His Unexpected Twins Read online

Meg tugged on his am, acting like her seven-year-old daughter, Fiona. “First, agree to our proposition, then you can have cake.”

  Ellie was shaking her head and mouthing the word no. Obviously whatever Meg had in mind involved her. Despite his wariness, he was intrigued.

  Meg was nodding her head as vigorously as Ellie was shaking hers. “Ellie needs a date for Mary’s wedding.”

  “I do not. Don’t listen to her. This was all your sister’s harebrained idea.” Ellie dumped a piece of cake onto a plate and it landed frosting side down. She cursed and he cleared his throat to disguise his laugh.

  “But Liam is going to be in town, so it’s perfect,” Meg said.

  He winced. Tenacious was Meg’s middle name. Another reason to keep Ellie in that friend zone. He’d have to live with the fallout into eternity.

  “Hi, I’m Mary. The bride.” The raven-haired woman set aside the slice with the frosting side down and thrust out her hand. “And you’re welcome to come to my wedding with—” she glanced at Ellie “—or without a date.”

  He untangled his arm from Meg’s and shook hands. “Thanks, I—”

  “Oh, look. They need help at the pay station,” Meg said, and scooted away.

  “Nice meeting you, Liam. I’d love to stay and chat, but I promised to help in the kitchen.” Mary disappeared as quickly and efficiently as his sister.

  “Cowards,” Ellie muttered, and shook her head. “Look, I’m not hitting you up to be my date for the wedding. I’m fine going by myself.”

  He nodded. Ellie was smart and independent, but that didn’t mean she wanted to go to a wedding alone if everyone else was paired up. They could go as friends. And if he happened to hold her close as they danced... He shook his head, but the image of Ellie in his arms wouldn’t go away. Huh, Meg wasn’t the only tenacious person today. And damn if Meg hadn’t once again manipulated him. “Are you saying you don’t want to go with me? I’ve been known to behave myself in public.”

  Ellie raised her eyebrows, but her eyes glinted with mischief. “That’s not what I’ve heard.”

  “Lies and exaggerations. Don’t believe a word you hear and only half of what you see.” He pulled a face.

  “Uh-huh, sure.” She laughed and went back to dishing out cake.

  Her laugh washed over him and he arranged the plates so the empty ones were closer to her. People had begun lining up at the other end of the string of tables, but no one had reached the dessert station yet. He took advantage and hurried to Ellie’s side of the table. He could help hand out the cake. Yeah, he was a regular do-gooder and it had nothing to do with standing next to Ellie and breathing in her light, flowery scent. “Why don’t you want to go to this wedding with me?”

  Ellie shook her head. “I’m not looking for a pity date.”

  He sighed. If she knew where his thoughts had been, she wouldn’t be saying that. Besides, it wasn’t like a real date because they’d be friends hanging out together. As simple as that. “So how do I appeal to your better nature and get you to take pity on me?”

  “What? No. I meant...” she sputtered, her face turning pink again. She made what sounded like an impatient noise and put the last slice of cake on a plate.

  He shouldn’t, but he enjoyed seeing her flustered and if he was the cause, all the better, because she certainly had that effect on him. “How did you do that?”

  She looked up and frowned. “Do what?”

  He could get lost in those eyes. Focus, McBride. He cleared his throat and pointed to the last cake square on the plate. “You made those come out even.”

  A smile spread across her face and she glanced around before leaning close. “It’s my superpower.”

  “I’m intrigued,” he whispered, but he wasn’t referring to cake or plates.

  She straightened and turned her attention to a woman who appeared in front of them. “Hello, Mrs. Canterbury. Cake?”

  After the woman had taken her cake and left, he bumped his hip against Ellie’s. “Whaddaya say, Harding, help a guy out. Do your good deed for the month and come to this wedding with me?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why? So I can perform CPR on the women who faint at your feet?”

  Liam threw his head back and laughed. He spotted Meg watching them, a smug expression on her face. He’d deal with his sister later. Maybe he could interest Fiona in a drum set or buy James, who would be walking soon, a pair of those annoying sneakers that squeaked.

  Except he was intrigued by the idea of going with Ellie, so he gave her what he hoped was his best puppy-dog face. “Please. I hear it’s the social event of the season.”

  “Oh, brother,” she muttered and rolled her eyes.

  Why had it suddenly become so important for her to say yes? He should be running the other way. Ellie didn’t strike him as the sort of woman who did casual, and that’s all he was looking for—with Ellie or anyone. Keep it light. No more wrenching losses. But that damn image of holding her while dancing, their bodies in sync, sometimes touching, wouldn’t go away.

  “How long are you staying in Loon Lake?”

  Her question dragged him away from his thoughts and he frowned. “Exactly when is this wedding?”

  “You missed the point. That was my attempt at changing the subject,” she said, and greeted an elderly woman shuffling past.

  Liam smiled at the woman and tried to hand her a dessert.

  The woman shook her head and held up a plate loaded with meat loaf, potatoes and green beans. “Gotta eat this first, son.”

  Liam nodded, put the dessert back on the table and turned his head to Ellie. “I’ll be here for a month.”

  “Goodness gracious, son, it won’t take me that long to eat,” the woman said before meandering off to find a seat.

  Ellie giggled, her eyes sparkling with amusement, and he couldn’t look away. She’s Meg’s friend. Are you forgetting about cancer and how much it hurts to lose someone? Sure, she was in remission, but there was a reason that term was used instead of cured. In his mother’s case, the remission didn’t last. Ellie was off-limits for so many reasons. But that message was getting drowned out. “So, you’ll go with me to this wedding?”

  “Look, Liam, I appreciate the offer, but—”

  He leaned closer, dragging in her scent, and tilted his head in the direction of his sister. “It might shut her up for a bit. Let her think she got her way.”

  “Hmm.” Ellie sucked on her lower lip for a second, then shook her head. “Nah. It’ll just encourage her.”

  “It’ll throw her off the scent if we hang out for a bit. We’ll know that’s all we’d be doing, but she won’t.” He’d lost his ever-lovin’ mind. Yup, that must be the explanation for pursuing such an idiotic suggestion.

  Ellie smiled and continued to hand out the cake. Although she had fewer freckles than she had as a kid, she still had a sprinkling of them high on her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose. He wouldn’t have thought freckles could be sexy, but on Ellie they were, and he had to fight the urge to count them by pressing his fingertips to each one. Or better yet, his tongue.

  “But we won’t really be dating?” she asked during a lull in the line of people.

  “Did you want to date?” What the hell was he doing asking such a loaded question? He handed out the last piece of cake to an elderly man in a Red Sox baseball cap.

  “Meg means well, but it might be nice to take a break from her matchmaking efforts.” She picked up the plate with the frosting-side-down slice and held it up. “Split?”

  “Sure.” He reached for the fork she offered. His fingers brushed hers as he took the utensil and their gazes met. “Thanks. Looks delicious.”

  Her cheeks turned pink, making the tiny freckles stand out even more. As if they were begging for someone—him—to run their tongue along them. He cleared his throat and jabbed his fork in t
he cake.

  “So, whaddaya say, Harding, do we have a deal?”

  She shrugged. “Sure, McBride, why not?” Someone called her name and she turned away to leave but said over her shoulder, “We’ll talk.”

  He set the fork on the empty plate and watched her disappear into the kitchen. She never did answer his question about wanting to date. Not that it mattered, because they would be hanging out. No dating. No relationship. Nice and safe: the way he preferred it.

  Chapter Two

  “Check out the guy who just walked in.” Stacy, the triage nurse on duty, elbowed Ellie.

  Ellie looked up from the notes she’d been studying to glance out the large glass window into the emergency waiting area. Her heart sped at the sight of Liam dressed in jeans and a dark blue Red Sox championship T-shirt approaching them. She hadn’t seen him since the community luncheon two days prior, but he hadn’t been far from her thoughts. If Stacy hadn’t spotted him first, Ellie might have wondered if he was figment of her overactive imagination.

  Ignoring Stacy’s obvious curiosity, Ellie opened the door to the triage area. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  “Hey, yourself.” He gave her that sexy half grin that threatened to leave her in a puddle.

  Janitorial, mop up triage, please.

  She clutched the clipboard across her chest as if it could protect her vital organs like a lead apron during X-rays. “Everything okay?”

  “Heard you’d be getting off soon.” He shrugged. “Thought you might like to grab some supper with me.”

  In the little office, Stacy cleared her throat, but Ellie ignored her.

  Was he asking her on a date? “And where did you hear my shift was ending?”

  “I asked Meg.” He put his hands into his front pockets and hunched his shoulders forward. “So, how about some supper?”

  A pen dropped, followed by a sigh. Stacy was probably memorizing every word and detail of the encounter to pass along later in the cafeteria.

  Ellie shuffled her feet. Was she going to do this? Repeat after me: “not a real date.” “Sure. I’ve got some extra clothes in my locker. If you don’t mind waiting while I change.”

  From the sound of it, Stacy was rearranging files on her desk, and evidently, they were fighting back.

  Ellie grinned and turned around. “Stacy, have you met my friend Meg Cooper’s brother, Liam?”

  Stacy stepped forward and stuck out her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Liam.”

  “Let me get changed. I’ll be right back,” Ellie said while Stacy and Liam shook hands.

  Stacy laughed. “Don’t rush on my account.”

  Despite Stacy’s comment, Ellie hurried to her locker. Had this been Liam’s idea or was Meg somehow behind this? After changing into jeans and a short-sleeved cotton sweater, she undid her hair from the braid and brushed it out. Even if this wasn’t an honest-to-goodness date, she wanted to look her best. She fluffed her hair around her shoulders and applied some cherry lip gloss and went in search of Liam.

  Hands shoved in his back pockets, Liam stood in front of the muted television in the waiting area. He turned as she approached and smiled broadly. “I gotta say, Harding, you clean up nicely.”

  “Not so bad yourself, McBride.” She put her purse strap over her shoulder and waved to Stacy through the window. The triage nurse was with a patient but glanced at Liam and back to Ellie with a grin and a thumbs-up.

  “I thought we’d take my truck and I can bring you back here for your car,” Liam said as the automatic doors slid open with an electronic whoosh.

  A light breeze was blowing the leaves on the trees surrounding the parking lot. A thunderstorm earlier in the day had broken the heat and humidity, making the evening warm but comfortable.

  “Sounds good.” Sounds like a date.

  Using his key fob to unlock his truck, he approached the passenger side and opened the door for her. “Riley says that new hard cider microbrewery on the town square has great food.”

  “They do. Best burgers in town, if you ask me.” She sucked on her bottom lip as she climbed into his truck. Everyone in Loon Lake knew Hennen’s Microbrewery was the place to hang out with friends, while Angelo’s was the restaurant you brought your date to. So, not a date. At least we cleared that up.

  Once she was in the passenger seat, he shut the door and strolled around the hood of the truck. He climbed in and settled himself behind the wheel.

  “Yeah, Meg mentioned that Angelo’s has added a dining patio but—” He started the truck and music from the Dropkick Murphys blasted from the speakers. Leaning over, he adjusted the volume. “Sorry about that.”

  His movements filled the front seat with his signature scent. She was able to pick out notes of salty sea air, driftwood and sage. Thinking about his aftershave was better than trying to figure out what he’d been about to say about Angelo’s. Okay, color her curious. “You were saying something about Angelo’s new patio.”

  He checked the mirrors and the backup camera before leaving the parking spot. “Hmm...oh, yeah. Meg said during the winter you can see across the lake to their house from the patio.”

  Serves you right for asking. “That’s cool.”

  He cleared his throat. “She was going on and on about how romantic the new patio was with something called fairy lights.”

  Not exactly subtle, Meg. Ellie fiddled with the strap of her purse. “Yeah, they’ve got small trees in ceramic pots scattered around with tiny LED lights strung around the trunks and branches. Very pretty, with lots of atmosphere.”

  The air in the confined space felt supercharged with something...awareness? Chemistry? She couldn’t be sure, couldn’t even be sure that he felt it, too. Maybe this was all in her head. All one-sided, like it had been in her childhood.

  He glanced at her for a second before bringing his attention back to the road. “So, you’ve been to Angelo’s patio?”

  Was he trying to get information on her social life or lack thereof? “No, but Mary and Meg have both been.” She huffed out her breath. “Believe me, I’ve heard all about it.”

  He reached over and laid his hand over hers. “Sounds like I may have to take up the challenge to be sure you get to experience this patio, too.”

  Her heart did a little bump, but she laughed, hoping to brazen through. “You signing me up as their new janitor, McBride?”

  He squeezed her hand and brought it to his chest. “You wound me, Harding. I was thinking more along the lines of the waitstaff. I can see you in a white blouse and a cute little black skirt.”

  “Glad we cleared that up.” She laughed for real this time. Date or not, there was no reason she couldn’t enjoy being with Liam. Even if anything that could happen with Liam had nowhere to go. They didn’t live in the same town. And then there was the whole thing with Liam having used his job to avoid dealing with his emotions. Even his sister couldn’t deny that truth. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy hanging out with him while he was here. Having a life-threatening illness like lymphoma had taught her she didn’t want to die with regrets if she could help it. After enduring chemo coupled with radiation, she’d been in remission for almost nine years, a good chunk of time, and her oncologist was optimistic but the experience had changed her outlook on life.

  “How are the renovations coming?” she asked.

  He squeezed her hand and put it back on her lap. “Is this you changing the subject?”

  “So you can take a hint.”

  He jokingly muttered something about respect for her elders but launched into an amusing story about framing out the new master bedroom closet at Meg and Riley’s place.

  “That house is going to be awesome once the addition is finished.”

  He made a hum of agreement. “Yeah, I guess she made the right choice moving here.”

  “She said you had trie
d to get her to move into one of your rentals.” She hadn’t seen Liam’s place, but she knew he owned one of those iconic Boston three-family homes commonly referred to as “three-deckers” by the locals. He’d purchased it as a bank foreclosure and had been remodeling it ever since, according to Meg. Ellie knew it was Liam’s pride and joy.

  “I did, but she’s always loved this town and that vacation home. Even all the repairs it needed didn’t deter her. My sister can be stubborn.”

  Ellie laughed. “Yeah, so I noticed.”

  “But I gotta say, she made the right choice for her.” He stopped for a red light.

  “What about you?” The words were out before she could prevent them.

  He turned his head to look at her. “Me? I’m exactly where I belong.”

  Yeah, that’s what she thought. And like Meg, he was happy where he lived.

  Swallowing, she pointed out the windshield. “Green light.”

  She glanced at Liam’s strong profile. Could she be happy in Boston? “No regrets” included trying new things, new places.

  Hey, Ellie, aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself? This wasn’t even a real date.

  The route along Main Street took them past a few rectangular, early-nineteenth-century gable-roofed houses gathered around the town green. Some of the stately homes had been repurposed as doctors’ offices, an insurance agency and an attorney’s office, but some were still single-family residences.

  The manicured common space boasted a restored white gazebo that doubled as a bandstand for concerts and picnics in the summer. Homes soon gave way to brick-fronted businesses, and the white Greek Revival church where they held the weekly lunches. With its black shutters and steeple bell tower, the church anchored the green at one end.

  No doubt the town was picturesque, but she recalled how, when she was sick, the women of Loon Lake had worked year-round to keep the Hardings’ refrigerator full of casseroles and sandwich fixings. In the summer, the men had made sure their lawn was mowed. In the winter, the men plowing for the town had been careful to keep the end of their driveway relatively clear.