Reunited by the Tycoon's Twins

Had she been aware of them? Never consciously. She was sure of that.

She had held Finn at arm’s length for as long as she had known him, as she had every other man in her life. Even those who had made it into her bed were still considered with a healthy amount of suspicion—if all they were interested in was her body then what was the point of letting them closer? Had she done the same with Finn—what, out of habit? And missed the fact that he seemed to be an actual good guy?

‘I don’t want to go into details,’ she said, shuddering at the thought, and wondering how to tell the story in as few words as possible. Writing tight copy was her speciality. This should be as easy as breathing for her. But when her life was the story it didn’t seem so simple. ‘I got stuck in a room where I didn’t want to be. With someone I didn’t want to be there with. I got out, but not entirely unscathed, I think we can say after last night. I’m sorry that I tarred you with the same brush. I didn’t mean to imply anything. It just triggered me, I guess, and I wasn’t thinking rationally after that.’

She watched as his jaw tensed, then his eyes softened. ‘I’m so sorry that that happened.’ His voice was gruff, and she wished she knew him well enough to understand the emotion she heard in it. ‘Is there anything else I can do to make you feel safe?’ he asked.

Madeleine shook her head, wishing she could go back in time to a point where Finn didn’t think that it was his responsibility to take care of her.

‘I do feel safe,’ she told him. ‘I’m sorry that I made you think that I don’t.’

‘You have nothing to apologise for. I don’t want you to ever feel like you have to say sorry for that.’

‘I freaked out.’ She sat up a little straighter, the memory of the previous evening making it impossible for her to relax. ‘I basically accused you of...’

‘You didn’t.’ He reached out a hand to cover hers and she started at the feel of his skin on hers. She had to force herself to remain still. Not to react how she wanted, to turn her palm over. To slide her fingers between his and hold on. ‘You reacted to a situation instinctively to protect yourself.’ He went on, ‘Never apologise for that.’

‘Well...thanks.’ She pulled her hand away, breathing a sigh of relief at the clarity it brought. Trying not to think too hard about why such a simple touch made thinking so difficult. ‘I feel like you’re being much nicer about this than I deserve.’

‘Why wouldn’t you deserve me being nice to you, Madeleine?’

She stopped short at his words. No one had done this before. No one had made her stop and think about why she said certain things. Why she thought about her past in a certain way. But now Finn was holding up a mirror to how she had acted last night and, instead of looking away, she wanted to see more. Wanted to understand why she had made the decisions that she had. She’d been hiding from her past for more years than she cared to admit.

But it wasn’t his job to tease that out with her. He had done enough by making her think of that time, that maybe it was time to reopen that wound and see if there was anything that could be done about making it heal a little smoother this time.

‘I... I don’t have an answer for that today,’ she replied at last, realising that she had left him hanging. ‘But I’m grateful to have you,’ she added, meaning it. Whatever weird feelings she was having for him, she was thankful that she had freaked out on someone so obstinately determined to be supportive. ‘Do we need to talk about what you said? About...chemistry? If you’re going to find it awkward, me being here, maybe I should think about finding somewhere else to stay.’

‘We can talk about it if you want. If you feel we need to. I’m sorry if saying it wasn’t the right thing. But I was under the impression that we could both feel it, and it seemed safer to have it out in the open. I don’t know. I feel like, if we ignored it, it could become this big...thing. And it doesn’t have to be a thing. I thought it would be best to be honest, so you could make an informed decision about whether you want to stay. I didn’t say it because I want you to go.’

‘But isn’t it complicated, me staying, now that we’ve said that?’

‘It doesn’t have to be. Because we’re grown-ups here, Madeleine. Right? So there’s a spark. You’re Jake’s sister. I’m hardly going to act on it.’

She wasn’t sure how much of what she was feeling was showing on her face. But she was a little affronted, and she would be surprised if Finn wasn’t perfectly aware of that fact right about now.

‘Come on. I have six-month-olds. Two of them. I’m basically desperate for your help. I love Jake and I would never do anything that would risk my oldest and strongest friendship. You’re like family to me, Madeleine. I love you and I want you to be safe. But I don’t want more than that. I didn’t think you did either.’

‘I don’t!’ she said, her voice spiky with indignation. ‘Why do you suddenly think that I do?’

‘I don’t. But everything is so awkward this morning and I just want everything to go back to normal. God, it’s never this hard with Jake. Why can’t it just be that simple with us?’

‘Um, these?’ she suggested, glancing down at her chest.

‘No,’ Finn said, meeting her eyes with a glare that caused a crease between his eyebrows. ‘Don’t accuse me of that. That’s not fair.’

‘Come on.’ She forced a nonchalant shrug. ‘It’s just a body. You said yourself; it’s just attraction.’

‘Actually, I don’t think I did say that.’ That frown again.

‘What then?’

‘I’m pretty sure that I said we had chemistry. And your body...’ he gestured towards her while his eyes remained fixed determinedly on hers ‘...lovely as I’m sure it is, is not chemistry.’

‘Attraction. Chemistry. Whatever,’ she said, trying to dismiss his words. But if what he felt for her wasn’t based on how she looked, then she wasn’t sure where that left them. He was easy to write off if he was only interested in how she looked. She had had plenty of practice dealing with that, after all. But chemistry was something else. Chemistry was something linking them. Something bringing them together. Something mutual. And it was definitely harder to ignore than attraction.

The worst thing was, he was right. There was something between them. She didn’t want it to be there, and she didn’t like it being there. But it was there, and she didn’t know how to make it go away.

Pretty much her whole adult life, she’d only been interested in relationships where she knew the score because she was the one making up the rules. She’d dated guys who were pretty and shallow and uninteresting, because she knew that she could drop them without a second thought when they disappointed her. Which they invariably did. And now here was Finn. Totally honourable. Totally out of bounds. Totally confusing her.