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  When he entered the kitchen, he smiled. For a woman who was utterly organized in the office, he never expected her skills in the kitchen to be so, um, chaotic.

  Normally such a mess would have put him on edge, but this one had the opposite effect on him. He found himself relaxing a bit knowing she was human with flaws and all. Maybe she wouldn’t expect him to be the perfect dad. Maybe she would be understanding about his shortcomings.

  Holly insisted on cleaning off the dishes while he placed them in the dishwasher. In the background, the coffeemaker hissed and sputtered. They worked in silence. Together they had everything cleaned up in no time.

  “There. That’s it.” Holly closed the fridge with the leftovers safely inside.

  After filling a coffee mug, he turned to Holly. “Come with me. I think we need to talk some more.”

  She crossed her arms. “If this is about your marriage proposal, there’s nothing left to say except when can I catch a flight back to New York?”

  He’d already anticipated this and had a solution. “Talk with me while I drink my coffee and then I’ll go check on the helipad.”

  “Do you think it’s damaged?”

  Luckily the helicopter had been on the big island for routine maintenance when the storm struck. It was unharmed. However, with so many other things that had snagged his immediate concern, he hadn’t checked on the helipad. Anything could have happened during that storm, but his gut was telling him that if the house was in pretty good condition then the helipad wouldn’t be so bad off.

  “Don’t worry. The storm wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.”

  The worry lines marring Holly’s face eased a bit. With a cup of coffee in one hand and a glass of water in the other for her, he followed Holly to his office. Luckily the windows had held in here.

  “Why don’t we sit on the couch?”

  While she took a seat, he dimmed the lights and turned on some sexy jazz music. Cozy and relaxing. He liked it this way. And then he sat down next to Holly.

  Her gaze narrowed in on him. “What are you up to?”

  He held up his palms. “Nothing. I swear. This is how I like to unwind in the evenings.”

  The look in her eyes said that she didn’t believe him.

  “Listen, I’ll sit on this end of the couch and you can stay at the other end. Will that work?”

  She nodded. “I don’t know why you’d have to unwind on a beautiful island like this—well, it’s normally beautiful. Will you be able to get it back to normal?”

  She was avoiding talking about them and their future. It was as though she was hoping he’d forget what he wanted to talk to her about. That was never going to happen.

  Still needing time to figure out exactly how to handle this very sensitive situation, he’d come up with a way to give them both some time. “I have a proposition for you—”

  “If this is about getting married—”

  “Just hear me out.” When she remained silent, he turned on the couch so that he could look at her. “Can I be honest with you?”

  “Of course. I’d hope you wouldn’t even have to ask the question. I’d like to think that you’re always honest—but I know that isn’t true for most people.” Her voice trailed off as she glanced down at her clenched hands.

  She’d been betrayed? Anger pumped through his veins. Was it some guy that she’d loved? How could anyone lie to her and hurt her so deeply? The thought was inconceivable until he realized how he’d unintentionally hurt those that were closest to him. And he realized that if he wasn’t careful and kept her at a safe distance that he would most likely hurt her, too. The fire and rage went out of him.

  Still, he had to know what had cost Holly her ability to trust in others. “What happened?”

  Her gaze lifted to meet his. “What makes you think something happened?”

  “I think it’s obvious. I shared my past with you. It’s your turn. What’s your story?”

  She sighed. “It’s boring and will probably sound silly to you because it’s nothing as horrific as what you went through with your brother.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that. But if it hurt you, I highly doubt that it’s silly. Far from it.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re really interested, aren’t you?”

  “Of course I am. Everything about you interests me.”

  Her cheeks grew rosy as she glanced away. “My early childhood was happy and for all I knew, normal. My father worked—a lot. But my mother was there. We did all sorts of things together from baking to shopping to going to the park. I didn’t have any complaints. Well, I did want a little brother or sister, but my mother always had an excuse of why it was best with just the three of us. I never did figure out if she truly wanted another baby and couldn’t get pregnant or if she knew in her gut that her marriage was in trouble and didn’t want to put another child in the middle of it.”

  “Or maybe she was just very happy with the child she already had.” He hoped that was the right thing to say. He wasn’t experienced with comforting words.

  “Anyway when I was ten, my father stopped coming home. At first, my mother brushed off my questions, telling me that he was on an extended business trip. But at night, when she thought I was sleeping, I could hear her crying in her room. I knew something was seriously wrong. I started to wonder if my father had died. So I asked her and that’s when she broke down and told me that he left us to start a new family. Then he appeared one day and, with barely a word, he packed his things and left.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Finn moved closer to Holly. Not knowing what words to say at this point, he reached out, taking her hand into his own.

  “My mother, she didn’t cope well with my father being gone. She slipped into depression to the point where I got myself up and dressed in the morning for school. I cooked and cleaned up what I could. I even read to my mother, like she used to do with me when I was little. I needed her to get better, because I needed her since I didn’t have anyone else.”

  “That must have been so hard for you. Your father...was he around at all?”

  Holly shook her head. “I didn’t know it then, but later I learned my stepmother was already pregnant with Suzie. My father had moved on without even waiting for the divorce. He had a new family and he’d forgotten about us...about me.”

  Finn’s body tensed. He knew what it was like to be forgotten by a parent. But at least his parents had a really good excuse, at first it was because his brother was sick and then they’d been lost in their own grief. But Holly’s father, he didn’t have that excuse. Finn disliked the man intensely and he hadn’t even met him.

  “When the divorce was finalized, my father got visitation. Every other weekend, I went to stay with him and his new family. Every time my parents came face-to-face it was like a world war had erupted. My mother would grouch to me about my father and in turn, my father would bad-mouth my mother. It was awful.” She visibly shuddered. “No child should ever be a pawn between their parents.”

  “I agree.” Finn hoped that was the right thing to say. Just for good measure, he squeezed Holly’s hand, hoping she’d know that he really did care even if he didn’t have all of the right words.

  “I don’t want any of that for our children. I don’t want them to be pawns between us.”

  “They won’t. I swear it. No matter what happens between us, we’ll put the kids first. We both learned that lesson firsthand. But will you do something for me?”

  “What’s that?”

  His heart pounded in his chest. He didn’t know what he’d do if she turned him down. “Would you give us a chance?”

  Her fine brows gathered. “What sort of chance?”

  That was the catch. He wasn’t quite sure what he was asking of her—or of himself. Returning to New York with the holiday se
ason in full swing twisted his insides into a knot. The reminders of what he’d lost would be everywhere. But it was where Holly and the babies would be.

  He stared deep into her eyes. His heart pounded. And yet within her gaze, he found the strength he needed to make this offer—a chance to build the family his children deserved.

  He swallowed hard. “I’d like to see where this thing between us leads. Give me until the New Year—you know, with us working closely together. That will give Clara time for an extended honeymoon and to settle into married life. And we’ll have time to let down our guards and really get to know each other.”

  “I thought that’s what we’ve been doing.”

  “But as fast as you let down one wall, I feel like you’re building another one.”

  She worried her bottom lip. “Perhaps you’re right. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been able to count on someone. It might take me a bit of time to get it right.” She eyed him up. “But I have something I need you to do in return.”

  “Name it.”

  “Be honest with me. Even if you don’t think that I’ll like it, just tell me. I couldn’t stand to be blindsided like my mother. And there was a guy I got serious with while I was getting my degree. Long story short, he lied to me about his gambling addiction and then he stole from me to cover his debts.”

  “Wow. You haven’t had it easy.”

  She shrugged. “Let’s just say I have my reasons to be cautious.”

  “I promise I won’t lie to you.” She meant too much to him to hurt her. “Now, I need to go check on the helipad.”

  “What about the recommendation?” When he sent her a puzzled look, she added, “You know, for that other job?”

  “You still want to leave? Even though we agreed to see where this leads us?”

  “What if it leads nowhere? It’ll be best if you don’t have to see me every day.”

  His back teeth ground together. Just the thought of her no longer being in his life tied his insides up in a knot. For so long, he’d sentenced himself to a solitary life. And now he couldn’t imagine his life without Holly in it.

  “Let’s not worry about the future. We can take this one day at a time.” It was about all he could manage at this point.

  “It’s a deal.” And then she did something he hadn’t expected. She held her hand out to him to shake on it.

  It was as though she was making this arrangement something much more distant and methodical than what he had in mind. He slipped his hand into hers. As her fingertips grazed over his palm, the most delicious sensations pulsed up his arm, reminding him that they’d passed the business associates part of their relationship a long time ago.

  He needed to give Holly something else to think about. Without giving himself the time to think of all the reasons that his next actions were a bad idea, he tightened his fingers around her hand and pulled her to him.

  Her eyes widened as he lowered his head and caught her lips with his own—her sweet, sweet lips. He didn’t care how many times he kissed her, it wouldn’t be enough.

  And then not wanting to give her a reason to hide behind another defensive wall, he pulled away. Her eyes had darkened. Was that confusion? No. What he was seeing reflected in her eyes was desire. A smile tugged at his lips. His work was done here.

  He got to his feet. “I’ll go check on the helipad.”

  With a flashlight in hand, he made his way along the path to the helipad. He had no idea what to expect when he got there. If it was clear, there was no reason Holly couldn’t leave in the morning. The thought gutted him.

  He’d just reached the head of the path when the rays of his flashlight skimmed over the helipad. As though fate was on his side, there were a couple of downed trees, making the landing zone inaccessible. But luckily it didn’t appear they’d done any permanent damage—at least nothing to make the helipad inoperable.

  It was much too dark now, but in the morning he’d have to get the chain saw out here. He imagined it’d be at least a couple of days to get this stuff cleared. It was time that he could use to sort things out with Holly.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  A PAIN TORE through Holly’s side.

  The plates holding cold-cut sandwiches clattered onto the table. Holly pressed a hand to her waistline, willing the throbbing to subside. She rubbed the area, surprised by how much she was actually showing. But with twins on board, she figured that was to be expected. Thankfully when they’d visited the big island, she’d picked up some new, roomy clothes. They were all she wore now.

  The discomfort ebbed away. Everything would be okay. It had to be. She was in the house alone. Finn had gone to the helipad first thing that morning to clear the debris. He didn’t say exactly how bad it was, but she had a feeling he had a lot of work ahead of him if it was anything like the beach area.

  She’d offered to help, but he’d stubbornly refused. So she set about cleaning the patio and washing it down so that it was usable again. All in all, they’d fared really well.

  In a minute or so the discomfort passed. Realizing she might have overreacted, she shrugged it off and moved to the deck. She loved that Finn had installed a large bell. It could be rung in the case of an emergency or to call people for lunch, as she was about to do.

  She wrapped her fingers around the weathered rope and pulled. The bell rang out.

  Clang-clang. Clang-clang.

  “Lunch!” She didn’t know if he’d hear her, but hopefully he’d heard the bell.

  She turned back to go inside the house to finish setting the table for lunch. She smiled, wondering if this was what it felt like to be a part of a couple. She knew they weren’t a real couple, but they were working together. And she was happy—truly happy for the first time in a long while. She glanced around the island. Wouldn’t it be nice to stay here until the babies were born?

  A dreamy sigh escaped her lips. If only that could happen, but the realistic part of her knew it wasn’t a possibility. Soon enough this fantasy would be over and she’d be back in New York, settling into a new job and trying to figure out how to juggle a job and newborns.

  One day at a time. I have months until these little ones make their grand entrance.

  At last, having the table set, she heard footsteps outside. Finn had heard her. Her heart beat a little faster, knowing she’d get to spend some time with him. Sure it was lunch, but he’d been gone all morning. She’d started to miss him.

  Quit being ridiculous. You’re acting like a teenager with a huge crush.

  No. It’s even worse. I’m a grown woman who is falling more in love with my babies’ daddy with each passing day.

  “I heard the bell. Is it time to eat?” He hustled through the doorway in his stocking feet. “I’m starved.”

  She glanced up to find Finn standing there in nothing but his jeans and socks. She had no idea what had happened to his shirt, but she heartily approved of his attire. Her gaze zeroed in on the tanned muscles of his shoulders and then slid down to his well-defined pecs and six-pack abs. Wow! She swallowed hard. Who knew hard work could look so good on a man?

  His eyes twinkled when he smiled. “Is something wrong?”

  Wrong? Absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.

  “Um...no. I...I made up some sandwiches.” Her face felt as though it was on fire. “The food, it’s on the table. If you want to clean up a bit, we can eat.” Realizing that she hadn’t put out any refreshments, she asked, “What would you like to drink?”

  “Water is good. Ice cold.”

  It did sound particularly good at the moment. “You got it.”

  She rushed around, getting a couple of big glasses and filling them with ice. Right about now she just wanted to climb in the freezer to cool off. It wasn’t like he was the first guy she’d seen with his shirt off. Why in
the world was she overreacting?

  Get a grip, Holly.

  She placed the glasses on the table and then decided something was missing. But what? She glanced around the kitchen, looking for something to dress up the table and then she spotted the colorful blooms she’d picked that morning. They were in a small vase on the counter. Their orange, yellow and pink petals would add a nice splash to the white tablecloth.

  A pain shot through her left side again. Immediately her hand pressed to her side as she gripped the back of a chair with her other hand.

  “What’s the matter?” Finn’s concerned voice filled the room, followed by his rapid footsteps.

  She didn’t want to worry him. “It’s nothing.”

  “It’s something. Tell me.”

  “It’s the second time I’ve had a pain in my side.”

  “Pain?” His arm wrapped around her as he helped her sit down. “Is it the babies?”

  “I...I don’t know.” She looked up at him, hoping to see reassurance in his eyes. Instead his worry reflected back at her. “It’s gone now.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She nodded. “Let’s eat.”

  “I think you need to see a doctor. The sooner, the better.” He pulled out his cell phone. “In fact, I’m going to call the doctor now.”

  “What? But you can’t. Honest, it’s gone.”

  “I’ll feel better once I hear it from someone who has experience in these matters.”

  A short time later, after Finn had gotten through to the doctor who’d examined her on the big island, Finn had relinquished the phone to Holly. She’d answered the doctor’s questions and then breathed a sigh of relief.

  When she returned the phone to Finn, his brow was knit into a worried line. She was touched that he cared so much. It just made her care about him all the more.

  “Well, what did he say?”

  “That without any other symptoms it sounds like growing pains. But it was hard for him to diagnose me over the phone. The only reason he did was because I told him we were stranded on the island due to the storm.”