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Hannah wanted to scream “no.” No she wouldn’t marry him. And no, love meant more than just lust. Yet she couldn’t help remembering Jamie’s solemn, almost worried face; her pride wasn’t the only thing to consider. And Ross obviously valued their friendship, so it wasn’t like he didn’t care about her. In a way he’d paid her a huge compliment.
“Maybe I could be your housekeeper,” she suggested.
“No.” Ross shook his head. “My ex-wife signed over custody for a large monetary settlement, but she’s already making noises about getting Jamie back. I need a wife and a stable family life so any judge in the world will agree that Jamie belongs in Alaska with me. And I need to do it fast, Honeycomb…before she has a chance to file any papers with the court. It’ll look better.”
“I don’t understand,” Hannah murmured, still getting a rush of pleasure that he remembered her old nickname. “If she signed over custody, then how can she do anything?”
He sighed heavily. “According to my lawyer, when it comes to kids and the legal system, you never know what could happen. Besides, Jamie needs to feel secure. I want him to have a real mother.”
Hannah pressed her hand to her throat, feeling the familiar, longing ache. A real mother.
She loved her brothers, but she wasn’t their mother; now Ross was offering her a dream come true. It had felt so right, talking to Jamie and holding him…and it wasn’t like men were hanging around, begging her to marry them. This could be her last chance. Should she settle for part of what she wanted, rather than risk not getting anything at all?
But marrying Ross? Hannah swallowed.
Just how married did he expect them to be? Married as in really married, or married as in separate bedrooms? She peeked at him from beneath her lashes, but didn’t know how to ask. Of course, she doubted he expected anything physical. They were friends, not lovers. He’d made that very clear.
“So…for how long were you thinking we’d be married? A year or two?”
“At least till Jamie is eighteen,” he said decisively. “He needs someone he knows will always be there for him. And you never know, we might really like it. I could see us staying together, can’t you?”
Oh, sure, Hannah thought wryly. A nice platonic little marriage—every woman’s lifelong dream.
“Think about it,” Ross urged. “I know I should have handled things differently, but this is your chance to leave Quicksilver. We’d live down on the Kenai Peninsula, but you could go to Anchorage whenever you like. I’m a partner in an air transit business—I can give you a good life.”
Once again Hannah’s foot itched to kick him. Honestly, the man had developed a genuine talent for making her angry. Not that it was anything new. They may have been buddies, but they’d fought like cats and dogs when they were kids. Why should anything be different now?
“My big chance, huh? Do you think I’d marry you for that?”
He sighed. “Of course not. I just wanted to reassure you that…well, that I’m—”
“A good provider?” she asked, a little too sweetly.
“If you want to put it that way. I couldn’t blame you for wondering what you’d get out of the arrangement.”
Get out of the arrangement?
All at once Hannah realized there was a part of Ross she no longer knew…the part that had gotten cynical. More confused than ever, she stared at the Sitka spruce trees surrounding them. A long time ago Ross had found her here, crying after her mother’s funeral. He’d held her and comforted her, though he’d hardly said a word.
Where was that Ross? The tall, strong boy who understood her grief more than anyone else? She might have been comfortable marrying the boy she’d once known, but he’d gone and turned into a sexy hunk who didn’t believe in love.
“Please…I didn’t mean to hurt you, Hannah. You’re very special to me. You always have been.”
She tapped her fingers on her arm. “I suppose you thought I’d be thrilled to get a proposal from anyone.”
Ross winced, realizing how badly he’d handled things. How could he make her understand? When he’d finally gotten Jamie and realized his son needed a mother as well as a father, the woman he’d instantly thought of was Hannah Liggett.
Hell, as far as he was concerned, there wasn’t any other choice. Hannah was sweet and generous and loyal to a fault with her friends and family. She was the perfect mother for his son. And to be honest, having her in his life again wouldn’t be bad for him, either.
“I wasn’t implying anything of the sort,” he said, carefully picking his words.
“Cut it out,” Hannah snapped. “You claim you didn’t mean to embarrass me, but what did you expect? Everyone knows we haven’t been seeing each other. I’ll bet they’re still laughing at the grand joke.”
“Marrying me isn’t a joke.”
“It is when you’re the last single woman in town. It is when the proposal is yelled out during a wedding reception where the ninety-two-year-old bride managed to get a husband ahead of you!”
Ross groaned. No wonder Hannah wanted to crown him; in her shoes he would have been furious too.
“Look, Hannah, I think you’re terrific—that’s why I’m here. I’ll tell everyone I’ve always been in love with you, and that I got carried away by the moment. I can be very convincing. Heck, they’re halfway convinced already—when Ten Penny said that stuff about me looking at your chest, your father looked like he wanted to geld me with a kitchen knife.”
Hannah narrowed her eyes. Bringing up the comments about her “chest” wasn’t something she appreciated. He’d described her chest as “fine.” Fine was one of those words like “interesting.” You said it when you didn’t know what else to say.
Fine.
Yuck.
“Huh. Trust me, Dad isn’t the protective type. Please, just go away and leave me alone. I need to think.”
“No.” He barked the order out and Hannah glared.
“I can be alone if I want. We’re not married yet…and I doubt we’ll ever be married,” she added darkly.
“Don’t say that. I sincerely, abjectly apologize for embarrassing you.”
“Stow it.” Hannah stepped back and abruptly went flying, her foot caught in a rabbit hole. A stab of pain shot through her ankle as she hit the ground.
“Hannah! Are you okay? No, stay down. Let me check you first.”
Ross’s hand held her gently in place, when all she wanted was to crawl in that dratted hole. A woman could only take so much humiliation in one day, and she’d reached her absolute limit.
“I’m all right. Leave me alone.”
Ignoring the protest, he slid his fingers over her ribs, leaving a trail of heat that made it even harder to breathe. His knuckles lightly brushed the underside of her breasts and Hannah’s heart lodged in her throat.
Lord, it wasn’t fair.
Ross was practically caressing her and he looked about as stimulated as a sleeping walrus. The tumble hadn’t done her any serious physical damage, but at the moment, her feminine ego was on the critical list.
Chapter Two
“Does this hurt?” Ross asked, probing down her leg.
A breath hissed out between Hannah’s teeth. She felt awfully funny…kind of hot and tingly in some very private places. “Really, I’m fine,” she assured him. “You don’t have to do this.”
Typically male, he ignored her, moving on to the other leg. When he reached her ankle and lifted it, she flinched, unable to hide a twinge of pain.
“Oh, you’re fine, all right,” he muttered.
Hannah stuck her tongue out at Ross’s bent head. Know-it-all. So what if she’d gotten hurt? It wasn’t any concern of his. “Don’t fuss. It’s just a slight sprain.”
He slipped her shoe off to examine the injury, supporting her leg on his thigh. His strong fingers circled her foot and Hannah bit her lip to keep from making a sound.
She’d read about sexual attraction, of course, but she’d never felt anything like this before today. A few shots of quickening pulse and sighs were the extent of her experience; if anything, she’d assumed her sex drive was virtually nonexistent.
But noooo.
Along comes Ross McCoy, fully grown, to prove she’s no different than all the other hormone-driven women on the planet.
Drat Ross anyway.
What business did he have coming back here and making her react this way? It had to be that mid-thirties sexual peak thing, starting a couple years early.
“I don’t see any swelling,” he said finally. “But I’d better carry you back, just in case.”
“That isn’t necessary,” Hannah returned hastily. She could just imagine the whispers and smirks if she got carried back into town after running out of the restaurant in a huff.
“Of course it’s necessary.” Ross turned his head and grinned at her. “Besides, think how gallant and romantic it’ll look. Everyone will be convinced I’m crazy about you. By the way, start thinking whether you want to get married in Anchorage, or here in Quicksilver.”
Arrogant wretch.
Hannah glowered; he just assumed she’d fall in with his plans and marry him. “We’re not getting married, Ross,” she said, jerking her foot away from his grasp. “I am not that desperate for a husband.”
“Boy, talk about insulting,” he returned good-naturedly. “Are you saying a woman would have to be really really desperate to marry me?”
“Listen to me.” She tapped her finger on his chest for emphasis. “I may not be gorgeous or well traveled, but you can’t order me around. Look somewhere else for your convenient wife.”
Ross blinked, astonished. “You’re very pretty, Hannah. Don’t you know that?”
“Whatever. But you’re not listening to me.”
“I am listening.” Ross captured Hannah’s face between his hands and gazed intently into her eyes; this was one battle he intended to win. “I fought too hard for Jamie to give up now. Doreen walked out when she was two months pregnant, and it’s been nothing but hell since then. It was over a year before I could even see my son.”
Idly Ross noticed Hannah’s eyes had turned the deep, turbulent color of a storm, all traces of green erased by inner turmoil. He was making a shameless play for her sympathy, but he’d deal with his conscience later. Right now he had to convince her.
“Honeycomb, if anyone is desperate, it’s me,” he whispered urgently. “Jamie has nightmares and he’s withdrawn. You can help him—I could tell right off by the way he took to you.”
“I’ll…think about it,” Hannah said slowly.
A rush of adrenaline made him want to push, make her say yes. Yet he hadn’t helped build a successful business by driving a deal too hard and fast. He’d just stay in Quicksilver for as long as it took. With Hannah’s soft heart, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of days to make her relent. And she couldn’t avoid him, not in such a small town.
“Okay, I’ll take you back to the restaurant.”
She gasped and clutched an arm around his neck when he swung her into his arms. “Ross, I’m too heavy. Put me down.”
“Heavy?” He shook his head in amazement. “You have the oddest ideas about yourself. You don’t weigh much more than Jamie.”
It wasn’t strictly true, but she didn’t weigh a whole lot. Funny, he’d always thought of Hannah as being the sturdy, homemaker type, but he rather liked the sensation of holding her slim body, soft and yielding against his harder angles. And though he’d initially regretted his proposal, a conviction of rightness came over him.
Yup, this was the best thing he could do. Hannah Liggett didn’t have a chance. Even if she managed to say no to him, he didn’t think anyone could say no to Jamie.
Hannah put her head against Ross’s shoulder, resigned—if not happy—about being carried back to town like a silent-movie heroine.
What would everyone think?
Actually, she’d bet Ross was right. Depending on how they handled things, everyone in Quicksilver would think they’d always had a secret passion for one another. And Ten Penny had thought he was checking her out…not that Hannah believed Ross had actually been ogling her body. It could work.
Pooh.
Here she was, falling into line the way Ross expected. For years she’d stood up to brothers who towered over her, telling them when to get home and what chores to do. She’d kept her father’s books and refused to let him pad charitable deductions on his tax returns. She’d even stared down a bear, intent on tasting her fresh-baked blueberry pie. But Ross McCoy had turned her into a quivering, compliant simpleton in two short hours.
Hannah moaned and buried her face deeper into his shirt. She had to be out of her mind to consider marrying the man. A sane woman would start running and never look back.
“Hannah?” Ross sounded alarmed and he stopped dead in his tracks. “What’s wrong? Is something else hurting?”
“Nothing you can fix.”
Well, he could fix some of it, but he wasn’t interested. Her sexual appeal obviously rated about zero in his book.
Ross shrugged the shoulder beneath her cheek, encouraging her to look up. “Talk to me. I can’t do anything if I don’t know what’s wrong.”
Hannah glanced up at his worried frown and sighed. Even as a boy, he’d had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility—so serious and intense. He didn’t understand why she was upset, but he wanted to fix it anyway.
“Hannah?”
“If you keep standing in the middle of the street, you’ll get run over,” she said practically, avoiding the real question altogether. After all, he couldn’t help it if she wasn’t sexy.
Ross scanned the so-called street and lifted one eyebrow. “Run down by what? A moose?”
“It could happen.”
“Not in a million years.” Nevertheless, he started walking again, covering the distance to the restaurant in less than a minute—downtown Quicksilver measured just over a hundred feet long.
“What’s wrong?” Edgar Liggett exclaimed, throwing open the door for them.
“Nothing, Dad.”
“Hannah turned her ankle and I felt like carrying her,” Ross said calmly. He looked down at Hannah and smiled, enjoying the defiant sparkle in her eyes. “She’s such a cozy armful, you can’t blame me for taking advantage.”
“Hot damn, didn’t I tell you?” cackled Ten Penny. “I could tell by the way he was gawkin’ at her. That boy’s got one thing on his mind, and it ain’t drinkin’ no cup of coffee.”
“See?” Ross whispered. “They aren’t laughing. They think I’m hot for you.”
“Which we both know isn’t true,” she hissed back, squirming in an attempt to gain her freedom. “Let me down.”
Instead, Ross sat down himself, holding her securely on his lap. Her squirming continued until he pinched her bottom and muttered a “Stop that” command in her ear. As for being hot for Hannah—all that feminine wriggling was having a predictable effect on his body. He needed her to stay put and hide the evidence from everyone else…though it was like using gunpowder to put out a fire.
“You get everything straight with my girl?” asked Edgar Liggett, his expression turning rather fierce.
