The Engagement Arrangement (Boots and Bouquets #2) - Jaci Burton Page 0,1

to him. Brenna’s sisters Erin and Honor had become like sisters.

But Brenna? She’d never been family. She’d been something else entirely. The first time he’d laid eyes on Brenna, with her beautiful red hair and unusual hazel eyes and hellacious temper, she’d lit a fire in him that over a decade later had yet to be extinguished.

Not that she’d ever known that. He’d never wanted her to know. Until now.

At first, he’d been too young, too unsure of himself, too tongue-tied around the fierce beauty. And then they’d both grown up and he’d watched her fall in love with and marry that shithole Mitchell Walker. Mitch had never appreciated the fine woman he’d had. He’d taken her for granted, ignored her in favor of his business, and then he’d lost her.

She’d needed time to grieve the end of her marriage, to get back on her feet, to regain her confidence. She’d gotten back out there and started dating again, but she found fault with every one of the guys she dated.

As he turned the corner and headed down the path toward his place, he smiled. He knew why none of those guys had lit a spark under Brenna. Because none of those men knew her like he did, knew what she needed.

He was the flame to her tinder, and it was time he lit the match.

* * *

• • • • • •

BRENNA TOSSED HER purse onto her bed and stared at the full-length mirror leaning against the wall. Her face was flushed with a pink glow, her pulse still racing after that comment from Finn.

What the hell had that been about? He was the one she always wanted but never realized, or some such nonsense? Where had that come from? After her useless date tonight, she’d felt empty and disappointed. But a few words from Finn on the front porch and she was lit up like a bonfire.

She was not interested in Finn Nolan. Like, not at all.

Liar, liar, because your panties are on fire.

“Shut up,” she whispered to herself. She took off her dress and hung it up, went into the bathroom to wash off the remnants of her terrible date, then climbed into bed to read a book. But she couldn’t concentrate, Finn’s words still pinging around in her head.

Was he the guy she’d always wanted, always needed, but had never realized it?

Stop playing with those boys you’re not interested in and let a real man into your life.

She pulled her legs in toward her chest and wrapped her arms around them, thinking about how he’d looked when she’d walked up the steps. His long, jean-clad legs stretched out, his cowboy hat tipped low across his brow, hiding his magnificent stormy gray eyes. And that Irish lilt to his voice—that alone could melt a woman’s clothes right off her. He needed a haircut, all that rich, silky black hair spilling out from underneath his hat, making her itch to run her fingers through it while his mouth crashed down on hers and his tongue—

Whoa.

Okay, maybe she had an attraction. And maybe she always had. She still remembered when he’d first arrived on the ranch. He’d been eighteen then, and she’d been seventeen. He’d been lanky and shy and oh so heartbroken about his mother’s death that her heart had just about broken with him. But he had a smile that lit up the entire state of Oklahoma.

Oh, she’d fought that attraction with everything in her. After all, Mom had trusted all of them to take care of Finn, to treat him like family. And when he’d loosened up and become part of the family, she’d held that attraction she’d felt to herself, while Finn had come out of his shell and laughed and made friends and had girlfriends and treated her just like he treated everyone else.

Then Mitchell had come along, distracting her with his sweet talking and empty promises of happily-ever-after.

What an eye opener that had been. Happily-ever-after was for fairy tales. That was why she worked the winery and left the wedding stuff to her sisters.

She rolled her eyes, realizing that thoughts of Mitchell were like buckets of cold water all over her libido, dousing her hot fantasies of Finn.

With a sigh of disgust, she turned out the light and climbed under the cool covers.

She and Finn weren’t meant to be, anyway. He worked on the vineyard, they saw each other every day, and the two of them fooling around would be a recipe