Husband by the Hour (19 page)

"I know." Hannah took the offered sheet. "I come from a fertile family."

"The pattern she chose is in room twelve. Let me know if you need help finding anything."

"Thanks." Hannah turned to Nick. "Are you ready to shop?"

"Sure, but don't expect me to be much help. I don't know a thing about babies."

"I have to admit, with all the children and pregnant women running around in the family, I could get very nervous."

He dropped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. "I don't blame you. Sounds like people around here get pregnant simply by thinking about doing it."

"That seems unlikely." She pointed down a walkway. "I think room twelve is over here."

They paused in front of a three-sided alcove. The bleached-oak crib had a matching dresser and changing table. Each wall had been papered with a different print.

Hannah consulted the paper in her hand. "She picked teddy bears and unicorns."

Nick pointed. Fat brown teddy bears rode on cream unicorns across a pale sky. Fluffy clouds, bright suns and quarter moons brightened the background. "Not a football to be found," he said.

"Jill's having a girl."

"Yeah, right. That family legend. I'd forgotten."

Hannah smiled. "Well, that and she had an ultrasound. They're pretty certain it's a girl. Apparently, you can't tell for sure unless it's a boy and you see his, um, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I have one, too. Speaking of which…"

She raised her eyebrows. "That isn't what we were talking about."

"Uh-huh. Where's the ex in all of this?"

"What ex?"

"Your ex. Ex-husband.
Why didn't you call him in for emergency duty? I'm sure he could have put off his business trip. After all, if you were separated all that time and didn't bother with a divorce, things can't be too bad between you."

She stared at him, then at the paper. "She's marked this lamp, but no one has bought it. We could get that."

"That's it?" he asked. "You're not going to answer the question?"

"It would appear that way."

"After all I've done for you?"

"Oh, yeah. You told my family I could play the piano and sing."

"A slight exaggeration."

"I think it's pretty," she said and picked up the lamp. The base was a porcelain unicorn. The shade picked up the pale lavender of the background.

Typical of Hannah. Why was she so damned stubborn? He didn't want details about her relationship with her ex. He just wanted… He shook his head. Whom was he kidding? Of course he wanted details. He wanted to know everything about all the men who had ever been in her life.

Maybe her ex broke her heart. Nick didn't want to think about that, but once the thought formed, he couldn't let it go. If some bastard had hurt Hannah, he was going to find him and rip his lungs out.

So much for not getting personally involved, he berated himself grimly. He was involved. The only good news was that he still planned to leave in nine days. He would go back to
Southport
Beach
, finish his undercover assignment and get on with the rest of his life. He would never see Hannah again.

He should have felt reassured. Instead, he found himself wondering how much he would miss her.

She put down the lamp and picked up a stuffed teddy bear that matched the wallpaper. Overhead lights brought out faint hints of red in her dark hair. She wore a forest green T-shirt tucked into black jeans. Nothing special, nothing overly enticing, but he wanted her all the same.

He'd always enjoyed women, enjoyed their bodies and the pleasure they offered. But he'd never connected emotionally. There were lots of reasons. He'd never had a long-term relationship, never saw the need. Women were interchangeable. Long ago, he'd vowed never to hurt that badly again, which meant not falling in love. He wasn't sure he knew what love was. But he did understand respect and caring, and that's what he felt for Hannah. She wasn't an interchangeable person. Maybe that was the appeal. He saw her as uniquely herself.

"Is that for Jill?" a woman asked. She motioned to the wallpaper and furniture. "I recognize the print and style."

He turned and saw Rebecca Lucas standing at the entrance to the alcove.

Hannah pointed at the lamp. "We were thinking of getting that."

"I'm sure she'd love it." Rebecca came into the room and picked up the teddy bear. "There's always this fellow. You can never have enough stuffed animals."

Hannah glanced at him. "What do you think?"

He shrugged. "The lamp is more practical."

"Spoken like a man," Rebecca said. "
Austin
was exactly the same when I was pregnant. He didn't understand all the fuss over a baby. Then he held Jason in his arms and it made perfect sense." She smiled at Hannah. "I promise, Nick will be exactly the same when you have your first child together."

Nick couldn't shake the mental image Rebecca's words had invoked. Him holding a tiny baby, Hannah still in her hospital bed, exhausted but radiant from giving birth.

He shook off the picture. He and Hannah weren't a couple and there wasn't going to be a baby.

Rebecca placed her hand on Hannah's arm. "You look stunned. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm fine. The thought of having children is a little scary."

"Tell me about it." Rebecca touched her still-flat stomach. "I've already had a baby and I'm getting nervous thinking about going through that again." She motioned to the store. "That's why I'm here. Jason, our youngest, doesn't want to give up his room. I'd hoped to move him into a new bedroom and keep his old one for the baby, but that's not going to work. So now I have to decorate two rooms. I'm here to get some ideas."

"There's so much to think about," Hannah said. "All the furniture, clothes, stroller, car seat." She picked up the lamp. "I think we'll get this. At least I know what it is."

Rebecca laughed. "It's so interesting to watch you, Hannah. You remind me of your brothers, yet in a completely feminine way." She tilted her head. "Sort of like trying to read something from a reflection in the mirror."

Nick moved closer and leaned against the crib. "That's our Hannah. She's a product of her destiny and doesn't even know it. Her looks, her job."

The two women continued talking. Nick watched them. Rebecca was slender and delicate. Her flowing calf-length floral-print dress couldn't have been more different from Hannah's jeans. They were both attractive but in different ways. While Nick could appreciate Rebecca's beauty, Hannah was the one who appealed to him. He liked her toughness. Her strength made her vulnerability even more meaningful because he knew what it cost her to expose that side of herself.

Rebecca glanced at her watch. "I'd better look around while I can. In a little while I have to pick up Jason from his play group." She wrinkled her nose. "I trade with four other mothers a couple of mornings a week. We have two days with all the children, then eight days off. It's heaven."

She waved and walked toward another cluster of rooms. Hannah watched her go.

"Do you think it's true?" she asked. "Is this all destiny?"

"Maybe how you look, but the rest of it? I'm not sure."

"But I work in law enforcement. Don't you find that odd? And I look a lot more like my brothers than I look like Louise."

"Louise is blond," he said. "You'd probably look more like her if you had the same hair color."

She surprised him by laughing. "Are you saying I should dye my hair?"

He reached up and tugged on her braid. "Don't you dare. I like the color of your hair."

Her mouth parted slightly. She hugged the lamp close to her body. "Really?"

Self-protection required that he make a flippant remark. But he couldn't do it. He smoothed his palm down the thick length of her hair and wished he could see it loose. Just once. He touched the tip of her nose. "Yeah, really."

Hannah found herself forgetting to breathe. She could go entire hours without thinking about how handsome Nick was, then something would happen and she would notice all over again. It was very disconcerting to have the air ripped right out of her lungs.

She studied his face, trying to determine exactly what combination of features, bones, muscles and skin made him so perfect. Was it the vivid blue eyes? Perhaps his irises picked up the color from what he wore, but his shirt was white and his jeans had faded to nearly that color. Maybe it was the strong line of his jaw or his sensual mouth. She found herself studying his lips, remembering the feel of them against hers, the taste of him as he tempted her.

"As far as destinies go, it's not a bad one," he said.

She blinked several times before she could pull herself together to remember what they'd been talking about. "Law enforcement?" she asked.

"No, the family. Look at how happy your brothers are. They have great wives and kids. That could be your destiny, too."

"I never thought about it that way. With so many people, I was fighting the feeling of being trapped."

"They don't want to hold you to keep you from going away," he said gently. "They want to hold you because they care about you."

Just when she was on the verge of convincing herself her attraction to Nick was purely physical, he went and said something insightful and sensitive. Then she had to like him for himself. The man made her crazy. She didn't want to have feelings for him, except maybe disdain. Anything else was very risky for her.

She clutched the lamp to her chest. "I'm going to buy this. Maybe I'll have them gift wrap it. We should probably get a card, too."

She led the way back to the counter. The clerk found the original box for the lamp and wrapped it up. Hannah glanced around the store. Rebecca had gone upstairs and was looking at baby clothes. In her flowing dress and long, dark hair, she looked like a creature from another time. "She's so beautiful," Hannah said. "I could never dress like that."

Nick came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Why would you want to?"

"Don't you think she's lovely?"

"Of course, but so what? You're just as lovely. You shouldn't mind being different, Hannah. That's what makes you special."

She wanted to laugh off his words, but she couldn't. Mostly because she wanted him to mean them. She wanted him to think she was special. She didn't dare turn around to see if he was teasing her. Instead, she repeated them silently to commit them to memory.

She knew she was being silly. Everything about their relationship was a house of cards and it was all going to come tumbling down around her ears. How was she supposed to hold it all together?

"I don't know what to do," she blurted out. "About my family, about getting in touch with my father, about going home, about telling them the truth."

He turned her until she was facing him, then touched a finger to her chin. "You don't have to do anything right now or even this week. You can just enjoy getting to know everyone. Later, it will be more clear and then you can decide."

"You promise?"

He nodded.

"And you don't think I should just confess everything? About us, I mean?"

"No. Not until you're ready."

She was secretly relieved by his answer. As long as they lived a lie, he would have reason to stay. As soon as the truth came out, Nick would leave. A few short days ago, she hadn't been able to imagine spending time with him at all. Now she couldn't picture a world without him.

* * *

Insults flowed freely around the large dining-room table. Hannah picked up her cards and grinned. "I know what it is, boys. You can't deal with the fact that a woman is whipping your collective fannies. Male pride. You're going to have to get over that."

Kyle pointed to the pile of chips in front of her. "I know she's not cheating, so how come she's winning every hand?"

Hannah arched her eyebrows. "Woman's intuition."

The five men at the table groaned. She was playing poker with her brothers and Austin. Nick had been invited to join the game, but he'd said he wanted to retire early and had walked back to the gatehouse. The women were in the living room making a baby quilt. Each of them crocheted a small square, which Louise then assembled into a larger piece. Even the older girls were helping. With so many hands, it should only take a few nights. Offered the opportunity to play cards, which Hannah already knew how to do, or learn how to crochet and expose her definite deficiency in the domestic arts, the choice had been clear.

She put one card facedown and slid it toward Jordan, who was taking his turn at dealer. He offered her another card in return. She added it to her hand and fought down a grin. Three ladies, a nine of spades and her new card … a nine of hearts. The bet was a quarter. She tossed one in from the impressive pile in front of her.

Austin
had three of a kind; Travis, two pair; the rest, nothing. She swept the pot toward her and laughed.

"I need a break," Craig muttered, getting to his feet. He went over to Hannah and gave her a quick hug. "You're secretly a witch, aren't you?"