“Are you sure it’s okay if you stand? I mean, what about the babies?”
“Just give me your hand.” He did as she asked.
Once she was on her feet, she ran her hands over her bare arms. He noticed the goose bumps, which prompted him to slip off his jacket and place it over her shoulders. “Thank you. But you need it.”
“Keep it. I’m fine.” He had so much adrenaline flooding through his system at that particular moment that he really didn’t notice the cold.
“Do you want to go back inside?”
She lifted the skirt of her gown. “I don’t think so. My heel broke.”
He glanced down, finding her standing on one foot as the other heel had broken and slipped off her foot. Without a word, he retrieved the heel and handed to her. Then he scooped her up in his arms.
“Put me down! What are you doing?”
“Taking you home.”
“Finn, stop. We need to talk.”
“You’re right. We do. But not out here in the cold.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SO MUCH FOR making a seamless exit.
Holly sat on the couch in Finn’s penthouse feeling ridiculous for falling on the ice and breaking her shoe. The lights on the Christmas tree twinkled as though mocking her with their festiveness. She glanced away.
She’d trusted Finn and yet things about him and his past kept blindsiding her. How was she ever supposed to trust him? How was she supposed to believe he’d never hurt her?
Falling in love and trusting another human was like a free fall and trusting that your parachute would open. Holly wasn’t sure she had the guts to free-fall. Her thoughts strayed back to her father. She inwardly shuddered, remembering him flirting with that young woman, and then he didn’t even deny he was having an affair with her. Her mother had trusted him and then her stepmother. It was to their utter detriment.
Finn rushed back in the room with a damp cloth. “Here. Let me have your hand.”
She held her injured hand out to him. He didn’t say anything as he gently cleaned her scrapes and then applied some medicated cream before wrapping a bit of gauze around it.
“Did you hurt anything else?”
“Besides my pride? No.”
“I wish you’d have talked to me before you took off. Anything could have happened to you—”
“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself.”
He arched a brow at her outburst.
“Hey, anyone can slip on ice,” he said calmly. “I just wish you’d have talked to me. Why did you leave? Was it Meryl? Did she say something to upset you?”
“No. Actually she didn’t. Not directly.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Why didn’t you tell me she would be there? That you still interact with her?”
He shrugged and glanced away. “I don’t know. I didn’t think of it.”
“Really? Is that the same reason you didn’t tell me you’re the mastermind behind the Mistletoe Ball? That without you, there wouldn’t be a ball?”
“I guess I should have said something. I didn’t think it was a big deal. I wasn’t keeping it a secret from you, but I’ve been distracted. If you haven’t noticed, we’re having twins.”
“What else haven’t you told me?” Her fears and insecurities came rushing to the surface. “What else don’t I know about you that’s going to blindside me?”
His facial features hardened. “I’m sure there’s lots you don’t know about me, just like there’s a lot I don’t know about you.” When she refused to back down, he added, “Do you want me to start with kindergarten or will a detailed report about my last five years do?”
She glared at him for being sarcastic. Then she realized she deserved it. She was overreacting. She’d let her family dig into her insecurities and her imagination had done the rest.
“You know what? Never mind.” Finn got up from the couch. “If you don’t trust me, this is never going to work. Just forget this—forget us. I was wrong to think it could work.”
Her heart ached as she watched him walk out of the room. She didn’t even know the person she’d become. It was like she was once again that insecure little girl who realized her father had lied to her—learning that her father had secretly exchanged his current family for a new one. And now her father was about to do it again.