Page 59 of Capture The Moment

“Do you really want your neighbors to see?”

On a dark winter evening, there wasn’t much activity in the neighborhood, but she decided to save her argument for something more worthwhile. Sighing, she opened the truck door and hopped down before he could come around and assist her.

After receiving an enthusiastic greeting from Daisy and shedding their boots and coats, she led Finn into the living room, where she’d left on a lamp. Instead of taking a seat like he usually did, he stood in the middle of the room, looking uncertain, and suddenly, a lot of the fight drained out of her.

“I hate this,” she said, gesturing between the two of them. “What’s happening to us?”

His hands were shoved deep in his front pockets, as if he were afraid to reveal them. “I hate it too,” he said quietly.

“You still haven’t explained why you reacted the way you did when you saw me with Will.”

He looked down at the ground and shook his head. “I’m having trouble understanding it myself.”

Harper sighed. “This is all my fault. If I wouldn’t have kissed you that night, we’d be fine right now.”

Still shaking his head, he glanced up at her. “If you wouldn’t have done it, I would have. Maybe not that night, but I’m sure it would have happened.”

His admission caught her off guard. “But…”

“Can’t you tell? I feel it too.”

“Feel what?”

“This thing between us. We can try to fight it, but it’s there. The kiss just brought it to the surface.”

And then she looked down at the floor, unsure of how to proceed.

Finn reached over, placed his index finger under her chin, and gently lifted it. “Don’t hide from me, Harper.”

“I…I don’t know how to do this.”

“I don’t either. That’s what’s got me all tied up in knots.”

“But…what about that woman at the bar? I saw you leave with her.”

He took a step forward and gently cupped her cheek. “But I didn’t go home with her. I couldn’t.”

Her breath had already become ragged from his nearness, and she inhaled deeply, grasping for some calm in the storm of her emotions.

“I saw you kiss Will, and I thought I should be kissing someone else too, but the person I really wanted to be kissing was you.”

Harper leaned her cheek into his hand, as if she could absorb some strength from it. He took another step closer, and she felt his heat surround her. He looked as if he were about to kiss her again, but she lifted her head and placed both hands on his chest. “Wait. I need to explain about Will.”

But Finn just shook his head. “You broke it off with him. I already know.”

“But…who…how?”

Finn’s face broke out in a slow, satisfied grin. “Julia told Connor, and Connor told me, thinking I might want to know.”

Harper wasn’t sure whether to be irritated with Julia or grateful. But given the sudden turnaround in Finn’s mood, she decided to go with the latter. “I’m sorry. We…I was just trying to make you jealous.”

“And it worked,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. “Are you sure that’s all it was?”

“Positive,” she replied immediately. She was done playing games. She’d graduated from middle school a long time ago.

As they’d been talking, Finn had taken another step closer, and now he rested his hands on her hips.

“So.”