When his eyes darkened, she told herself it was a trick of the light, nothing more. It had to be that, because thinking that Nash might also be feeling some flicker of sexual attraction was more than she ever hoped for. It was also outside the realm of possibility.
She wanted to throw herself into his arms and beg him to kiss her. She wanted to rip off her shirt and bra, baring her breasts. Surely that would be enough of a hint. Not that he would be interested in her breasts. She’d had three kids and parts of her were not as perky as they once had been. Miracles could be worked with an underwire bra.
So she could just rip off her shirt and leave the bra on. Still a good hint for him.
Right, she thought with humorous resignation. He would respond by ripping off his shirt, too, right after he wrote her that check for a million dollars.
“I don’t want to keep you,” she said at last. It was the mature thing to say. The right thing. How disappointing when he nodded.
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I’ll be the one baking,” she said, keeping her voice light.
He smiled, then walked out of the room. She allowed herself a last look at his rear, then pulled out a kitchen chair and sank onto the seat.
She had to get a grip. Yes, the attraction was nice. The quivery feelings reminded her that she wasn’t dead yet. All delightful and completely meaningless messages when compared with the fact that men were nothing but trouble and getting involved with one would make her an idiot times two. Oh sure, she’d heard rumors that there were male members of the species who were actually helpful, responsible and on occasion behaved like partners, but she’d never experienced it firsthand. What were the odds of her encountering one at this point in her life? Even more important, what were the odds of her encountering one in someone who made her hormones belly dance in supplication?
“Is he gone?”
She looked up and saw Brett entering the kitchen. “By ‘he’ I assume you mean Nash?”
Her twelve-year-old nodded.
“He went up to his room.”
Brett pulled out a chair and sat next to her. “Why’s this guy hanging around?”
“Maybe he’s a film producer doing research on the perfect American family.”
Brett rolled his eyes.
Stephanie grinned. “Do you have a better answer?”
“No, but it’s totally weird.”
“I think it’s nice. Don’t forget, he fixed our very temperamental washer. The piles of laundry stretching to the ceiling and I are grateful.” She touched Brett’s shoulder. “You helped him with that. I thought you liked him.”
Her son shrugged.
What was going on? Did Brett feel threatened by Nash in some way? Stephanie hadn’t dated since Marty’s death. Maybe having another guy around made him feel as though his father was being replaced.
“Hey, don’t sweat it,” she said, leaning close and wrapping her arms around him. “Nash is a guest here. Which means his home is somewhere else and he’s going to be leaving us in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, he’s nice, he cleans up after himself and I like having another grown-up to talk to. Nothing more. Okay?”
As they were alone, Brett burrowed into her embrace. He’d reached the stage where he didn’t allow hugs and kisses in front of other people, but when it was just the two of them, he was still her little boy. Sort of.
He raised his head and looked at her. “Do you still miss Dad?”
She studied his dark blue eyes and the mouth shaped just like Marty’s. “Of course I do. I loved him very much.”
Brett nodded, as if reassured.
Stephanie told herself that under the circumstances, the lie didn’t matter. Her first responsibility was to make her children’s world as safe and stable as possible. A dark stain on her conscience was a small price to pay for that.
The teenaged waitress stared at the four men at the table. “I’m new in town,” she told them, “but I have to tell you there’s something pretty amazing in the water. You’re Haynes brothers, aren’t you? I recognize you from what I’ve been told. Every one of you is tall, dark and delicious. You guys all married? Anyone want my number?”
Nash was less surprised by the unsubtle come-on than he would have been before meeting Travis and Kyle Haynes. Kevin had arranged for the four of them to meet up for lunch. Even if he hadn’t known about the relationship between them all, he would have guessed something was up the second he saw them.
The four men were nearly identical in height and build. Their dark hair was the same shade and the shapes of their eyes and mouths were similar. Travis and Kyle were a few years older, but still obviously related.
“Thanks, but not today,” Kyle said as he took the menus from the young waitress.
“Your loss,” she said.
“Probably, darlin’, but you should stick to guys your own age.”
“What about the stuff they say about older men knowing their way around a woman?”
Kyle grinned. “All lies.”
“Why don’t I believe you?” She gave a sassy wink, took their drink order and headed off.
Kevin shook his head. “Friendly girl.”
Travis Haynes unrolled his paper napkin and set his flatware on the table. “Our family has something of a reputation in this town. Four generations of Haynes men have had their way with a large percentage of the local female population. The four of us have tried to change things, but that sort of legend doesn’t die easily.”
“Apparently not,” Nash said. He looked at his twin. “We don’t have a reputation in Possum Landing. We must have been doing something wrong.”
“Or right,” Kyle said. “Being good with women isn’t something to be proud of. Now being a good husband and father—that’s a hell of a lot more important.”
“Agreed,” Travis said. He looked across the table at Nash. “Are you settled in?”
“Yeah. I’m staying at a B and B on the other side of town.”
“Stephanie Wynne’s place,” Kyle said. “Her oldest boy is friends with my oldest son.” He smiled. “It’s a small town. There aren’t many strangers and even fewer secrets.”
Travis passed out the menus. “Everything’s good here. I’d recommend the burgers, but then I’m a man of simple tastes.”
Kevin looked at Nash, then back at Travis. “We’re not exactly sushi eaters ourselves.”
Kyle leaned forward. He and his brother wore identical khaki uniforms. Travis’s name badge proclaimed him sheriff, while Kyle’s said he was a deputy.
“Are you two finding this as strange as we are?” Kyle asked.
“Discovering family after all this time?” Nash opened the menu, then closed it. “We had no idea our father had any other children.”
“It was one thing to find out that our best friends were actually half brothers,” Kevin said. “But when Gage told us about all of you, I was surprised.”
The waitress reappeared with their drinks. All the men had ordered iced tea. She took their orders—four burgers, hold the onions, and fries, then disappeared.
“There are five of us,” Travis said. His dark brows drew together in a frown. “We have a half sister—Hannah. She works at the sheriff’s office, too. She’s in communications. Her mother is Louise, who—” He shook his head. “This is going to be confusing as hell.”
“Talk slow,” Kevin said.
Kyle chuckled. “Travis is good at that—what with being mentally challenged.”
Travis turned to his brother. “I can still take you.”
“With what army?”
Their playful banter reminded Nash of his relationship with Kevin. Warm, affection and constant.
“There are four Haynes brothers,”
Travis said. “Craig’s the oldest. He lives in Fern Hill with his wife, Jill, and their five children.”
Nash had taken a drink of his iced tea and nearly choked. “Five?”
Travis grinned. “We have a lot of kids. I’m married to Elizabeth. We have four girls. Next is Jordan. He’s married to Holly. They have three girls.”
“I’m the youngest boy in the family,” Kyle said. “I’m married to Sandy. We have five kids, too. Four girls, one boy. Hannah’s our half sister, through our father, so she’s your half sister, as well. She’s married to Nick. They have two girls.” He turned to Kevin. “You and Haley are staying at the B and B Nick owns with Louise, Hannah’s mother.”
Nash set down his glass. “I’m never going to keep this straight.”
“It’ll get easier with time,” Travis said. “There’s also Austin Lucas, who isn’t officially one of the Haynes men. He’s sort of an adopted member of the family. He and his wife, Rebecca, have four kids, three boys and a girl.”
“Wait until we start telling you which kids are from a previous marriage,” Kyle said.
Kevin held up his hands. “I don’t think I want to know.”
Nash tried to do the math to figure out how many people could show up at the dinner that night, but lost count somewhere after twenty.
“That’s a lot of family members,” he said. “Kevin told me your father doesn’t live around here.” He shook his head. “I guess he’s our father, too. I don’t think of him that way yet.”
Kyle and Travis glanced at each other. “He’s in Florida with wife number six or seven,” Travis said. “I’ve lost count. None of us stay in touch with him.”
“Why?” Kevin asked.
“He’s…” Travis hesitated. “He wasn’t a great father to us.”
Nash leaned forward. “Don’t worry about offending us with anything you say about him. As far as Kevin and I are concerned, Earl Haynes is just a guy who got a seventeen-year-old virgin pregnant and then walked out on her.”
“That was Dad’s style,” Kyle said quietly. “He was chronically unfaithful. He and his brothers believed that if they slept in their own beds at night, that was about as good as it had to get. They didn’t worry about details like being true to one woman or giving a damn about their kids.”
“We wanted to be different,” Travis told them. “Each of my brothers and I knew how unhappy we’d been and we were determined to keep history from repeating itself. After three generations of bastards, we wanted to make something of our lives, to get involved with our wives and kids. To be good men.”
Kyle chuckled. “To have daughters.”
“Why would that matter?” Nash asked.
The waitress arrived with their burgers. Once they were served, Kyle reached for the mustard in the center of the table.
“Until Travis and Elizabeth got married,” Kyle said, “there hadn’t been a girl born to a Haynes man in four generations.”
“Not counting Hannah,” Travis said. “We didn’t know about her.” He glanced at Nash.
“Right. Okay, no girls except for Hannah.”
“Travis and Elizabeth had a daughter. Then Sandy and me, then Craig and Jill,” Kyle said. “Holly and Jordan were next. He’s the one who came up with the theory.”
“Which is?” Kevin asked.
“Haynes men can only have girls when they’re in love with the woman.”
“That’s crazy,” Nash said.
“There’s a lot of female Hayneses running around,” Travis pointed out. He nodded at Kevin. “Just you wait until you and Haley are having kids.”
Kevin grinned. “I look forward to our children, whatever their gender.”
“Good,” Kyle said. “Because you’re probably going to have a lot of them.”
Chapter 5
Nash left the diner after lunch and headed back for the B and B. He’d enjoyed meeting his half brothers, although he found the thought of their large families overwhelming. Five kids. That seemed like a lot.
He’d never much thought about having or not having kids of his own. After marrying Tina, he’d wanted to wait for a while before they started a family. She’d pressured him, but he’d refused to agree. Not until things were more stable between them. He’d assumed there would be children in his future, but when he thought about them they were vague shadows playing on the field at some sporting event. Not real people. Not like Stephanie’s kids.
Thinking about Brett, Adam and Jason reminded him of the previous evening. He’d enjoyed helping with homework and staying for dinner. The boys were a lot of fun, each with a distinct personality. Brett was still waiting to accept him, but Nash respected that. Jason was ready to charm the world while Adam was shyer. As for Stephanie…
Better not to go there, he told himself. As it was, he’d had a restless night filled with erotic dreams of his hostess. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d awakened so damn hard. Not since he was a teenager and in the throes of adolescent hormones. Back then he’d had lots of desire but little knowledge about what was supposed to happen between a man and a woman. Now he knew exactly what he wanted to do to and with Stephanie, should he ever get her in his bed.
He grinned as he realized a bed wasn’t required. He’d been pretty creative in his dreams. Based on what he remembered, he could happily make love with her just about anywhere. One particularly vivid nocturnal event had been of him holding her up against a wall. She’d wrapped her bare legs around him and he’d—
He groaned as heat and pressure poured into his groin. Determined not to arrive back at the B and B with a hard-on the size of Argentina, he concentrated on the road and forced himself to think about how the houses lining the streets would look if they were all painted green.
The distraction nearly worked. By the time he pulled up in front of the B and B, he was no longer hard, although a dull ache lingered. It throbbed in time with his heartbeat. Experience told him it would go away…eventually.
He climbed out of his rental car and started toward the large house. As he walked along the path, he heard sounds coming from a small gatehouse by the driveway. The front door was open.
Nash changed directions. When he reached the gatehouse, the faint sounds became a song on the radio. He followed the music into an empty living room in the midst of being sanded and patched. Stephanie stood in a doorway about fifteen feet away. She had a piece of sandpaper in each hand.
That morning she’d been dressed in what he thought of as her “public” clothes. Tailored slacks, a dark pink sweater. While he’d been gone, she’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt. A scarf covered her head.
As he watched, she reached up and rubbed at a spot well above her head. Her T-shirt rode up, exposing a bit of stomach. Instantly his groin sprang to life. What was it about this woman and her belly? Shouldn’t he be finding her breasts erotic, or even her legs?
“You need a ladder,” he said conversationally.
She jumped and squeaked, then glared at him. “I have to go to the grocery store in the next couple of days. I swear I’m going to swing through the pet department and buy you a collar with a bell.”
“It’s not going to fit.”
“I’ll put it around your wrist.”
“You’ll have to wrestle me into submission first.”
He’d meant the comment as a joke, but at his words, her eyes darkened and awareness sharpened her features. Tension crackled in the empty room.
So this attraction wasn’t all one-sided, he thought with satisfaction. Not that the information meant anything. Stephanie was a single mom with three kids. Which meant she wasn’t exactly the kind of woman looking for a good time with no commitment. Too bad.
He might want her, but there was no way he would take advantage of her
. He’d grown up with a single mom and he knew how hard that life could be. He wasn’t there to contribute to the problem.
He ignored the tension and the need snapping between them and pointed to the bare walls.
“Is this going to be the presidential suite for Serenity House?” he asked.
Stephanie blinked slowly, as if coming out of a trance. “What? Oh. No. It’s for me and the kids.”
He glanced around at the old gatehouse. It wasn’t huge, although there was a second story. “Why would you want to move?”
“It’s always been the plan.” She rubbed a piece of sandpaper against the door frame, then shook her head and leaned against the wood. “When Marty and I bought the property, we’d intended to fix this place up and move here. That way there would be more rooms to rent out. When he died, my first priority was to get rooms ready for paying guests and this project got put on the back burner. I’m hoping to get it done by midsummer.”
“Isn’t there more room for you and the kids at the main house?”
“Technically, yes, but when we have a lot of guests, the boys have to be quiet. We’re on the third floor with guests underneath. They really try to cooperate, but they’re young. Plus I hate reminding them all the time. I don’t want their only memories of their childhood to be ‘stop making noise.’ We’re all willing to sacrifice space for privacy.”
“Makes sense. Mind if I look around?”
“Help yourself.”
He walked through the living room. There was a fireplace at one end, with built-in bookcases on either side. Large windows opened up to the street. The door on the right led to a short hallway and the stairs. There were two bedrooms in back, a bathroom, a kitchen that led to a small dining room, which opened on to the living room. Stephanie stood in that doorway. At the very rear of the house was a utility room with washer and dryer hookups.
Nash climbed the stairs and found a good-size master bedroom with a private bath. The ceilings were high on both floors, and the rooms had big windows, molding and lots of painted wood trim.
One in a Million Page 6
