When The Rain Falls

48. First Date

48 FIRST DATE

AIMEE

I just booked a new client. A small, local climbing gym. I shook hands with an exec, he gave me a tour of their facility, and then I signed a contract. Like a real contract. One with big words like force majeure and indemnification . I don’t know what those words mean, but my lawyer reviewed it and gave me the thumbs up. And my lawyer is really hot. I trust him implicitly.

I’m going to design the content and the copy for their website as well as some posters for the interior of the space. This is so much better than photoshopping camel toes out of swimsuits. I’m not going to lie, though. It’s going to be difficult not to constantly make sex jokes about ropes and hard, craggy surfaces. But I’m a mature adult. I am a business owner now. I can handle it.

I’m singing to myself and practically skipping up the driveway, ok, maybe not a fully mature adult, when I nearly collide with Finn. He’s got a shoulder propped against the side of the house and a very suspicious twinkle in his eye.

“Who let you out of the house looking so sexy?” Finn greets me with a hitch in his eyebrow and seduction in his voice. I look down at my oversized hoodie and then back up at his admiring face.

This is very suspicious.

I narrow my eyes over him as I run a finger along the grooves of his chest. When I take in the way his shirt clings to his shoulders and how his sleeves tighten around his biceps, I almost forget that I’m supposed to be feeling suspicious. I have to blink a couple times before I can fully focus.

“Why are you grinning like that?” I question him. “That’s your up-to-something grin,” Finn is still a first class scowler. But he also has an up-to-something grin, a melt-the-stars-from-the-sky smile, and a you-have-one-minute-to-remove-your-clothing smirk. I enjoy all of them. I kind of wish he was using that last one, though.

“We’re going on a date,” Finn says matter-of-factly. He pushes off from the side of the house and hooks a finger through the belt loop of my jeans as he draws me closer. Our hips collide and it sends a spark of desire right through me.

“Oh, we are?”

“Yeah,” he says, swaying me side to side with his hips. “I’ve never taken you on a date before. Not a proper one. And I’m going to fix that.” I can’t help but be amused by this announcement. Because I moved in with him last week and outside of work, we’ve done everything together. It feels weird to go on a formal date .

“But last night?—”

“Going to Shady’s for midnight fries doesn’t count as a date,” he laughs and kisses the top of my head. “At least, according to Tyler anyway.”

He raises an arm over my head and clicks the key fob to the minivan. He smiles when it gives a cheery honk. I roll my eyes. You’d think the key fob was a magic wand the way he’s always waving it proudly around the house and giving it a test click, just to make sure the doors are locked . All this power is going to his head.

“Yes, bear,” I tease. “Everyone knows how good you are with buttons. You’re particularly good with mine.”

Finn laughs. Then he grabs my ass and squeezes as he walks around me to the driveway. When I turn to follow him, he puts up a palm to stop me.

“No, you wait here,” he says. As he walks towards the van, I admire the saunter in his hips. And the way his jeans fit across his backside.

Focus, Aimee. Focus.

“Why?”

When Finn gets to the driver-side door, he pulls it open and stands behind it. He flashes me a pleased grin. “I’m going to pick you up.”

“Seriously?” I gawk at him. “I’m ten feet away.” I cross my arms and pop a hip. Finn’s eyebrow shoots up as he rakes over the now accentuated curve of my body.

“Aimee,” he scolds me. “You need to wait on your tippy toes, with bated breath, as you watch for me to round the bend. Your heart needs to be racing, your chest fluttering with butterflies. That’s how first dates work.”

“Bated breath?” I cackle. “Bear, you drive a minivan . Who gets bated breath over a minivan?” If he wanted me to have bated breath, he should have bought the red convertible.

Finn’s face turns sour. “You’d prefer a goddamn motorcycle?”

“No. I think I’m done with motorcycles,” is my quick reply.

“Good. Me, too.” With that, he ducks his head and disappears into the van. I drop my face into my hands and smile. I peek out through my fingers as I watch him back out of the driveway and then back up into the street. He keeps backing up for several feet before he finally stops.

“There’s no bend to round,” he calls out the driver’s side window, his head popping up like a prairie dog. “You’ll have to just start your bated breath now.”

“Ok,” I call back to him and give him an exaggerated thumbs up.

“Is your breath bated, Aimee?” he asks.

“Yes,” I call out to him, pretending to be exasperated. “My breath is bated. Extremely bated. Promise.” I wave both hands in the air to make my point.

“How about your heart? Is your heart fluttering yet?” My body curls into a laugh as I try to take this game seriously. “You know what?” I finally say. “I’m going to call and cancel my date. I’m starting to get a headache.”

Finn snorts. “I’d like to see you try.” His head quickly disappears back into the cab and the van rolls forward. It rolls forward slowly. Very slowly. Too slowly. Then Blink 182’s song First Date starts to blast through his open window.

“Sometime this century would be great,” I go up on tippy toes and call out to him through cupped hands.

“I’m making sure you get a good look.”

“Oh, I got a good look,” I humor him. “And you know what you look like? An old man driving a minivan really slowly through a residential neighborhood. Someone might call the cops.”

Finn flips me off through the windshield. Oh really? Fuck me? He better.

“Don’t make threats unless you intend to keep them,” I shout.

When he pulls up to the driveway, I’m already waiting by the curb, my clutch purse in both hands. The passenger window rolls down and my eyes land on the strong face that has captured my heart.

“You look stunning,” he calls through the open window. “I love that hoodie on you. The drawstrings really bring out your eyes.” This time, I flip him off.

“Don’t make threats unless you intend to keep them, Aimee.” I bite back a laugh. This is the weirdest first date in the history of first dates.

“Sorry I’m late,” Finn says, growing serious.

“You can’t be late,” I correct him. “We never settled on a time.”

“But if we had, I’d be at least five minutes late,” he explains. “To hide the fact that I’m desperate and nervous and have been circling your block for the past twenty minutes. My date is a knockout, you know.”

A smile climbs up my cheeks as I pull open the door. “I guess chivalry is dead since I’m opening my own door.”

“Nah, chivalry isn’t dead.” He waves me off. “I just know you. And you’re an independent woman. You prefer to do things for yourself.”

“I think I’m starting to see why you were single for so many years,” I tease.

“Brat.” He tightens his lips to suppress a smile but his eyes are gleaming with humor. He started both anger management and his suspension this week. The house is so clean it practically sparkles. I’m coming up with a list of activities to get him out of the house. I’m going to volunteer him to coach the year-round baseball team. He’s going to love it. Because I’ll tell him to.

I climb into the cab and fold my clutch in my lap. I sink into the black leather seats and soak up the new car smell. I can’t help but note that this would make a great candle scent, new car and leather and the hint of pine from the man at my side. It smells like a first date.

As I pull the buckle across my body, Finn takes it and secures it for me. My heart still flutters whenever his hands graze my body.

“So,” he says matter-of-factly, “I should warn you that my Ma really wants this to work out because she thinks I’m a forty-two year old spinster.”

A chuckle tightens in my gut. God, my cheeks already hurt and this date just started. If I can get him to slap my ass later, then all my cheeks could hurt.

Yes, Aimee. Good girl!

A couple months ago, if you had asked me what my heart’s deepest desire was, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. Not in specifics anyway. Everything I wanted was an abstract idea. I wanted to be wanted. I wanted to feel loved. I wanted to belong. But if someone asked me now, I could answer with exact precision.

My heart’s deepest desire is 5’11”, with size 12 feet, hair the color of rich earth, broad shoulders, stormy eyes, and the biggest heart I’ve ever met.

Finn lets me control the stereo as we drive out of Maple Court and turn onto an empty rural road framed by tall pine trees. Before long, he’s pulling into a local park and parking in the back of a secluded lot. We’re the only ones here.

“What are we doing here?” I ask, slightly confused.

“I packed a picnic,” he says before stepping out and rounding the vehicle to open my door. I guess the comment about chivalry got to him.

“Darling,” he says seriously as he takes my hand and guides me out of the van, “I need you to know that this isn’t a typical first date.” He pulls me close and guides my hands around his neck.

“I’m really glad you told me this,” I say sarcastically as I playfully roll my eyes and lift my face to his. “Because I’d have never guessed that on my own.”

“I’m serious,” he continues. When both his hands settle at the small of my back, I press my hips into his. “This isn’t a typical first date because I’ve never been on a first date with someone that I already loved.” He pauses before continuing. “And that I knew would be my wife.” The sentence just falls out of his mouth like it’s nothing. We haven’t talked about anything like marriage yet. But I’d marry the shit out of him.

“Oh really?” I tease. “You think I’m just going to be your wife now?” I sway from his neck and lean back so we can get lost in each other’s eyes.

“Oh, I know you will be.” His expression is all mischief and arrogance. “But I can’t ask you yet. Not officially. Because this is just our first date. And I’m going to have so much fun dating you first.”

I throw my head back and laugh. But there’s more than laughter in my chest. My heart is filling up with warmth at the thought of being his. Officially. Formally. Forever. In his arms is where I first felt wanted. In his arms is where I first felt love. Real love. And in his arms is where I want to be forever.

“Well, this isn’t a typical first date for me, either,” I respond. “Because I’ve never been on a first date where I knew it would be my last one.”

Finn brings his nose to mine. “It’s settled then,” he says. “All that’s left to discuss is kids.” Then he matter-of-factly adds, “we’ll have five.”

I blink up at him. “Ok, Mr. Lawyer. I hope that’s just your opening offer, because, nope .”

Finn runs both hands down the small of my back before slipping them into my back pockets. His fingers splay across my backside.

“You know what?” he says. “Don’t answer right away. We’ll talk later. Maybe when your sweet little body is beneath mine and you’re practically begging for me. That’s when I’m most powerful.”

Motherfucker. He knows my weakness.

Finn leans in to kiss my nose when a giant raindrop falls on my shoulder. We both look skyward at the blanket of dark clouds looming on the horizon.

“I hope you have a plan B,” I tease, thinking about our picnic.

“It’ll be fine,” he assures me. “This is how I like my meals. Spread out in front of me and soaking wet.” His eyes narrow into heated slits and forge a trail of scorch marks across my body. I can almost smell my flesh burning.

“You’re a monster,” I murmur. “And I love it.”

“If you love this, wait until you see what I have planned for our second date.” He presses against me and I can feel his desire rising.

“Finnius Albert Hudson. How can you be so sure you’re getting a second date?” I cluck at him. “After you just eye-fucked me in the most ungentlemanly manner?”

“Darling, I have this date in the bag .” He nips at my ear. “I cut the sandwiches into tiny little triangles. You’re going to think it’s adorable. And then you’re going to tell me how cute I am. And then you’re going to?—"

“Can you shut your arrogant mouth and kiss me already?”

“Typically that happens at the end of the date,” he corrects me.

“This isn’t a typical date, remember? And I want to kiss you.” My thumbs flitter across the back of his neck. I tease the short hairs at the base of his head and a comforting shiver runs through me.

“Well, I was planning on roughing you up in the back seat later, but we can do that first, if you insist.”

“I’m going to like that.”

“Oh, you’re going to like it. Multiple times,” he urges. I bite my lip as I imagine all the different ways I’m going to like it. Finn lifts his arm to the van. The key fob seems to have appeared out of nowhere.

I’m thinking about how I’m going to pry that stupid thing out of his fingers, when the slider door creeps open. It opens to reveal that the last row of seats have been replaced with an air mattress, blankets and pillows. Decorative lights are strung from the top and I wonder how I missed that earlier.

One thing is very clear. I am being seduced. With a minivan. Who’d have imagined.

But the truth is, I like it.

And I’m probably going to like it multiple times.

Finn pulls me towards the open door, but I resist. “Wait,” I protest, “our picnic. We need to have our picnic first. I want to sit with you on an itchy blanket, eating soggy little sandwiches as we shoo away bugs. We have to do that before the rain falls.”

“Babe, there’s no rush,” he whispers in my ear. “When the rain falls, we’ll just dance in it. I learned that from you.”