“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re made of polyester instead of flesh and blood?”

A faint smile flickered across his lips before he shook his head. “Relationships are…” He closed his eyes for a beat. “I’ve tried, and it’s not…it’s complicated.”

Complicated. What did that mean? My mouth opened to speak. No. I gripped a square of the comforter. I wasn’t going to be that person—the one who continued to ask the questions when the most important one had already been answered. This…whatever this was…wasn’t my HEA.

“You don’t need to explain.”

He sighed. “Adi. I never meant to lead you on. I thought you were okay with…” He waved his hands around the room as if the space represented our “relationship.”

“You didn’t.” I shook my head emphatically. “I knocked on your door that night with no expectations, and I have no regrets. But our one-night stand has morphed into a several-night stand, and I think we should stop before someone catches feelings.” Except it might be too late.

“Of course. If that’s what you want.” His voice was soft.

I nodded, even though it was hardly what I wanted. For once, I wanted a relationship where my partner didn’t have one foot out the door while peering over his shoulder for something shinier to come along.

Finn rose from the bed and lifted a shirt over his head. The sinewy muscles of his chest tempted my restraint, and I averted my eyes.

“A committed relationship just doesn’t fit into my life. But I like you,” he said. “I really do.”

I blew a raspberry with my lips. “Well, duh. What’s not to like?”

He laughed, his smile split wide. “If I were going to get involved with someone, she’d be like you, Adi Gellar. It’s not you. It’s me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Spare me.”

I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep up the act. I glanced at the clock radio on his nightstand and fake-gasped. “It’s almost checkout time.” I pushed myself to a standing position and motioned toward the door. “I’d better go tell Lorraine I need to reserve for another week.”

This talk with Finn had changed nothing. If anything, it made me even more determined to smoke out a story. Perhaps it was too much to ask to leave Pleasant Hollow with both a promising love life and a career, but I’d be damned if I left without at least one of them.

“Adi?”

I stopped with my hand on the knob and faced him. “Yeah?”

His face looked pained. “We can still be friends, right?”

I smiled softly. “Of course. Friends.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight