by Jaci Burton
She looked over at Finn, who was staring at the dog with such love in his eyes it made her heart ache.
“We missed you at dinner.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I should have called but between the vet and then the pet store for food and toys and stuff for Murph, I kind of forgot about the time.”
“Did you eat anything?”
He shrugged. “I snacked.”
“You’re probably hungry.”
“I’ll make do with whatever I have here.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He frowned. “Where are you going?”
“I have to do something. I’ll be right back, Finn.” She got up and walked back to the house, went into the kitchen and checked the fridge. She knew there’d be leftovers—there always were. She packed up a container and made her way back to Finn’s place. He was still sitting outside, throwing a ball to Murphy, who was pretty good at fetch because he brought it right back to Finn.
“I brought you something to eat. We had pork chops, mashed potatoes and carrots for dinner.” She handed him the containers.
“Damn. Now I’m hungry.”
“Then you should eat.”
“Would you come inside with me?”
She should leave. It would make sense for her to do that. “Sure.”
“Come on, Murph.” He walked in and she followed, the dog right next to her, his stuffed bunny firmly held in his mouth.
Okay, the dog was adorable. As was his owner.
“Want something to drink?” he asked.
“Wine if you’ve got it.”
He grinned. “I’ve got it.” He uncorked a chardonnay from the fridge and poured her a glass, set it down, then warmed up the food in the microwave.
They sat at the table while he ate and taught Murphy table manners, instructing him to go lie down. It took a few tries, but eventually he got the hint and went to the corner of the kitchen with his bunny, circled a few times and went to sleep.
“He’s cute, Finn.”
Finn swallowed his food and took a drink of water. “You should have seen him when I found him in the woods. He was covered in dirt and God did he smell bad. I had to clean the shower after I washed him.”
She laughed. “That bad, huh?
“I went in there with him and I had to shower after I showered. Yeah, that bad.”
She looked over at Murphy, all fluffy and cute as he slept. “Poor guy. How does someone just dump a dog? Same thing happened with Erin when she found Agatha. I don’t get people.”
He stabbed a piece of his pork chop and shook his head. “Some folks just suck.”
“I hope whoever did that to Murphy ends up miserable and alone.”
He lifted his glass. “I’ll drink to that.”
They clinked glasses.
“What breed is he?”
“Jason said probably a mix of golden retriever and Labrador, with maybe something else thrown in.”
“He sure is cute. He’ll be even cuter when he gets a little meat on his bones.”
“Jason recommended a good dog food that should help with that.”
Her lips curved. “Bring him around Louise—and my dad—and they’ll make sure he gets extra scraps.”
He laughed. “I don’t plan to leave him here at the house. He follows me pretty well so far. He can come to work with me.”
“On the days Agatha comes to work with Erin, she’ll love having a playmate.”
He got up and took his empty plate to the sink and washed it and the container, then put them in the dish drainer.
Brenna got up as well and brought her empty glass to the sink. Finn took it from her hands.
“Want a refill?”
“No, I should go. I have . . . things to do.”
He laid the glass in the sink and took her hand. “Yeah? What things?”
“Just . . . stuff.”
He was rubbing his fingers over her hand and her body instantly ignited, throbbing in all the wrong places. Or right places. Either way, being close to him like this had her wiring all messed up. She took a step back.
“Anyway, I’m glad you got a dog. Now I won’t worry about you being all alone down here.”
He walked her to the door. “You worry about me?”
“No.”
His lips curled into a smile. “Yeah, you do. That’s why you came to check on me.”
“That’s because you’re fa—”
He pressed his fingers to her lips. “Don’t call me family, Brenna. You and me, we’re not like that and you know it.”
She had been leaning against the door and he moved in closer. He was right. He had never been family. It had always been a convenient excuse to avoid him, because when he’d first shown up she’d been a riot of emotions around him and didn’t know how to act. It had made her mad that this hot boy was coming to live with her.
She hadn’t understood her feelings back then. Now she did. But all those years ago, her only recourse had been to steer clear of him.
She couldn’t ignore him now, no matter how hard she tried.
“I have to go, Finn.”
He stepped back and opened the door. “See you tomorrow, Brenna.”
She left and walked down the path toward the house, her whole body feeling as if it were on fire.
Why, of all the men she knew, had she asked Finn to act as her fake fiancé? Especially now, when her body had come to some sort of fiery awakening whenever she was around him.
It was going to be a long four days.
CHAPTER
• • • • • •
seven
BRENNA NEVER SPENT time staring into her closet. She went in, chose her outfit for the day and was done with it. She wasn’t a clothes kind of woman. She went for comfort. Of course bracelets were another thing entirely, because she loved bangles of all kinds. Beads and silver and threaded bracelets, she could spend a long time staring at her bracelet drawer, trying to decide which ones to wear that day. But clothes? Eh. Just grab something comfortable and put it on.
Today, however, was different. Esther and the members of the wedding party and immediate families were going to be here this afternoon for the official kickoff to the four-day wedding extravaganza, and on today’s agenda was the wine tasting. They’d already set up the tasting area earlier in the day, and Brenna had chosen several wines for them to sample. There’d be snacks to go along with the tasting.
Which meant as a member of the wedding party, Brenna was required to be in attendance. Along with her surprise fiancé.
She hadn’t yet mustered up the courage to break the news of her fake fiancé to her parents. She didn’t think they’d be participating in today’s events, but she supposed she should clue them in nonetheless.
Dad was busy in the vineyard, and Mom had been in her office all day.
Since she hadn’t yet figured out what to wear, she left her room and went out to the vineyard, her blood pressure instantly dropping as she strolled the walkway among the grapes.
Being in the vineyard always calmed her. She knew herself here. This was where she grew up, where she belonged. She felt a part of this land where tiny vines grew into ripe, beautiful grapes that they turned into delicious wine.
Dad was talking to Ricardo, one of the men who worked in the vineyard, so she waited until they finished their conversation. When Ricardo walked away, she approached, reaching up to study one of the cabernet vines.
“They look so good, Dad.”
He looked up at her and grinned. “Si. This is an excellent crop. The yield this year will be bellissima.”
“Yes, it will. Anyway, there’s something I need to tell you.”
He continued to walk along the grapes. “Go ahead.”
“I’m in the wedding this weekend for m
y friend Esther, and Allison is in the wedding, too, which means Mitchell will be here.”
He frowned. “Mitchell your ex?”
“Si.”
He straightened and looked at her. “How do we feel about this?”
“Not great. Especially about Allison. We have a bad history.”
“Would you like me to talk to him?”
“To Mitchell? No. But I have a plan to deal with Allison. She’s smug about marrying Mitchell and I know she’ll throw it in my face and give me a hard time about being single.”
He made a pfft sound. “Who cares? You’re perfect, and much better without that bastardo.”
Her dad was right about that. “Anyway, Finn is going to pretend to be my fiancé for four days.”
“Okay. What?” His frown furrowed the lines on his forehead. “What?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but it’s just for four days so I don’t have to deal with Allison.”
“And Finn agreed to this.”
“Si.”
“You’re not really engaged to Finn.”
“No.”
“This is just . . . what’s the word . . . playacting?”
“Si.”
Dad rolled his eyes and wandered off, muttering in Italian.
That went well. She didn’t think Mom would be so easy.
She explained the situation to her mother while sitting in her office. Her mother stared at her for a full minute before replying.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“No. It’s a well-thought-out plan.”
“Brenna. It’s ridiculous. First, you and Finn aren’t even dating.”
“He did ask me out.”
That caused her mother’s brows to lift. “He did? And what did you say?”
“I said yes. We haven’t actually gone out on a date yet, but we will. Eventually.”
Mom shook her head. “Well, I like that idea. Your other idea is stupid. You’ve lost your mind. Who the hell cares what Allison thinks? Or what Mitchell thinks. You should tell them both to go to hell.”
“Mom. Remember, this is Esther’s wedding. Allison has stepped in as last-minute matron of honor and Esther is already stressed. We don’t need any ruffled feathers, so I won’t be telling anyone to go to hell.”
Much as that would make her happy.
Her mother blew out a breath. “You’re right, of course. Keeping the bride happy is paramount. But doing it at the expense of your comfort doesn’t please me at all.”
She loved that her mother thought of her first, even over the family business. “I appreciate that. But it’s only four days, and having Finn by my side to run interference with Allison will alleviate any stress I might have. Then it’ll be over and everything can go back to normal.”
“If you say so. But I wonder if you aren’t complicating things.”
Brenna cocked her head to the side. “In what way?”
“Between you and Finn?”
“Finn and I are just friends.”
“Who are going on a date.”
She waved her hand back and forth. “That’s nothing.” At her mother’s look, she said, “Really, it’s nothing. Just a friendly date.”
“Uh-huh. You know I think of Finn as my family, Brenna. Like a son. But the way he’s always looked at you . . .”
She let the sentence trail off.
“What? How does he look at me?”
“Just take the blinders off, Brenna. That’s all I’m asking. And don’t play games with Finn.”
“It’s not a game. He’s helping me out. For just four days, Mom. Nothing more than that.”
“Okay. I just don’t want to see either of you get hurt.”
“I promise. No one is going to get hurt. Which is why I’m doing this in the first place. To protect myself from Allison constantly haranguing me. I’ll get through being in this wedding, and after, everything will go back to normal.”
“If you say so.” Her mom let out a slight sigh. Brenna knew very well what that sigh meant. Her mother was concerned.
She’d just have to wait and see because it was all going to turn out fine.
Just. Fine.
In the meantime, she still had to figure out what she was going to wear for the tour and the wine tasting tonight.
At least she’d gotten the worst part over with and told her parents about her fake engagement to Finn. Now everyone knew about it.
Let the charade begin.
* * *
• • • • • •
FINN WAS GLAD he didn’t have to put on a suit every day for the next four days. Not that he minded dressing up for Brenna, but wearing a suit in late August wasn’t his idea of a good time.
He’d asked Brenna about what to wear tonight. She’d said jeans and a button-down shirt would be fine. He had two types of jeans in his closet—his work jeans, which tended to be relaxed and worn. And then his going-out jeans, which were crisp and new.
He took out a pair of the crisp dark jeans, added a white button-down shirt and slid into his good boots, because a man had to have a nice pair of boots, too.
“What do you think?” He looked over at Murphy, who was way more interested in the rope he was chewing than he was in Finn’s attire. But he did give Finn the once-over, then resumed playing with his toy.
He went to the top drawer of his dresser and opened the ring box for a few seconds, then pulled out the ring and shoved it in his pocket.
If they were going to do this, even if it wasn’t for real, they were going to do it right.
Brenna had wanted to meet up ahead of the bridal party’s arrival to go over any last-minute details. As if he needed coaching. He’d known her for twelve years. He knew how her eyes sparkled when she was happy, and shot out flares of heat when she was pissed off. He knew each of her attitudes and her moods, and what brought out the best and worst in her.
He knew he was the right guy for her. It was only a matter of time before she figured it out.
Since he didn’t want to leave his new pup alone, he brought Murphy over to the main house and dropped him off with Johnny, who had already fallen in love with the pup when Finn introduced them that morning. The feeling had been mutual.
“You sure you don’t mind?” he asked.
“We’ll watch TV. We’ll take a stroll to see the horses. Go have fun. Murphy and me will be fine.” Johnny waved his hand in dismissal.
He knew his dog would be in good hands, so he left. The wine tasting had been set up in the barn. He walked in to see it decorated in shades of black and gold, with touches of pink here and there. Must be the wedding colors, because there were flowers in matching colors everywhere, along with wineglasses and wine bottles on all the tables.
Fancy. Not really his thing, but he knew a lot of couples got into this.
For Finn, give him a nice whiskey and a beautiful woman by his side and he could be happy.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned around, smiling as he saw Brenna walk in. She had on a blue short-sleeved dress that seemed to float across her skin as she walked. She had heels on that made her legs look amazing, and the dress caressed her hips and made him wonder just how his hands would feel on her beautiful curves. Her hair was down, red waves falling like a flaming-hot ocean over her shoulders.
And her bracelets chimed like magical bells, the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
He was not a poetic guy, but damn if she didn’t bring it out of him.
He stepped toward her. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you. You look hot.”
He looked down. “I’m okay. Not sweatin’.”
She rolled her eyes. “Hot, as in you look amazing, Finn.”
“Oh.” He smiled. “Thanks, then.”
“Okay, in case anyone asks,
we’ve been engaged for a year. We haven’t made wedding plans yet because we’re not in a hurry.”
“Why aren’t we in a hurry?”
She frowned. “What?”
“Why wouldn’t we want to get married?”
“I don’t know. I’m just trying to minimize details.”
“A year seems a long time. We should set a date.”
“For God’s sake. This isn’t a real engagement.”
“No, but you don’t want people to ask you questions. What month do you want to get married?”
“I don’t want to get married.”
He couldn’t blame her for that. Not after Mitchell. “If you did. What month?”
“I don’t know. September.”
“Good month. September of next year it is. Now we have a wedding date.”
“Great. Fine.”
“You’d better ask your friend to be in your wedding, too.”
“Crap. I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll just tell her I don’t have all the details set yet like the number of bridesmaids and groomsmen. Then when I tell her you and I have broken up, no harm done.”
“I’m crushed about this impending breakup, Brenna.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sure you are. Okay, I think that’s it.”
“No, there’s one more thing.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out his mother’s claddagh. “You should wear this.”
She looked down at his hand. “What’s that?”
“It was my mum’s.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “I can’t wear that, Finn.”
“We can’t be engaged without you wearing a ring. My ring. It would be an insult.”
She swallowed. “It’s not a real engagement.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’d be offended.”
He watched as she inhaled a shaky breath, then held out her hand. “Fine.”
He slipped the ring on her finger. She gave him a surprised, almost warm look. He couldn’t even define it other than it punched him right in the stomach.
