Jeez, did that sound as adolescent as she thought it did? “Besides that fact, she’s my oldest and dearest friend. She’s like the sister I never had. I don’t want to lose that friendship.” By the end of that sentence, her eyes were filled with tears, and she was looking anywhere but at Finn.
Finn’s low voice melted relentlessly into her ears. “Think of your bottom, Catherine. We’re already involved, and there’s no way I’m going to walk away from you now. I’ve waited too long for you. I’ll handle my mother and make sure that nothing affects your relationship with her.”
She raised her head and looked into his eyes with tears trailing down her cheeks. “But how can you do that? You don’t know how she’ll react to this.”
“I think I have a pretty good idea. But first things first – I want you to agree to date me for a little while before I talk to mom about it.” He motioned towards her salad plate and took up his own fork.
Cat sniffed and bit her lip, tapping her fork against the side of the plate. “And what if I say no?” she asked tentatively.
Finn calmly finished his mouthful of salad and leaned closer to her and said quietly, “The same thing that happens when you don’t eat your sandwiches and casserole, Catherine Angelique.” He watched her shift uncomfortably in her seat.
‘I don’t have much of a choice in the matter, then, do I?”
He cleared his throat. “No, you don’t.” Finn didn’t much like where this conversation was going. “Look, Catherine. If I felt you honestly objected to me as a man, to intimacies with me, then I wouldn’t be pushing so hard. You would have screamed bloody murder from the moment I introduced the idea of spanking you. But you’ve already been extremely intimate with me, in a manner that is peripherally sexual. You’re not the type of woman to put up with that if it’s really not something that you want.” He put his utensils down and asked her a question point blank that had been niggling at the back of his mind for some time. “Have you dated anyone else since Clint died?”
She was playing with her food, moving it around the plate rather than eating it, and he would deal with that in a moment. “No,” she whispered, staring at the swirls her fork was making in the raspberry vinaigrette.
“So, no one else has . . . “
Cat’s eyes shot to his and she blushed that beautiful, vibrant pink of hers. “No, of course not!”
“But you’ve let me do it. Several times. With barely a squawk of protestation. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
She wasn’t sure if it did or it didn’t. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore, except that she was very unhappy at the thought of losing a friend she’d had almost forever, in favor of a man she was just barely starting to get to know, no matter how gorgeous and how potentially compatible in an unusual area he might be.
Finn reached across the table and put his hand on her arm. “I want you to stop thinking about this right now and let me handle it for you. I’ll take care of it. I want you to just let go of it, and date me for a while. We’ll skirt around here for a very short time, I promise, long enough for you to decide whether this is going anywhere.” It killed him to say that, because he knew that she was the love of his life, but she didn’t have the same feelings for him yet, which was understandable because she hadn’t spent her whole life waiting for him.
But he knew she would, and he knew that, regardless, he had to give her the choice, or it wouldn’t be right. He couldn’t force himself on her; she had to accept him, especially considering the deeper elements of what would be their relationship.
He kept the rest of the meal towards a much lighter tone, although he did maintain a very watchful eye over her eating habits, encouraging her to eat rather than play with her food. He went so far
Finn’s low voice melted relentlessly into her ears. “Think of your bottom, Catherine. We’re already involved, and there’s no way I’m going to walk away from you now. I’ve waited too long for you. I’ll handle my mother and make sure that nothing affects your relationship with her.”
She raised her head and looked into his eyes with tears trailing down her cheeks. “But how can you do that? You don’t know how she’ll react to this.”
“I think I have a pretty good idea. But first things first – I want you to agree to date me for a little while before I talk to mom about it.” He motioned towards her salad plate and took up his own fork.
Cat sniffed and bit her lip, tapping her fork against the side of the plate. “And what if I say no?” she asked tentatively.
Finn calmly finished his mouthful of salad and leaned closer to her and said quietly, “The same thing that happens when you don’t eat your sandwiches and casserole, Catherine Angelique.” He watched her shift uncomfortably in her seat.
‘I don’t have much of a choice in the matter, then, do I?”
He cleared his throat. “No, you don’t.” Finn didn’t much like where this conversation was going. “Look, Catherine. If I felt you honestly objected to me as a man, to intimacies with me, then I wouldn’t be pushing so hard. You would have screamed bloody murder from the moment I introduced the idea of spanking you. But you’ve already been extremely intimate with me, in a manner that is peripherally sexual. You’re not the type of woman to put up with that if it’s really not something that you want.” He put his utensils down and asked her a question point blank that had been niggling at the back of his mind for some time. “Have you dated anyone else since Clint died?”
She was playing with her food, moving it around the plate rather than eating it, and he would deal with that in a moment. “No,” she whispered, staring at the swirls her fork was making in the raspberry vinaigrette.
“So, no one else has . . . “
Cat’s eyes shot to his and she blushed that beautiful, vibrant pink of hers. “No, of course not!”
“But you’ve let me do it. Several times. With barely a squawk of protestation. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
She wasn’t sure if it did or it didn’t. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore, except that she was very unhappy at the thought of losing a friend she’d had almost forever, in favor of a man she was just barely starting to get to know, no matter how gorgeous and how potentially compatible in an unusual area he might be.
Finn reached across the table and put his hand on her arm. “I want you to stop thinking about this right now and let me handle it for you. I’ll take care of it. I want you to just let go of it, and date me for a while. We’ll skirt around here for a very short time, I promise, long enough for you to decide whether this is going anywhere.” It killed him to say that, because he knew that she was the love of his life, but she didn’t have the same feelings for him yet, which was understandable because she hadn’t spent her whole life waiting for him.
But he knew she would, and he knew that, regardless, he had to give her the choice, or it wouldn’t be right. He couldn’t force himself on her; she had to accept him, especially considering the deeper elements of what would be their relationship.
He kept the rest of the meal towards a much lighter tone, although he did maintain a very watchful eye over her eating habits, encouraging her to eat rather than play with her food. He went so far
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