The Mckennas: Finn, Riley and Brody
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She tried to picture that environment, with three rambunctious, noisy siblings, and couldn’t. The camaraderie. The joking. The warmth. “I’m an only child. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to grow up with two sisters, or a bunch of brothers.”
“It’s loud. And sometimes things get broken.” Finn put up a hand and pressed three fingers together. “Scouts’ Honor, I had nothing to do with that antique vase or the missing coffee table.”
Ellie heard the laughter buried in Finn’s voice and craved those same kinds of memories for Jiao. She bit back a sigh. Adopting just one child as a single mother was proving to be difficult enough. Adopting multiple children seemed impossible. But maybe someday—
She’d have the warm, crazy, boisterous family Finn was describing.
Except that would mean taking a risk and falling in love. Ellie didn’t need to complicate her life with a relationship that could end up hurting her—and in the process her daughter—down the road. This marriage, based on a legal contract and nothing else, was the best choice.
“Remind me to tell you the tree story sometime,” Finn said. “And every year at Thanksgiving, we revisit the Ferris wheel one. That one was all Riley’s fault. There’s always an interesting story where Riley is concerned, and Brody and I try to exploit that at every opportunity.”
Her gaze went to the city passing by outside the window, streaks of color in the bright sunshine. Thanksgivings and Christmases with a whole brood of McKenna men sounded like heaven, Ellie thought. Her childhood had been so quiet, so empty, with her mother gone all the time and her father working sunup to sundown. She envied Finn and for a moment, wondered if they would be married long enough for her to sit around the Thanksgiving dinner table with a trio of McKennas, sharing raucous stories and building memories over the turkey.
She pictured that very thing for a moment, then pulled away from the images. They were a bird and a badger, as he’d pointed out, not two swans in love. Besides, she knew better than to pin her hopes on some romantic notion of love. That happened for other people, not her.
“My parents weren’t around much when I was a kid. Now my mother lives in California, so it’s really just my dad and me.” She shifted in her seat to look at him. “I guess you could say my life has always been pretty … quiet and predictable.” Now that she said it, she wondered if that was such a good thing. For one, she wanted to add the chaos of a child. Would she be ready for it? She, who had never so much as babysat a neighbor’s kid? Save for a few vacations spent in China with Jiao and Sun, she had no experience with children … what made her think she could do this? Heck, Finn, with all those younger brothers, was probably better suited to parenting than she was.
All Ellie had was a deep rooted conviction that she would love her child and be there for her. She wouldn’t leave Jiao with an endless stream of babysitters or miss her third-grade recital or pay a tutor to help her with her homework so Ellie could work a few more hours. She would be there.
Somehow, she’d find a way to run WW Designs and be the mother that Jiao needed, the kind of parent Ellie had never had. Even though she knew it would be easier to do that if she had a real husband, one who was a plugged-in father, she vowed to make this work on her own. One attentive, loving parent was better than two inattentive, unavailable parents. And she had no intentions of forcing this marriage to limp along after the adoption was final. The worst thing for Jiao would be to have a distant parent, one who left her wondering if she was truly loved.
Finn turned on his blinker, then exited the highway. “Your life might have been quiet and predictable up until now, but I’d say getting married on the spur of the moment is pretty far from either of those adjectives.”
She laughed. “You’re right. No one would ever think I’d elope.”
“That goes double for me.” Finn paused at the end of the off-ramp. He turned to face her, his blue eyes hidden by dark sunglasses. “Still sure you want to do this?”
She thought of what he had just told her. About his brothers and his noisy childhood. Then thought of the quiet, empty life she led. She had her father, yes, but other than that, all she had was work.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she said.
“Okay.” Then he made the turn, following the signs that led to the downtown area. “Me, too.”
He said it so softly, she wondered if there was more behind the words than a simple agreement. Was he missing something in his life, too? Was he looking to fill the empty spaces, add life to those quiet rooms? Or was this solely a business merger for him?
He said nothing more, just drove, and she let the silence fill the space between them in the cavernous Town Car. A little while later, they pulled in front of the courthouse, a massive brick building with dozens of tall windows and a spire reaching toward the clouds. The stately building resembled a church as much as it did a place for justice.
They parked in one of the many parking garages nearby, then walked the short distance to the court. Ellie noticed that Finn opened her car door, opened the garage’s door, lightly took her elbow when they crossed a street. Such small gestures, but ones that Ellie appreciated. After all, this was a business deal. He didn’t have to play the chivalrous man.
They went up the few stone steps to the entrance, with Finn stepping in front of her to open and hold the heavy courthouse door for her, too. “Thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do for my future wife.”
She faltered at the word. She’d heard it twice already today, and still couldn’t believe it was happening. “Are you planning on carrying me over the threshold, too?”
He paused. “We hadn’t talked about that detail.”
“Which one?”
“Where we’re going to live after this.”
The mirth left her. Oh, yeah.
She hadn’t thought that far ahead. In fact, she’d just gone with this insane plan, clearly not thinking it through. The adoption agency would undoubtedly do its due diligence before signing off on Ellie’s adoption. At the very least, they’d want a report from Linda on the living conditions.
It wouldn’t take a genius to realize her marriage was a sham if she and new “husband” were living in separate homes. Ellie had never been much of an impetuous woman. Until today and now, she could lose it all by not thinking this through.
“We should live together,” she said, all the while watching for his reaction, “or no one will believe it’s real. We’ll need people to believe we’re together for more than just a business deal.”
“We’ll have to make it seem … real,” he said.
“Yeah. We will.”
Finn turned to her in the bright, expansive lobby. People rushed around them, hurrying to courtrooms and offices, their shoes echoing on the marble floors, their voices carrying in the vast space.
But Ellie barely noticed. She stood in a world of only two, herself and the man who had agreed to marry her and in the process, change her life. And Jiao’s, too.
“Maybe if people find out I eloped, it’ll change their image of me as the Hawk.”
She laughed. “And what, turn you into the Dove?”
“I don’t think so.” He chuckled. “I could get married at a drive-thru chapel in Vegas with Elvis as my best man and that still wouldn’t be enough to do that.”
“You never know. Marriage changes people. Relationships change them.” Her voice was soft, her mind on one person a world away.
“Yes, I think it does. And not always for the better.”
She wanted to ask him what he meant by that. Did he mean the ex-fiancée who had ruined his reputation? Or was he talking about something, someone else?
He cleared his throat. “You’re right. Our marriage is going to need a measure of verisimilitude, and being in the same residence will do that. In addition, we can work on the hospital project after hours.”
Even though Finn’s voice was detached, almost clinical, the words after hours conjured up thoughts of very different nocturnal activities. Since the first time she’d spotted Finn in the ballroom of the Park Plaza, she’d been intrigued. She’d liked how he bucked convention by having a beer instead of wine, how he’d been so intent yet also charming. From a distance, she’d thought he was handsome. Up close, he was devastating. Her heart skipped a beat every time he smiled. Her traitorous mind flashed to images of Finn touching her, kissing her, making love to her—
Whoa. That was not part of the deal. At all. Keeping this platonic was the only—and best—way to ensure that she could walk away at the end. She didn’t want to chance her heart on love, or risk her future with a relationship that could dissolve as easily as sugar in hot tea. Falling for him would only complicate everything.
And marrying him on the spur of the moment wasn’t complicated? All of a sudden, a flutter of nerves threatened to choke her. Ellie opened her mouth to tell Finn this was crazy, she couldn’t do this, when the door to the courthouse opened behind them and a slim, tall man hurried inside.
“Sorry I’m late. My day has been crazy.” He chuckled. “As usual. Story of my life. And yours, too, huh, Finn?”
Finn patted the other man on the back and gave him a grin. “Charlie, how are you?”
“Just fine. Not as good as you, though. Running off to get married. You surprise me, old friend.” He grinned, then put out a hand toward Ellie. “Judge Charlie Robinson, at your service.”
Ellie gaped. “You said you had a friend in the courthouse. Not a judge.”
“Charlie and I have been friends since we were kids. We roomed together at Harvard,” Finn said, then shot Charlie a smirk. “To me, he’s not a judge. He’s the guy who sprayed whipped cream all over my room.”
“Hey, I’m still pleading innocent to that one.” Charlie raised his hands in a who-me gesture, but there was a twinkle in his eye.
Again, Ellie saw another side of Finn. A side that intrigued her, even as she pushed those thoughts away. She refused to fall for Finn. Now or later. She was here for a practical reason and no other.
Finn chuckled. “Well, we should get to it. I know you have a hectic day.”
“No problem. I can always make time for a good friend, especially one who’s getting married. So …” Charlie clapped his hands together. “You two kids ready to make this all legal and binding?”
Legal. Binding.
Now.
Ellie glanced at Finn. She could do this. She had to. There was no other way. Besides, it was a temporary marriage, nothing more than a piece of paper. But a union that would bring Jiao home and give Ellie the family she had always craved. She could do that, without getting her heart tangled in the process. “Yes,” she said.
“Great.” Charlie grinned again. “Okay, lovebirds, let’s head up to my office and get you two hitched.”
Finn turned to Ellie and put out his arm. “Are you ready to become Mrs. McKenna?”
Was she?
She lifted her gaze to Finn’s blue eyes. She barely knew this man, but what she knew she liked. Respected. Trusted. Would that be enough?
She thought of Jiao again, and realized it would have to be. In the end, running WW would be fulfilling, but not nearly as fulfilling as coming home to Jiao’s contagious smile and wide dark eyes.
“Why, Mr. McKenna, I can’t think of another thing I’d rather do in the middle of the day.” Then she linked her arm in Finn’s and headed toward the judge’s chambers.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE whole thing took only a few minutes—including Charlie’s beginning jokes and closing quips. They called in his assistant and a court clerk to serve as witnesses, the two of them looking like they’d seen more than one impromptu wedding. Charlie thought they were getting married out of love, and in typical Charlie fashion, strove to make the event fun and memorable. Finn stumbled when Charlie asked him about rings, which Charlie racked up as bridegroom nerves. “I can’t believe you, of all people, forgot a major detail like the rings,” Charlie said. “No worries, but be sure you make it up to her later with a lot of diamonds,” he said with a wink, then in the next breath pronounced them man and wife.
Man and wife. The words echoed in Finn’s mind, bouncing around like a rubber ball. He’d done it. And no one was more surprised than Finn himself. He, the man who hadn’t operated without a plan since he was writing his first research paper in fourth grade, had run off in the middle of the day and—
Eloped.
Holy cow. He’d really done it.
“And now for the best part,” Charlie said, closing the book in his hands and laying it on his desk. “You may kiss your bride.”
Finn stared at Charlie for a long second. Kiss the bride? He’d forgotten all about that part. He’d simply assumed a quick civil union in a courthouse would be devoid of all the flowers and romance part of a church wedding. “Uh, I don’t know if we have to—”
Charlie laughed. “What, are you shy now? Go on, kiss her.”
Finn considered refusing, but then thought better of it. Charlie would undoubtedly question a marriage where the groom didn’t want to get close with his bride. And if they were going to pull off this fiction in front of their friends and colleagues, they needed to at least look the part. Finn turned to Ellie. Her green eyes were wide, her lips parted slightly. In shock? Anticipation?
She looked beautiful and delicious all at the same time in that simple daffodil-colored dress. In that instant, his reservations disappeared, replaced by a fast, hot surge of want. No, it was more than desire, it was a … craving for whatever inner happiness was lighting Ellie’s features.
She stood there, looking as hesitant as he felt. A faint blush colored her cheeks, disappeared beneath her long blond hair. She looked like a bride—pretty, breathless, yet at the same time she possessed a simmering sensuality. He wanted her, even as he reminded himself this was a purely platonic union.
There would be no kisses. No lovemaking. Nothing but this moment. And right now, Finn didn’t want to let this moment pass.
Her gaze met his and a curious tease filled the emerald depths. “Well, Mr. McKenna, are you going to do as the nice judge says?”
“I would never disobey a judge,” Finn said, his voice low, hoarse. Just between them. Charlie, the witnesses, hell, the entire world ceased to exist.
He closed the gap between them, reached a hand to cup her jaw. Electricity crackled in the air, in the touch. A breath extended between them, another. Ellie’s chest rose, fell. Her dark pink lips parted, her deep green eyes widened, and her light floral perfume teased at his senses, luring him closer, closer.
Damn, he wanted her. He’d wanted her from the minute he’d met her.
With one kiss he’d seal this marriage. But was that all this kiss was about? This moment?
No. He knew, deep in his gut, that there was something else happening here, something he wasn’t sure he wanted or needed in his life. He could have been standing at the edge of a cliff, ready to plunge—
Into the cushion of water, or the danger of rocks? He didn’t know.
All he could feel was this insistent want. For her. For just one taste. He lowered his mouth to hers, and at the instant that his lips met hers, he knew.
Knew that kissing Ellie was going to change everything.
Her lips were sweet and soft beneath his, her hair a silky tickle against his fingers. She leaned into him for one long, blissful second, and he inhaled, drawing in the scent of her, memorizing it, capturing the moment in Technicolor in his mind.
Ellie.
Then she drew back and the kiss was over, nearly as quickly as it began. The flush in her cheeks had deepened to a light crimson. Her gaze met his for one hot, electric second, then she looked away, and turned back to Charlie.
Platonic. Business relationship. The heady rush gone. He told himself he was glad. That it was exactly what he wanted.
“There. It’s official now.” Charlie grinned, then he reached out and shook hands with both of them. The witnesses murmured their congratulations before slipping out the door. “Congratulations,” Charlie said. “May you have an abundance of happiness and children.”
Children. Or, rather, a single child. Half the reason they’d embarked on this fake union. Finn glanced over at Ellie, but her gaze was on the window, not on him, hiding whatever she might have thought about Charlie’s words.
A few minutes later, they left the courthouse, a newly minted marriage license in hand. The paper weighed nothing, but felt heavier than a concrete block.
Married. To a near stranger.
A stranger whose kiss had awakened a roaring desire inside Finn. He had thought he was doing this just for business reasons, but that kiss was as far from business as the earth was from the moon. And he needed to remember his uppermost goal.
Don’t get involved. Don’t fall for her. Don’t lose track of the priority. Don’t get swept up in a tsunami that would leave him worse off in the end.
As they walked down the street toward the parking garage, Finn dug his car keys out of his pocket, then paused. They were married. And that meant the occasion, even if it was merely a professional alliance, deserved some kind of celebration. “How about we get some dinner before we head back to Boston?”
“I should probably get back to work. I left in the middle of my day and have a lot on my To Do list.” She stepped to the side to allow a quartet of lunch workers to power past them. “But thanks for the offer.”
His To Do list was probably just as long, but for the first time in a long time, Finn didn’t want to go back to his office, didn’t feel like sitting behind that mahogany desk, even as the sensible side of him mounted a vigorous objection. “It’s not every day you get married, you know. We should at least have a glass of wine to celebrate. Or iced tea for you. I’ll have the wine.”
“Don’t you have work to get to, too?”
“Always. But it’s waited this long. It can wait a little longer. Regardless of why we got married, this is a big moment for both of us.” He grinned. “Don’t you agree?”
It was Finn’s smile that swayed Ellie. There was something … disarming about the way Finn McKenna smiled. He had a crooked smile, curving up higher on one side of his face than the other. She liked that. Liked the way nothing about him was exactly what you would expect.
Neither was his kiss. She’d thought that he would just give her a perfunctory peck on the lips, a token gesture to seal the deal. But he’d done so much more. Kissed her in a way she hadn’t been kissed in forever.
Their kiss had been short, but tender. When he’d touched her jaw, he’d done it almost reverently, his fingers drifting over her cheek, tangling in her hair. He’d leaned in, captured her gaze and waited long enough for her heart to begin to race with anticipation before he’d kissed her. When had a man ever taken such time for something so simple?
It left her wondering what it would be like to really be Finn’s wife. Would he kiss her like that at the end of every day? Before he left for work in the morning? For just a moment, she wanted to hold on to that fantasy, to believe that this was real, and not just a means to an end.
Even if it was.
Finn was right—it wasn’t every day that she got married, and she wasn’t sure she was quite ready to go back to her ordinary world, and all the questions this was bound to raise. They still had to settle on their story, and deal with other practical issues, like where they were going to live afterward.
Whatever little thrill she might have felt faded in the light of reality. This wasn’t a date, it wasn’t a celebration. It was business, pure and simple.
And nothing more.
“You did what?” The shock in Riley’s voice boomed across the phone connection. “You got married?”
“Uh, yeah, but it’s not …” Finn was about to tell Riley it wasn’t a real marriage, then he glanced across the sidewalk at Ellie, standing in the shadowed circle beneath an oak tree. She was talking into her cell phone with someone at her office, her hand moving to punctuate her words. Little bits of sunshine dappled her blond hair, kissed her delicate features and gave her a slight glow.
He had seen hundreds of beautiful women in his lifetime, but none that had that whole package of incredible looks and incredible personality. The kind of woman any man in his right mind would be proud to call his wife.
Except, this was merely a way to resurrect his business. Besides, he didn’t need the complication of a relationship, the heady distraction of a romance. He liked his life as straight as a ruler. And he’d continue to keep it that way.
“It’s unexpected, is what it is,” Riley finished for him. “What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t.” That was true. He’d thought he was challenging her offer, then once they were standing in front of Charlie, he’d stopped thinking about the pros and cons of what he was about to do and just … done it. Eloped. He, of all people. He hadn’t thought about the incongruity of that when he was in Charlie’s office. All he’d seen was Ellie’s smile.
“I thought you were all antimarriage. Especially after the Lucy thing.”
“I was. I am. This was …” Finn paused. “Different.”
“Well, congratulations, brother,” Riley said. “You’ll be all the talk at the next family reunion.”
Finn chuckled. “I’m sure I will be as soon as you get off the phone and call Brody. You spread gossip faster than a church picnic.”
Riley laughed with him. “So, where are you guys going on your honeymoon?”
The word honeymoon conjured up images of Ellie’s lithe, beautiful body beside his. He glanced at her across the way from him, and didn’t see the daffodil-yellow dress, but instead saw her on some beach somewhere. Her skin warmed from the sun, all peaches and cream and pressed against him. Taking things far beyond a simple kiss in the judge’s chambers.
Damn. That was not productive. At all. He shook his head, but the images stayed, chased by the memory of kissing her. The scent of her perfume. The feel of her in his arms.
Again, he forced them away and tore his gaze away from Ellie.
He’d come close to that kind of craziness when he’d dated Lucy. Granted, most of their relationship had been practical, staid … predictable. Then he’d had that moment of insanity when he’d rushed out to buy a ring, run over to her office to propose—
And found out she was stealing his clients behind his back.
No more of that. He’d gone off the rails for five minutes, and it nearly destroyed his business and his career. A smart man approached marriage like any other business deal—with clarity, sense and caution.
“Uh, we don’t really have time for that right now,” Finn said, reminding himself that there would be no honey moon. Not now, not later. “Work schedules, meetings, that kind of thing gets in the way of the best laid plans, you know?” He made light of it because for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to tell Riley the whole thing was a temporary state. That most likely by the time their schedules opened up enough that they could plan a joint vacation, they would be filing for divorce.
“You are going to celebrate at least a little, aren’t you? I mean, if any occasion screams having a party, this is it.” Riley paused a second. “Hmm … I wonder if it’s too late to throw you a bachelor party?”
“I don’t need one of those, and yes, it is too late.” Finn shifted the phone in his grasp. “Actually that’s why I called you. I was thinking of taking her out for drinks and dinner. But …”
“You realized that idea sounds about as lame as a picnic in the park?”
“Hey!” Then Finn lowered his voice. “What’s lame about a picnic?”
Riley laughed. “Don’t tell me. That was your second idea.”
Finn didn’t want to admit that it had actually been his first idea, but then he’d thought about bugs and sunshine, and proposed a restaurant instead. Damn. He was a hell of a lot rustier at this dating game than he’d thought. Not that this was a date—at all—just his effort to make this business alliance a little more palatable. “It’s a nice day. We could grab some sandwiches—”