I'll Never Stop, page 17
“He put my girlfriend in danger. You agreed to this fucking bullshit, and no one thought to tell me!?”
“He deserved to be behind bars,” I told him. “Plus, you were on leave. And we weren’t on speaking terms. And if I hadn’t done it, then you lying to me would have been for nothing!” I threw at him.
He flinched, the hit of my words finding their target. A moment later, he composed himself. “So you got your revenge. Lie to me because I lied to you?”
“No, you asshole. I did it because I love you! And I didn’t want everything we went through to be in vain. I wanted Dorian behind bars for your hard work, for his betrayal, and for breaking us. It’s called love, Finn. It’s what makes rational people do irrational shit. Besides, we’re good now. You really want to tackle this crap on a technicality?”
Suddenly, I realized Finn was no longer angry. No, he was actually quite the opposite, beaming from ear to ear.
“What?” I asked, looking to each of my sides, then behind me to find the source of his joy.
“You love me, huh?” he asked, his smile growing wider.
“Yeah, Finn,” I said, a slow smile forming on my lips, admitting what was in my heart, allowing the words to flow freely from me, which was freeing in and of itself. The words had flown out in the heat of the moment, but they weren’t any less true. “I love you,” I told him. “Always have, always will…and I guess I’ll never stop.”
“Good,” he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me so close that we were breathing each other in. His lips pressed gently against mine, just grazing them as he whispered against them. “Because I love you too. And I’ll never stop.”
Five years later…
Eliza
“HOW MUCH TIME do we have?” Finn asked from behind me, staring at my reflection as I touched up my makeup.
“For what?” I asked, looking back at him through the mirror before us.
“For this,” he said as he wrapped his hands around my growing belly, caressing it as his lips kissed my neck. “And this,” he said as he kissed a spot higher. “And this,” he added, kissing just behind my ear.
“Again?” I asked, referring to the unbelievable sex we’d had just before I’d started getting ready.
“What can I say?” he said, lifting his head just enough to catch my eyes in the mirror. “You carrying my baby is sexy as fuck.”
“You used to say me carrying your name was sexy as fuck,” I pointed out. “I wonder what it’ll be next.”
He spun me around with his badass FBI skills, gently but quickly. “Next, it’ll be carrying our baby in your arms, and then it’ll be our second kid in your belly, and then the third, and maybe even the fourth.”
I laughed. “Let’s get baby number one out into the world first, then we’ll talk about more. And nope, sorry, we don’t have time. We’re already late as it is.”
“Come on, princess, no one will notice we’re not there yet.”
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll use this pregnancy as an excuse to leave early, and then you can have your wicked way with me when we get home.”
“Wicked way, huh? I like the sound of that,” he said with a smile.
He was so handsome it was almost painful. And he was mine. All mine. My husband.
We’d dated for only three months after we’d made our way back to each other before he proposed. The headlines had a field day with that. It was the bodyguard, who’d been an FBI agent, turned boyfriend, turned fiancé in less than six months. A lot of those outrageous headlines had truth to them. Of course, there were the ones full of bullshit information, like I was pregnant, and we were having a shotgun wedding before the baby was born.
Finn admitted that when he’d asked my parents for their permission, they had even asked him the same question.
“Why the rush, Finn?” my dad had apparently asked. “Is there some news you’d like to share?”
He didn’t tell me what he’d answered, but my mom had. She said it had brought tears to her eyes and was nodding her head with her blessing before he’d even finished speaking.
“One day, my parents were there, happy, in love…and alive. The next, they were gone. They didn’t have a chance to see me change, to see the man I’d become. I didn’t get to tell them I loved them one last time or to say goodbye. I’d give anything to have just one more minute with them. Just to see their faces, to see them smile, to hear them say they’re proud of me.” He paused, my mom said, tears in his eyes as he spoke. “But if their death taught me anything, it’s that there is no point in waiting. I love your daughter. I love her with everything in me. And if it was up to me, I would have asked her to marry me the minute she admitted she loved me back. Not only that, I would have taken her to the courthouse right then and there if she said yes before she realized she could do better than me. And she can. Eliza is something else. I’ve never met anyone so caring, so forgiving, so…perfect.”
My mom said his eyes lit up like a kid staring at a Christmas tree when he talked about me. I might have had my own tears in my eyes at her recollection. “I hurt her, and she forgave me, not once, but twice. I promise she’ll never have to forgive me again. Well, maybe for leaving the toilet seat up,” he joked. “But not with her heart. Never again with her heart. I know her worth, and I know my luck. So, I guess I’m also asking for your forgiveness for hurting the best person I know. I should have done that a long time ago. I’m sorry it took me this long. But if you’ll forgive me, and if you’ll allow me, I’ll spend every day of the rest of my life making sure Eliza knows that I’m the luckiest person to be able to spend it with her.”
They forgave him and gave him their blessing. And he proposed “on set” the following week. He’d set up a bogus photo shoot—my agency, my new agent, a girl named Jackie who had become a close friend over the years, and my new bodyguard, someone Finn knew of through connections and of course vetted himself, were all in on it. I’d come to the studio, which was actually set up like a photo shoot. I’d been dressed and glamorized, but when I walked on to the set, there was Finn, down on his knee, ring in hand, giant smile on his face, and written on the backdrop behind him were the words, “Will you marry me, Lizzy Smith?”
I gasped as I realized what was happening before I slowly and hesitantly approached him. And yes, a photographer was there, capturing it all. The pictures were unreal, and we used them as our engagement photos. “I think I’ve earned the right to call you Lizzy, now,” he said as I reached him. “But I think I’ll stick to Princess. Because that’s what you are. You’re regal, beautiful, charismatic, the sweetest person I know, caring about others before yourself. You’d make an amazing queen, Eliza. My queen. My partner, my equal, my everything. What do you say? Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” I screamed out before I pounced on him. Luckily, Finn was made of stone and had some great instincts. My attack didn’t even faze him. We were married three months later at my parents’ home with a small group of our friends and family.
Finn was still in the FBI, but being by my side meant he couldn’t be out in the field like he used to. His face and name were well-known. I know he missed being out and about, but whenever I asked him about it, he said being with me was the prize. “Think of it this way,” he told me once when I asked him if he was sure. “What happens if I get an assignment where I can’t be with you for days or weeks, or I can’t contact you. Or if I’m in danger…what will that do to you? Forget that I would go crazy without you, but what about you? What about the family I want to have with you? I couldn’t do that to you or to our future kids. So, yeah, princess, I’m definitely sure.”
Swoon. Literally swoon.
We didn’t necessarily wait to have kids, but we did want to enjoy time alone together for a while. But then one day, as we ate breakfast together, Finn looked at me and said, “I hope she’s as beautiful as her mom.”
“Who?” I asked puzzled.
“The beautiful baby girl we’re going to make.”
I melted. We barely made it to the bed, and wouldn’t you know, I missed my period the next month. The guy knocked me up on the first freaking month we “tried.” Too bad for him, we’d just found out it was going to be a boy. Moms of teen girls were going to be in a heap of trouble in about fifteen years because I knew this boy would be just like his daddy. Call it a mother’s instinct.
“Might even be better to have a boy first. That way, he can watch over his little sister,” Finn said when we’d learned it was a boy. Being charming was just a natural part of Finn. And one of the many reasons I was hopelessly in love with him and would forever be.
We were now attending the first gala after I’d announced my pregnancy, and this one was dear to Finn’s heart. It was in honor of kids who had lost both their parents in a double tragedy. I hadn’t been scared or anxious to attend a gala ever again, but you can bet Finn was a little nervous about attending this one, which was why I was sure he was finding excuses to be late. I knew he was afraid it would trigger memories and bring his pain to the surface in a public place.
“You know they’re proud of you, right?” I told him as we made our way to exit our house. “You know they were proud even before. They loved you unconditionally, and they still love you now. They’re just not here to tell you. But I know, Finn. I know with one-hundred-percent certainty that your parents are smiling at you. How could they not? Look at the amazing man you are, the best husband, and you’re going to be one remarkable dad. I’m proud to call you mine.”
I swear I saw his eyes glisten. From strong to vulnerable, from demanding to gentle, from dirty mouth to sweet nothings, from bantering to laughing, this man was everything. And he surprised me with how incredible he was every single day.
“Thank you,” he said, pulling me in for a kiss. “Thank you for…just being you. And making me so happy. I love you,” he said.
“I love you,” I told him right back. Funny…it used to be, “I hate you, and I’ll never stop.” Never say never, I guess…except I still did. Only this time, it was for love. Always love. “I love you,” I repeated. “And I’ll never stop.”
Craving More of Eliza and Finn?
Click here for a bonus epilogue.
I’ll Never Stop was originally included as part of a charity anthology. For those who read it previously, thank you for your continued support! For those who just found it, hope you loved it!
Please enjoy the following new bonus short story inspired by Anna and Clark as a token of my gratitude.
“YOU FUCKING DID, didn’t you?” Sam asked, but her tone wasn’t so much accusing as it was shocked. I didn’t respond. I didn’t need to. “Holy shit, Anna, I don’t know whether to scold you or be impressed.”
I spared a glance at Clark across the room.
My God, he was the kind of gorgeous that made smart girls go stupid with just one smile. I was a prime example.
“Keep it down. Lizzy will hear you,” I told her.
“You think Lizzy won’t take one look at you and just know?”
“Shit,” I muttered, knowing she was right.
We, along with her family, were the only ones who called her Lizzy. To the world, she was Eliza, model extraordinaire. And today, she was a newlywed to Finn, her childhood enemy-turned bodyguard-turned love.
I’d heard enough stories of the douchebag to have hated him on sight, but he won my girl over, so he won Sam and me over.
It helped he was damn nice to look at.
I didn’t know how Lizzy fought it so hard.
But Finn didn’t hold a candle to Clark.
Clark was his boss and his best friend. He also played a small part in getting Lizzy and Finn back together, so I had a soft spot for him even before I met him.
And then I met him…and I repeat…my God.
What the hell did the FBI feed these men? Hot honey? Muscle meat? Sexy sundaes? I groaned internally at my lameness. See? Smart girl going stupid.
Like he felt my eyes on him, he turned and stared directly back, and his lips curled up into one hell of a smirk.
“Well, fuck me seven ways to Sunday. I do not blame you one little bit, Anna,” Sam said.
What was that blaming one little bit thing about?
Hot, sweaty, multiple rounds and orgasms sex. Dirty, hot, sexy as fuck sex. Fuck me against the wall and again on every damn surface sex. Ruin me sex.
Yeah. Clark was as good in bed as you’d think he was. No, scratch that, he was better.
So how the hell did we get there?
Alcohol folks. Always alcohol.
Loosened inhibitions and opened legs apparently, too.
Picture this.
Lizzy and Finn’s Wedding.
Love in the air.
Clark was the best man. Sam and I are both her maid of honor.
But here was the kicker.
Neither me nor Sam had ever seen Clark. The man didn’t have social media. Neither did Finn, come to think of it. I wondered briefly if maybe that was an FBI thing.
Except Finn was plastered all over social media because of Lizzy. Which was why he wasn’t going undercover anymore. Lizzy was worried he’d miss it, but he loved her so much, I didn’t think he’d ever want an assignment that would keep him away from her for that long.
I digressed. Clark was not plastered all over the news.
Sam and I had heard plenty about him in our many FaceTimes with Lizzy, but we’d yet to see him.
We both arrived on Thursday because we had a full day of pampering planned on Friday before the rehearsal dinner. But unlike Lizzy, who needed her beauty rest because, you know, wedding in two days, Sam and I decided to hit the hotel bar.
We drank, we laughed, we talked.
And then we realized it was insanely late and headed up to our rooms. Only when I got to my room did I realize I’d left my phone at the bar.
I headed back down to find a sexy stranger sitting in the seat I’d just vacated.
“Did I leave my phone here?” I asked while naturally taking in the sight of him.
My panties might have gotten a little wet just looking at him.
Dark hair, cut close to his head, strong jawline, piercing dark eyes, a light tan like he did yardwork, and a body meant to be rubbed by women who read about guys like him in books.
“This?” he asked, holding up my phone. “I was just about to hand it to the bartender.”
“Yes, thank you,” I said, reaching for the phone.
“Uh, uh…not so fast,” he said with a teasing smile. I had to fight the urge to kiss that teasing smile off his face. “How do I know this is really your phone?” he asked.
“The hot pink case with printed flowers doesn’t give it away?” I replied with a chuckle. He smiled wider. I might have orgasmed a bit.
“Could belong to a teenage girl,” he joked.
“We could, you know, use the face recognition to unlock it, and then voilà, you’ll see it’s mine.”
“Let’s give it a go.”
“How do I know you’re not going to just keep it and go through my phone once it’s unlocked?” Who was this bantering chick I’d turned into?
The answer? Anna with alcohol. That was who.
“Oh, I’m most definitely doing that,” he said with a wink.
“But then you’ll know all my dirty secrets.”
“Babe, I’m going to know all your dirty secrets,” he said, his voice lowering a tad, sounding somehow huskier. “And I’m going to fulfill every last one of them.”
And that, folks, was how I found myself in Clark’s hotel room just an hour later.
We unlocked the phone, grabbed another drink or two, bantered some more, mostly with some innuendos that made it very hard to stay put – pun intended, of course.
And finally, I gave in, and we barely made it to his room.
All I knew was that:
His name was Clark, and no, it did not dawn on me that this was the Clark. Which it should have, considering Finn and his buddies were also at the hotel having their bachelor party that same night, and then going golfing the next day while us ladies had our day of fun. But again. Alcohol.
He was hotter than sin.
I was really doing this. I hadn’t had a one-night stand since college, and even then, I’d only had one. I was more of a series monogamist. What? I believed in love. I just hadn’t found it yet.
Yep, that was all I knew. And of course, that Clark had a magic penis.
It was no surprise to either of us, though, when I told him something along the lines of, “Thanks, this was fun. I’ve got to run. I’d give you my number, but I’m from out of town, and I have a feeling you wouldn’t use it anyway.”
“I would,” he replied. I laughed in response. “I would, Anna,” he repeated seriously.
“Then I guess it’s a shame I live three thousand miles away.”
“It really is,” he said. And he actually sounded a tad sad about it. I was too, truth be told. But I was also realistic. Lust wasn’t love. One-night stands didn’t equate to romance. Fun, lots and lots of fun, but not romance.
“Well, uh, see you,” I said.
“Yeah.”
And that should have been the end, right?
Wrong.
Day of fun. Check.
Spilling my guts to Sam and Lizzy about my sexy soiree. Check.
Neither of them putting the dots together either. Check.
Me seeing him at the rehearsal dinner and freaking the fuck out. Check.
Him being way too happy to realize it was me. Check.
Lots of checks here, guys. And they weren’t done.
Him trying to talk to me and continue what we started. Check.
Me trying desperately not to. Check. Well…sort of. Check for the rehearsal dinner.
Me failing miserably after the wedding. Check.
More “holy shit” sex after said wedding. Check.
