else?
He cleared his throat. “You’re right. Our marriage is going to need a measure of verisimilitude, and being in the same residence will do that. In addition, we can work on the hospital project after hours.”
Even though Finn’s voice was detached, almost clinical, the words after hours conjured up thoughts of very different nocturnal activities. Since the first time she’d spotted Finn in the ballroom of the Park Plaza, she’d been intrigued. She’d liked how he bucked convention by having a beer instead of wine, how he’d been so intent yet also charming. From a distance, she’d thought he was handsome. Up close, he was devastating. Her heart skipped a beat every time he smiled. Her traitorous mind flashed to images of Finn touching her, kissing her, making love to her—
Whoa. That was not part of the deal. At all. Keeping this platonic was the only—and best—way to ensure that she could walk away at the end. She didn’t want to chance her heart on love, or risk her future with a relationship that could dissolve as easily as sugar in hot tea. Falling for him would only complicate everything.
And marrying him on the spur of the moment wasn’t complicated? All of a sudden, a flutter of nerves threatened to choke her. Ellie opened her mouth to tell Finn this was crazy, she couldn’t do this, when the door to the courthouse opened behind them and a slim, tall man hurried inside.
“Sorry I’m late. My day has been crazy.” He chuckled. “As usual. Story of my life. And yours, too, huh, Finn?”
Finn patted the other man on the back and gave him a grin. “Charlie, how are you?”
“Just fine. Not as good as you, though. Running off to get married. You surprise me, old friend.” He grinned, then put out a hand toward Ellie. “Judge Charlie Robinson, at your service.”
Ellie gaped. “You said you had a friend in the courthouse. Not a judge.”
“Charlie and I have been friends since we were kids. We roomed together at Harvard,” Finn said, then shot Charlie a smirk. “To me, he’s not a judge. He’s the guy who sprayed whipped cream all over my room.”
“Hey, I’m still pleading innocent to that one.” Charlie raised his hands in a who-me gesture, but there was a twinkle in his eye.
Again, Ellie saw another side of Finn. A side that intrigued her, even as she pushed those thoughts away. She refused to fall for Finn. Now or later. She was here for a practical reason and no other.
Finn chuckled. “Well, we should get to it. I know you have a hectic day.”
“No problem. I can always make time for a good friend, especially one who’s getting married. So …” Charlie clapped his hands together. “You two kids ready to make this all legal and binding?”
Legal. Binding.
Now.
Ellie glanced at Finn. She could do this. She had to. There was no other way. Besides, it was a temporary marriage, nothing more than a piece of paper. But a union that would bring Jiao home and give Ellie the family she had always craved. She could do that, without getting her heart tangled in the process. “Yes,” she said.
“Great.” Charlie grinned again. “Okay, lovebirds, let’s head up to my office and get you two hitched.”
Finn turned to Ellie and put out his arm. “Are you ready to become Mrs. McKenna?”
Was she?
She lifted her gaze to Finn’s blue eyes. She barely knew this man, but what she knew she liked. Respected. Trusted. Would that be enough?
She thought of Jiao again, and realized it would have to be. In the end, running WW would be fulfilling, but not nearly as fulfilling as coming home to Jiao’s contagious smile and wide dark eyes.
“Why, Mr. McKenna, I can’t think of another thing I’d rather do in the middle of the day.” Then she linked her arm in Finn’s and headed toward the judge’s chambers.
THE whole thing took only a few minutes—including Charlie’s beginning jokes and closing quips. They called in his assistant and a court clerk to serve as witnesses, the two of them looking like they’d seen more than one impromptu wedding. Charlie thought they were getting married out of love, and in typical Charlie fashion, strove to make the event fun and memorable. Finn stumbled when Charlie asked him about rings, which Charlie racked up as bridegroom nerves. “I can’t believe you, of all people, forgot a major detail like the rings,” Charlie said. “No worries, but be sure you make it up to her later with a lot of diamonds,” he said with a wink, then in the next breath pronounced them man and wife.
Man and wife. The words echoed in Finn’s mind, bouncing around like a rubber ball. He’d done it. And no one was more surprised than Finn himself. He, the man who hadn’t operated without a plan since he was writing his first research paper in fourth grade, had run off in the middle of the day and—
Eloped.
Holy cow. He’d really done it.
“And now for the best part,” Charlie said, closing the book in his hands and laying it on his desk. “You may kiss your bride.”
Finn stared at Charlie for a long second. Kiss the bride? He’d forgotten all about that part. He’d simply assumed a quick civil union in a courthouse would be devoid of all the flowers and romance part of a church wedding. “Uh, I don’t know if we have to—”
Charlie laughed. “What, are you shy now? Go on, kiss her.”
Finn considered refusing, but then thought better of it. Charlie would undoubtedly question a marriage where the groom didn’t want to get close with his bride. And if they were going to pull off this fiction in front of their friends and colleagues, they needed to at least look the part. Finn turned to Ellie. Her green eyes were wide, her lips parted slightly. In shock? Anticipation?
She looked beautiful and delicious all at the same time in that simple daffodil-colored dress. In that instant, his reservations disappeared, replaced by a fast, hot surge of want. No, it was more than desire, it was a … craving for whatever inner happiness was lighting Ellie’s features.
She stood there, looking as hesitant as he felt. A faint blush colored her cheeks, disappeared beneath her long blond hair. She looked like a bride—pretty, breathless, yet at the same time she possessed a simmering sensuality. He wanted her, even as he reminded himself this was a purely platonic union.
There would be no kisses. No lovemaking. Nothing but this moment. And right now, Finn didn’t want to let this moment pass.
Her gaze met his and a curious tease filled the emerald depths. “Well, Mr. McKenna, are you going to do as the nice judge says?”
“I would never disobey a judge,” Finn said, his voice low, hoarse. Just between them. Charlie, the witnesses, hell, the entire world ceased to exist.
He closed the gap between them, reached a hand to cup her jaw. Electricity crackled in the air, in the touch. A breath extended between them, another. Ellie’s chest rose, fell. Her dark pink lips parted, her deep green eyes widened, and her light floral
