need his protection. With ahand on his arm, I step up to his side. He pauses for a second, then compromises by wrapping an arm around me. “And when Georgia visits, we, what, leave her on the couch? If we have kids in the future, do they sleep on the floor?”
