Sleeping with the Enemy (An Enemies to Lovers Collection)

“No, I haven’t changed my mind. I’m here for as long as you want me around. I’m flexible. I know I can work away from the office. I might have to do some travel, but I could make it work, living away from New York for good. Also, as long as you can stand me, but if it gets to the point where you start flinging manure at me like an angry monkey, then we might have to do some reconsideration.”

I’m not sure how Becki is going to react to that because I know a lot has happened to us since I first arrived here. I was so laughably certain I wouldn’t ever enjoy being here back then. I know it’s a lot to take in because now I’m talking about being here for the foreseeable future.

“I think we could make a great team,” I go on, a little bit worried now because she’s not saying anything. “We’ve done alright, and that was just a week. I think we could actually rock this. If you wanted to.”

Becki just stands there, holding the bag of goodies. I really wish she’d say something because she’s also basically holding my heart. I know it’s extreme, and I’m not talking about love here, but I know there’s a distinct possibility we could be talking about it someday—someday soon. For that to work, though, Becki has to agree. She has to want me around, and she has to feel the same, that we have something special going on here, something worth working and going for.

“Can you…can you go back to the part about the manure flinging and the angry monkey bits?” Becki asks. “No, actually, can you just come here and kiss me like an angry monkey? That fits in well with the fuzzy bananas. Angry monkeys would probably like fuzzy bananas.”

“Mhmm, yes. Of course.” I close the distance between us so fast that Becki giggles loudly, and she laughs even harder when I take her into my arms. God, she’s so tiny, even with those big boots on. She reaches up and pulls me close.

“I missed you. Seriously, Finn. We all did. Tulip is still waiting for you to come and pet her.”

“I will,” I promise her. “But let me pet you first.” I swing Becki up into my arms, and she squeals.

“Oh my god. This is too much.”

“Really? I know it’s dramatic, but I promise, if you can fit me into your ridiculously tight schedule, you won’t regret the shower we’re going to take together, middle of the day or no.”

“But I’ll just get dirty after it.”

I dip my head and kiss her thoroughly. “I know.” I wink at her. “I’m planning on it.”

She punches me in the shoulder playfully. “Jeez, you have quite the filthy mind.”

“Well, I was talking about shoveling manure. Can’t say I missed anything more.”

Becki grazes my shoulder lightly again with her fist. She stops arguing and lets me carry her straight into the house. God, I missed her, and I missed this place. I know we have a ton of things to figure out, and the future can be rough, dicey, and sometimes totally unfair, but I also know if we keep shoveling through the poop pile together, we’ll eventually get through to the other side, get it all cleaned up, taken out to the compost, or whatever one does with poop.

Back there in the car’s trunk is a brand new set of size eleven men’s rubber boots because, yeah, I came prepared this time. I’m ready, and I’m all in.

EPILOGUE

Becki

Maybe Finn’s grandfather knew we’d be a good match. Or perhaps this was his plan all along. We were both basically workaholics. Finn took the more obvious route while I poured every bit of myself into ensuring my animals had a great life. Either way, there wasn’t much room in our lives for romance until we met each other. Maybe his grandfather knew we were kooky in our own ways and that when united, our kookiness could make a bunch of awesome things happen.

Like the sanctuary and how we no longer need donations since Finn brought a butt pile of money to the table and wanted to use it, something I never asked him to do. He made that decision all on his own. The sanctuary is still small, and essentially, it’s still just us, plus two other crazy, amazing animal lovers. Amy and John now feel like family. Amy lives twenty minutes down the road and works full time while John works every other day since he lives in Topeka, and it’s kind of a long drive out this way. They’re both a tremendous help. They love all of the animals, and they also love this place. They even talk to the animals just like I do. I thought I was alone in that somewhat strange habit, but then Finn started doing it, and when we hired Amy, she did it too. When John came on board, well, you get the idea. In the summer, I pay the two neighborhood boys from one farm over to do grounds maintenance. I’ve never seen two young men get more excited about mowing lawns and whacking weeds. They might just be twelve and fourteen, but they work harder than heck. Finn pays them well, so I think they like that most of all, but obviously, they love the animals too.