by Jaci Burton
He got to the house and stripped, took a shower, then came out and put on his boxer briefs. He fixed himself a glass of ice water and fed Murphy, who, as usual, gobbled his food up in what looked like two bites, shoved his face into his water bowl, then went off to play. Finn took a seat on the sofa to relax and unwind for a few.
His phone pinged so he picked it up. It was a message from Brenna.
What are you wearing tonight?
His lips curved as he typed a reply.
Wanna know what I’m wearing right now?
He could already imagine her eye roll.
Not particularly.
He saw the three dots as she typed. Then stopped. Then started again.
Yeah, she was imagining all right.
Anyway, we’re having dinner in the barn after the rehearsal. Dress appropriately.
He waited for more. There wasn’t any more.
What the fuck did appropriately mean?
Jason was going to be there. He pulled up Jason’s number and called him.
“What’s up?” Jason asked.
“What are you wearing tonight?”
Jason laughed, then paused and said, “Oh, you were serious.”
“Yeah. Brenna told me to dress appropriately.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
He knew his friend would be on his side. “Exactly.”
“I don’t know. Hang on.”
He waited a few minutes, and then Jason was back.
“Erin said not jeans, and a button-down shirt would be fine. I don’t even know. She either lays clothes out for me or tells me what to wear. Makes my life so easy, man.”
That would be easy. “Okay, thanks.”
“See ya.”
Jason clicked off and Finn laid his phone down and went into the bedroom. His closet contained jeans, jeans and shirts. But he did have a couple of pairs of dress pants, so he pulled them out.
Would have been nice for Brenna to tell him he’d need fancy clothes for these fake fiancé shindigs.
He should probably consider buying more dress pants, in case Brenna wanted to go to places that required dressing up. Not that there were a lot of places in Oklahoma that required that. You could go to one of the finest restaurants around here and if you had on your nice jeans and a good pair of boots, you were considered dressed up.
One of the reasons he liked living here.
He put on his black pants and boots and a dark blue button-down, happy that the barn was air conditioned, because he was already hot as blazes in this getup. But for Brenna, he’d do it.
He dropped Murphy off with Johnny and Maureen, happy to see that Agatha and Puddy were also there tonight, so there was a doggie free-for-all. Murphy was having fun frolicking with the other pups. Johnny and Maureen didn’t seem to mind the canine chaos; in fact, Johnny sat on the floor playing with all three dogs. He knew he loved that man for a reason.
He walked toward the barn, meeting up with Jason just outside.
“They’re doing the rehearsal now,” Jason said, motioning toward the vineyard and the arch where a crowd was gathered. “Erin said we could go inside the barn and wait for them where it’s cooler.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They opened the barn doors and a blast of cold air greeted them. Finn breathed a sigh of relief and went straight to the bar and ordered a beer. Jason did the same. He noticed there were a few other people in there as well, no doubt family members or friends who weren’t in the wedding party. Finn and Jason went over and introduced themselves and found out they were cousins as well as some friends of both Esther and Brock who were helping out with the wedding and had been invited to attend the rehearsal dinner.
Finn didn’t know anything about weddings, rehearsals or dinners and who was invited or what went into them. He’d never been married, never gave it much thought. He figured when he fell in love and was ready to get married, then it would be the right time to start thinking about all those things. Or, the woman he was going to marry would plan it all and tell him what to do. He was okay either way.
They’d taken a seat at one of the tables near the door. “Are you involved in planning your wedding to Erin?”
Jason laid his beer on the table. “She runs her ideas by me. I say yes to everything she wants.”
Finn laughed. “Sounds like a good plan.”
“Hey, I’ve got no knowledge about weddings. Erin has everything. I’m leaving it to the expert. And she’s not over the top. She isn’t asking for weird shit like us coming down the aisle on giraffes, or trying to have Blake Shelton sing at our wedding or anything.”
“Could she do that?”
He laughed. “She probably could. She knows a lot of people. But so far all her suggestions have been reasonable. Plus, we don’t have a lot of time to plan this thing. It’s going to be pretty simple.”
“Simple is good. That’s the kind of wedding I’d like to have. Just me, my lady and my friends and family.”
“Exactly. Plus good food, good drinks and a damn good time.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a plan.”
“No, Erin’s got a plan. Let’s talk about your lady. You and Brenna, huh?”
He let out a chuckle. “Not really. She’s just using me to get back at her ex and his wife.”
Jason shrugged. “Hey, Erin used me to get over Owen. Look at us now. We all have to start someplace, ya know?”
“That’s true.”
“You like her?”
“I do. Probably more than she likes me.” Though he had no idea how Brenna really felt about him. Sometimes she looked at him like she wanted to curl her lip and growl at him. Other times she gave him the kind of look that told him she’d like to eat him for dinner—in a good way. Women were confusing.
“She liked you enough to ask you to act like her fiancé for four days.”
“True.”
“Might as well roll with it and see what happens.”
That was his plan. Maybe with a little more work on his part, because he wanted to see a lot more of Brenna beyond four days of acting like her fiancé.
The doors opened and people spilled in, all of them laughing and talking over one another. Finn and Jason stood and moved out of the way as the other people met up with them.
Finn spotted Brenna right away. She had on a yellow dress that clung to all of her generous curves, making him want to run his hands over her body like an explorer searching for treasure. She’d curled her hair and it waved across her shoulders. She was talking to the bride-to-be and the woman said something to her that made Brenna laugh: a full-on, tilt-her-head-back, throaty laugh that made Finn’s balls quiver.
She needed to do that more often, because when she laughed like that, her whole face lit up. He liked seeing her happy.
Then she turned around and caught his gaze and motioned with her head for him to come over. Jason had already left to join Erin and he didn’t know what he’d been doing just standing there watching her other than enjoying the view.
He walked to where she was. “How was the rehearsal?”
“It went fine. Everyone’s prepared and they all paid attention to the instructions, which for us is always a good thing.”
“Great.”
He saw Allison approaching, so he slipped his arm around Brenna and nuzzled her neck.
“What are you . . . oh.”
He wasn’t sure whether the oh was her realization that Allison was coming, or the fact she liked his mouth on her neck.
“I’d like to talk to you about where I can change tomorrow for the wedding. My hotel room is way too small.”
In no way was Finn going to stop paying attention to Brenna, because it was obviously annoying both Allison and Mitchell. And Brenna was squirming, which made Finn happy as hell.
&nb
sp; “You should probably talk to Honor about that.”
“Why?” Allison asked. “Can’t you handle it?”
“Honor’s in charge of weddings. I handle the vineyard.”
Allison made an ugly face. “I’m going to go talk to Esther about this.”
“Why don’t you just talk to Honor? I’m sure she’ll be able to accommodate you.”
“No, I want you to do it.”
“Why?”
“Because. I want what I want when I want it.” She turned on her heel and stalked off, Mitchell following behind her.
Mitchell hadn’t said a word.
“She’s kind of a bitch, isn’t she?” Finn asked.
“You have no idea. I need a glass of wine. And I need to warn Honor that a blowup is about to happen.” She looked around. “I don’t see her. I’ll send her a text.”
“You tell Honor. I’ll get you a glass of wine.”
“Thanks. A chardonnay, please.” She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her dress, her fingers flying while he walked over to the bar and got himself another beer and Brenna’s glass of wine. When he got back, she had just tucked her phone back into her pocket.
“Thank you. I really need this.”
“How’s Honor?”
“Irritated. But she’s on her way to run interference.”
He looked where Brenna had pointed. Allison was wildly motioning to Esther, who was wide eyed and seemed not to know what to say. Honor came over and smiled, said something to Esther, then pulled Allison away and spoke to her for a few minutes. Allison pointed at Brenna, who smiled smugly at Allison. Honor shook her head and Allison shook hers, then started gesturing and talking again.
“My sister won’t take shit from her, no matter what she demands. If she were the bride she’d get anything she wanted.”
“But she’s not.”
Brenna took another long sip of her wine. “Nope.”
Then it was Honor’s turn to talk. Whatever she was saying, she was calm about it. And Allison inhaled so deeply even Finn could see it from the back of the room. Finally, she seemed to calm down and nodded, then walked away. Honor made her way between the tables toward them.
“Honestly, you’d think this was her wedding the way she’s demanding things.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I handled her. I’ve arranged for her to have her own changing room tomorrow. Do you know she asked for you to handle all her needs personally tomorrow?”
Brenna snorted out a laugh. “No, but I’m not surprised. She’d like nothing more than to give me orders and show off to Mitchell.”
“It’s not going to happen. I told her you were also in the wedding and you couldn’t take the time to do things for her. And if she had a problem with that, then I was going to the bride to complain about her. I also reminded her that her job as matron of honor is to take care of Esther, to make sure the bride is calm and happy on her wedding day and has everything she needs.”
Honor was so good at her job—as both a wedding planner and a big sister. “I love you.”
“Love you, too. Gotta go.” She turned and dashed between tables.
“She’s kind of a force in a small package, isn’t she?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
Honor stood up on the dais and turned her mic on. “Everyone, please take your seats so we can serve dinner.”
Finn slipped his hand in hers. “Good. I’m hungry.”
Brenna shook her head. “Of course you are.”
“Hey, I put in a full day’s work today. A man works up an appetite.”
“I pity the woman who marries you and has to feed you.”
“Yeah, but I can do my part. I can catch fish for dinner.”
“Oh. Joy.”
He laughed and she led him to her assigned spot at the main table where the wedding party would sit along with their guests. There were all kinds of fancy plates and a lot of silverware. Finn didn’t really do fancy, but Maureen had taught him at an early age what all those freakin’ forks were for, because sometimes he would be required to attend weddings and functions that required more than a fork and a knife. So he paid attention and learned what he’d needed to learn so he wouldn’t embarrass the family.
He picked up Brenna’s hand and pressed a kiss to it.
“What was that for?” she asked.
“Allison is watching. Also, if you frown every time I touch you, she’s going to get suspicious. So relax a little.”
“You’re right. Sorry.” She smiled at him and leaned her shoulder into his, then grasped his chin and pulled him to her, brushing her lips across his.
He knew it was just for show, but he wasn’t about to object to Brenna kissing him. In fact, she lingered just a little longer, then pulled back, her gaze meeting his. She licked her lips, then picked up her glass of wine and took a sip.
“Is that better?” she asked.
“For me? Hell yeah.”
Her lips curved. “I meant for Allison.”
He noticed Allison had turned her back on them and was talking to someone else now.
“She seems sufficiently bored with you now.”
“Excellent.”
The caterers started serving the meal, which to Finn was the most important part of the night. The food was good, too. And even better, there was a lot of it. Salad and meats and even a dessert. Of course he had to sit through toasts, which was boring since he didn’t know these people, but whatever. His stomach was full so he was happy.
After dinner people hung out for a little bit. Finn stayed by Brenna’s side while she visited with Esther and Brock.
“I’m strangely not nervous about tomorrow at all,” Esther said. “Not yet anyway. Maybe the jitters will hit me when I wake up in the morning.”
Brenna took her hand. “Or maybe you’re so confident about marrying this guy that there’s nothing to be nervous about.”
Esther looked to Brock, who smiled at her. “That could be it. Plus, I have the best venue and one of my dearest friends is helping me handle everything. I’m more excited than nervous.”
“Me, too,” Brock said.
Finn knew that was the right answer. And Brock didn’t look nervous at all, either. He seemed relaxed. He did have a full glass of wine in his hand. That probably helped.
“You know we’ll have everything under control tomorrow,” Brenna said. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“You’ll be at the hotel tomorrow for hair and makeup and everything?” Esther asked.
Brenna nodded. “I’ll be there for sure. And Honor is coordinating with all the bridesmaids. Trust me, she’ll make sure everyone shows up.”
Esther inhaled and let it out. “Then I really don’t have anything to stress about. Isn’t that great, Brock?”
“It is, babe. The only sad thing is we have to be apart tonight.”
She patted his shoulder. “Tradition. After tomorrow we’ll never be apart again.”
“Lookin’ forward to that part.”
The party started to break up about ten, and everyone left. They had a crew to clean up the barn and break everything down.
“People will be here tomorrow to set up for the reception, so it begins all over again.”
Finn shook his head as he walked Brenna over to the house. He went inside and grabbed Murphy and stood on the porch with his dog and Brenna. “I don’t know how you do this weekend after weekend.”
She shrugged. “Part of the job.”
“But wouldn’t it be nice to have a weekend off every now and then?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I take days off during the week.”
“What if you want to get away?”
She stood on the step of the front porch and looked at him. “Like where?”
“I guess I hadn’t thought much about it.”
“Well, think about it. Maybe I might want to take you somewhere. After we have our date.”
She frowned again. “What date?”
“The date you promised me we’d have. You know you haven’t forgotten. Good night, Brenna.”
He walked away before she could start arguing her way out of having that date.
Because she’d said yes. And he was going to hold her to it.
CHAPTER
• • • • • •
ten
WEDDING DAYS, FROM Brenna’s perspective, were always mass chaos, no matter how well prepared everyone was. Having to actually be in a wedding was a nightmare.
She’d gotten up early so she could have her coffee in peace and quiet in the library, read a few chapters of her book and just be. She knew what today was going to bring, so she needed to center herself before the bedlam began.
She had breakfast with the family, then went upstairs to take a shower. Her hair would need to be dry before she went over to the hotel, so she dried her hair but didn’t put any product in it or style it since Esther had arranged to have a stylist come in and do the bridal party’s hair. Which meant this out-of-control nest on top of her head was a wild mess. She had natural curl to her hair and had spent years learning how to tame it with a blow dryer and flat iron. She wished she could have just done her own hair, but whatever. The bride got what the bride wanted. And right now the bride wanted Brenna to have bird’s-nest hair.
She threw on capris and a button-down shirt and slipped into her canvas tennis shoes, then went outside and across the vineyard to check and make sure the wine order for tonight had already been pulled. Even though she already knew exactly which wines had been ordered and how many cases, she’d double-checked her spreadsheet this morning. It never hurt to be certain no mistakes would be made, especially for this wedding.