Maria gave a laugh as she patted his arm. ‘Except for you.’
Fin didn’t think that was remotely true. He was far from the shy, nerdy maths guy he’d been in high school. Hadn’t Sweeney said as much in the car the other night? His dad certainly had, that last time they’d spoken. The disappointment in his father’s voice had been worse than his anger and become a bruise that hadn’t healed.
‘I just really want to apologise for my behaviour. I know that doesn’t make up for it but I hope you guys can forgive me.’
‘Hey, Maria, how you doing?’
Fin had been so taken back by Maria’s apology that he’d temporarily forgotten about the siren cavorting in the lake. But Sweeney’s voice had him turning to find her, and Maria and her mea culpa was instantly forgotten. Sweeney was back in her dress, but she’d obviously thrown it on without towelling off thoroughly first, her neck and shoulders glistening with beads of water. The fitted bodice sported two wet patches from the swimming costume beneath, and the ends of her wet hair dripped water onto her décolletage.
As she drew closer, Sweeney’s hand slid onto his other forearm. Fin’s skin heated at both the touch and what appeared to be a display of … possession? The golden band of his grandmother’s Claddagh ring underscored the situation.
‘Hey, Sweeney.’ Maria smiled warmly. ‘I’m good. Better than I thought I’d be.’
‘That’s really great,’ Sweeney returned.
And she sounded utterly sincere, but then, as Fin watched the interaction between the two women, something strange happened. Sweeney’s gaze dropped to where the other woman’s hand still rested on his arm before returning, deliberately and unwaveringly, to meet Maria’s.
A beat or two followed before Maria removed her hand.
Fin blinked. What was even happening now? Maria Jennings had apologised for being a mean girl and Sweeney Bailey had… what? Lifted her leg and marked her territory?
‘Well.’ Maria tipped her chin in the direction of the game. ‘I’d better go and cheer on the kids. Hope to see you both again before you leave.’
‘Sure,’ Fin murmured politely, conscious of Sweeney nodding placidly by his side.
They both watched Maria depart before Fin glanced at Sweeney, still unsure what had just gone down. When she met his gaze, Fin raised an eyebrow. ‘What was that?’
‘What was what?’ she asked awkwardly, dropping her hand from his arm.
Fin narrowed his eyes. ‘You know what.’
Sweeney shrugged. ‘You looked like you needed rescuing.’
‘Did I?’
‘Didn’t you?’
‘No. We were just chatting.’
‘Itlookedlike she was flirting.’
It was fair to say Fin hadn’t always been great at reading female signals, but those years had long gone. He sure as hell knew when a woman was flirting, and Maria Jennings had definitely not been. ‘She wasn’t.’
‘Oh… okay.’
‘Was it bothering you?’ Becausethatwould be interesting.
She rolled her eyes. ‘You’re my fiancé—’ She lowered her voice. ‘Remember? I think it’ssupposedto bother me?’
Right. Yes. Of course. And nowhefelt awkward.
As if the conversation was boring her, Sweeney turned her attention to the football match. Unfortunately Fin’s attention was snagged by a droplet of water escaping her hair, landing on her collarbone and trekking a very muchnotboring path to her cleavage.
Forcing his attention to the game, he was just in time to hear Mai yelling from the sidelines. ‘Nellie, Tori! Catch it!’
Fin watched as his two goddaughters—Nellie was six, Tori was five—who had been crouched low, poking their fingers at something in the grass rather than paying attention to the game, sprang up and started running, as though they were pull string dolls. They ran off in opposite directions, looking above them, tracking the ball, their arms held so wide apart they wouldn’t have been able to catch a bulldozer falling from the sky.
Unfortunately they weren’t tracking each other and, after both running in a circle, they collided like two cartoon characters.
