The worst part of it all was that she wanted to kiss Finn again. But she would never admit that aloud. That would be her own little secret. She felt like the worst human being ever.
Here she was with the sweetest man on the face of the Earth, and she was fraternizing with her husband.Ex-husband.She knew at that moment that she couldn’t allow a kiss between her and Finn to happen again. It was bad enough to be married with a boyfriend, but to cheat on your boyfriend with your husband – that was beyond her. What a complicated mess. She would need to tell Jonathan about that kiss. It was the right thing to do, no matter the consequences.
***
After their passionate encounter on the balcony, Finn had deliberately stayed away from Kalilah. He wanted to give her time to think about everything he had told her. After telling her the truth, he’d seen the uncertainty in her eyes. She still didn’t believe him, and it hurt, but if the passion that had flared between them was any indication, he still had a chance.
He could still taste her. He traced his fingers along his lips and felt his entire body shudder, just as he had when they had shared that steamy kiss on the balcony. Her lips tasted as good as a fine wine allowed to age, probably better if he were being honest. He wasn’t sure if the distance and time that had passed between them was to blame for how much more enticing her lips tasted.
Her response to him was thrilling; she had kissed him without much fight and had submitted herself to the passion that was theirs alone. He had managed to bring down some of her walls, but he needed to break them down completely. He needed full access to her mind and heart.
Now here he was, standing before her door, bearing gifts with genuine hope of finally resolving the issues before them. Finn just couldn’t wait any longer and he rammed the door three times with his folded fist. He’d sent her a text earlier, and she’d never responded. Getting back to the place they used to be wouldn’t be easy, but it would be worth it.
The door slowly swung open, and with it came the startled, wide eyes of Kaiya. She eyed him with some degree of shock, but his charming demeanor – accompanied with a perfectly executed smile – brought one to her face too.
“Finn!” She sounded surprised. He could tell that she’d just woken up. Her messy hair was piled on top of her head, and her nightgown was crooked.
He greeted her and placed a kiss on each of her cheeks as she invited him inside.
“Is that breakfast?” Kaiya asked.
He handed her the bagels and coffee he’d gotten from a café near his apartment.
“It smells so good.” She took his offering and brought it to the table.
***
After she was done with the task of cleaning her body, she turned off the spray and stepped out of the shower. She dried herself quickly. She heard voices in the other room, which meant Kaiya was up and probably watching television. She would ask her to accompany her to lunch. She grabbed a pair of underwear from the nearby drawer and put it on. As an afterthought, she put on a robe before stepping out of the bathroom.
Thank God she put on the robe, because the sight of the person standing in the suite, speaking to her sister, stunned her.
“What are you doing here?” Her sister and Finn both turned toward her. They had obviously not heard when she came into the room.
“Good morning sunshine,” His mouth formed a wide smile and she saw his perfect white teeth. Almost immediately her mind drifted back to the kiss they shared. She scrapped the thought when he spoke again. “You’re not ready yet?”
The confusion must have shown on her face because he said, “Didn’t you get my text?”
She told him that she didn’t receive his text, not bothering to inform him that she had been ignoring her phone, too afraid to face the music.
“No matter, I brought gifts,” he pointed to the bagels on the table and then continued, “and I also wanted to take you out for lunch.” She regretted not checking on her phone when it chirped. If she had received the text earlier, she would have swiftly declined his invitation for lunch, hence saving her from having to face him.
“I’m sorry that you came all this way for nothing, but I have to decline.” She tried to sound as genuine as possible, since she wasn’t sorry.
“I won’t take no for an answer. In fact, I’m prepared to sit in this room all day long and if you decide to leave this room, I’ll follow you wherever you go.” He sounded serious.
“I think I’ll go take a shower now and leave you two to talk,” said Kaiya as she took large steps toward the bathroom. Kalilah had totally forgotten about her sister being in the room with them. Before her sister closed the bathroom door, she stuck her head out and added, “Oh, and Lah? I have a lunch date with Jalissa, so don’t worry about me.” Kalilah gave her sister the evil eye before Kaiya slammed the bathroom door shut. Her sister knew her so well. She knew that Kalilah would use her as an excuse to not have lunch with Finn.
“Okay, fine.”
“Don’t try escaping through the window.”
She rolled her eyes. Highly improbable since she was in the penthouse suite.
“Out!” Since he stood just outside the suite’s bedroom, she slammed the French doors in his face.
She dressed quickly – not because she didn’t want to keep him waiting, because she did. She was famished and was ready to put some food in her system. She threw on a pair of jeans, a yellow floral crop top and a pair of gold sandals. She added some Chapstick to her lips, wrapped her hair in a high bun, grabbed her purse, and then headed to the sitting area to meet Finn.
The lunch date went better than she thought it would. They had Owen drive them to Old Montréal since they didn’t want to have to look for parking. The car ride to the old port was quiet. They were each stuck in their thoughts, but she sensed it every time Finn looked her way. She tried to not look back by keeping her focus outside the window. She was thinking of ways to tell Jonathan about the kiss between her and Finn – she finally decided to keep it a secret, along with everything else.
