The Engagement Arrangement (Boots and Bouquets #2) - Jaci Burton Page 0,86
the steps and took the bag from her. “And where do you want me to put this?”
“In the truck.” She looked down the steps.
“That’s your dad’s truck.”
“Yes.”
“And your dad’s boat.”
“It’s the family boat. I thought we’d go out on the lake today. Maybe do a little fishing. If the idea of that suits you.”
His lips curved. “It does. But don’t you have work to do?”
“Every day. Today, though, we’re skipping out on work to have a little fun. Any complaints about that?”
“Hey, you’re the boss.”
She laughed. “Not of you.”
Once they put all the gear in the truck, Finn double-checked the trailer and hitch to make sure they were secure.
“I need to do something with Murphy,” he said as the dog sat between them, his tail wagging wildly.
“Oh, Murph’s coming with us.”
“He is, huh?”
“Of course. I figured he’d enjoy a day on the boat. And there’s a life jacket for him, too.”
“You thought of everything, didn’t you?”
She smiled. “I tried to.”
They climbed in, Murphy jumping into the back seat of the truck.
“Where to?” he asked.
“I already have the coordinates mapped into the truck’s GPS.”
“Well, aren’t you the planner today?”
“Actually, I’ve been working on it all week.”
He tilted back a little to study her. “All to surprise me.”
She shrugged. “Yes.”
He liked this take-charge attitude of hers, and that she had, in fact, surprised the hell out of him. The idea of Brenna taking a day off work was practically unheard of. She had to have her fingers in everything related to winemaking. Giving that up for an entire day just to spend it with him?
He did feel special.
Hell, he felt a lot of things where Brenna was concerned, but it was too early in the morning to decipher them, so he put the truck in gear, punched Go on the GPS and off they went.
It took about an hour to get to the lake, and he followed the directions to where Brenna wanted them to go. It was a great spot to launch, so they got everything out and loaded up the boat. Finn got the boat into the water, then Brenna parked the truck and met him on the dock.
He held her hand while she climbed in. She looked amazing in her tight pants and boots, her jacket flapping in the morning breeze. She’d put her hair in a long braid this morning, and she looked so beautiful she took his breath away.
Murphy thought so, too, because he came up to her, his tail wagging so she’d pet him.
“What do you think about all this, Murphy?” she asked as she smoothed her hands over his back and rubbed his ears.
Murphy’s enthusiastic tail thumping was his answer. As Finn moved slowly through the water past the No Wake zone, Murphy put his paws on the edge of the boat so he could look out over the water. Finn could tell Murph was going to enjoy this.
And Brenna? She sat in the seat next to him, wisps of her hair blowing back as he cranked up the engine and soared through the water. He’d been to this lake several times before, and he knew just the right place for fishing.
He found a nice isolated spot where they wouldn’t be disturbed. Not that there’d be a lot of traffic on the water on a Thursday morning in October anyway. He killed the engine and dropped the anchor.
Brenna moved out of the chair and went to one of the bags, lifting out two sandwiches she’d wrapped in foil, and brought them over, handing him one.
“I figured you wouldn’t have had any time to eat breakfast, so I made sausage and egg sandwiches.”
Just the thought of food made his stomach grumble. “You made this?”
“I can cook. Sometimes. If I have to.”
He gave her a look as she unwrapped her sandwich.
She shrugged. “Louise wasn’t there yet so I had to do it. And it’s totally edible.”
“I believe you. Thanks for making this.” He took a bite, and it was good. He leaned over to grab his coffee.
“Hey, this is good,” she said.
“You’re surprised that food you made is good. Maybe I should be scared.”
“I don’t cook very often. I eat out and at home we have Louise.”
“But you were married before. Did Mitchell cook?”
She snorted out a laugh. “Hardly. I cooked . . . some. But we both worked a lot, and I often worked late at the house, so I took a lot of meals with the family, and he would get takeout or make a