Sometimes “I do” is just the beginning…

Ellie Winston is adopting her late friend’s baby… But she hits a husband-sized hump: to adopt Jiao, Ellie has to be married! Where can a commitment-phobic female find a husband in a day? Then cutthroat billionaire Finn McKenna comes to Ellie with a business proposition, only he isn’t prepared for Ellie’s merger-with-a-twist…marriage!

Finn never lets anyone close, even someone as feisty and intriguing as Ellie. But saying “I do,” even when you don’t really, has a way of making even the most stubborn people wake up and realize what they’ve been missing….

The McKenna Brothers

Three billionaire brothers. Three guarded hearts. Three fabulous stories.

Meet the gorgeous McKenna Brothers…

In this brand-new trilogy from the wonderfully witty, New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump.

Rich, handsome and successful, they’re the most eligible bachelors in Boston!

Find out what happens when the oldest brother, Finn, finds himself propositioned by the intriguing, feisty Ellie Winston in

One Day to Find a Husband

July 2012

Discover whether straight-talking Stace Kettering can tame notorious playboy Riley in

How the Playboy Got Serious

August 2012

Returning hero Brody is back home and has a secret…but can he confide in Kate Spencer?

Find out in

Return of the Last McKenna

September 2012

Dear Reader,

Writing this book was such fun, because I love Boston (I grew up in the suburbs outside the city) and I love animals. We’ve been the proud owners of a couple of animal shelter dogs, as well as one stray starving cat that found its way to our porch. Our late Golden Retriever Heidi (who was the best darned dog in the world) is the basis for the Heidi in this book (as well as the basis for the lovable but mischievous Mortise and Tenon in How to Lasso a Cowboy). She truly was an amazing dog who has stayed in our hearts long after the day her own heart gave out.

This book introduces the McKenna brothers, starting with the oldest, Finn. I love writing connected books, because it’s so much fun to continue a story from one book to the next. You, dear reader, often have a direct impact on that. I’ll get a letter or email saying you loved this secondary character, or that one, and want to read more about them. To me, it’s like visiting my hometown every time I return to a particular town or family of characters. I guess I’m a bit of a nostalgic person that way—I hold on to old mementos and treasured memories, and love to return home to see friends from way back when.

I love to hear from readers, too, so please write to me through my website (www.shirleyjump.com) or visit my blog (www.shirleyjump.blogspot.com) where I post family favorite recipes and writing advice. And if you have a special pet in your life, share your story, and I’ll be sure to include it on my website!

Happy reading,

Shirley

One Day to Find a Husband

Shirley Jump

www.millsandboon.co.uk

New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump didn’t have the will-power to diet, nor the talent to master under-eye concealer, so she bowed out of a career in television and opted instead for a career where she could be paid to eat at her desk—writing. At first, seeking revenge on her children for their grocery store tantrums, she sold embarrassing essays about them to anthologies. However, it wasn’t enough to feed her growing addiction to writing funny. So she turned to the world of romance novels, where messes are (usually) cleaned up before The End. In the worlds Shirley gets to create and control, the children listen to their parents, the husbands always remember holidays, and the housework is magically done by elves. Though she’s thrilled to see her books in stores around the world, Shirley mostly writes because it gives her an excuse to avoid cleaning the toilets and helps feed her shoe habit.

To learn more, visit her website at www.shirleyjump.com.

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To my husband, who truly is my hero every day of my life.

Thank you for blessing me with your love, and with our amazing children.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EXCERPT

CHAPTER ONE

FINN MCKENNA wanted one thing.

And she was standing fifteen feet away, completely unaware of what he was about to do and definitely not expecting the question he wanted to ask her. He watched the woman—tall, blonde, leggy, the kind any man in his right mind could imagine taking to dinner, twirling around a dance floor, holding close at the end of the night—and hoped like hell his plan worked.

If he was his grandfather, he’d have been toting the McKenna four-leaf clover in his pocket, knocking three times on the banister and whispering a prayer to the Lord above. Finn McKenna’s ancestors were nothing if not superstitious. Finn, on the other hand, believed in the kind of luck fostered by good research and hard work. Not the kind brought about by leprechauns and rainbows.

He’d put enough time into this project, that was for sure. Turned the idea left, right and upside down in his head. Done his research, twice over. In short, reassured himself as much as one man could that the lady he was going to talk to would say…

Yes.

“You’re insane.”

Finn turned and shrugged at his little brother. Riley McKenna had the same dark brown hair and sky-blue eyes as the rest of the McKenna boys, but something about Riley, maybe his grin or his devil-may-care attitude, gave those same features a little spin of dashing. Finn had inherited the serious, hard lines of his workaholic father, where Riley had more of their free-spirited mother’s twinkle. “I’m not crazy, Riley. It’s business. Risks are part of the job.”

“Here.” Riley handed him a glass. “I talked the bartender into pouring you and me some good quality Irish ale.”

“Thanks.” Finn sipped at the dark brew. It slid down his throat with smooth, almost spicy notes. The beer was dry, yet robust, the kind that promised a memorable drink in a single pint. A thick head of foam on top indicated the quality of the ale. Good choice on Riley’s part, but Finn wasn’t surprised. His little brother knew his brews.

All around him, people mingled and networked over several-hundred-dollar-a-bottle wines and martinis with names so fancy they needed their own dictionary. In this crowd, a beer stuck out like a dandelion in a field of manicured roses, but Finn McKenna had never been one to worry much about breaking the rules or caring what other people thought about him. It was what had fueled his success.

And had also been a part of his recent failure.

A temporary state, he reminded himself. Tonight, he was going to change all of that. He was going to rebuild his business and he was going to use Ellie Winston, interim CEO of WW Architectural Design, to help him do it.

She just didn’t know it yet.

Eleanor Winston, known by those close to her as “Ellie,” the new boss of WW, her father’s company. Henry Winston Sr., one of the two Ws in the company name, had retired suddenly a couple weeks ago. Rumor was he’d had a major heart attack and would probably not return to the chair. The other W, his brother, had walked out in a family dispute eleven years prior, but his name remained on the masthead.

Finn ticked off what he knew about Eleanor Winston in his head. Twenty-nine, with a master’s in design from a reputable college, three years working at a firm in Atlanta before moving to Boston shortly after her father’s illness. Her design work was primarily in residential housing—the McMansions much maligned by the architectural world—and Finn had heard she was none too pleased to be spending her days designing hospitals and office supertowers. All the more reason for her to accept his offer with gratitude. He’d scoped out his competition for several weeks before deciding WW Architects was the best choice. A fledgling president, overseeing a sprawling company with multiple projects going at any given time—surely she wanted a…helping hand. Yes, that’s what he’d call it. A helping hand. A win-win for her and him.

“So this is your grand plan? Talking to Ellie Winston? Here? Now?” Riley asked. “With you dressed like that?”

Finn glanced down at his dark gray pinstripe suit, crisp white shirt and navy blue tie. “What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?”

“Hey, nothing, if you’re heading to a funeral.” Riley patted his own shirt, as usual unbuttoned at the neck and devoid of a tie. “Make a statement, Finn. Get your sexy on.”

Finn shook off that advice. Riley was the more colorful McKenna brother, the one who always stood out in a crowd. Finn preferred his appearance neat, trim and professional—the same way he conducted business. Nothing too flashy, nothing too exciting.

“This is the perfect environment,” Finn said, nodding toward the woman. “She’s relaxed, maybe had a couple glasses of wine, and best of all—” he turned to his brother “—not expecting the offer I’m about to make.”

Riley chuckled. “Oh, I think that’s guaranteed.”

Finn’s gaze centered on Ellie Winston again. She laughed at something the guy beside her said. A full-throated laugh, her head thrown back, her deep green eyes dancing with merriment. Every time he’d seen her, she’d been like that—so open, so exuberant. Something dark and deep stirred in Finn’s gut, and for a split second he envied the man at her side. Wondered what it would be like to be caught in that spell. To be the one making her laugh and smile like that.

Damn, she was beautiful. Intriguing.

And a distraction, he told himself. One he couldn’t afford. Hadn’t he already learned that lesson from one painful mistake after another?

“A woman like that…” Riley shook his head. “I don’t think hardball is the right way to play it, Hawk.”

“I hate when you call me that.”

“Hey, if the nickname fits.” Riley grinned. “You, big brother, spy the weak, pluck them up and use them to feather your nest.” He put a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “But in the nicest way possible. Of course.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” A magazine had dubbed Finn “the Hawk” a few years ago when he’d done a surprise buyout of his closest competitor. Then six months later, his next closest competitor. He’d absorbed the other businesses into his own, becoming one of the largest architectural firms in New England. At least for a while. Until his ex-girlfriend’s betrayal had reduced his company to half its size, taking his reputation down at the same time.

Now he’d slipped in the rankings, not even powerful enough to make any lists anymore. Or to merit any other nickname other than “Failure.”

But not for long.

A waitress came by with a tray of crudités and offered some to Finn and Riley. Finn waved off the food, but Riley picked up a smoked salmon–topped cucumber slice and shot the waitress a grin. “Are these as delicious as you are beautiful?”

A flush filled her face and she smiled. “You’ll have to try one to see.”

He popped it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. Then shot her an even bigger grin. “The appetizer is definitely a winner.”

The waitress cocked her hip and gave him another, sassier smile. “Perhaps you should try the other, too.” Then she turned on her heel and headed for the next group.

“Perhaps I will,” Riley said, watching her sashay through the crowd.

Finn rolled his eyes. Keeping Riley focused on the subject at hand sometimes required superhuman abilities. “Do you ever think about anything other than women?”

“Do you ever think about anything other than business?” Riley countered.

“I’m the owner, Riley. I don’t have a choice but to keep my eye on the ball and my focus on the company.” He’d had a time where he’d focused on a relationship—and that had cost him dearly. Never again.

“There’s always a choice, Finn.” Riley grinned. “I prefer the ones that end with a woman like that in my bed, and a smile on my face.” He arched a brow in the direction of the waitress, who shot him a flirtatious smile back. “A woman like that one.”

“You’re a dog.”

Riley shrugged off the teasing. His playboy tendencies had been well documented by the Boston media. As the youngest McKenna, getting away with murder had been his middle name almost since birth. Funny how stereotypical the three boys had turned out. Finn, the eldest, the responsible one, working since he was thirteen. Brody, the middle brother, the peacemaker, who worked a respectable, steady job as a family physician. And then Riley, the youngest, and thus overindulged by their mother, and later, by their grandmother, who still doted on the “baby” of the family. Riley had turned being a wild child into a sport…and managed to live a life almost entirely devoid of responsibility.

Finn sometimes felt like he’d been responsible from the day he took his first steps. He’d started out as a one-man shop right out of college, and built McKenna Designs into a multioffice corporation designing projects all over the world. His rapid growth, coupled with a recession that fell like an axe on the building industry, and one mistake he wished he could go back in time and undo, had damaged his bottom line. Nearly taken him to bankruptcy.

“Carpe diem, Finn,” Riley said. “You should try it sometime. Get out of the office and live a little.”

“I do.”

Riley laughed. Out loud. “Right.”

“Running a company is a demanding job,” Finn said. Across the room, the woman he wanted to talk to was still making small talk with the other partygoers. To Finn, the room seemed like an endless sea of blue and black, neckties and polished loafers. Only two people stood out in the dark ocean before him—

Riley, who had bucked the trend by wearing a collarless white shirt under a sportscoat trimmed to fit his physique.

And Eleanor Winston, who’d opted for a deep cranberry dress that wrapped around her slender frame, emphasizing her small waist, and hourglass shape. She was the only woman in a colorful dress, the only one who looked like she was truly at a cocktail party, not a funeral, as Riley would say. She had on high heels in a light neutral color, making her legs seem impossibly long. They curved in tight calf muscles, leading up to creamy thighs and—

Concentrate.

He had a job to do and getting distracted would only cost him in the end.

“You seem to make it harder than most, though. For Pete’s sake, you have a sofa bed in your office.” Riley chuckled and shook his head. “If that doesn’t scream lonely bachelor with no life, I don’t know what does. Unless Miss Marstein is keeping you warm at night.”

Finn choked on the sip of beer in his mouth. His assistant was an efficient, persnickety woman in her early sixties who ran his office and schedule with an iron fist. “Miss Marstein is old enough to be my grandmother.”

“And you’re celibate enough to be a monk. Get away from the blueprints, Hawk, and live a little.”

Finn let out a sigh. Riley didn’t get it. He’d always been the younger, irresponsible one, content to live off the inheritance from their parents’ death, rather than carry the worries of a job. Riley didn’t understand the precarious position McKenna Designs was in right now. How one mistake could cost him all the ground he’d regained, one painful step at a time. People were depending on Finn to succeed. His employees had families, mortgages, car payments. He couldn’t let them down. It was about far greater things than Finn’s reputation or bottom line.

Finn bristled. “I work long days and yes, sometimes nights. It’s more efficient to have a sofa bed—”

“Efficient? Try depressing.” Riley tipped his beer toward the woman across from them. “If you were smart, you’d think about getting wild with her on that sofa bed. Sleep’s overrated. While sex, on the other hand…” He grinned. “Can’t rate it highly enough.”

“I do not have time for something like that. The company has been damaged by this roller-coaster economy and…” He shook his head. Regret weighed down his shoulders. “I never should have trusted her.”

Riley placed a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Stop beating yourself up. Everyone makes mistakes.”

“Still, I never should have trusted her,” he said again. How many times had he said that to himself? A hundred times? Two hundred? He could say it a thousand and it wouldn’t undo the mistake.

“You were in love. All men act like idiots when they’re in love.” Riley grinned. “Take it from the expert.”

“You’ve been in love? Real, honest-to-goodness love?”

Riley shrugged. “It felt real at the time.”

“Well, I won’t make that mistake again.” Finn took a deep gulp of beer.

“You’re hopeless. One bad relationship is no reason to become a hermit.”

One bad relationship? Finn had fallen for a woman who had stolen his top clients, smeared his reputation and broken his heart. That wasn’t a bad relationship, it was the sinking of the Titanic. He’d watched his parents struggle through a terrible marriage, both of them unhappily mismatched, and didn’t want to make the same mistake.

“I’m not having this conversation right now.” Finn’s gaze went to Ellie Winston again. She had moved on to another group of colleagues. She greeted nearly everyone she saw, with a smile, a few words, a light touch. And they responded in kind. She had socializing down to an art. The North Carolina transplant had made friends quickly. Only a few weeks in the city and she was winning over the crowd of their peers with one hand tied behind her back. Yes, she’d be an asset to his company and his plan. A good one. “I’m focused on work.”

“Seems to me you’re focused on her.” Riley grinned.

“She’s a means to an end, nothing more.”

“Yeah, well, the only ending I see for you, Finn, is one where you’re old and gray, surrounded by paperwork and sleeping alone in that sofa bed.”

“You’re wrong.”

For a while, Finn had thought he could have both the life and the job. He’d even bought the ring, put a downpayment on a house in the suburbs. He’d lost his head for a while, a naive young man who believed love could conquer everything. Until that love had stabbed him in the back.

Apparently true love was a fairy tale reserved for others. Like kissing the Blarney Stone for good luck.

Finn now preferred to have his relationships as dry as his wine. No surprises, no twists and turns. Just a dependable, predictable sameness. Leaving the roller coaster for the corporate world.

He suspected, though, that Eleanor Winston and her standout maroon dress was far from the dry, dependable type. She had a glint in her eye, a devilish twinkle in her smile, a spontaneous air about her that said getting involved with her would leave a man…

Breathless.

Exactly the opposite of what he wanted. He would have to keep a clear head around her.

Ellie drifted away from her companions, heading toward the door. Weaving through the crowd slowed her progress, but it wouldn’t be long before she’d finished her goodbyes and left. “She’s leaving. Catch up with you later,” he said to Riley.

“Take a page from my book, brother, and simply ask her out for a drink,” Riley said, then as Finn walked away, added one more bit of advice. “And for God’s sake, Finn, don’t talk business. At least not until…after.” He grinned. “And if you get stumped, think to yourself, ‘What would Riley say?’ That’ll work, I promise.”

Finn waved off Riley’s advice. Riley’s attention had already strayed back to the waitress, who was making her way through the room with another tray—and straight for Riley’s charming grin. His brother’s eyes were always focused on the next beautiful woman he could take home to his Back Bay townhouse. Finn had much bigger, and more important goals.

Like saving his company. He’d made millions already in architecture, and hopefully would again, if he could make his business profitable again. If not, he could always accept his grandmother’s offer and take up the helm at McKenna Media. The family business, started a generation ago by his grandfather, who used to go door-to-door selling radio ad space to local businesses. Finn’s father had joined the company after high school and taken it into television, before his death when Finn was eleven. Ever since his grandfather had died three years ago, Finn’s grandmother had sat in the top chair, but she’d been making noise lately about wanting to retire and have Finn take over, and keep the company in McKenna hands. Finn’s heart, though, lay in architecture. Tonight was all about keeping that heartbeat going.

Finn laid his still-full glass of beer on the tray of a passing waiter, then straightened his tie and worked a smile to his face. Riley, who never tired of telling Finn he was too uptight, too stiff, would say it was more of a grimace. Finn didn’t care. He wasn’t looking to be a cover model or to make friends.

Then he glanced over at his brother—no longer chatting up the waitress but now flirting with a brunette. For a second, Finn envied Riley’s easy way with women. Everything about his little brother screamed relaxed, at home. His stance, his smile, the slight rumple in his shirt.

Finn forced himself to relax, to look somewhat approachable. Then he increased his pace to close the gap between himself and Ellie. He reached her just before she stepped through the glass doors of the lobby.

“Miss Winston.”

She stopped, her hand on the metal bar, ready to exit. Then she turned back and faced him. Her long blond hair swung with the movement, settling like a silk curtain around her shoulders. The short-sleeved crimson dress she wore hugged her curves, and dropped into a tantalizing yet modest V at her chest. For a second, her green eyes were blank, then she registered his face and the green went from cold emerald to warm forest. “My goodness. Mr. McKenna,” she said. “I recognize you from the article in Architecture Today.”

“Please, call me Finn.” She’d seen the piece about his award for innovative building design? And remembered it? “That was more than a year ago. I’m impressed with your memory.”

“Well, like most people in our industry, I have an absolutely ridiculous attention for detail.” She smiled then, the kind of smile that no one would ever confuse with a grimace. The kind of smile that hit a man in the gut and made him forget everything around him. The kind of smile that added an extra sparkle to her green eyes, and lit her delicate features with an inner glow.

Intoxicating.

Get a grip, McKenna. This was business, nothing more. Since when did he think of anything other than a bottle of single malt as intoxicating? Business, and business only. “If you have a minute, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Actually I’m heading out.” She gestured toward the door. A continual Morse code of headlights went by on the busy street outside, tires making a constant whoosh-whoosh of music on the dark pavement, even though it was nearing midnight on a Tuesday night. Boston, like most cities, never slept. And neither, most nights, did Finn McKenna.

“Perhaps you could call my assistant,” she said, “and set up a meeting for—”

“If you have time tonight, I would appreciate it.” He remembered Riley’s advice and decided to sweeten the pot a little. Show her he wasn’t the cold business-only gargoyle that people rumored him to be. Hawk indeed. Finn could be suave. Debonair even.

His younger brother could charm a free coffee from a barista; talk a traffic cop into forgetting his ticket. Maybe if Finn applied a bit of that, it might loosen her up, and make her more amenable to what he was about to propose. So he worked up another smile-grimace to his face—and tried another tack.

“Why don’t we, uh, grab a couple drinks somewhere?” he said, then groaned inwardly. Casual conversation was clearly not his forte. Put him in a board room, and he was fine, but attempting small talk…a disaster.

Damn Riley’s advice anyway.

“Thank you, but I don’t drink. If you ask me, too many bad decisions have been made with a bottle of wine.” Another smile. “I’m sure if you call in the morning—”

“Your schedule is certainly as busy as mine. Why don’t we avoid yet another meeting?”

“In other words, get this out of the way and then I can get rid of you?”

He laughed. “Something like that.”

“It’s really late…”

He could see her hesitation. In a second, she’d say no again, and he’d be forced to delay his plan one more day. He didn’t have the luxury of time. He needed to get a meeting with Ellie Winston—a private one—now. In business, he knew when to press, and when to step back. Now was a time to press. A little. “I promise, I don’t bite.”

“Or pick over the remains of your competitors?”

“That’s a rumor. Nothing more. I’ve only done that…once.” He paused a second. “Okay, maybe twice.”

She threw back her head and laughed. “Oh my, Mr. McKenna. You are not what I expected.”

What had she expected? That he would be the stern predator portrayed in that article? Or that he wouldn’t have a sense of humor? “I hope that’s a good thing.”

“We shall see,” she said. Then she reached out and laid a hand on his arm, a quick touch, nothing more, but it was enough to stir a fire inside him. A fire that he knew better than to stoke.

What the hell had been in that beer? Finn McKenna wasn’t a man given to spontaneous emotional or physical reactions. Except for one brief window, he’d lived his life as ordered as the buildings he designed. No room for fluff or silliness. And particularly no room for the foolishness of a tumble in the hay. Yet his mind considered that very thing when Eleanor Winston touched him.

“I’m sorry, you’re absolutely right, it is late and you must want to get home,” he said, taking a step back, feeling…flustered, which was not at all like him. “I’ll call your assistant in the morning.”

Riley had said to say what he would say. And Finn knew damned well Riley wouldn’t have said that.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry, Mr. McKenna. I’ve had a long, long day and I…” She glanced back in the direction of the closed double doors, but Finn got the sense she wasn’t looking at the black-tie crowd filling the Park Plaza’s ballroom, but at something else, something he couldn’t see. Then she glanced at her watch. “Midnight. Well, the day is over, isn’t it?”

“If you want it to be, Cinderella. Or you could continue the ball for a little while longer.” The quip came out without hesitation. A true Riley-ism. He’d been spending too much time with his brother.

Or maybe not, he thought, when she laughed. He liked her laugh. It was light, airy, almost musical.

“Cinderella, huh?” she said. “Okay, you convinced me. It would be nice to end my day with some one-on-one conversation instead of an endless stream of small talk.” She wagged a finger at him and a tease lit her face, made her smile quirk higher on one side than the other. “But I’ll have tea, not tequila, while I hear you out on whatever it is you want to tell me.”

“Excellent.” He could only hope she was as amenable to his proposal. Surely such an auspicious beginning boded well for the rest. He pushed on the door and waved Ellie through with one long sweep of his arm. “After you…Cinderella.”

“My goodness, Finn McKenna. You certainly do know how to make a girl swoon.” She flashed him yet another smile and then whooshed past him and out into the night, leaving the faint scent of jasmine and vanilla in her wake.

Get back to the plan, he reminded himself. Focus on getting her to agree. Nothing more. He could do it, he knew he could. Finn wasn’t a distracted, spontaneous man. He refused to tangle personal with business ever again. He would get Ellie to agree, and before he could blink, his company would be back on top.

But as he followed one of his biggest competitors into the twinkling, magical world of Boston at night, he had to wonder if he was making the best business decision of his life—or the worst.

CHAPTER TWO

SHE had to be crazy.

What else had made Ellie agree to midnight drinks with Finn McKenna—one of her competitors and a man she barely knew? She’d been ready to go home, get to bed and get some much-needed sleep when Finn had approached her.

There’d been something about his smile, though, something about him charmed her. He wasn’t a smooth talker, more a man who had an easy, approachable way about him, one that she suspected rarely showed in his business life. The “Hawk” moniker that magazine—and most of the people in the architecture world—had given him didn’t fit the man who had teasingly called her Cinderella. A man with vivid sky-blue eyes and dark chocolate hair.

And that intrigued her. A lot.

So Ellie settled into the red vinyl covered seat across from Finn McKenna, a steaming mug of tea warming her palms. So far they’d done little more than exchange small talk about the weather and the party they’d just left.

She’d never met the fabled architect, the kind of man talked about in hushed tones by others in the industry. She’d read about him, even studied a few of his projects when she was in college, but they’d never crossed paths. If she hadn’t been at the helm of WW Architectural Design, she wouldn’t even have been at the event tonight, one of those networking things designed to bring together competitors, as if they’d share trade secrets over a few glasses of wine. In reality, everyone was there to try to extract as much information as they could, while revealing none of their own.

“Was that your brother you were talking to in the ballroom?” she asked. Telling herself she wasn’t being curious about the contradictory Finn, just conversational.

Finn nodded. “Riley. He’s the youngest.”

“He looks a lot like you.”

Finn chuckled. “Poor guy.”

“Is he in the industry, too?”

“Definitely not. He tagged along for the free drinks.”

She laughed. “I can appreciate that. Either way, I’m glad that cocktail party is over.” She rubbed her neck, loosening some of the tension of the day. “Sometimes it seems those things are never going to end.”

“You seemed to fit right in.”

“I can talk, believe me.” She laughed, then leaned in closer and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “But in reality, I hate those kinds of events.”

“You and me both. Everyone trying to pretend to be nice, when really they just want to find out what you’re up to and how they can steal that business away from you,” Finn said. “I think of them as a necessary evil.”

She laughed again. “We definitely have that in common.” She’d never expected to have anything in common with Finn McKenna, whose reputation had painted him as a ruthless competitor, exactly her opposite. Or to find him attractive. But she did.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m much happier behind my desk, sketching out a design. Anything is better than trading the same chatter with the same people in an endless social circle.”

“You and I could be twins. I feel exactly the same way. But…” She let out a sigh and spun her teacup gently left and right.

“But what?”

“But I stepped into my father’s shoes, and that means doing things as he did.” People expected the head of WW to be involved, interactive and most of all, friendly, so Ellie had gone to the event and handled it, she hoped, as her father would have. She had thought taking over her father’s position would be a temporary move, but after the news the doctor gave her yesterday…

Ellie bit back a sigh. There were many, many dinners like that in her future. Henry Winston’s heart attack had been a bad one, leaving him with greatly diminished cardiac capacity. The doctor had warned her that too much stress and worry could be fatal. A return to work was a distant possibility right now. If ever. It all depended on his recovery. Either way, Ellie was determined to keep WW running, and not worry her father with any of the details. He came first.

“Have you ever met my father?” she asked Finn.

He nodded. “I have. Nice guy. Straight shooter.”

“And a talker. I inherited that from him.” Ellie smiled, thinking of the father she’d spent so many hours with in the last few years, chatting about design and business and life. Her father had worked constantly when Ellie was young and been gone too much for them to build any kind of relationship. But ever since Ellie went to college, Henry had made a more concerted effort to connect with his daughter. Although she loved her mother dearly, Ellie wasn’t as close to Marguerite, who had moved to California shortly after divorcing Henry when Ellie was eighteen. “My father likes to say that he never knows where his next opportunity might come from, so he greets the cashier at a fast food place as heartily as he does the owner of a bank.”

“People like that about him. Your father is well respected.”

“Thank you.” The compliment warmed Ellie. “I hope I can live up to his example.”

“I’m sure you will.”

The conversation stalled between them. Finn turned his attention to his coffee, but didn’t drink, just held the mug. Ellie nursed her tea, then added more sugar to the slightly bitter brew.

She watched Finn, wondering why he had invited her out. If he wanted to talk business, he was taking his time getting to it. What other reason could he have? For all the joking between them earlier, she had a feeling he wasn’t here for a date.

Finn McKenna was younger than she’d expected. Surely a man with his reputation had to be ten feet tall, and ten years older than the early thirties she guessed him to be? Heck, he seemed hardly older than her, but his resume stretched a mile longer. What surprised her most was that he had sought her out—her—out of all the other people in that room. Why?

He had opted for coffee, black, but didn’t drink from the cup. He crossed his hands on the table before him, in precise, measured moments. He held himself straight—uptight, she would have called it—and kept his features as unreadable as a blank sheet of paper. He wasn’t cold, exactly, more…

Impassive. Like the concrete used to construct his buildings. The teasing man she’d met in the lobby had been replaced by someone far more serious. Had that Finn been a fluke? Which was the real Finn McKenna?

And more, why did she care so much?

“I heard WW got the contract on the Piedmont hospital project,” he said.

“We haven’t even announced that hospital deal yet,” she replied, halting her tea halfway to her lips. “How did you know about it?”

“It’s my business to know.” He smiled. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” She wanted to tell him the thought of such a big project daunted her, particularly without her father’s valuable advice. She wanted to tell Finn that she worried the hospital design would be too big, too detailed for her to oversee successfully, and most of all, she wanted to ask him how he had done it for so long single-handedly, but she didn’t.

She already knew the answer. She’d read it in the interview in Architect magazine. Finn McKenna wasted little time. He had no hobbies, he told the reporter, and organized his workdays in the most efficient way possible, in order to cram twenty hours of work into twelve.

And, she knew better than to trust him. He hadn’t earned the nickname Hawk by being nice to his competitors. No matter how they sliced this, she was one of his competitors and needed to be on her guard. For all she knew, Finn was working right this second—and working an angle with her that would benefit his business.

At that moment, as if making her thoughts a reality, Finn’s cell phone rang. He let out a sigh, then shot her an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I have to take this. It’s a client who’s in California right now, while we build his new offices here. I think he forgot about the time change. This should only take a second.”

“No problem. I understand.” She watched him deal with the call and realized that Finn McKenna had made himself a success by sacrificing a life. That wasn’t what Ellie had wanted when she had gone into architectural design, but the more time she spent behind her father’s desk, the more it became clear that was where she was heading.

That was the one thing her father didn’t want to see. She thought back to the conversation they’d had this morning. Don’t end up like me, Ellie Girl. Get married. Settle down. Have a life instead of just a business, and don’t neglect your family to protect the bottom line. Do it before…

He hadn’t had to finish the sentence. She knew the unspoken words—before he was gone. The heart attack had set off a ticking clock inside Henry and nearly every visit he encouraged Ellie to stop putting her life on hold.

The trouble was, she had quickly found that running WW Architectural Design and having a life were mutually exclusive. Now things were more complicated, her time more precious. And having it all seemed to be an impossible idea.

She thought of the picture in her purse, the dozens more on her phone, and the paperwork waiting on her desk. Waiting not for her signature, but for a miracle. One that would keep the promise she had made in China last year.

Nearly three years ago, Ellie had been on the fast track at an architectural firm in North Carolina. Then she’d gone to a conference in China, gotten lost on the way to the hotel and ended up meeting a woman who changed her life.

Ellie never made it to the hotel or the conference. She spent five days helping Sun Yuchin dig a well and repair a neighbor’s house in a tiny, cramped town, and fallen in love with the simple village, and bonded with the woman who lived there. Every few months since, Ellie had returned. She’d been there to meet Sun’s daughter, Jiao, after she was born, even helped feed the baby, and the following year, helped build an extra room for the child. In the process, Ellie had formed a deep friendship with Sun, a hardworking, single mother who had suffered more tragedies than any person should in a lifetime—her parents dead, then her husband two years later, and near the end of one of Ellie’s trips to Sun’s town, the woman finally confided the worst news of all.

Sun had cancer. Stage four. After she told Ellie, she asked her an incredible question.

Will you raise Jiao after I’m gone? Take her to America, and be her mother?

Finn ended the call, then put his cell back into his pocket. “The Piedmont hospital will be quite an undertaking for WW,” he said, drawing her attention back to the topic.

Was he curious, or jealous? His firm had been one of the few invited to submit a bid. She remembered her father being so sure that McKenna Designs, clearly the leader in experience, would land the job. But in the end, either her father’s schmoozing on the golf course or his more competitive bid had won out and McKenna Designs had been left in the dust.

Was this true congratulations or sour grapes?

Ellie gave Finn a nod, then crossed her hands on the table. “I’m sure we’re up to the challenge.” Did her voice betray the doubts she felt?

“I know a project of that size can seem intimidating,” he added, as if he’d read her mind. “Even for someone with your experience.”

The dig didn’t go unnoticed. She was sure a methodical man like Finn McKenna would already know she’d built her career in residential, not commercial properties. He was expressing his doubts in her ability without coming right out and saying it.

He wasn’t the only one with concerns. She’d gone into architecture because she loved the field, and chosen residential work because she loved creating that happy home for her clients, and had been rewarded well for that job. She’d never wanted to be a part of the more impersonal, commercial industry.

But now she was. And that meant she had to deal with everything that came her way, no matter what. And handle it, one way or another, because her father’s company needed her to. She couldn’t go to her father and risk raising his blood pressure. She’d muddle through this project on her own. No matter what, Ellie would hold on to what Henry had built.

“We have a strong, dedicated team,” she said.

“Had.”

“Excuse me?”

“You had a strong, dedicated team. As I hear it, Farnsworth quit last week.”

Damn. Finn really did have his finger on the pulse of WW Architectural Design. Few people knew George Farnsworth, one of the oldest and most experienced architects at the firm, had quit. He’d butted heads with Ellie almost from the day she walked in the door, and eventually said he’d work for her father—or no one at all. Which wasn’t quite true, because it turned out Farnsworth had had a lucrative job offer at a competitor waiting in the wings the whole time.

She’d been scrambling ever since to find a worthy replacement. And coming up empty.

“You seem to know quite a bit about my business, Mr. McKenna—”

“Finn, please.”

“Finn, then.” She pushed the cup of tea to the side and leaned forward. “What I want to know is why.”

He gave her a half-nod. “What they say about you is true.”

“And what, pray tell, do they say about me?”

“That you’re smart and capable. And able to talk your way out of or into just about anything.”

She laughed. “The talking part is probably true. My father always said I could talk my way out of a concrete box.”

“Refill?” The waitress hovered over their table, coffeepot halfway to Finn’s cup. Then she noticed the two still-full cups. “Okay, guess not.”

Finn paused long enough for the waitress to leave, then his sky-blue gaze zeroed in on hers. “You asked why I have such an interest in your business, and in you.”

She nodded.

“I’ve done my research on your career, Miss Winston, and on WW Architectural Design because—” he paused a beat “—I have a proposition for you.”

“A proposition?” Ellie arched a brow, then flipped on the charm. Two could dance in this conversation. Finn McKenna had yet to tell her anything of substance, and she refused to give away her surprise or her curiosity. He had likely underestimated her as a businesswoman, and after tonight, she doubted he’d do it again. “Why, Finn, that sounds positively scandalous.”

He let out a short, dry laugh. “I assure you, Miss Winston—”

“Ellie.” She gave him a nod and a slight smile. She had found that a little warmth and charm, accented by the slight Southern accent that she’d picked up in her years in North Carolina, often served her well in business dealings, and she used that tool to her advantage now. No giving Finn McKenna the upperhand. No, she wanted to know what he was after, and more importantly, why. “That’s the least you can do, considering I’m calling you by your first name.”

“Ellie, then.” Her name rolled off his tongue, smooth as caramel. “I…I can assure you—” he paused a second again, seemed to gather his thoughts “—that my proposition is business only.”

She waited for him to continue, while her tea cooled in front of her. This was the reason he’d asked her here—not for a date, but for business. A flicker of disappointment ran through her, but she told herself it was for the best. Despite what her father had asked of her, she didn’t see how she could possibly fit dating, much less marriage, into her already busy life.

She had her father to worry about and care for, a company to run, and most of all, a home to prepare for the changes coming her way very soon. Getting involved with Finn McKenna didn’t even make it on to that list. Heck, it wasn’t even in the same galaxy as her other priorities.

“I know that without Farnsworth, you’re in a difficult position,” Finn continued. “He’s the most senior architect on your staff, and you’re about to undertake a major hospital project. The kind of thing WW has built its reputation on, and the kind of job that will bring millions into the company coffers.”

She nodded. The Piedmont hospital was a huge boon for WW. Her father had worked long and hard to land that project. He was proud as punch to add it on to the company resume, and she was determined not to let her father down. This job would also firmly establish WW’s place as a leader in medical facility design—a smart move in an era of increased demand from aging baby boomers.

“As the new CEO,” Finn went on in the same precise, no-nonsense manner as before, “you’re already at a vulnerable juncture, and losing this project, or screwing it up, could cause WW irreparable damage.” He’d clearly studied her, and the company, and was offering an honest, if not a bit too true, perspective. He squared his spoon beside his cup, seeming to gather his thoughts, but she got the feeling he was inserting a measured, calculated pause.

She waited him out. A part of her was glad he’d gotten right to the point, avoiding the male-female flirting dance. She’d met far too many businessmen who thought they could finesse their way through a deal with a few compliments and smiles. Men who saw a woman in charge and took her to be an idiot, or someone they could manipulate over dinner. Finn McKenna, she suspected, was a what-you-see-is-what-you-get man, who saw no need for frills or extra words. Straightforward, to the point, no games. That brief moment in the lobby had been a fluke, she decided. This was the real Finn, aka the Hawk. He wanted something from her and clearly intended to stay until he had it.

“I have two senior architects on my staff who are more than capable of handling the hospital project for you,” Finn said. “If you agree to this business proposition, then they would oversee it, sort of as architects on loan. You, Miss Winston—” he paused again, corrected himself “—Ellie, would remain in complete control. And myself and my staff at McKenna Designs would be there as a resource for you, as you navigate the complicated arena of medical facility design, and the troubled waters of the CEO world.”

Troubled waters? Did he think she was totally incompetent? She tamped down the rush of anger and feigned flattery.

“That’s a mighty nice offer, Finn. Why, a girl would be all aflutter from your generosity…” Then she dropped the Southern Belle accent from her voice, and the smile from her face. He’d made it all sound so smooth, as if the benefit was all to her, not to him. “If she hadn’t been raised by a father who told her that no one does anything without a payoff. So, I ask you—” she leaned in, her gaze locking on his “—what’s in this for you?”

He gave her a short nod, a brief smile, a look that said touché. And something that looked a lot like respect. “My business has struggled as of late. Partly the economy, partly—” the next words seemed to leave his mouth with a sour taste “—because of a project that had some unfortunate results. Although we have a few medical buildings on our resume, our work has primarily been in the retail and corporate world. McKenna Designs would like to move into the medical building field because it’s a growing industry that dovetails well with our other corporate work. You would like to strengthen your position as the new head at WW by designing a hospital that puts a really big star in the company constellation, as they say.” He spread his hands. “A partnership benefits us both.”

“From what I’ve heard, McKenna Designs took a serious blow in credibility and finances over this past year and you’ve been reeling ever since.” They worked in a small industry and people talked. The people who worked for Ellie had been more than happy to fill her in on the local competition when she arrived in Boston. Finn McKenna’s name had come up several times.

“We’ve had our…challenges.”

“As have we,” she acknowledged.

“Precisely the reason I came to you.” Now he leaned back and sipped at his coffee, even though it had surely gone cold long ago. He was waiting for her to make the next move.

As she looked at him, she realized two things. He didn’t think she was capable of running the firm without his help and two, he was offering a deal that benefited him far more than her. She could hire another architect—maybe even, with the right incentives, steal Finn’s best and brightest right from under his nose—and be just fine. He was just like all the other men she had met, and all the “concerned” colleagues of her father, who saw the little Winston girl as nothing more than a figurehead.

The Hawk was merely swooping in to try to scoop up an opportunity. This meeting had been a waste of time. The one luxury Ellie Winston didn’t have.

She rose, grabbing her purse as she did. “I appreciate the offer, I really do, but we’re just fine at WW, and we’ll be just fine without an alliance with you. So thank you again—” she fished in her purse for a few dollars, and tossed them on the table “—but I must decline. Good evening, Mr. McKenna.”

Then she left, hoping that was the last she saw of Finn McKenna.

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