Copyright © 2014 Belmonte Publishing LLC

Published by Belmonte Publishing LLC.

Chapter 1

I really wasn't having the best of weeks. After a shitty Saturday night, the rest of my weekend had sucked almost as badly. Monday hadn't been any better...with one exception. When I'd gotten home from school, I'd run into – literally – a new neighbor in my building.

Finn Colson was a nice guy. Good-looking, polite and sweet. He was exactly the kind of guy I'd always been looking for. So, when I happened to see him coming down the stairs on Wednesday morning while I was rushing to get to school on time, I smiled and asked him out to coffee.

I spent the rest of Wednesday being nervous as hell. So nervous, in fact, that I actually dropped my chalk twice while lecturing on Heathcliff and Catherine. I finally had to finally tell my students to take the rest of the class to work on their homework. I saw the kids exchanging looks and knew they were all wondering why I was acting so weird. Hell, I was wondering it. I'd been the one to ask Finn out, after all. And it wasn't like I was trying to seduce him. It wasn't about sex or power. Just coffee.

At least that's what I told myself when I left the school and headed for the café where we'd agreed to meet. My palms were sweating as I stood outside the building, trying to work up the nerve to go in. This was what I'd wanted, to be able to ask out men, to have men desire me. I wanted to be able to rely on myself when it came to romance, not to need my friends to set me up because I was so socially awkward and unsure of myself that I couldn't take matters into my own hands. So why, if this was what I'd wanted when I'd agreed to Cade's proposal to teach me, wasn't I jumping at the chance to prove myself?

Because it wasn't about not wanting to prove myself or being nervous that I couldn't do it, I was forced to admit. It was about the who. As perfect as Finn Colson seemed to be, he wasn't the person I wanted to be with. A pang went through me. I shouldn't want Cade, I knew that. He was one hundred percent the wrong guy for me, and that would be true even if he felt anything for me. Which he didn't. I still couldn't figure out why he'd lied to me that last time, but I knew it had to have been a lie. He couldn't care about me and still want to be an escort.

“Forget about him,” I muttered under my breath. “You can do this.” I took a deep breath and walked across the street.

Finn beamed when he saw me, a genuinely pleasant smile without expectation. Still, I saw the admiration on his face when I walked towards him. Someone liked my teacher clothes, I thought smugly. Mr. Know-It-All had been wrong about my wardrobe.

I didn't want to consider that, maybe, it wasn't my clothes that had truly been the problem but rather the way I'd worn them before. I could feel the difference in how I walked, how I carried myself. Even though I'd worn this outfit numerous times since I'd bought it, it wasn't until now that I felt comfortable in it. And that, I realized, was because I finally felt comfortable in my own skin.

“You look nice,” Finn said as he stood.

“Thank you.” I gave him a polite smile. I was proud of myself for not blushing or brushing off his compliment. Granted, it hadn't exactly given me the warm fuzzies like I would've gotten from one of Cade's compliments, but that was because he hadn't generally just said that I looked nice. Anyone would blush at some of the things he said. It had nothing to do with how the sound of his voice could turn me on, no matter what he was saying.

“I have to admit,” Finn spoke, drawing my attention. “I was surprised when you asked me for coffee.”

“Really?” I asked. “Why's that?”

“You backed off so quickly when I suggested you show me around. I figured you weren't interested.” He gave me a wry smile. “Unless I completely read this wrong and you're only trying to be neighborly.”

“And what would you do if I said that was the case?” I asked.

“I'd try to convince you otherwise.” Finn's eyes met mine.

They really were a pretty shade of gray...green. Finn's eyes were green. I didn't want to think about dark gray eyes.

The waitress came by and took our order, giving me a couple minutes to get myself focused again. It wasn't fair to Finn that I was thinking about Cade, comparing him to Cade. In all the ways he and Cade were different, there was one that was more important than the rest and the only one that matter. Finn chose to be here with me. Now, granted, with my luck in men so far, he probably had dates with half a dozen other women from our apartment building, but there was always the off chance that he really was a good guy. And it didn't matter if he was going out with other women. There were no expectations here, no commitments. Just coffee and conversation. If either of us wanted something more afterwards, we'd bring it up then. And if one thing led to another, then that'd be fine too. I wasn't looking for a relationship. Not after the back-to-back beatings my heart had taken. No matter how perfect Finn seemed to be.

“So, Bree Gamble of three E, are you a transplant like me or a native to the windy city?” Finn asked as the waitress walked away.

To his credit, he didn't even glance at her ass as she passed.

“Native,” I said. “Born and raised in the suburbs. Moved into the city when my parents decided they wanted to retire to Florida.”

“Your parents retired already?”

I nodded. “My mom always says that I wasn't an afterthought or late in life kid. I was the 'oh shit how did that happen' kid.” I laughed, remembering all the times my mom had said that to get a rise out of people. “My brother was the late in life kid and she was almost forty when she had him. She was forty-four when I was born. My dad was forty-eight.”

“Wow,” Finn said. “My parents were the exact opposite. They were high school sweethearts, married right after graduation because Mom was already pregnant with my oldest sister. Had the rest of us one after the other.”

“The rest of you? How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

He grinned. “I have one older sister, two older brothers, three younger brothers and two younger sisters. Lisa's a junior in high school.”

I stared at him. “Nine kids?”

He shrugged. “What can I say? Very devout Catholic upbringing.”

I really hoped he wasn't saying all this because he thought he was going to try to get into my pants and claim he couldn't use a condom for religious reasons. I'd been on the pill since Ronald and I had started sleeping together, but that had been because I knew the failure rate of condoms. Plus, there'd always been the off chance that we'd get caught up in the moment and forget. Neither one of us had wanted to risk an accidental pregnancy.

“Myself,” he continued. “I'm more of a C&E Catholic.”

“C and E?” I asked.

“Christmas and Easter.” He glanced over to where the waiter was bringing our drinks.

I blew on my coffee before testing it. Perfect.

“What about you?” Finn asked. “Were you raised religious?”

“Pretty much just Christmas and Easter Baptist,” I said. “More spiritual than religious.”

Finn nodded and took a sip of his coffee. “You said you have a brother?”

“Ian. He and his wife live in Texas.”

“Do you have any other family in the city?” Finn asked. He laughed. “I just realized how completely serial killer that sounded. Totally 'will anyone notice if you go missing?'” He shook his head. “Sorry.”

I laughed. As much as Cade's confidence had been attractive, I had to admit that it was a bit refreshing to see someone who wasn't the perfect conversationalist. “You said you were from Sacramento? Is your family still there?”