“The good kind. Not just the I-want-to-get-in-her-pants kind.”
“I have good intentions. And the I-want-to-get-in-her-pants intentions. And the I-want-to-make-her-fall-madly-in-love-with-me intentions.”
His eyes open wide. “Damn. You’re one pussy-whipped bastard.”
“You’re right.” He’s right. I am pussy-whipped. I watched her walk by me this afternoon, and she winked at me once, and it was all I could do not to chase her down so I could kiss her right then and there, in front of everybody. “You think I have a shot?”
I sit down on the speaker and he sits beside me.
“Finny’s a strange bird,” he replies. I open my mouth to protest, but he shushes me. “Hang on,” he says. “Finny’s amazingly talented as a musician. She’s fierce on those strings, but she’s afraid of everything.”
“She doesn’t act like she’s afraid of anything.”
“She’s a good actor, too.” He points a finger at me. “But as long as you have good intentions, I’ll leave you two alone.”
I nod. “You have nothing to worry about. My intentions are honorable.” Well, I kind of would like to get in her pants, too, but still honorable.
“Just be easy with her,” he says. He pinches his lips together. “I take that back,” he says. “Don’t be easy with her. If you pussyfoot around, she’ll never tell you how she feels.”
“How do you think she feels?” I ask him.
“I think she likes you a lot.” He points over my shoulder. “She can’t take her eyes off you.”
All the girls and Emily are standing on the stage, and they’re testing the microphones and stage equipment. Finny holds up her thumb to show that her setup is okay. She looks over at me and smiles and I lose my breath a little bit.
“I’m not worried about your intentions anymore,” Sam says quietly.
“Why not?”
“Because when she smiled at you, you looked like the happiest guy in the world.” He grins at me. “Congratulations.”
Marta walks around the corner and she’s pushing a double stroller. Sammy, Sam’s two-month-old, is in one bucket seat and my son is in the other. She stops in front of us. “I’ve decided to keep both the boys tonight so you guys can get some rest,” she says.
My brow shoots up. “What?”
She grins at me. “It’s purely selfish. I like the little guy, and he likes me, and I think you need a break.”
“I can’t ask you to do that,” I object.
“You’re not asking. I’m telling you.”
“Are you sure?” My heart leaps in my chest at the thought of a night of uninterrupted sleep.
“Emilio and I got a hotel room so we would have space for the cribs.” She winks at me. “Enjoy a night with no babies or parents on the bus.”
My face gets hot. Surely she’s not suggesting…
“Dude, I think she just told you to go get laid,” Sam says, leaning his head toward mine.
“She did not.”
He grins. “She totally did.”
Marta turns back to face me. “She totally did,” she says. She smiles at me again. “I may be old, but I’m not dead.”
I lean down and kiss my son on the forehead. He turns his head like he wants to nurse on my cheek, and I let him nuzzle for a minute. God, he has my heart. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I tell him. I kiss him, lingering over his tender skin a moment longer than I should, I know. “Call me if you need anything?” I tell Marta.
“Of course.” She steps up onto her tiptoes and kisses my cheek really quickly. Then she says quietly so only I can hear it, “Finny’s afraid to sleep with a man.”
Finny has slept with a lot of men, I think.
“Sleeping with a man is so much more intimate than having sex with one.” She stares hard at me. “You know?” Then she walks away and takes my son with her.
“Dude, can you give me about twenty minutes before you come to the bus?” Sam asks me.
Seriously, he’s asking me to stay away so he can make love to his wife? I grin at him. “It takes you twenty minutes?”
“No, today it’ll take me two, but I’ll give her twenty, if you can stay away.”
“You got it.” I look down at my watch. “Starting now.”
Sam walks over to Peck, whispers in her ear, takes her hand in his, and pulls her toward the bus. She laughs and pretends to struggle, but he won’t take no for an answer. Finally, he wraps his arm around her and guides her, with her laughing all the while.
Finny looks so damn pretty standing there on the stage that I can’t stay away from her. I walk up slowly, and go to her. She’s with Emily and Logan. I don’t know Logan very well, but I know he’s pretty easy to talk to. He has a cochlear implant he just got, but he had pretty good speech even before that, from what I understand. I walk up to Finny and put my hand at the center of her back. She leans into me without even thinking about it, and it makes my heart go all trippy.
“You have plans tonight?” I ask her. I press my lips to her temple and linger there. Her eyes flutter closed for a second.
“Nope. You?” She gazes at me shyly.
“You want to go to dinner with me?” My heart is racing for some reason.
She reaches up, cups my face in her palm, and stares into my eyes. “Aren’t you tired?”