Husband by the Hour

Author:Susan Mallery
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, Large Type Books, General, Love Stories
ISBN: 9780373596980
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Published: 1996-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 9

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Hannah was fuming. He could tell by the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Her thick braid hung over one shoulder and the tightly bound end teased the top of her breast. Nick would have liked to replace that rope of hair with his fingers, but doubted Hannah was much in the mood to be seduced by him or anyone.

She planted her hands on her hips. "How dare you go back on our agreement?"

He pretended to be shocked and hurt. "I'm doing you this big favor and you're angry with me? Lady, you got a problem here. I'm willing to stay and be your husband, and I'm not even asking for more money. Do you know how much I can make in a week? Do you know how many people – women – would be begging to have me around?"

"Then go be with one of them and satisfy their wildest desires."

Who satisfies your wildest desires? But he didn't ask the question.

"Face it, kid. You need me."

She stamped her foot. "I do not."

He grinned. "Yeah, because you're so mature and poised."

"I am mature." She stamped her foot again, then realized what she'd done and turned away. "Dammit, Nick, quit bringing out the worst in me."

The room grew silent. He walked toward her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I mean it, Hannah. You need me. This family stuff scares you to death. You don't know what to do or say. There are too many of them and only one of you. I can help. You've seen that."

"By telling them I can sing and play the piano?"

"By being on your side. Trust me."

She turned toward him, and his hands fell to his sides. Her gaze searched his. "Why are you doing this? Why do you want to help?"

It would be easy to put her off with lies. He had a thousand at the ready. But this was Hannah, and for reasons he didn't want to think about, he needed to tell her the truth.

"Two reasons. Things are a little hot for me down south," he said. "I could head over to Vegas or Reno, but I'd rather stay here with you. No one's going to come looking for me in Glenwood."

She shivered slightly. If he hadn't been staring at her intently, he wouldn't have noticed. An involuntary reaction to the reminder that he was a criminal. A man on the wrong side of the law. He swore silently. He wanted to tell her the truth. But he wouldn't. Not just because he wasn't about to jeopardize his cover after all this time, but because if she knew the truth, then their situation would get about a hundred times more complicated.

"What's the second reason?" she asked.

"Because I care about you, and I sincerely want to help."

He braced himself for the inevitable scathing retort, but instead her eyes filled with pain.

"Don't joke about that," she said, then looked away. "I'm not at my best right now and it wouldn't take much to push me over the edge.

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