Chapter 24: A Heated Discussion

Finn didn’t even blink.
“What did you just say?” he asked again, certain that he hadn’t heard correctly.
It couldn’t be… He wouldn’t be so unlucky.
“Mr. Lane, I… I couldn’t listen to everything, but I think she said yes. I just thought you should know. I mean… We both know what he’s capable of. Maybe he’s up to something,” Melanie continued stuttering.
Finn closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“It's okay, Melanie. I’ll handle it. You can go home now, don’t worry,” he comforted her with his words, seeing that she was completely nervous. But the monster inside him was roaring aggressively. He wanted to kill both of them.
But he wouldn’t show Gwen how annoyed he was. He wouldn’t show his weakness to her anymore. He had opened up his heart to her earlier, and she did nothing.
In fact, she had offended him and insulted him. That hurt him immensely. She hit him where it hurt the most.
Finn was questioning his fatherhood a lot ever since he found out about Cody’s existence. He hated that he didn’t know his son very well, to understand everything the little boy felt or wanted, and all the little things in his life that he had lost. It was true it wasn’t his fault. He was aware of that. He was trying not to blame himself, but he couldn’t pretend that it didn’t hurt his feelings anyway.
And if that wasn’t enough, now he had discovered that Gwen was colluding with the enemy. Finn couldn’t tell how infuriated he was at that moment. He entered his car and left, the tires squeaking loudly on the streets.
He wouldn’t say a word to Gwen. He would wait until she spoke to him. If she was ever going to…
It took a few days, but Finn wasn’t wrong. When he went to her apartment to pick Cody on Thursday morning to take him to school, Gwen came outside with the kid and put him seated in his car seat. And before Finn had the chance to say goodbye and get back in the car, she came closer to him and started to talk with a soft voice. That only made it clear to him that she was nervous and embarrassed.
But he wouldn’t give her a break. Actually, he had been really cold towards her ever since she left his office on the other day. And Gwen had noticed that too.
She had spent basically the whole night thinking of a way to ask Finn to watch Cody during the evening, so she could have dinner with Clyde. Stephanie already had something going on, so Gwen was left with no choice.
But taking their last discussion into consideration, she would be a jerk to ask him that. But she didn’t want to lose that opportunity. It was the first time in years that a nice and handsome man was interested in her and didn’t look bothered that she was already a mother.
“Finn, can I talk to you really quickly?” she asked with her head down, ashamed to look into his eyes. It was a very weird situation, and she wasn’t sure that she would have the strength to go out with Clyde after looking into those emeralds eyes that haunted and comforted her at the same time.
“Yes?” he raised his brows.
“Do you mind watching Cody for me tonight?” she murmured, making it almost impossible for him to listen properly.
“Why?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer. But she didn’t know he knew, so he took the opportunity to tease her and see if she would have the guts to tell him.
And she did.
“Someone invited me for dinner, but Stephanie can’t stay with him tonight, so I thought you wouldn’t mind…”
“Who?” Finn asked again, ignoring the fact that he was being nosy and inconvenient.
He didn’t care.
“It’s a guy I met… Clyde Bonne. Maybe you know him, he was at your company yesterday,” she commented, trying to break the tension between them.
But it was in vain. Finn’s eyes were blazing with fire, and Gwen could tell that he was making a huge effort to contain himself. Maybe she should have kept that information to herself.
“Yes, I do know him, and if you knew him as well, you wouldn’t have dinner with him. That man is a snake. He’s my biggest competitor in the industry, Gwen. You can’t go out with him!” he stated, releasing all the anger he was holding ever since he heard about the date from Melanie.
Gwen blinked a few times.
“What?” she muttered, not believing her ears.
“Exactly. I won’t let you go out with him. He’s been trying to screw me over for years. Now he suddenly wants to go on a date with the mother of my son? He must think that I’m stupid, that’s what…” Finn spat, messing up his perfectly combed hair. Which was very sexy, Gwen had to admit.
But his words caught her attention more than his action.
“You won’t let me? You don’t tell me what I can or cannot do, Finn,” she replied, decisively. “Why can’t he just be interested in me?”
“He's not. He’s using you to get to me. I know it!” Finn continued, unaware of Gwen’s wrath.
She didn’t know why, but seeing that Finn was acting like that because of Clyde, instead of her, only made her more eager to go. He wasn’t jealous, like she secretly wanted.
“You know what, I’m capable of protecting myself. I’ve been doing that for the past five years, so I appreciate your concern, but I’m going. I’m pretty sure you can protect yourself against him as well,” she concluded, already turning to get back inside the building and get ready for work.
But Finn’s hand grabbed her arm, which only made her entire body shiver with the heat that irradiated from his touch.
“You won’t go on a date with that man. I won’t allow it,” Finn whispered, almost touching their noses.
Gwen swallowed with difficulty. She was infuriated at him, it was true. But at the same time, they haven’t been so close like that for a long time. That almost destabilized her.
Finn was trying to be intimidating, but he underestimated himself. He never thought he would be so mesmerized by her if he got too close. But seeing her in front of him, so reachable, all he managed to do was stare into her beautiful red lips; lips that he wanted to kiss now more than ever.
But she pulled herself together just in time to prevent something like that from happening. Gwen released her arm from his hand and retreated, taking a safety distance from him.
“You know what? Forget it, I’ll find someone to watch Cody. I don’t need your help, thank you very much,” she concluded, and closed the door on his face.