Ava perched on his hip, Eli strode across the room to join her parents and settle into a leather armchair. The seat gave him an unobstructed view of Frankie and was placed at right angles to the sofa where Justin and Lily chatted with Cornelia Fairchild, Frankie’s mother.
“Mommy.” Ava’s clear voice piped up. “Unca Eli’s going to help me build a bunny house.”
“That’s wonderful, honey.” Lily’s rueful gaze met Eli’s. “And how does Uncle Eli feel about this?”
“We have a plan,” Eli told her with a grin. “And it includes Justin’s barbecuing steaks for my granddad to pay my carpenter fee.”
“What? How did I get caught up in this?” Justin demanded, his eyes amused.
“Hey, you’re the dad,” Eli told him with a shrug. “I’m just the uncle.”
“I love you, Unca Eli.” Ava wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him an enthusiastic kiss on the cheek.
“I love you, too.” Eli barely had time to register the swell of affection that filled him before the little girl jumped off his lap and climbed onto her father’s. Both Justin and Lily received hugs and kisses, the adults exchanging amused looks.
Ava launched into an excited description of plans for the rabbit hutch.
Only half-listening, Eli leaned back in the comfortable chair, his gaze going past the trio and across the room, drawn inexorably to Frankie once again.
The interplay between her and Harry as they conversed held the ease of comfortable familiarity. Frankie’s smile was affectionate as she smiled up at Harry, whose black hair and shrewd eyes, hidden behind dark-framed glasses, belied his age. Eli knew Frankie’s father had died when she was a child and if one could judge by appearances, it seemed Harry had stepped in to fill the role.
We have that in common, except it was my grandfather who took over my father’s role, Eli mused. And Frankie still has her mom while I lost both parents.
Cornelia was a force to be reckoned with, Eli thought, glancing at the older woman’s serene face as she listened to Ava describe her rabbit.
But then, so was Jack Wolf. Eli’s grandfather had taken in Eli and his three brothers, Conner, Ethan and Matt, a short two hours after a car crash on Seattle’s I-5 had taken their parents’ lives. Already a widower, Jack became a substitute parent to the four grieving boys, and his fierce commitment and support had created a family to heal their shattered lives.
Frankie watched Eli and Ava cross the room to join Justin and Lily, the little girl waving her hands excitedly as she talked.
“Why are you so determined to fix me up with Nicholas?” she demanded in an attempt to distract Harry, gesturing with her glass. “What about Eli? He’s single, he and his brothers own a successful construction company—isn’t he on your list of potential suitors?”
Harry glanced over his shoulder. “I’d be happy if you dated Eli. I like the boy,” he told her. “But he shows no signs of wanting to settle down. I suspect he’s a confirmed bachelor—I doubt he’ll ever marry.”
“You felt the same way about Justin once,” Frankie reminded him. “And look at him now—devoted father, loving husband. He’s a contented, happy man since he married Lily.”
“True,” Harry conceded with a dismissive shrug. “But Eli’s different than Justin. Justin hadn’t dated for a year or more before he and Lily got back together. He clearly needed Lily and wanted a wife and family. But like I said, Eli’s never given the slightest indication of being ready to settle down.” He nodded in Nicholas’s direction. “Now, you take Nicholas—he seems much more the type to marry and start a family.”
Frankie only half listened as Harry continued to list Nicholas Dean’s virtues. Unfortunately, she had to agree with Harry about Eli. He’d spent most of the last year recovering in stages after an accident on a construction site that snapped the bone in his lower left leg. Prior to that, however, if rumor was true, he’d been perfectly happy running his company and dating a variety of women. He’d been the poster boy for the quintessential bachelor before his accident, and Frankie assumed he’d returned to his active dating life now that he was recovered.
Wait a minute. Her eyes narrowed with sudden insight. The only way she could convince Harry to scratch her off his list of unmarried family members in need of his matchmaking assistance was if she could make him believe she was in a serious relationship.
But she wasn’t dating anyone at the moment, let alone deeply involved. What she needed, she realized, was a man willing to conspire with her to foil Harry. A man who, like her, had something to gain from plotting against her uncle. And a man who had no interest in settling down.
Eli Wolf was exactly the kind of man she needed.
She glanced sideways at Harry, murmuring a noncommittal response as he listed the charities that Nicholas Dean had contributed to the prior year.
The question was, would Eli be willing to plot with her to trick Harry?
“… and Nicholas said his family has lived in Queen Anne for over a hundred years,” Harry’s deep voice recited.
“Interesting,” Frankie murmured, catching only the end of Harry’s comment.
“Both of his grandmothers are alive,” Harry continued, “and live within a few blocks of each other on prime pieces of real estate.”
Harry kept talking, but Frankie tuned him out as she considered Harry’s matchmaking and how to stop him. She cherished her independence, loved her job as a research assistant and substitute English-literature professor at the University of Washington, and had no interest in changing her life. She was happy, content and did not want Harry nudging her toward marriage, no matter how well-intentioned his efforts.
Once again, her gaze went across the room, unerringly zeroing in on Eli. He and Ava were now seated with Lily and Cornelia, the little girl perched on his knee as she waved her hands and chattered enthusiastically to her mother.
Eli Wolf was the only man she knew who could stop Harry’s plans. He was well liked by Harry; in fact, he was practically an adopted son. And his company would benefit by getting the contract for constructing the HuntCom campus, so he, too, would benefit from joining forces with her.
An hour later, Frankie was still mulling over the potential scheme as she drove home. It wasn’t until she was in her pajamas and in bed, a book opened and then ignored on her lap, that she faced another, potentially more important, issue.
If Eli agreed to help her, they would have to spend time together pretending to be a couple. And maybe—just maybe—she would finally get over her long-ago crush on him.
She’d known Eli since she was eleven years old and her cousin Justin had brought his best friend to a party at Harry’s house. When she was fifteen, he’d joined Justin in vetting and harassing her first boyfriends, all under the guise of being protective stand-in brothers.
At sixteen, she’d suffered through a major crush on Eli, who was then twenty-one. By the time she was nineteen, she’d believed her crush was behind her and was relieved she’d kept her feelings a secret. She hadn’t even told her three sisters, Georgie, Tommi and Bobbie, about
