Shirley Jump - The Mckennas - Finn, Riley and Brody

She nodded. “Yes.”

“And in exchange, our companies partner as well?”

“Yes.” She put up a finger. “However, we each retain ownership and leadership of our respective companies, in case … things don’t work out.” She dug in her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. “I took the liberty of having my attorney draw up a contract.”

A contract. For marriage.

Finn skimmed the document and saw that it indeed promised everything she had talked about. The business arrangement, the annulment agreement. All he had to do was sign on the dotted line and he’d be a temporary husband, father in name only.

The businessman in him said it was an opportunity not to be missed. The partnership his business needed, and at the same time, the bonus of companionship. Not sex, clearly, but someone to talk to at the end of the day.

He thought of the nights he’d spent on the rooftop deck of his townhouse. Watching the city lights twinkle in the distance, while he drank a beer, and gathered his thoughts, wondered if he’d made the right choices. Lately those nights hadn’t brought the peace they used to. More, a restlessness, a question of “is this all there is?” Except for the times he was with his brothers, his life was staid. Almost dull.

Riley was right. He was lonely, and tired as hell of feeling that way.

At the same time, he didn’t want to pursue the empty one-night stands his brother did. He wanted more, something with meaning and depth. Something that was … sensible. Reliable. Practical. Something that wasn’t foolish or wild or crazy—not the kind of whirlwind romance his parents had had, that had gone so horribly wrong after the children started coming and they realized that a quick courtship couldn’t build a lifetime, not between such badly mismatched people.

Love—or any approximation of it—was a dangerous thing that left a man vulnerable. Not a position Finn McKenna relished or welcomed. A marriage of convenience would be void of all those things.

Still, the cynic in him wondered if Ellie was proposing this as a way to knock him off guard, or maybe even an alliance that would allow her to gather facts about him and his business, facts she could use to take over his company later or eliminate him as a competitor. Hadn’t Lucy done exactly the same thing?

But the man in him, the one standing beside a very beautiful, very intriguing woman with a smile that stayed with him, hoped like hell it was something more than that.

Was he truly considering this … this marriage of convenience? What choice did he have? He needed to be a part of that hospital project. Making it a joint venture with a company like WW would reestablish his company’s reputation, and distract attention from that fiasco last year. And, as calculated as it sounded, a marriage to a charming woman like Ellie would also distract attention from the mess his company had been in lately, give the gossips something else to talk about. He’d be back on top before he knew it, and then he and Eleanor Winston could quietly dissolve the union, as she’d said. She’d have the child, and he’d have his business back. He could feel the old familiar surge of adrenaline that always hit him when he landed a big job, one that he knew could change the future of McKenna Designs.

“This contract looks pretty good,” he said.

“I wanted to make it clear this was business only.” Her gaze flicked to the water, and she let out a small sigh. Almost like she was disappointed. Which was crazy, because she was the one floating the idea in the first place. “But we don’t have a lot of time to waste. Jiao is stuck in that orphanage, farther away from me with every passing day. And you, I suspect, would like to be on board from day one with the hospital project. The initial drawings are due the fifteenth so we have very little time to get everyone up to speed.”

“The fifteenth? That does put a crunch on our time. By all rights, we should start right away.”

“I agree. In the end, Finn, we’re both decisive people, aren’t we?” She smiled at him. “I’m not looking for a courtship with flowers and dancing and dinners out. What we are doing is more of a …”

“Partnership. Two like minds coming together.”

“Exactly.”

A part of him felt a whisper of … loss? Finn wasn’t sure that was the right word to describe the yawning emptiness in his gut. Surely a deal like this—one that would benefit his company and at the same time, fill those quiet, lonely nights with good conversation, was a win-win all around.

Except …

No, he didn’t need any more than that. As Ellie had said, a romantic relationship came with complications, emotional drama—all things he didn’t have time for, nor wanted in his life. And clearly, not something she wanted, either. She saw him as a means to an end, and he saw her the same way.

Hadn’t he learned his lesson with Lucy? A heady relationship would do nothing but draw his attention away from the business. In the coming months, the company would need more of his attention than ever, so the kind of relationship Ellie was proposing was perfect. With the addition of the legal contract, the risk to McKenna Designs would be minimal. He saw no downside to this.

Except the fact that it wouldn’t be a real marriage. That it would be as faux as the wood paneling that still flanked his grandmother’s fireplace, forty years after the house had been built, the same house she lived in because it was the one she’d bought with her late husband, even though she could now afford ten times the house.

A hummingbird flitted by, heading for a bright swath of flowers. Finn watched it for a while, as the world hustled by behind him.

“There’s this bird in Africa,” Finn said, watching the tiny hummingbird dart from bloom to bloom, “called a honey guide. Its whole job is to find beehives and lead the honey badger to them. When he does, the badger gets in there and gets the honey, clearing the way for the honey guide to eat the bee larvae.” He turned to Ellie. “I guess that’s sort of what this will be. Us working together to serve a mutually beneficial purpose.”

“Not exactly the same as swans mating for life, but yes.”

“Definitely not a partnership for life,” Finn said. But even as he clarified, he felt a twinge of something like regret. He shrugged it off. Be smart, he reminded himself, like the badger and the bird. In the end, everyone wins.

“I don’t want to rush you,” she said. “But we need to make a decision. If you don’t want to do this … I need to think of something else.”

“Fine,” he said, turning to her. “Let’s go.”

She blinked. “What … now?”

“Why wait?” he said, parroting her words back. “I have a friend at the courthouse. He’ll take care of it. You can be my wife by the end of the day, Miss Winston.”

“Today? Right now?”

“Yes, of course.” He watched her closely, and wondered if, despite the contract she’d given him, she was as committed to this partnership as she had sounded. Only one way to find out, he decided. “You weren’t expecting me to get down on one knee with some flowers or a ring, were you?”

“No, no, of course not.” She swallowed. “Business only.”

“My favorite kind of relationship.” He gave her a smile, then turned to go back across the grass. He paused, turned back, waiting for her to join him. He had called Ellie Winston’s bluff. The only problem …

He wasn’t so sure she’d been bluffing.

“Are you ready?”

Was she ready? Ellie had no idea if she was or wasn’t. The events of the last hours seemed surreal, as if it was some other Ellie Winston who had proposed to Finn McKenna, then hopped in his Town Car and headed to Rhode Island in the middle of the day.