“Clothes?” I croak. On stiff legs, I go to him, as he pulls open a drawer.

Shirts of various colors, jeans—blue and black—sweaters… They’re all neatly folded, tags still on them. I blink again, more rapidly, my throat swelling.

“You got me clothes?”

His eyes meet mine. “You needed them.”

I can’t speak.

“It’s just to get you started,” he goes on as if I’m not about to lose it right here in his cozy guest room. I find bras, panties, socks and nighties, in a rainbow of color, resting nicely in another drawer.

“Bra size was a little harder to guess. I mean, I was pretty sure about cup size but 34? 36? I have no idea what that’s all about…” He meets my gaze, and the tips of his ears pink. “Ah…yeah…so anyway…”

A smile pulls at my lips. “I could always go without.”

“Please don’t,” he teases. “I’m trying hard enough as it is to not ogle your tits.”

My chest is so tight it hurts to laugh. I suck in a shaky breath at the end of it. “When did you do this?”

He couldn’t possibly have had the time.

“As much as I’d like to take credit,” he says, sliding a drawer closed. “My assistant, Charlie, did it. You’ll meet him soon enough.” Finn goes to turn off the water. “He works for a bunch of us guys, and when I heard about the fire, I called him in to help.”

“Finn…” I don’t know what to even say. Slowly, I walk toward him. “All of this…” Shit, I’m going to sob.

He shrugs again as if it’s no big deal. “I wanted to give you what I could.”

The bathroom is warm and humid, the air fragrant with the vanilla-lemon bubble bath he added to the water when I wasn’t looking.

Finn gazes down at me, his expression so tender, I might break. I can’t. If I cry now, I don’t know if I can stop.

“Look, you don’t have to stay more than the night,” he says in the quiet. “But I wish you would. I’ve got some away games coming up and will be traveling for a couple of weeks, so you’ll have the place to yourself.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

The stiff way he holds his shoulders eases, and he lets out a breath. “Good. Go on and have your bath. I’ll get the meds the doc prescribed.”

“You’ll get my meds?” God, all I’m doing is parroting him now, but my mind has scrambled.

Finn rests his hand on my shoulder. “Chess, honey, I’ll get you anything you need.”

He becomes a blur as my eyes fill. I blink back tears that cannot fall. But my resistance crumbles. With a shuddering breath, I step into his space and wrap my good arm around his waist. “Finn,” I croak.

Immediately, he gathers me up, holding me close, his lip pressed to the top of my head. I lean on him and wallow in the feel of his body, strong and firm and warm. It’s so comforting, part of me wants to pull away, afraid that I’ll come to need this too much. But I can’t move.

“I think I love you right now,” I tell him, my voice muffled on his crisp shirt.

Those massive arms of his tighten a fraction, even as his chest shakes on a laugh. “Only right now, eh?”

“I’m sure you’ll eventually say something to remind me why that’s a bad idea.” I don’t bother lifting my nose from his chest. The silk of his tie presses against my cheek, the scent of fine wool and clean man surrounding me. Finn in a suit is devastating. But I miss his t-shirt and jeans.

“Probably,” he agrees then sighs. “I’m glad you’re okay, honey.”

A fine tremor goes through his body. And I realize, he isn’t nervous, he’s upset. I snuggle closer. “Thank you for coming to get me.”

“Always, Chess.”

He says it with such fierce sincerity that my knees go weak. I think about the loss of my house, my work. Jesus, my Nikon D5 DSLR. I took out a loan to get that baby. Not to mention my lenses. My beautiful lenses. Gone. Melted.

Panic claws up my throat. If I let it in, I’ll ask him to take me to bed, make me forget for a few hours why I’m so scared. I can almost hear myself begging, almost feel my hands moving down to cup the fat bulge in his pants.

He’d be willing. I know this well. Finn has never hidden his attraction to me. And it would be so good. I know this without a doubt. But morning would come and I’d still be a woman without a home, facing the only friend I have close right now with all the awkwardness and regret that comes with a one night stand.

I force myself to loosen my hold on him, to step back and find some distance. Finn’s arms fall to his sides as he watches me back up. The loss of him makes me cold and off balance. I clutch my arm to my chest.

“I should take my bath now.”

“Sure.” He leaves me to bathe, closing the bathroom door behind him.

At some point, while I soak, I hear him return and leave my pain meds in the bedroom. By the time I crawl into his soft guest bed, the sheets smelling faintly of laundry detergent but stiff with disuse, I’m shaking.

I cry with my face buried deep into a pillow so he won’t hear.

Chapter Nine

Finn

 

* * *

 

I’m one twisted bastard. My girl has had one of the worst nights of her life, and here I am, fucking content because she’s in my home.

It rattled me to the core when I thought of her hurt, or worse. The time it took me to get to her had felt endless. And when I’d finally found her, all bruised and dazed, her green eyes so wounded and scared, it had leveled me. I’m still shaking deep inside my guts.

With a grunt, I push my body up, my weight resting on my fingertips. Sweat trickles down my temples and into my eyes. Slowly, I lower myself until my nose almost touches the floor. Up, down, the burn in my arms and chest is a welcome distraction. But not enough.

Chess had been crying last night. And it fucking killed me. I’d wanted to go to her so badly, I’d leaned against her door, my heart in my throat, my hand pressed to the wood. The only thing that stopped me was that she had obviously waited until I’d gone to cry. She hadn’t wanted me to witness her pain.

That hurt too. I want her trust. I want to take care of her. Badly.