All the Way (Romancing Manhattan #1)(51)

“I was almost thirty when I finally met him, and let me tell you, in those days I was well on my way to being a spinster. There are times that I feel like we got cheated out of so much time together because we met so late.”

“I didn’t realize that.”

“True story. And then he was just gone, in the blink of an eye. London is here, Finn, and you love her. So, you have to tell her.”

“What if she doesn’t feel the same?”

She sits back in her chair and smiles at me, using that smile that women have when the men they’re talking to are clueless.

“She does. I know that for sure. I’ve seen the way she looks at you, dear boy. Women don’t look at men like that unless they’ve already planned the wedding in their head ten different ways.”

“Wedding?” I swallow hard and shift in the chair again. “I haven’t thought about marriage.”

“Yet.” She leans forward to catch my gaze with her own. “You haven’t thought about it yet. But you will, because I didn’t raise my boys to carry on with a woman without marrying her.”

“This is the twenty-first century,” I remind her, but she shakes her head stubbornly.

“I don’t care. If you love her, and want to be with her, you’ll marry her, and I don’t care if you’re turning forty soon, you’re still my child.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She smiles softly. “My baby is about to be forty. How did that happen?”

“Time passes.”

“Too quickly. You’ve done some amazing things with your forty years, Finn.”

“Thank you.”

“Now it’s time to settle down and give me some more grandchildren.”

“Are we going to talk about this all night? Because if so, I have other things to do.”

“Fine, then.” She waves me off. “Are you excited about your party?”

“I’m not sure why I need a party.”

“It’s a milestone birthday, and it’ll be fun to celebrate it. Now, I think I’d like to get out of the house for a few hours.”

“Okay.” I stand with her and smile down at her when she lifts her handbag. “Where are we going?”

“Take your mother to the movies. Nothing dirty or scary, now.”

“I can do that.” I lift my arm, inviting her to hold on to it as I escort her out to my car. “This is a fun surprise.”

“Life should be full of fun surprises, my boy.”





Chapter Fourteen

~London~


I’ve never been so exhausted in my life. Not physically. I’ve been so physically exhausted before that I couldn’t walk. No, this is a mental exhaustion that’s settled around me like fog around the Brooklyn Bridge, and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to dissipate anytime soon.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ve had a wink of sleep on this flight from L.A. to New York. I mean, that would just be silly. In fact, I’ve hardly slept at all since I left Finn’s condo just over two days ago.

It’s ridiculous.

Suddenly I can’t sleep when I’m not with Finn? I’ve been sleeping fine without him for thirty-two years, but now I can’t.

Finally, after six hours in the air, we land and I bring my phone to life. I have two texts from Sasha and one from Finn, which I open first.

I’ve missed you. Do you mind coming straight to my place?



I grin and reply. I’ll see you soon. Just landed.

Rather than reply to Sasha’s texts, I call her while I wait for my luggage.

“Are you back?”

“Just landed. I’m waiting at baggage claim and then heading over to Finn’s. What’s up with you?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Sasha, your text said, and I quote, I need you right now.”

“Well, I might need advice. About a man.”

“Really? Spill it. Who?”

“Fuck life,” she says with a sigh, referring to Jeremy. “I know, we said we don’t like him, but I might be starting to like him, and he asked me out on a date. Like, a real date, not just a hookup.”

“If you like him, you should go.”

“It’s not that easy,” she says, and I can hear the fear in her voice. “The hookups are working for us. No fuss, no muss. And now he wants to complicate it with dating? I mean, why does he have to do that?”

“Because he has feelings?” I suggest, and hear her snort in the phone. “I mean, I know he’s a man, and it’s a hookup, but you’re fucking incredible, Sash. What’s not to love?”

“Yes, I’m fabulous. But the point of the hookup is to not have any feelings that aren’t centered around an orgasm. I don’t have time to mix dating into it.”

“Then tell him no.” I pull my suitcase off the belt and walk toward the cab line. “Tell him you want to keep things as they are.”

“But that makes it awkward,” she replies, and then groans. “Why did he have to do this? I don’t want to find a new fuck life.”

“I think you’re overthinking this. Just tell him what you’re thinking and go from there.”