“Yeah.” She smirked and pushed away from the railing. “Saved you from my drunken mauling.”
Finn sniffed. “Saved you from mine.”
She reached back and tightened the ponytail he’d loosened with his roaming hands. He wet his lips. How he’d love to drag his fingers through that glossy hair, wrap his fist in it when he…
“Do I need to be saved from you, Finn?”
The question yanked him back to the moment. He gave a curt nod. “Yes. You don’t want this. You don’t even know me.”
“Don’t I?”
Grim reality filled him. He reached out and took her hand. “No, you don’t. When you woke up in the morning and your head cleared, you’d be disappointed by what you found.”
She stepped closer and tipped up her chin, their hands linked by just the fingertips. “And what would I find?”
Nothing she was looking for and nothing that she deserved. He could guarantee that.
“That making you feel good for a few hours was all I had to offer.”
Her expression flattened.
He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry I stepped over the line tonight. Go get some rest, Liv.”
With a sigh, she stepped away from him, letting their hands stretch out until the hold broke. When she was a safe distance from him, she put her hand to her hip and cocked a brow. “A few hours, huh? Is that your ego talking, Dorsey, or a promise?”
The little jab made him smile. He leaned back against the rail so he wouldn’t reach for her again and shrugged. “Rough estimate depending on your level of endurance.”
Her grin was broad, full of sass, before she turned and strolled away, calling back over her shoulder. “Hell, that might’ve been worth the regret.”
His fingers curled against his thigh, the need to haul her up against the nearest wall a real thing. “Go to bed, Arias.”
“I’m already gone.”
The door shut behind her, and he rested his head against the porch column. “And so am I.”
He’d come back to do his part and help the charity by giving an interview, but that was over now. There was no reason left for him to hang around. He’d already been taking a risk by being there. He’d taken a bigger risk by kissing Liv.
First thing in the morning, he was getting the hell out of there.
chapter
FOUR
Kincaid was the only one left when Liv walked back into the restaurant. She was spinning the overturned mason jar round and round on the table, chin in hand, obviously lost in thought. Liv reached out and tapped her. “Hey.”
Kincaid startled and then turned, looking disoriented for a second before a smile touched her mouth. “Oh, hey there, Hot Lips.”
Liv groaned. “Guess we’re not going to pretend that you didn’t see anything?”
“Nope.” Kincaid got up from the table, letting the spinning jar slow to a halt. “I have a photographic memory.” She tapped her temple. “There’s no erasing that.”
Liv crossed her arms. “Fantastic. And everyone else?”
“Taryn went home, so she doesn’t know what happened. Rebecca went to bed.”
Liv shifted in her shoes and glanced toward the door that led to the hotel lobby. “Is Rebecca all right? She looked k
ind of freaked out. I mean, she mentioned Finn in her letter…”