He turned sideways, his gaze burning a hole in the side of my face. “I promise I won’t. This conversation will remain between us.”
I turned my head to scour his face, searching for signs he was lying and finding none. And I knew Finn well enough to tell. “I don’t think keeping secrets within a relationship is healthy. Especially not for you and Cillian, given your history.”
“You’re stalling. What is it you don’t want to say?”
Unfortunately, when you knew someone well, it inevitably meant they knew you just as well. “I didn’t concoct a devious plan. That’s not my style. You know that.”
“So, it’s real?”
“Someone else, however, may have talked me into going along with their devious plan.”
“So it was Mac’s idea?”
I gave a brief nod. “He’s a force of nature. And it’s not like I didn’t get something out of it.”
Finn frowned. “What?”
“It achieved what nothing else could. It stopped you from sending me on dates with every eligible man in Paris. That’s how Mac sold it to me. As an escape from dating Guillermo.”
“You never even met Guillermo. He’s quite the catch.”
“He’s too old.” I winced at how ageist it sounded. Which, it was to a certain degree. “It’s like being put on a Goldilocks and the three bears dating programme. Too young. Too old.”
Finn didn’t miss a beat. “And you know what comes next? Just right. It was a matter of time. You needed to demonstrate a bit of patience.”
Mirroring his position, I turned to face him. “No. I didn’t. If I want to grow old alone, that’s my prerogative.”
“You don’t want to. Not really.”
“You’re not in my head. You don’t know what I want.” Remembering we were at work, I lowered my voice. I preferred not to share the details of my love life, or lack of it, with all and sundry. Gossip spread fast here and raged on for years after. “A good friend listens. He doesn’t just make assumptions and blaze on, regardless.” It took far more effort to stay speaking English when something had riled me, my subconscious wanting to get the words out faster in French. “So no more dates, okay? No Guillermo. No random women suggested by Cillian’s PA. How was she supposed to know women over here, anyway?” When Finn opened his mouth to answer, I held up a hand. “Rhetorical question. Don’t answer that. I was simply pointing out the absurdity of calling someone in London to muster up dates for someone in Paris.”
“She would have found someone,” Finn said defensively. “There’s not much Amrita can’t do.”
“Good for her.” I gave him a hard stare. “You haven’t agreed yet.”
“No more dates,” Finn said slowly, like the words were being dragged out of him. “We need to let you die alone and miserable. I’ve got it.”
“Hallelujah,” I said with extra sarcasm. “He finally gets it. Honestly, between you and Henri, I seem to prefer friends who find grasping the simplest facts difficult. Which probably says more about me than it does about either of you.” In the back of my mind, Mac’s accusations about surrounding myself with needy people lurked.
“So… I guess I need to talk to Mac about where he’s been going. Or Cillian does.”
At which point Mac would say he’d been with me, because he had, and we’d be right back to square one, with Finn trusting me even less. “I’ll save you the conversation,” I said. “He’s been with me.”
“On your sofa?”
It would be easy to say yes, but I really didn’t want to do irreparable damage to my relationship with Finn. “No.”
“But you said…” Finn looked like he didn’t know which way was up.
“I said that this all started with Mac hatching a plan. A plan that, rightly or wrongly, I went along with. Things have changed since then.”
“How?”
I batted a fly away, the thing determined to land on my face. “Mac decided he has some things he wants to explore.”
“With you?”
“With me,” I echoed. I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. “So… we’ve been exploring them.”
