Protecting Love (LarssonSiblingSeries #3)

CHAPTER TWELVE

Betty

I put the boxing gloves back on the shelf and turn to find Finn cleaning off the weights we used with a wet tissue. It's an hour after my chat to Shawn, and If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Finn kept us behind on purpose. I need the exercise, so it doesn't bother me, but Shawn will be waiting, and it's rude for me to leave it any longer.

I rummage through my gym bag and pull out my towel and wash products, turning to Finn to ask him a question. "Hey, do you want to come over tonight? DeDe is throwing a goodbye party for her mum and Sabrina."

"No," he shakes his head, tapping away at his phone. "I don't want to get too friendly with you all. It's not professional."

I feel like a truck just hit me at full force. "Oh, okay then. It's just I'd like you to be there, but if you aren't comfortable, then I won't force you."

"Do you want me to wait outside the washrooms? Or down here?" he changes the subject.

I try my best not to show my disappointment. "You can go. I'm safe here."

Finn frowns. "Are you pissy at me because I said no to a party with your family?"

"No," I raise my voice without meaning to, giving away my emotions. "I'm not pissy at all."

"Your face is bright red," he points out.

I zip my bag back up and pull it over my shoulder. "I worked out for almost two hours. What do you expect?"

Finn shrugs. "Fair enough. So, I'll wait down here, yeah?"

I shake my head. "I'll be okay on my own. I'm at home, remember."

"And you pay me to watch your back, remember?"

I don't know where his sudden attitude is from, but I don't appreciate it. "Go home, Finn."

"No," he laughs, "I don't slack on a job."

Job.

I need to remember where we stand.

I start to walk towards the stairs which lead to the wet rooms. "Because, that's all I am, right? A job. Thanks for the memo."

I hear Finn's voice mumble a curse word when I dash up the steps, getting in and out of the shower in less than ten minutes before walking past him when I slip my key card in the door to get out of the gym. Finn walks a slow pace behind me all the way to BEANS & Co coffee shop.

I absorb the strong scent of coffee when I walk in and take a deep inhale to savour the pleasurable fragrance, finding Shawn in the corner near the cake fridges.

"Do you want another?" I point to his mug, and he lifts it with a nod.

Finn comes to stand next to me in the queue, and I turn the other way checking out what shortbreads they have so I don't have to speak to him. It hurts me that he all but said we couldn't be anything more than a boss and employee. I honestly thought we were growing closer and I found the knife wound in my heart patching up. I forget about the pain when Finn's around, and it's becoming quite addictive.

"Betty?" the girl at the checkout gasps when the man in front goes to wait for his take-out near the door. "It's really you?"

I smile. "That's me."

"OH MY GOD!" she turns around and shouts to a woman writing a name on a plastic cup. "Sharon, it's Betty Larsson!"

Sharon spins around and searches the shop with her eyes, landing on me a second later. "Holy smokes it is."