The Engagement Arrangement (Boots and Bouquets #2) - Jaci Burton Page 0,53
burner. Way on the back burner. It wasn’t her fault that men were continually disappointing. She’d learned a valuable lesson from her marriage, and that was to have high standards. There was no sense in wasting time with a man who couldn’t meet them.
And then this whole fake fiancé thing with Finn had come about. Her idea, of course, and she had only meant it to be for four days. Now, that contract had been extended. And sex had been added to the equation, which was beneficial for both of them, right?
It was fun. No one would get hurt.
Since she had no intention of marrying Finn—and he had to know that—why not have some fun? It was pretty phenomenal sex, too.
She was long overdue for some fun and phenomenal sex.
“This Saturday night we have the garden wedding,” Honor said. “Small wedding party, only thirty guests.”
Brenna looked up. “That reminds me. Okay if I take Saturday off?”
Erin’s lips curved. “Got a date?”
“Sort of. Finn and I have been invited to a lake barbecue.”
Honor smiled. “This wedding will be easy, and we can handle the wine order. Go have some fun, Brenna.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. We’ve got this.”
“Okay, thanks. You know I’ll pick up the slack anytime either of you need me to.”
“We know,” Honor said.
“It’s about damn time, too,” Erin said. “You can’t work all the time.”
“Oh. Look who’s talking.”
Erin lifted her chin. “Hey. I’ve got a guy. And a place to live. And a dog.”
Brenna snorted. “Of course you do, Miss Perfect.”
Honor waved her hands at them. “Okay, okay. Before this ends up in an all-out brawl over nothing and I have to make the two of you apologize, how about we get back to the meeting?”
Honor was right. Brenna didn’t even know what they were fighting about. Of course, being sisters meant they could always find something to argue over, no matter how trivial or petty. Erin had been encouraging her date with Finn and Brenna had turned it into an argument, likely because she was still a bit unsure of herself where Finn was concerned. Which didn’t mean she could take it out on her sister.
“Sorry, Erin,” Brenna said.
“Me, too.”
Honor nodded. “That’s better. Now on to the business at hand.”
They dove into the rest of the meeting, and Brenna pushed thoughts of the upcoming weekend aside.
For now.
CHAPTER
• • • • • •
sixteen
FINN HAD SPENT most of the week prepping and bottling some whiskey for the weekend. It wasn’t aged as much as he would have liked, but it was good and tasty and he looked forward to sharing it with his new friends.
Along with his normal daily work, he hadn’t had much of a chance to spend time with Brenna. He passed her a few times during the day and they stopped and talked, but she’d said she was busy. He wasn’t offended. She was often busy. And when he’d asked her if they were still on for Saturday, she smiled at him and told him she couldn’t wait.
Her smile had held him the whole week.
Now he was packing up his truck with whiskey and chairs and fishing gear and whatever else Brenna kept dragging out for him to include. Which was a lot. Bags and boxes of wine and coolers and even more bags.
He tossed the current bag into the bed of the truck.
“No, that one goes in the front.”
Resisting rolling his eyes, he smiled and tucked the bag into the back seat. “Sure. Anything else?”
“I don’t know. Let me check.”
“You do realize we’re just going for the day. Not the week.”
She waved one hand at him while she disappeared into the house.
At this rate, the entire day would be over before they even got there.
He leaned against the truck, arms folded, watching across the way as they set up for the day’s wedding. He was actually surprised that Brenna had so quickly agreed to this, considering she always worked the weddings during the weekends.
But he couldn’t deny he was happy she was coming along with him today.
She finally flew through the front door, her hair in a high ponytail. She had on a blue-and-yellow sundress with her swimsuit under it. And damn if she didn’t make him catch his breath.
She slid her sunglasses down from her head onto her face and fixed him with a bright smile. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
Since he was already wearing his shades, she missed his eye roll. “Waiting on you, princess.”