LITMIR.BIZ

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complete the adoption.”

      “Whoa, whoa.” He put up his hands. “I’m not interested in becoming an instant father.”

      “I’m not asking that of you. At all.”

      “Then what are you asking?”

      “A marriage based on commonality, not passion or lust or infatuation. We’ll stay married for a short time, long enough for me to get the adoption finalized, then get a quiet divorce. Painless and fast.”

      In other words, no real strings attached and he’d be out of this nearly as fast as he was in it. He should be glad. For some reason, he wasn’t. “Sounds so … clinical.”

      “Mr. McKenna … Finn. We’re both detail oriented—clinical in a way—people. I’m not interested in losing my head in a relationship, or wasting a lot of time dating Mr. Wrong, not when I’m concentrating on running my father’s company. I need a spouse, in name only, and you need a business partner.”

      He looked in Ellie Winston’s eyes, and saw only sincerity, and a quiet desperation to help a child halfway around the world. He knew she wouldn’t have come to him, with this insane offer, if she didn’t have to.

      Find out what she wants most in the world, Riley had said, and give it to her.

      But this?

      “I don’t know if I agree with this,” Finn said. “The child will undoubtedly be hurt when her father disappears after a few weeks.”

      “You don’t have to be a part of Jiao’s life at all. Just be there for the home visit and the adoption proceedings. And in return, we can work together on the Piedmont project. That will keep my father’s business growing and help yours. It’s a win all around.”

      Pigeons picked at the grass before them, looking for leftover crumbs. In the distance, there was the sound of children’s laughter. The swish-swish of rolling cycle tires on the paved walkway. The continual hum of traffic, punctuated by the occasional horn. The world went on as it always did, swimming along beneath a sunny sky.

      “It would be a platonic marriage,” she said. “Nothing more.”

      “A purely impersonal alliance?” he asked, still not believing she had suggested this. When he’d made his list of possible ways to convince Ellie a strategic partnership was a good idea, marriage hadn’t even come close to being in the mix. “A marriage based solely on like minds and like goals?”

      Though when he put the marriage idea like that, it sounded cold. Almost … sad.

      He shook off the thoughts. He was a practical man. One whose focus was solely on building his business back to where it had been. He wasn’t going to get wrapped up in the foolishness of some romantic ideal—and that wasn’t what Ellie was asking for. It was, in fact, the exact kind of relationship he had vowed to pursue. Then why did he feel as empty as a deflated balloon?

      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

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