“
What did she say when you got in touch with
her?" Kevin asked.
“
We didn't," Craig told him. "We know she's all right. If she wanted to talk to any of us, she
would know where to find us."
Kyle took a long drink of his beer. "It's not her
fault," he said. "After years of dealing with Earl, she's paid her dues. She doesn't want anything to
do with Haynes men and who can blame her?" Nash understood the logic, but he wasn't sure he
agreed with it. The sons were very different from
the father. But if she'd left without a word...he
could see why they wouldn't want to be the ones to
make the first move.
“What is biology and what isn't?"
Austin
asked,
speaking for the first time. "None of us have figured
that out."
“
True enough," Travis said. "How much of our
father makes us who we are? Why, after three generations of womanizers, did my brothers and I fi
nally figure out how to have successful relation
ships?"
“
It wasn't easy," Craig said. "I made a mistake
my first time out and I have the divorce to prove
it.
“
Me, too," Travis said. "But once I met
Eliza
beth
, everything fell into place."
Jordan
looked toward the house. "Finding the
right woman makes all the difference in the world."
“I know that," Kevin said with a conviction Nash
envied. After years of playing the field, of never
wanting to settle down, he'd finally fallen in love.
Nash suddenly wanted to ask them how they
knew for sure. How could any one woman be the
right one? When he and Tina had been dating he'd
never thought of her as right or wrong. She was
someone he was seeing. When she'd pushed to take
things to the next level, he'd agreed. When she'd
demanded marriage, he'd considered his options and
had finally proposed. But had she been the right
one? He doubted it.
“
Now we're old boring married men," Craig
said. "Kids, mortgages, steady jobs and great
wives."
Travis held up his beer. "Here's to not changing
a thing."
The men clinked cans. Nash joined in, but he
knew he didn't have anything to toast. Did he want
his life to stay exactly the same? Two weeks ago he
would have said yes, that he had all he wanted.
Now, after spending time with Stephanie, he wasn't so sure. She'd reminded him that there was more to
living than simply showing up every day. Partici
pation was required, and he'd been going out of his
way to avoid that.
The back door of the house opened and dozens of kids spilled out onto the lawn. The women fol
lowed, several holding cakes, others with plates of
cookies or cartons of ice cream. Stephanie had
plates, forks and spoons in her hands.
He watched her move, watched the easy way she
walked and how she smiled when Adam and Jason
came running up. She bent down and said something
to them. They laughed, responded, then turned to
ward him.
Adam spotted him first. He pointed and the twins
raced toward him. He had just enough time to set
his can of beer on the grass, out of harm's way before both boys plowed into him. Jason hung on to
one leg while Adam wrapped his arms around his
neck.
“
Mom said we can have ice cream with our
cake," Jason announced with glee.
Adam ducked his head. "She said I could have a corner piece. Are you having cake, Nash?”
“Absolutely."
“
Then come on."
Each twin grabbed a hand and tried to pull him
to his feet. He shifted his weight and stood. As he
glanced over their heads he saw Kevin watching
him. His brother's expression was knowing.
Nash wanted to stop and say something. That
whatever Kevin was thinking, he was wrong. Nash
didn't have it bad—he didn't have it at all. This time
with Stephanie was a pleasant distraction, but little
else. It couldn't be more...not when he considered
the price he would pay for taking another chance on getting involved.
The boys didn't settle down immediately. It took
three tries and several threats to finally get them into
bed and the lights off. Stephanie closed Brett's door
and headed for her living room where Nash was
waiting for her. She sank down next to him on the
sofa.
“
We're going to have to give it a little time," she
said. "I'm pretty sure they're down for the night,
but they may take a while to fall asleep."
“So we'll talk until they do." She angled toward him so she could stare at his
handsome face. "Halfway decent in bed and he likes
to talk," she teased. "How did I get so lucky?"
“
It's a question you must ask yourself every
morning."
She laughed. "Surprisingly I have other things on
my mind when I get up."
“I am surprised. You shouldn't be thinking about anything but how good I make you feel."
Actually that was the first thing on her mind, but
she wasn't about to admit that to him. Not when he
was already so confident about his abilities in the bedroom. Not that he had reason to be anything but
impressed with himself. Lord knows he made her
entire being tingle.
“
I had a good time tonight," she said. "You have
a great family."
“
I agree. I still have trouble believing they've
been out there all this time, and I never knew about them."
“
I used to dream about finding out I had a big
family," she admitted. "I wanted aunts and uncles and lots and lots of cousins. Especially at the holi
days.
It
was always really quiet at our house. My
parents surfaced from their work enough to remem
ber it was Christmas or my birthday, but they never
really participated. I remember they used to give me
board games as presents, but then never take the
time to play with me. I used to try playing both sides myself, but it wasn't very much fun." Nash's eyes darkened. "That's sad."
She held up a hand. "Don't look stricken. I re
covered. I'm just saying more kids around would
have been really nice. At least you always had
Kevin."
“Not just him, but Gage and Quinn, too. We were,
always over at each other's houses. Gage, Kevin and
I are the same age and Quinn is only a year younger, so we hung out all the time. Our moms were friends,
as well." He leaned his head back on the sofa cush
ion. "We used to say we were like brothers. Ironi
cally, that turned out to be true."
“
Where is the mysterious Quinn?" she asked. "I
keep hearing about him, but I've yet to see him."
“
He works for the government. Some secret
branch of the military. His work takes him around
the world and he's not always accessible. Gage left
a message and as soon as he gets it, he'll show up."
“
He sounds a little dangerous. Why am I pictur
ing a guy all in black and carrying really big guns."
“I don't know, but that sounds like Quinn."
She shivered. "Not my kind of guy. Was he scary when you were growing up?"
“
Not scary, but a bit of an outsider. He and his
dad didn't get along." Nash frowned. "I guess
Ralph isn't really his father anymore. Not biologi
cally." He looked at her. "Ralph and Edie couldn't
have kids of their own. It's a complicated story."
“
I think it's great that their mom helped out your
mom when she was abandoned by her own family.
Even if you and your brother didn't know you were
related to Gage and Quinn, you still got to grow up
as close friends."
“
I'm glad Edie was a caring person. My mom
was in a hell of a bad situation." He shook his head. "Barely eighteen, with babies. What kind of parents
would throw their daughter out of the house under
those conditions? Edie was really there for her."
He reached out and covered her hand with his.
"Who's there for you, Stephanie?"
The question surprised her. "I have friends. In a
pinch they would come through."
“What about on a day-to-day basis?"
“
Unfortunately there aren't a lot of people lining
up to play second string," she admitted. "But I do
okay."
“Is okay good enough?" This line of conversation could lead to very dan
gerous territory, she thought. Dangerous and tempt
ing. While she might not mind fantasizing about
Nash stepping in to provide backup, reality was very different, and she had to remember to keep the two worlds separate.
“
Hard question to answer, as I don't have a
choice in the matter." She squeezed his fingers.
"Hey, let's change the subject. Your entire respon
sibility for me consists of pleasing me in bed. Noth
ing more."
•
He studied her as if he wanted to say more, then nodded.
“
They were talking about our father tonight," he
said. "Earl Haynes was something of a bastard."
“
I've heard bits of gossip over the past few
years."
“
He slept around and didn't seem to care about
his wife or sons. All the brothers worry that they'll
turn out like him."
“
From what I've seen, none of them have. Are
you worried, too?" He shrugged.
She leaned close. "You can let that one go.”
“
Why? How do you know I'm different? I'm
sleeping with you."
“
Yes, but that's simply proof of your excellent
taste."
The corners of his mouth curved up. "You
think?"
“I know." They were close enough that she could inhale the
scent of him and feel his heat. Wanting flooded her,
but she didn't act on the need. Part of it was she
wanted to give the boys a few more minutes to fall
asleep, and part of it was how much she liked the
anticipation. After so many years of chaste living, it
was fun to suddenly feel like a sex kitten.
“
Having the information about your father means
that you get to make informed choices," she said.
"You know what to look out for."
“
One of your choices was staying with Marty,"
he said. "Was it a good one?"
She sighed. "As far as my sons are concerned,
yes. I wouldn't give them up for anything. But as
far as making me personally happy in my marriage,
no. Marty wasn't a good choice."
He reached out and stroked her cheek. "Are you
okay? Financially?"
“
Didn't we already have this conversation?" she
asked.
“Yes and you didn't answer the question."
“
Let me guess. You're not going to let it go until
I do, right?"
He nodded.
She knew she could shut him down by pointing
out that none of this was his business. But Nash
wasn't asking out of anything but concern. Although
she had no clue what he would do if he thought she
was in need. Offer her a low-interest loan?
The thought was mildly amusing, but not much
of a distraction. Was she going to tell him the truth
or not?
She settled on the truth because she'd never been
a very good liar.