The Engagement Arrangement (Boots and Bouquets #2) - Jaci Burton Page 0,10

her mom and her sisters tonight, but they’d been so busy discussing everything else, it hadn’t come up.

Or maybe she was just a coward, and the whole idea was stupid and she should give it up.

She should do just that. Forget the thought of pretending to have a fiancé, and go about her business as a successful single woman. Finn had been the one to suggest that, and he was probably right.

Though she could already picture Allison’s smug expression that she’d have to live with for four freaking days. Brenna had been married to Mitchell before. She knew from experience that he wasn’t someone to brag about.

Still, they’d been divorced for four years. What exactly had Brenna done with her life since then?

Not much. She’d moved back home, where she still lived. She worked at the winery, which she’d been doing when she was married to Mitchell. And . . . and . . .

And nothing.

She looked around at her surroundings, realizing that for some reason she’d ended up at Finn’s place. His lights were on, so he must be home. She hesitated, thought about turning around and heading back to the house. Just as she did, she caught sight of him walking up the path from the other side. She couldn’t exactly hide from him since he’d already seen her, so she continued her walk, hoping he wouldn’t think she’d been coming to his place. Which maybe she subconsciously had been for reasons she couldn’t fathom.

“Out for a stroll?” he asked as he stopped in front of her.

“Yes. I had a big dinner that I’m walking off.”

“I hope you didn’t have a date. I frown on my fiancée going out with other men.”

She rolled her eyes. “Funny. I went shopping for a wedding dress for Erin.”

“Jason told me they moved up the wedding. It’ll be tight.”

“We’ll get it handled.”

“I have no doubt.”

She looked at him, realizing he had a rifle at his side. “What are you doing? Squirrel hunting?”

“No. Taking a walk. I heard some noises out by the pond so I took the rifle to check it out.”

She peeked around him. They sometimes got trespassers since their property butted up against public land where hunters or kids might wander. “Find anything?”

“No. But I’ll keep an eye out.”

Brenna knew the family liked having Finn on this side of their land because he kept an eye on potential trespassers. He’d already run off teens several times who’d come out to party in the woods. Nothing like a tall, lean, but well-muscled badass carrying a rifle to scare the bejeezus out of you and keep you from thinking of ever doing it again.

“It’s a good hiding place to hang out,” she said as she continued to walk.

Finn slung the rifle over his shoulder and walked with her. “Yeah? You’ve been there?”

She shrugged. “I did my share of partying there when I was a teen.”

“In the woods. Over there.”

“Of course. Didn’t have to leave the family property, and it was easy to sneak my friends in over the property fence. Plus . . . easy access to wine.”

He slanted a grin at her. “Aren’t you the sly one?”

She shrugged. “I had my moments. And some fun. Until the night Dad caught us.”

“I definitely want to hear that story.”

They had made their way to the pond. There was a bench with a comfortable back, so they took a seat there. She was glad she remembered to put bug spray on before she left the house so she wouldn’t get eaten up by mosquitoes.

“I was seventeen. It was me and William, the boy I was dating, then my friend Rachel and her boyfriend, Oliver, and four other friends. I snuck three bottles of chardonnay from the cellars and stored them in an ice chest in the woods, then met my friends at the fence. They climbed over and we ate chips and drank the wine, laughed and had a great time. Got totally blitzed on that chardonnay, too. And then Rachel and Oliver decided they wanted to go skinny-dipping in the pond.”

He motioned with his head. “This one?”

She nodded. “Yes. I didn’t think that was a good idea since the moon was full and it was too light out, but we were all drunk so we decided to go for it. I was down to my underwear when Dad walked to the edge of the pond.”

“Oh, Christ. What happened?”

“Everyone grabbed their clothes and scattered, including William, leaving me standing there to face my dad,