Lily had managed to get home with a few minutes to spare and was racing around like a mad woman cleaning the clutter that had managed to spill into the main room from her bedroom. She was shoving the last of the dirty clothes in the hamper when the street door to the house buzzed.
Lily could have buzzed him in, but instead, she raced down the central staircase and opened the door herself. Ms. Epstine was standing in her doorway, waiting to see who was visiting.
"Hello," Lily greeted as she stood aside for Finn to enter.
As soon as he entered the lobby, he noticed Ms. Epstine and he met her serious look with one of his own, and if Lily hadn't been so nervous, she probably would have found the situation funny because it looked as if Ms. Epstine had met her match.
"Ms. Epstine, this is Finn Baxter, he is a co-worker," Lily introduced.
"Uh-hu," she muttered before backing into her apartment and closing the door.
"Are we talking here?" Lily asked, looking up at Finn. It felt as if he was filling the entire space of the small lobby area.
"I thought we could ride out to the beach and get something to eat," he suggested.
"Sure, if you wait here, I'll grab my wallet and keys," she agreed, turning and bolting up the stairs without giving him the option of joining her.
When she rejoined him, he held open the door for her and led the way to his truck, holding open the door for her, making it feel like a date. Lily took a deep breath after he closed the door behind her and forced herself to lean back in the seat while telling herself it was not a date, but her nerves were winning as she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans.
When he opened the door and joined her, she inhaled deeply, catching his scent, he smelled like soap and fabric softener, not exactly the scent of romance, but at least he was clean. She started to wonder what kind of fabric softener he used, and then she started to wonder if he did his own laundry, maybe Gretchen did it, perhaps it was in her job description. She wondered what else was in her job description.
"Why are you frowning?" Finn asked as he pulled out into traffic.
"Oh, no reason," she smiled, cursing the way her mind wandered when she got nervous. "Is this a date?" she blurted, the nerves winning.
He braked hard at a stop sign and looked over at her. "NO!" He looked alarmed, and it made Lily laugh, and she held up her hands. "Alright, no need to panic, I only wanted to make sure, because it feels a little bit like a date."
"It's not," he ground out, punching the gas.
"O.K., I got it, not a date." She nodded and because she wanted to watch him panic a little bit more, "So that means there won't be a good night kiss, and you won't be staying at my place tonight?" Even though she was joking, her heart raced at the words as she said them.
She watched a muscle in his jaw jump as he refused to acknowledge her comment. "Are you always this easy to antagonize?" she asked as she leaned forward and adjusted the air vent.
"Not usually, you just seem to bring out the best in me," he said, copying the earlier comment she had made when she had been trying to convince him to use his leg as part of the show.
"Then we're even. Have you thought any more about letting Mason use your leg as part of the show? Is that what you wanted to talk to me about because if you did, I still think it is a good idea," she babbled.
"No that's not what I wanted to discuss. Where do you want to eat?" Finn asked, changing the subject without answering the question.
Lily sighed. "I don't care, you pick. Maybe Gretchen made enough for all of us." She rested her head, against the headrest, and watched the scenery along the highway as it passed.
"I guess shy, nervous Lily is a thing of the past," he muttered under his breath.
"No, she's still there, I'm just fighting to repress her," Lily said softly. "It took me a long time to find my confidence, and I'm fighting not to lose it."
Finn didn't say anything to this as he drove for a bit.
"Does this date mean grumpy anti-social Finn is a thing of the past? Are we friends now?" she asked, knowing the answer.
"Nope, and it's not a date," he said, but something in the way he said it made it sound like she may have lost the battle, but there was still a chance to win the war.
"So you keep saying, but you held the door open for me, I think that constitutes a date." Her phone rang, and she looked down at it to see it was her Aunt Kate. "I'm gonna answer this since this isn't a date."
"Hey, Aunt Kate!" she greeted.
"Hello, Lily. I'm not disturbing you, am I?" Kate's warm tones made her a little homesick for her family.
"Nah, I'm having a debate with Finn Baxter as to whether we're on a date or not." Lily heard him choke a little next to her.
"Is it unclear?" Kate asked with a frown in her voice.
"He says no, but he opened the truck door for me and closed it behind me, and I think that makes it a date," she explained.
"Finn Baxter, didn't he used to serve with Lee and isn't he on the television show?"
"Yep, he wants to talk to me," she stressed the word talk.
"As long as that's all since it's not a date," Kate said dryly. "I called because I wanted to let you know, we're looking at coming down for the 4th of July. Lee thought it would be fun."
"It will be, will you stay with Aunt Penny and Uncle Sam?"
"Probably."
"Will Henry come as well? I miss him." Lily thought of her brother, who really wasn't her brother but was Lee and Kate's adopted son, who was like a brother.
"I hope so, try to convince him if you talk to him."
They talked for a few more minutes before they ended the call.
"Who is Henry?" Finn asked almost immediately.
"Why, are you jealous. Maybe I'll let Henry be my first kiss instead," Lily teased.
He didn't respond, and she didn't see his hands tighten on the wheel as she looked out the window.
"Do you live in town or on the island?" She was curious, but she also wanted to make conversation.
"On the island. I like being close to the water."
"That's not a surprise." She smiled.
Finn parked off a street a block away from the restaurant that was on the back side of the island on what was known as the back river. "You can open your own door so that there is no more confusion about if this is a date or not," he said as he climbed out of the truck, and Lily couldn't suppress a smile.
"That was almost a joke, wasn't it?" she asked as she joined him. "Do you want to hold my hand?"
She watched his lip twitch. "No, I do not."
"Can I hold your hand?"
"You're like a little puppy." He shook his head.
"Definitely a poodle with all of this hair," she agreed.
They entered the restaurant, and there were a few people before them. The hostess greeted him by name and the others who were waiting for a table, stopped talking and stared openly at him, but no one asked for a photograph or an autograph. They wouldn't dare with the frown he was wearing.
"You go first," the man next to them suggested as the hostess called his name.
"No, I insist, you've been waiting longer," Finn said. His voice was friendly, but he was still wearing his serious look.
Lily sat on the bench behind them, reaching for a local magazine to read. "Oh look, there's a crossword, do you have a pen?" she asked, looking up at him.
"I have one," the hostess said, leaning forward to hand her one.
"Thank you," Lily said, giving her a sweet smile as she accepted the pen.
She started to work on the crossword to keep her thoughts occupied. Finn wanted to talk to about something, but it was evident that he was going to wait until the end of dinner to do it, which meant it was probably something bad.
"What's the last name of a famous painter, four letters, whose first name is Bob?" she asked.
"Ross." Finn supplied
"It fits!" she crowed as she filled in the boxes. "Never heard of him."
"He paints all of the happy little trees," Finn supplied. "Are you so young that you don't know who he is?"
"You know, you should take up painting, it might relax you and take the sharp edges off that chip on your shoulder," she said as she filled in another answer on the puzzle.
He was silent, and she looked up to meet his eyes, they were alone because the hostess had gone to check on their table and they were the only ones waiting, and he was giving her that intense look again.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said as the hostess called them back. She wanted to push the issue, but by the time they had moved through the restaurant and were seated, everyone was staring and she lost her nerve.