Free Every Breath You Take (Oasis Book 1) by Kenna Avery Wood Page B

my own person, I was afraid to take steps anywhere but forward.
    We passed the structure at the middle of the Commons. It made sense to have security moved in there immediately. I’d just have to take charge when we talked with Curtis. Sure, Finn was here, but I was the one who was supposed to be taking over. Working toward being in charge of the entire facility and how it ran.
    “I think we should talk about this,” Finn said.
    My stomach flickered with nerves. But then I realized he was talking about us, not what had happened this morning. Or about security.
    “We’re already talking.”
    Finn turned on the path, waiting for me to stop as well. When I did, he reached out and gripped my upper arms gently. “I’m serious, Charlotte.”
    “You’re getting distracted.”
    “Hell yeah, I am. I see you walking around the office all day in those tight skirts–”
    “My skirts aren’t tight.”
    “They’re distracting, like you said. Because they fit you so damned perfectly. And your hair’s twisted up like that and I can barely stop myself from taking it down so I can run my fingers through it.”
    I glanced at the path both ways, certain someone had overhead us. “Finn, you need to stop.”
    “I can’t stop. I need this to be settled.”
    “And if I say no? No, I don’t want to talk. There’s nothing to settle because it’s already over?”
    He flinched and dropped his chin, staring at his shoes for a long moment. “If you tell me that, if you can say it without a doubt, without a hint of uncertainty, I’ll let it go.”
    “You will?”
    He breathed in and out, and it seemed to calm both of us. “If that’s what you want. But will you hear me out first? Can we talk about this somewhere else when we’re not supposed to be working?”
    I waited a long beat, afraid the choice I made would dictate everything that happened from here on out. I could be done with this. Forever, if Finn was true to his word. And I believed he would be.
    “Okay,” I said. “We can talk.”
    He released me and started to say something else, but I shook my head. “No more right now. We need to work.”
    “Tonight, then,” he said. “How about a wine tasting?”
    I blinked. “What?”
    I’d expected dinner, maybe, or for him to come to my apartment. Something more intimate, where we could really talk and figure this out. But this was probably better. Something to distract us if it got too serious. Something to distract him if he wanted to do more than just talk.
    “Wine tasting. You asked about a liquor store. I thought it might be fun to do a tasting so you could pick a few bottles for your pantry.”
    “Good idea.” I smiled at him, and cut him off again. “No more. Let’s work.”
    He sighed, but turned on the path again and started walking. We made it to Community Three, Main, in a few minutes, entering on the lower level where several stores and spaces were still being prepared. A clinic and pharmacy, a market with a section off to the side containing hard liquor as well as several rows of wine and mixed drinks.
    “They order from all over the world,” Finn said. “A small selection, I know, but a decent one. They also work with a few of the restaurants that are opening in Entertainment as well as the one in the Housing.”
    We stayed on the main floor, so I didn’t have a chance to stop in and say hi to Paige at the daycare. I’d see about getting a few bottles of wine for her, too.
    Security headquarters sat at the very corner of the space, far away from most of the stores that were already open and not centrally located enough to make good time to each community of Oasis if there was a problem.
    Finn opened the door for me and I walked in to what looked like an unorganized politician’s campaign. There were people at various desks, some with computers and some without. A phone rang, and the smell of stale coffee filled the air.
    One of the men at a desk recognized Finn and stood. “Mr. Moore,” he