Read In Too Hard (Freshman Roommates Trilogy, Book 3) Online
Authors: Mara Jacobs
It’d been okay when he’d worked here years ago, but this time around it was too much. Everything was too much.
Something about the voice made him turn. Three women stood at the concession stand counter, one of the new high school kids waiting on them. Finn had his head buried, connecting a new Coke tank. The old tank had just died, spraying Coke all over his white shirt. Just another sign that the universe was having a good laugh at him.
He checked out the women. Mostly all he saw were packs of kids and couples at the theater. It was refreshing to see a group of thirty-something women together. The two he could see were striking, but in very different ways. Completely opposite in looks. The first was tall and Nordic looking, and strikingly beautiful. A Viking princess. The other was all soft curves, darker skin and hair, but still blonde. A dark Finlander and a light Finlander, the two mainstays of the Copper Country.
There was something a little familiar about them. Maybe they came to the theaters often? He dismissed that. He’d have definitely remembered the Viking.
The woman behind the two got her order and turned, allowing Finn to see only a flash of long black hair ending just above a wonderfully lush butt. He tried craning his neck, but from where he stood he couldn’t get a clear view of her.
Those damn high school kids were too fast. They had the women’s orders done before Finn had a chance to get out from behind the counter and get a proper look. He wanted to figure out where he knew the two from, and definitely wanted to see the third.
There was something about that voice. Maybe he could catch a glimpse of them after the movie as they left the theater.
L
izzie couldn’t concentrate on the movie, which was unusual. She, Katie and Alison had been seeing movies at the Mine Shaft together since sixth grade when they were finally allowed to go without parental supervision.
One parent would drop the three girls off in downtown Houghton. They would see the movie, then cross the street to the Big Boy for a hot fudge ice cream cake. One of the other girls’ parents would pick them up in front of the Big Boy exactly one and a half hours after the movie was scheduled to get out. In that time, the girls would dissect the movie while plying themselves with the decadent dessert.
Over time, the girls’ critiques of the movies went from “isn’t he dreamy” to “the use of the wide-angle lens by the director was really effective.” Although “isn’t he dreamy” never really went out of style. They had progressed from their parents’ pick-up and delivery service, to being old enough to walk on their own, to driving their parents’ cars, to driving their own.
Now they were back to walking across the bridge from Hancock to Houghton, but this time for the exercise. The Big Boy had long closed down, but Lizzie fully expected the Pavlovian response of craving hot fudge the moment the credits rolled.
Except tonight, she wasn't immersed in the movie. “He didn’t even know me. Not a flicker of recognition,” she said out loud, as much to herself as her friends.
“SSSHHHHH,” came a voice from behind them.
“My plan centers around him, and he has absolutely no idea who I am.” She could hear the dismay in her voice. She put her head in her hands, slowly shaking it. Then she grabbed hold of herself, snapped her head up and concluded, “It may take a little longer than I thought, that’s all.”
“SSSHHH,” repeated the voice.
“Get a grip, Lizard, we’re being shushed,” Alison whispered. “I don’t think he even saw you, you were so quick getting your popcorn. We’ll figure it out at the Big Boy. I mean, wherever we go after here.”
Apparently Alison was still programmed, too. The thought cheered Lizzie.
F
inn looked up from the desk when he heard people leaving the theater. He was in the office going over how to fill out a time sheet with one of the new workers. As he heard the small crowd leaving, he quickly tried to wrap up his tutorial and get out to the lobby.
The three women had just passed the office. Another view from the back. It was a hell of a view, but not the one he wanted. Damn, he wouldn’t get a chance to solve the mystery of from where he knew the women. The Viking was telling a story and as she finished, the other two laughed. He froze at the sound of the dark-haired woman’s laugh.
He knew that laugh. Nothing dainty or feminine about it. Loud and boisterous, it came from the gut, full of heart.
He dashed out the doors trying to catch the women. “Elizabeth? Liz?” he yelled after them.
A
few steps down the sidewalk, Lizzie turned to face Finn. Excitement buzzed through her. Triumph…he did remember her. Her excitement was quickly replaced by nerves.
Now what? Should she play games? Pretend she didn’t know him? No, she decided, it had to be honest or she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. Her plan was cold-blooded enough without bringing deceit into it as well.
“Hi, Finn. I thought that was you, but I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”
It felt surreal. Face to face with Finn Robbins after eighteen years. She moved closer to him and tried to take him in. His face, which in his youth had seemed chiseled, was now angular and hard, his blue eyes still deep and vivid. He stood right around six feet. Lizzie had always loved his height; it fit so perfectly with her own five nine. His then-lanky build was now muscular. His hair, still close cropped and sandy brown, was sprinkled with sun streaks and just a touch of gray.
Even though it was only early June, and summer hadn’t even begun in the Copper Country, his neck and forearms were tanned a golden brown. He wore old jeans that looked like a pair any teen would wear, but Lizzie guessed the holes and stains weren’t placed there for fashion. Some brown substance splattered the front of his white shirt.
She couldn’t believe it. Eighteen years later and she was still drawn to him. Still wanted to touch him, wanted to place her hands on his chest, wrap her arms around his neck and press her body into his.
She held out her hand instead.
“I didn’t see you when you first came in. It was hearing your laugh that tipped me off.” He shook her hand, but didn’t release it, just held it awkwardly, as if he couldn’t believe she was real. She felt the same way, and she’d known she was going to see him. He must really be surprised. Pleasantly, she hoped.
“God, Liz. I…I can’t believe it’s you,” the shock was evident in his voice. “You’re so…so…old.” His hand left hers as he covered his eyes, shaking his head. “I mean. I didn’t mean.”
He placed his hands on his hips and let out a deep sigh. “What I mean is, it’s been a long time, Liz. I guess I still think of you as eighteen. But, here you are.” As if trying to put himself out of his misery, he finished, “It’s incredible to see you, Liz. You look beautiful.”
He should have seen her three years ago. But that was then, and this is now. And right now Finn Robbins was telling her she looked beautiful.
Take it and run.
“God, it’s such a shock to see you. Did you move back to town?”
“No. I live in Detroit now, have for quite some time. I’m just home visiting. Finn, do you remember my friends Alison Jukuri and Katie Maki, though Katie is Lipton now.”
Finn nodded to Katie and Alison and they nodded in response.
“And are you still Hampton, Liz?”
It took her a second to figure out what Finn was asking. “Oh, yes, still Hampton. I’m not married. And you?” She held her breath. She had known of one divorce, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t remarried somewhere along the line. Finn had never traveled in the same circles as she and her friends, so they wouldn’t necessarily have known if he had.
And Google came up woefully short on Finn Robbins searches over the years.
“Married and divorced, about, let’s see, seven years ago, I guess.”
So it had only been the once, she happily thought, and that had ended seven years ago. She mustered up her courage. She could do this. If she couldn’t ask out Finn Robbins, how on earth would she hold her own with someone like Davis Cummings? And that’s what this plan all boiled down to.
“Listen, Finn, we have to get going…but I’d love to get together sometime and catch up on what’s been happening with you. I’ll be in town for a couple of months, at most.” She added the last part so he wouldn’t feel like she was trying to start anything permanent with him. She also brought her hand to his and squeezed, just so he wouldn’t think her interest was only platonic.
“T
hat’d be great, but I’m pretty swamped right now with berry season….” Finn didn't want to let her go. The shock of seeing her after all these years was wearing off and he now looked at her through new, older eyes.
She was breathtaking, but he’d always thought so. He wanted her, and if her body was sending the signals he thought it was, she wanted him too. He did some quick juggling of events in his head. He had a night off from the theater on Wednesday, but he’d have to do something about Annie. He’d figure that one out later, he wasn’t going to let Liz go without a firm date.
“How about dinner Wednesday?” he asked.
She stepped closer to him, her bountiful breasts nearly grazing his chest. She gave his hand another squeeze. Damn, he’d sure like to squeeze more than just her hand.
“That sounds great. Meet at the Commodore at eight?”
“I’ll see you then, Elizabeth.” He dragged out her name into four long syllables, just like he used to, years ago. Only then, it would be a soft whisper, breathed close to her ear, prompting an answering sigh. He was the only person who ever called her Elizabeth. He mostly called her Liz, but he never called her Lizzie as everyone else did. He didn’t want to be just like everybody else to her.
She’d been like nobody else to him.
He felt her shudder. He’d always had that effect on her. Back then, she’d been too innocent to know how to hide it. It was refreshing to see that she still couldn’t mask her attraction.
She smiled, placed a soft kiss on each of his cheeks, and then pulled away from him and returned to her friends. The women walked down the sidewalk toward the bridge. Leaving Finn staring after them. And counting the hours until Wednesday night.
~*~
WORTH THE WEIGHT
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Mara Jacobs books available for Kindle
The Worth Series — Contemporary Romance:
Worth The Effort
Freshman Roommates — New Adult Romance Trilogy:
In Too Hard
Contemporary Romance:
Anna Dawson’s Vegas — Mystery Series:
Blackbird & Confessor — Romantic Mystery:
Anthology:
Mara Jacobs is the
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of the Worth series.
After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in advertising, Mara spent several years working at daily newspapers in advertising sales and production. This certainly prepared her for the world of deadlines!
She writes mysteries with romance, thrillers with romance, and romances with…well, you get it.
Forever a Yooper (someone who hails from Michigan's glorious Upper Peninsula), Mara now splits her time between the Copper Country, Las Vegas, and East Lansing, where she is better able to root on her beloved Spartans.