Nina (Beach Brides Book 3)

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  But no. So far, he’d done the exact opposite.

  And you’re getting in way deeper than you should after only a few days.

  Well, the only way to avoid that now would be to move out of the house and not see her again. Even then, he wasn’t so sure that would make a difference.

  Kismet’s paws shifted on the front seat, her whine of excitement stretching out as Finn made the turn into his parents’ driveway. After he parked, he let her loose to play with their boxer, Lucky, while he gave a rap on the door before twisting the handle.

  “Mom?”

  “I’m in here,” Lise Regan called from the kitchen.

  She smiled up at him over the rim of her glasses when he limped to the table and bent to kiss her cheek. It reminded him of how cute Nina looked in the evenings after she took out her contacts and wore her glasses. Once, she’d had her hair twisted up in a messy ponytail and with those glasses, she looked just like a sexy librarian—a cliché he was totally fine with.

  Well, for Nina, not his mom.

  “Good morning, hon,” she said as she started to get up. “Did you eat? I can make you something if you—”

  “Sit back down, Mom. I ate. But thank you.”

  Settling back into her chair, her gaze took him in from head to toe, her blue eyes lingering a few extra seconds on his right leg as if trying to see through his jeans. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m good. Staying busy at the Riley house, but thought I’d stop in and say hi before heading to the gym. Do you mind if I leave Kismet here to play with Lucky?”

  “Of course not. She tuckers Lucky out, so when you leave, your dad and I get a nice, quiet afternoon.”

  “Win-win. Thanks, and you’re welcome.” They shared a grin, until he asked, “Where’s Dad?”

  “He and Kenna and Asher went cross country skiing.” Her brow knit together with a flash of apology. “They would’ve asked you—”

  “No, don’t. It’s fine.” He wasn’t going to be upset because other members of the family spent time doing something he couldn’t do anymore. It wasn’t their fault, and he’d never ask them to quit an activity they loved. “I might not be able to ski anymore, but I am going to give snow shoeing a try tomorrow. I found a couple pairs in the basement of the house I’m working on.”

  “That won’t be too much?”

  “Maybe, but I’m still going to give it a try.” He shifted his gaze to the books and papers spread out across the kitchen table. Angling his head sideways for a better look, he asked, “What’s all this? Genealogy?”

  “I’m looking up the family history to create a family tree.”

  “Cool.” His mom was always coming up with some sort of project or other. “Find any skeletons yet?”

  A secret smile tugged at her lips. “Maybe a few.”

  “Ooh—like what?”

  She shook her head. “You’re going to have to wait for the juicy parts, just like everyone else. I’m going to write it all up, and then we’re going to have a family dinner.”

  “Grreeaat. Can’t wait.”

  “Don’t sass me.”

  He grinned at her teasing reprimand. Truthfully, the dinner probably would be great, like the other night at Kenna’s. Sure, they each had their issues, but anytime the six of them managed to get time together, they always had a lot of fun.

  At the sound of the front door, he stepped back and glanced through the house to see his brother, Niall. The youngest of the three boys, the twenty-three year old was almost as tall as Finn and had the same blue eyes, though his hair was more of a deep mahogany than black. He and the baby of the family still lived at home, though technically, Zoe was away at college three quarters of the year and only back for summers and holidays.

  His brother came up beside him and did a little bob and jab move. “Well, if it isn’t Prince Finnian, gracing us with his royal presence.”

  Finn shoved him away. “Shut up.”

  “No, I’m serious. Didn’t Mom tell you? We’re descended from royalty.” The idiot gave a prissy little wrist twirl while bowing at the waist.

  He scoffed at the dramatic proclamation and looked at his mom. “That one of the skeletons?”

  “No, and he’s exaggerating. I found out the surname Regan originates from O’Riagan, which means little king in Gaelic, that’s all.”

  “Pretty much the definition of a prince,” Niall argued as he went to open the refrigerator. “What we got to eat, Ma?”

  She didn’t answer that question, because as usual, he was already pulling out leftovers, likely from dinner the night before. At nine-thirty a.m.

  “There’s no proof of royalty on either side of the family, Niall, so don’t go gettin’ any ideas.”

  “The chicks are gonna dig it, Ma. I’m using it,” he teased.

  She folded her forearms on the table and rolled her eyes for Finn’s benefit. “Anyway, that’s on your dad’s side. On my side, I found out I have some cousins down in Chandler County, Kentucky. One of my mom’s aunts moved there years ago, so there’s a whole slew of Boones we’re related to.”

  “The Boones from Kentucky.” Finn smiled. “Can we get any more cliché than that?”

  “Don’t make fun. I’ve been emailing with one of my third cousins, and I think Dad and I are going to go visit this summer. Her name is Hattie, and she and her husband live on a lake down there.”

  “All right then, sounds like fun.” He tapped his fingers on the chair in front of him, then backed toward the front door. “I’ll be done in about an hour and a half, okay?”

  “Sure, but be sure you don’t overdo it at the gym,” she cautioned as she turned her attention to the papers in front of her again.

  That was Mom for ya, always the worrier—and he loved her for it.

  Niall caught up to him at the door. “Hey, does Mom and Dad know you got a chick living with you?”

  He shot a glance toward the kitchen and shoved his brother outside before shutting the door. “How do you know?”

  “Come on, man, it’s Pulaski. Everybody knows everything. Is it Peyton Riley? Is she hiding out? You can tell me, scout’s honor.”

  “You never made it past the cub scouts, so that don’t mean anything. But no, it’s not Peyton Riley, it’s her assistant, Nina. And she’s not living there, she’s just staying for a couple weeks.”

  A little longer than that, but couple sounded better than four. Plus, one was almost over already. Realizing he only had three left was kind of a bummer.

  Meanwhile, Niall’s eyes brightened like a kid walking into a candy store. “So, do you think it’s true that Peyton is going to be in the auction? Did her assistant say anything?”

  Finn frowned. “No. Where’d you hear that?”

  “Tommy’s sister works in housekeeping out at Whispering Pines, and she said she heard she was. Man, I’d love to bid on a date with her.”

  “Tommy’s sister?”

  “No, Peyton Riley.”

  He scoffed at his brother. “Don’t count on it. She’s on location in New Zealand right now, so it’s probably just a rumor. She isn’t going to fly halfway around the world for a local Valentine’s Day auction.”

  Ding ding ding ding ding.

  Finn paused, then grinned. No, she wouldn’t. But she would send her assistant to take her place.

  “So, you talk to this Nina chick?”

  He refocused on his brother. “Well, it’s a little hard not to run into each other while staying in the same house, so yeah, we talk. And stop calling her a chick, dude.”

  Niall grinned. “Can you ask her about Peyton for me?”

  “No, I’m not going to ask her. If you want to see if she’s there, then go to the auction.”

  “Of course I’m going—to heckle you. But if Peyton Riley’s going to be there, then I’m bringing money, too. Lots of it.”

  Finn waved him off and headed for his truck. With his revelation whirling in his mind, he suddenly needed to figure out a way to win the bid
for Nina’s date when he himself was up for bid.

  Chapter 8

  Finally, the words were flowing. Sweet cupcakes, the words were flowing like a faucet opened full bore. Nina had written over thirty pages in the past twenty-four hours, with barely five hours of sleep. Then she woke up and knocked out another ten pages even as Finn worked in the other room.

  Life was good.

  As she paused to pop a watermelon candy in her mouth before stretching her neck and back, she caught a glimpse of her housemate out the window. She wouldn’t give him all the credit for her progress, but after their dinner two nights ago, something shook loose, so he got a little credit.

  Looking back, she realized she’d basically ignored him since then. Not on purpose, though. When she was in the zone, everything else faded away. And to his credit, he’d let her be, other than offering a coffee refill here and there.

  Take a break, her inner voice suddenly whispered. You deserve one. You need one.

  She drew in a deep breath and held it to a count of four as she took in the scene through the window. The sun was shining, the snow sparkling, and it was warm enough for the roof line icicles to be dripping to the ground. Finn sat on a bench in the backyard, strapping snowshoes to his boots. Kismet waited nearby, her tail swishing back and forth with excitement.

  A glance at the clock confirmed he’d quit work almost two hours early, and Nina got up to step over and rap her knuckles on the window. Finn looked up, his gaze unerringly finding hers through the glass. She searched for the latch and raised the window, then bent to lean out.

  “You probably don’t have another pair of those, do you?”

  “Actually, there are some in the basement.”

  “Awesome.” She straightened to close the window, then bobbed back down. “That is, if you don’t mind some company?”

  “Not at all.” His wide grin lit a fuse on her pulse. “The ones with the blue straps should fit you. Grab some ski poles, too.”

  Nina shut the window before hurrying to locate the snowshoes, put her winter gear on, and meet him outside. When she breathlessly sat on the bench a few minutes later, Finn knelt at her feet to help her strap the shoes to her boots.

  His head was bent right in front of her, and he wasn’t wearing a hat. His hair looked so soft and shiny in the sunlight. She fisted her hands in her lap to keep from yanking her mitten off to run her fingers through the dark strands.

  “You ever been snowshoeing before?” he asked.

  “Many years ago. I suppose you do all the time?”

  “I haven’t gone for a few years, so with my leg, this could be a short walk,” he warned, using the bench to push to his feet before leaning to grab their ski poles.

  She tried out the snowshoes and discovered once she remembered to widen her stance to keep from stepping on the opposite foot, it was as easy as she remembered. At least where it was flat.

  Kismet took the lead, dashing ahead a dozen yards or so, doubling back, then darting ahead once more.

  “Any little bit of a break is nice,” Nina said.

  “I believe it. You’ve been a little, ah, intense the past two days.”

  She fell into step behind him on their way into the woods behind Peyton’s house. The afternoon sun cast shadows from the bare trees overhead, but exertion warmed her up real quick. “That’s a nice way to put it. I’m sorry if I’ve been rude. I don’t mean to be, but when the words are coming, I have to get them down.”

  “You don’t have to apologize for doing what you came here to do.” He paused and swiveled to give her a grin. “Though, it has been fun watching you work.”

  Her pulse skipped as she raised her eyebrows. “You’ve been watching me?”

  A bit of color brightened his cheeks as he laughed. “Not in a creepy stare-at-you-all-day kind of way. I just glance into the room in passing, or when I bring you more coffee.”

  “Thanks for that, by the way.”

  “You already thanked me.”

  “Good. I wasn’t sure.”

  “It was totally automatic, but you did say the words.”

  She grimaced. “I can get a little engrossed.”

  “It’s cool. And I get it. It might not be exactly the same, but I’d get that same type of hyper-focus when we were on patrol. Everything else fades except the mission and doing everything possible to get us all back to base in one piece.”

  The everything else fades was an echo of her thoughts a moment ago, and yet—“That’s not even close to being the same, Finn.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  She did, but still, there was no comparison.

  After a few minutes of silence—which weren’t really silent with their already increased breathing, the birds singing in the trees, and Kismet tearing back and forth—she asked the question she’d wanted to ask that first day.

  “How long ago where you injured?”

  “Just over eight months ago. I’ve been home for six.”

  “And you’ve been working part time for Eric Riley?”

  “Yeah. I like the carpentry work. Building things and seeing results.”

  “Or tearing things down and seeing results?” she teased, referring to the demo he was doing on the house.

  “That, too. Though, I will get to see everything when it’s redone.”

  “How long were you in the military? Peyton never said anything about you joining.” Oh, crap. That made it sound like they used to talk about him. They had, but she hadn’t planned to reveal that fact.

  “I went to college first. Just for a year, though. I was so sick of school by then, I wanted to do something that didn’t require reading stuff and writing papers and taking tests for another three years.”

  “So you joined the Army.” That was the last thing she’d have ever expected of the Finn Regan she knew back then.

  “Yes, I joined the Army—where I had to read stuff and train and take field tests up the wazoo.”

  She laughed at his dry words, yet caught a wistful note in his voice. “You miss it, don’t you?”

  “Sometimes I do, but it’s getting better. I was in for eight years. The travelling was cool—I was stationed in Italy for two years and traveled around Europe whenever I could get leave. Mostly, I miss the guys, though. Being on a team where we had each other’s backs.”

  “At least your family’s here. Don’t you have like three or four brothers and sisters?”

  “There’s six kids including me, and my mom and dad. And yes, they all got my back.”

  “Is everyone still in Pulaski?”

  “Close enough. Zoe’s over at Stevens Point for college, but she comes home each summer and holidays. She’s twenty now, in her sophomore year. Niall is twenty-three, and is still at home while going to community college in Green Bay. Asher’s twenty-five, Kenna just turned twenty-seven, and Devon is thirty-one. Those three are graduated from college and live in Green Bay and Suamico.”

  “That makes you twenty-eight since you were a year ahead of me in school?”

  “Yep.”

  “Any of your brothers and sisters married yet?”

  “Not yet. Devon’s been dating his girlfriend Michelle for a while, but I don’t get the impression they’re that serious. But who knows.”

  The next question made her stomach flip a few times, but she asked it anyway. “How about you? Would you like to get married?”

  He stopped abruptly and turned. Her heart leapt up into her throat when his smiling blue gaze met hers.

  “Are you proposing, or just asking the question in general? Because if you’re proposing, it would be more romantic if you got down on one knee.”

  “In general, of course.” She pointed one of her poles at him. “Besides, if anyone proposed, it would be you to me, and that isn’t happening when you haven’t even kissed me yet.”

  Oh, there you go. It’s all fun and games until you say something like that.

  “I can remedy that real quick if you’d like.”r />
  He was smiling, and yet his eyes had shifted to that steely gray color as he stared at her lips. The gray was as compelling as the blue, and made her long to say, Pretty please with you on top.

  Just the idea sent delicious heat curling through her body.

  Which reminded her how dangerous it was to play with matches. Where Finn was concerned, one strike and things were liable to flare out of control.

  She took an instinctive step backwards.

  Disappointment darkened his expression. “I’m just teasing, Nina. Don’t worry about it. Come on. I want to show you something.”

  He turned away and continued along the trail. Kismet had lain in the snow to wait them out, but now she jumped up and ran ahead again, leaving Nina to follow them both. The only thing she worried about was wanting his remedy too much. But it didn’t matter now, the moment had passed, leaving her own regret in its wake.

  A few minutes later, they stood at the edge of a rise overlooking a shallow valley full of snow covered evergreen trees and rolling winter fields beyond. She hadn’t even realized they were high enough to see so far. The setting sun cast a tinge of yellow across the snowy landscape.

  “Oh wow, this is gorgeous.” She drew in a deep breath of crisp, cold air and let it out again. “I certainly don’t get views like this in California.”

  “I don’t always get them in Wisconsin, either,” he murmured.

  She felt his gaze on her face and swallowed nervously. Refusing to look in his direction, she asked, “This is the Baxter Christmas Tree farm, isn’t it?”

  “It used to be.”

  Now she couldn’t help a sideways glance. “What do you mean?”

  “I bought it. The Baxters are moving to New Mexico at the end of next month.”

  “Really?” She shifted her gaze from one side of the valley to the other, then back to him. “All this is yours?”