The Engagement Arrangement by Jaci Burton

Author:Jaci Burton [Burton, Jaci]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

• • • • • •

fifteen

BRENNA ROLLED OVER and stretched, realizing immediately that she was still at Finn’s place. She looked out the window. The sun wasn’t fully up yet, and she didn’t have anything pressing to do until later, so there was time.

Except Finn wasn’t in the bed with her. And she smelled coffee. She got up and, deciding not to get dressed yet, fumbled around in his closet and put on one of his T-shirts. She halted at the dresser, realizing she’d never seen the old picture that sat there. She studied it, touched by the sentimentality.

She’d seen pictures of Finn’s parents before since her mom had often gone to Ireland to visit Finn’s mom, but she’d never seen this particular photo of Finn’s mom and dad at the water’s edge. Their arms were locked around each other, their hair blown by the ocean breeze. Finn looked a lot like his dad, though Finn was taller. And he had his mom’s smile, that genuine, make-you-feel-warm-and-welcome kind of smile. It must have really hurt to lose both of them. Brenna couldn’t imagine her life without her own parents. How hard it must have been for him to travel across an ocean, to know no one other than Brenna’s mom, to have to start over in a strange place while he was still grieving.

She smoothed her fingertip across the pic.

“You raised a great son, Mr. and Mrs. Nolan. You’d be proud of the man he is today.”

She ducked into the bathroom to use the facilities and washed her hands, scrubbed her teeth with toothpaste and her finger, then looked in the mirror.

Yikes. Her hair was a wreck but there was nothing she could do about that other than finger-comb it and call it good.

She walked out into the kitchen. Finn sat at the table, Murphy sprawled at his feet.

“Hey,” she said.

He looked up and smiled at her, and her heart did a little dance.

Yeah, that smile.

“Hey. Coffee’s in the pot. Sugar on the counter. No cream, sorry. But there’s milk in the fridge.”

“That’ll do.” She fixed a cup and pulled up a chair at the table, took a couple of sips of the coffee and, once the caffeine kicked in, all was right in her world again.

“You hungry?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Not right now. I’ll grab something at the house.”

“We missed breakfast.” His lips tilted. “Slept in. You kept me up late.”

“No, you kept me up late. And anyway, Louise will leave food for us.”

“Good,” he said, curling his fingers around his cup. “I’m hungry. You made me work up an appetite.”

She laughed. “You poor thing. I noticed how you suffered.”

He leaned over and hauled her out of her chair and onto his lap. “Quit complaining.”

“I was not complaining, asshole.”

He laughed. “You’re gripey in the mornings.”

“I haven’t had a full cup of coffee yet.”

“Yeah? Too bad. I might want to take you back to bed.”

“I have things to do.”

“Me, too.” He swept his hand alongside her neck, then kissed her.

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