Husband By The Hour

Cops. Her bothers were cops. Only two were in uniform, but the remaining two had the same look about them. Cops who, if they knew about Nick and his shady practices, not to mention the deal she’d made with him, wouldn’t think twice about throwing them both in jail.

Chapter Four (#ulink_be10d60c-208f-5d7c-85c7-96ff61f1e921)

Hannah stared unbelievingly at the four men in front of her. They stared back. Silence grew. She kept waiting to fall to the floor. After all, she still couldn’t feel her heart beating. Then, in the quiet, she heard the faint thudding that told her not only was she still alive, but she was also probably going to live long enough to have to suffer through this weekend.

Nick gave her shoulder a quick squeeze, then stepped forward. “Hi. I’m Nick Archer, Hannah’s husband.”

The brother with a bit of gray at his temples smiled slightly. “Craig Haynes. Nice to meet you.” The two men shook hands.

Hannah watched closely, but there didn’t seem to be any kind of male-dominance test going on. At least not yet. The handshake was brief; she didn’t notice any bulging tendons, a telltale sign that there was a pissing contest in progress.

Craig turned his attention to her. “We weren’t sure what to expect. Sorry, Louise, but she’s a hundred percent Haynes.”

Louise slipped her arm through Hannah’s. “Oh, there’s a little Carberry in her, too. Your side doesn’t get all the credit.”

Hannah shook her head. She’d always wondered about her “real” last name, about any family that might be around to claim her. Here they were, in the flesh. It should have been exciting. Instead, all she wanted to do was run for cover.

Craig motioned to the man on his left. “This is Travis, then Jordan and Kyle.” He grinned. “We’re actually standing in order of age. I’m the oldest, Kyle’s the youngest.”

“Not anymore,” Kyle said. “Now you get to be the baby, Hannah.”

“How nice,” she murmured.

“We’ll run through the rest of the family,” Craig said. “I’m sure it’s going to be confusing as hell, but at least you’ll get a sense of who belongs to whom.”

At his words, wives came up to stand by their husbands and children collected in small groups. There were too many people, too many faces, too many names.

She tried to concentrate, but it was no use. She caught brief impressions. Craig’s wife was a petite redhead who was very pregnant. They had three boys. Jordan’s wife was also pregnant, but not so far along. There was another man introduced as “Austin Lucas, family, but not by blood.” He was dark and dangerous-looking, an earring glinting from one ear. His wife, Rebecca, was beautiful, with a face that belonged on a cameo.

When the introductions were completed, everyone began talking at once. Louise pulled her close. “Don’t worry about trying to sort everyone out. It’s going to take a little while.”

Nick dropped a quick kiss on Hannah’s head. She felt the heat all the way to her toes and hoped her pleasure and shock didn’t show in her eyes. “Hannah and I will compare notes tonight. I’m sure between the two of us, we’ll be able to keep everyone straight.”

Hannah wasn’t so sure. She stared at the huge living room. A large fireplace dominated the far wall. Navy drapes covered floor-to-ceiling windows. The same color was picked up in the four sofas forming a loose square. Striped wing chairs of navy and cream filled in the corners. The furniture and floor were light pine. Scattered rugs, paintings and the evidence of coffee and dessert gave the room a homey, lived-in look.

She couldn’t imagine anyone living in a house this large, but it was obvious the Haynes family needed a lot of room. Hannah counted seventeen adults, eleven children, with two more on the way.

She glanced at Louise, who was talking to Nick, pointing out various individuals and giving a brief background. The children had started to chase each other around the room. The adults talked among themselves, all the while casting curious glances at her. She felt like the featured entertainer at a sideshow. The attention was uncomfortable. When Nick stepped close and placed his hand on the back of her neck under her braid, she didn’t protest.

“Do you live here?” she asked Louise, remembering her vision of a frail old woman living in a nursing home.

Louise laughed. “I have my own place in town. An apartment. But I’m hardly ever there. These boys keep me busy.”

Louise led them over to one of the sofas. They sat down, with Louise on one side of Hannah and Nick on the other.

“You work for the Haynes family?” Nick asked.

Louise nodded. “I have for several years. It started when Travis here—” she pointed to one of the brothers in uniform “—needed a housekeeper. He and his first wife had divorced and he was rattling around in a house as big as this one. The boy couldn’t cook anything. I was afraid he’d starve to death. So he hired me.”

The brother in question came over and sat on the coffee table in front of the sofa. His wavy dark hair was trimmed regulation short, not quite touching the back of his collar. The khaki uniform indicated that he was Glenwood’s sheriff. Hannah fought back a shudder. Why couldn’t her brothers have been plumbers or electricians?

“I’m Travis, remember?” he said.

Hannah gave him a shaky smile. “Yes, hi.”

“We’re a loud bunch, but our hearts are in the right place. We’ve really been looking forward to meeting you.”

“You have the advantage,” Nick said easily, with his arm around Hannah. “We were expecting Hannah’s mother to be by herself. This is an unexpected bonus.”

If Hannah hadn’t been so nervous, she would have rolled her eyes. Nick had been born charming. Most of the time she didn’t approve of those who skated through life using fancy words instead of work to get by. In this case, however, she was extremely grateful to have him along. Who would have thought she would be related to an entire herd of people?

“It’s kind of interesting about Louise,” Travis said and winked at the older woman. “She’s been a member of this family for years.”

“She was just mentioning that,” Hannah said politely.

“Now you’re related to both of us.”

Hannah wondered if anyone had thought this through. If she was Louise’s daughter and the Haynes brothers’ half sister, that meant they shared a father. Then Louise must have had a relationship with their father nearly twenty-eight years ago. Had he been married? If not, why hadn’t Louise married him herself? Why had she, Hannah, been given up for adoption?

Travis said something to Nick, but Hannah wasn’t listening anymore. She was looking around the room at the happy family. Adults clustered together, talking and laughing. Children played. The volume increased steadily as everyone tried to be heard. It was chaos in its most pleasant form.

Her family. She was related to many of these people by blood and to the rest of them by marriage. Louise had stayed and found a life for herself. Why had she given her child away?

She felt emotions piling up in her throat. As tired and shell-shocked as she was right now, she couldn’t risk weakening. She might say something inappropriate. Or worse—she might burst into tears.

Nick moved his arm and began to stroke the skin at the back of her neck. The contact was comforting and erotic—an intriguing combination. She leaned toward him and let her left hand rest on his thigh. His muscles were rock hard, his body warm. In an uncontrollable situation, he was the only stable point of reference. Right now, she didn’t care if he was a criminal with a record or even a tattoo. For some crazy reason, she trusted him to keep her safe. She, who never dared trust anyone. She didn’t want to think how much she was going to regret this later.

“Hey, Hannah.” The other brother in uniform walked over. “I’m Kyle.” He looked a lot like Travis, maybe a tiny bit better-looking. Obviously, this was a gene pool that treated its men very well.

She glanced at the badge on his chest. “You work for the Glenwood sheriff’s department, too?”

“Sure thing.” Kyle pulled up one of the striped wing chairs and sat down. “I used to work in San Francisco, but Travis offered me a job here in Glenwood. I was glad to come home.”

Travis shrugged. “I couldn’t have my baby brother off making trouble in the big city.”

“Hannah’s the youngest now,” Kyle said, sounding pleased with the fact. “We have a little sister.”

“I don’t feel very little,” Hannah said.

Kyle leaned forward in the chair. “Yeah, but we’re still bigger. If this guy starts hassling you, you just let us know and we’ll take care of him.”

Everyone laughed.

“Don’t you start any trouble with my son-in-law,” Louise said. “Nick looks very nice.”

Travis winked. “I don’t know, Louise. He’s kinda pale. Like he hasn’t been out in the sun.”

Hannah glanced at Nick’s lightly tanned skin, then at his blond hair. He was certainly different from all the men here, she realized. But she liked the contrast.