She ran her palms along the collar of his slate-gray dress shirt. “I’m sure you say that to all the accountants you hire.”
She fluttered her eyelashes and her lips parted. He had no idea if she consciously meant to invite a kiss to those sweet lips or not, but the effect was the same. Just like that, the urge to take her face in his hands and kiss her until her toes curled returned with a vengeance. Truth be told, he’d thought of little else since their dinner the night before besides touching her, kissing her. About finding out if the experience was as decadent as he recalled in his fuzzy memory of their one-night stand.
Drawing a sharp breath, he peeled away from her touch and walked to the balcony door, his back to her and his hands in his pants pockets. “Not every accountant, no. Just to the mothers of my children.” He cringed. So much for that smooth charm of his that she kept pointing out. “That didn’t come out right.”
Her footsteps sounded in approach. “Maybe we’re both a little anxious about dinner with your family.”
Actually, he’d forgotten all about that when he’d had her in his arms. “That must be it, but there’s no reason for you to be nervous. Because of course they’re going to be taken with you, like my dad and Jack already are.”
Then her hand was on his shoulder blade. He flinched and locked his knees, lest he spin around and take her in his arms once more. Actually, forget taking her in his arms. He wanted to seize hold of her hips and push her up against the wall, caging her between his arms as he plundered her mouth with his tongue and lips. She was so bold and so full of passion, he had a feeling she preferred her lovemaking with an edge of roughness, even if he could only give it to her like that just a little, because of the baby.
“Your dad’s so sweet and funny,” she said, cutting into his wayward thoughts. “I had a great time at the office with him today, learning the job.”
Shaking off the vision in his imagination of the two of them locked together as he took her against the wall, he turned to face her, not sure how he’d stop himself from enacting his vision if she had that come-hither look on her face again. “I just hope my brothers can keep their inappropriate jokes to a minimum. Sometimes, when we all get together, things get a little rowdy.”
She chuckled at that.
“What?”
“It makes me smile to imagine a rowdy, happy family get-together. My own family dinners were always such solemn affairs. My mom used to say we had to be quiet because it was easier to hear God that way. But I always had the sinking suspicion that their marriage was so unhappy that they preferred the quiet to having conversations with each other.”
“Sounds like my parents’ dysfunctional marriage.”
“I don’t want that for myself,” she said. “That was a promise I made to myself a long time ago. Never to get trapped in a loveless marriage like them.”
“Same with me. Life’s too precious to spend it with the wrong person.” He hesitated for a moment, then added, “I do have to warn you that my dad will probably bring it up tonight that you and I should get married.”
Her smile turned impish. “He already asked me about it today.”
Brett rolled his eyes. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. You and I have a plan to be parenting partners, and it’s none of anybody else’s business how we go about that.”
Smart, funny, bold, proud, sweet, sexy... Brett’s head was swimming with adjectives to describe the inimitable Hannah Grayson. She was strong in a way that made him feel stronger, and so funny and generous of spirit that he didn’t think he’d ever smiled so much in his life. Get a grip, man. She might be strong, but she was also vulnerable—pregnant and depending on him for a roof over her head, a job and support—and he was hell-bent on sticking to the role of her protector and partner, rather than her seducer.
He reached for her hand and tucked it in the crook of his elbow. “Let’s get going. Edith isn’t a fan of tardiness.”
Chapter 8
The dining room had been transformed from a mood of soft, candlelit romance the previous night into a bright, festive party atmosphere, the lights turned up, the table decked out in teal, silver and black, from the tablecloth to place settings to the artistically scattered baubles and candles adorning the center.
From Hannah’s hasty count as she and Brett entered, six members of the family were already present, including a little boy who had to be Brett’s nephew, Seth, Jack and Big J.
“There she is, my new accounting wizard!” Big J’s boisterous voice hushed all other conversations. “Hannah, get on over here so I can gush to my boys about what an asset you’re going to be to our business.”
Brett’s head cocked to the side to send her a look full of warmth and pride as he guided her to Big J and the circle of people around him.
Hannah blushed, of course, a ridiculous reflex to praise, and one she’d tried hard to shake. Clearly, she had some work to do on that front. But even she could admit that Big J was right. She was going to be an asset to their business because it’d taken her about two-point-one seconds in the office to figure out that the ranch’s books were in disarray and that they were bleeding money every quarter due to a lack of tax planning. She had her work cut out for her, but that was fine. Nothing wrong with a little job security—even though the baby in her belly was probably all the job security she needed with the Coltons.
Brett let Big J go on and on about how he’d gotten Hannah up to speed before interrupting him in order to introduce Hannah around. Brett’s brother Ryan, a Tulsa police detective, looked so much like Brett that she did a double take. They boasted a similar muscular yet slim build and shared the same brown hair, cut short, and vibrant green eyes. But where Brett’s eyes sparkled with an unending well of charm, Ryan’s were serious, contemplative.
Daniel, Brett’s half-brother, shared a Colton essence in his facial features, but his hair was nearly as black as Hannah’s and his skin was darker. He was quiet, distant even, and stood apart from the others. It wasn’t until Brett gathered him in a hug and slapped his back that Daniel’s brown eyes warmed.
The mood in the room shifted when they heard the sound of the front door closing.
Big J clapped his hands together and gave a whoop. “Got to be my princess!”
Sure enough, women’s voices sounded, and then a young woman appeared. Hannah was hit with a surprise moment of déjà vu, Greta looked so familiar. And it wasn’t just that Colton essence or her eyes that mirrored Brett’s and the rest of the family. Hannah couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was about her. Behind Greta stood a handsome young man that Hannah assumed was her fiancé.
Big J greeted them at the entrance to the room, beaming, his arms spread wide. “Greta, Mark. Now my night is complete.” He hugged Greta, rocking a little. “I’m so glad you two made it.”
Greta kissed his cheek. “Of course we did, Daddy. Sorry we’re late. We stopped by the hospital to see Mom first. Eric was there. He sends his regrets.”
“Ah, well, he’s a busy man. So much responsibility. Any news on Abra? How did she look today?”
Greta moved farther into the room and hooked her purse over the back of a chair near the center of the table. Mark, whom Hannah assumed was her fiancé, trailed her, quiet, and looking thoroughly out of place. It wasn’t lost on Hannah that Big J didn’t greet his future son-in-law with more than a nod, and save for a handshake from Ryan, nobody else really did, either. Clearly, Greta was the star of the show.
“Eric had some good news. He said that Mom had an increase in brain activity today. That’s a really good sign, he said. He said it increases the odds of her waking up from the coma and not having brain damage.”
Big J raised his hands to heaven. “Thank goodness. We’ll take all the good news we can get.”
Greta’s eyebrows knit together as her e
yes scanned the room. “Speaking of good news.” Her gaze landed on Hannah and she strode forward, her hand extended in greeting. “You must be Hannah. I’m Greta. Congratulations on the baby and on snagging Tulsa’s most eligible bachelor.”
Greta slugged Brett in the shoulder, and that’s when it hit Hannah where she’d seen Greta before. The previous afternoon, the woman in the white dress standing in the rain near the ranch office. Except that Greta and Mark had just come into town tonight, so Hannah had to be mistaken. There were a lot of workers at the ranch, so surely some of them would have a slight resemblance to Greta from that distance and in such foul weather. She shook off the thought, though made a note to check the photograph on her phone the first chance she got.
Maria and Edith chose that moment to walk in, each pushing a tray loaded with platters of food. “Go ahead and take your seats, everyone,” Edith said. “Dinner is served.”
Big J assumed the seat at the head of the table and tucked the silver napkin into his shirt collar. When Maria set a plate of salad in front of him, he picked up a piece of lettuce and let it flutter back to the table. “This isn’t all we get, right? I know you’ve had me on a diet lately, but a man can’t survive on lettuce alone.”
Maria patted his shoulder. “I made your favorite tonight, so be patient and eat your vegetables.”
“I swear, between you, Edith and Abra, it’s like I’ve got three wives henpeckin’ me all the time. I don’t know how them polygamous fellers with all those wives stay sane.”
Brett showed Hannah to a pair of seats across from Greta and next to Daniel, leaning in as he pulled her seat out. “Pops is in rare form tonight. He loves having the whole family around.”
Hannah gave a quiet giggle. She loved how gregarious Big J was.
Edith and Maria served the remainder of the salads and were on their way out when Big J called to them. “Edith, Maria, pour yourself some champagne. I have a couple toasts to make and since you two are part of our family, you might as well stick around.”
Once Maria and Edith had full flutes in hand, Big J held up his. “First, I’d like to make a toast to the Coltons. We’ve had a rough summer so far, but I know in my heart that Abra is going to pull through and be back at this table soon. And what better news for her to wake up to than the discovery that not only is she about to be a grandmother again, but she’ll soon be having a new daughter-in-law, too, if Brett cowboys up and marries—”
Brett squirmed. “Pops, please.”
“Sorry,” he said, though his cat-eating-a-canary grin didn’t look the least bit sorry. “As I was saying, the Colton clan is about to be two more strong. Hannah, welcome to the family. And we can’t wait to meet Baby Colton come this November. Cheers.”
They clinked glasses. Hannah was filled with so much affection for this family, who’d embraced her wholeheartedly. It was everything she’d never had in her life but always wanted. Her eyes clouded with unshed tears of happiness and she leaned a little closer to Brett as she sipped her sparkling cider.
“Don’t put those glasses down yet,” Big J warned. “I have a second toast to make, this one to my lovely daughter, Greta, and her fiancé, Mark. Your engagement party didn’t go as planned, but I know your mother would want you to carry on with the wedding. Nothing is more important in this world than love. And—”
“Actually, Dad, let me stop you there,” Greta said.
Big J snorted and lowered his glass. “Can’t a man toast his family without getting interrupted these days?”
Greta set her hand over Mark’s. “We have a tough announcement to make, something we’ve given a lot of thought. We’ve decided to postpone wedding preparations until Mom is awake and better. She’s been so excited about the wedding and helping me plan it that I can’t imagine forging ahead without her.”
The room was quiet. That had to be so hard, thinking about getting married while her mother lay in a coma. Hannah didn’t blame her one bit, but Big J’s face fell.
“I don’t think that’s what your mother would want,” he said.
“I do,” Greta said gently. “And maybe knowing that I’m waiting for her will inspire her to wake up.”
Brett was the next to speak. “We understand, sis. And I’m sorry for both of you that what’s supposed to be the happiest day of your lives has become anything but.”
Greta threaded her fingers with Mark’s. “It will be the happiest day of our lives, because we’re going to wait until Mom is with us again. All that matters to us now is her waking up and making a full recovery.”
Hannah offered Greta a smile. “She will wake up. I’m sure of it. There’s so much love in this family, how could she not want to rush back into your lives as quickly as possible?”
She felt Brett stiffen. Yes, he’d told her the night before that his mother hadn’t been there for him growing up, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t change. After all, Brett’s near-death experience had opened his eyes to what was important in life. Perhaps her brush with death would do the same.
Greta dabbed her eyes with her napkin. “Thank you, Hannah. And that’s enough sadness for tonight. I want to hear more about you and Brett. How did you two meet? Dad didn’t say over the phone. I didn’t even know you were dating someone, bro.”
Brett rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, about that. I take the full blame for—”
“We met at Avid, a nightclub in downtown Tulsa,” Hannah said, cutting him off and sparing him from trying to dance around her reputation, as he’d seemed poised to do. “I’d just graduated from college and wanted to blow off steam and celebrate getting my degree. I wasn’t looking for anything more than a single night of fun and neither was Brett, so it was good that we found each other there. I know that’s not a pretty story, or sweet, but it’s real. As Big J said in his toast, you’re our baby’s family, so we have nothing to hide.”
A chill settled over the table. Brett’s backbone was ramrod straight. His hand tapped the hilt of his steak knife against the table as his narrowed gaze roved over each person there, as though daring them to say something disrespectful. They didn’t, but then again, they didn’t have to. The unmistakable disappointment in their expressions as they returned Brett’s stare got their message across loud and clear.
Hannah held her head high and kept a smile painted on her face. She was so dang tired of being judged that she’d lost all her tolerance for it. True, all the disappointment tonight was wholly directed at Brett, but even still, watching Brett’s family regard him with that same negativity that she’d suffered at the hands of her parents and their church friends—albeit to a much lesser degree—made her spitting mad. She and Brett hadn’t done anything wrong. Searching for a human connection in this crazy, harsh world, even a temporary one, was not a sin. Sex between two consenting adults was not a sin.
She covered Brett’s hand with hers, stilling the knife tapping. “This baby is going to be the happiest mistake ever. I have no regrets.” And, feeling as brazen and strong as a mother bear, she looked every one of Brett’s family members in the eye, smiling her challenge to them to be happy right along with her.
Brett gave her a sidelong glance. She wouldn’t have thought it possible, but his backbone grew even taller. His chest even puffed a little, if she wasn’t mistaken. “Neither do I,” he said with a tinge of wonderment, as though he was arriving at that conclusion as he said the words.
Tracy’s smile broadened. “As Brett reminded us a couple days ago, every baby is a blessing. We’re so excited for you two.”
“Then one more toast,” Big J said. “If you’ll keep your traps shut without interrupting me, I’ll keep it short.” He raised his flute. “To happy mistakes.”
Brett’s posture relaxed. He brought Hannah’s hand to his lips and kissed it, then took up his glass in his other hand. “To happy mistakes and new beginnings.”
* * *
The clomp of footsteps mounting the stairs that led up to the office told Hannah that her evening with Brett was over, which was a shame. They’d been poring over a draft of the horse-breeding proposal for hours, and Hannah had enjoyed every moment of it.
She and Brett worked great as a team, bouncing ideas off each other and molding his vision for the ranch into a fleshed-out business proposal. There was no way his dad and Jack could look at the projected figures that she and Brett had come up with, as well as the concrete business plan they’d articulated, and tell him no. She was sure of it.
When the door opened, they looked up from where they were sitting on either side of the desk, even though they both knew full well who would be standing there. Sure enough, Daniel tipped his hat in greeting to Hannah, then turned his attention to Brett. “Ready? I got the horses saddled.”
Hannah tapped her pen, frustrated. “I wish you two didn’t have to ride patrol tonight. The ranch has been quiet for the entire week I’ve been here.”
Brett stood and replaced his hat on his head. “Maybe that’s because the patrol is working.”
Hannah followed them to the door. “Stay safe, okay?”
“No worries there. Like you said, the ranch has been quiet.”
Sleekie, the black barn cat who’d taken a shine to her, appeared almost instantly, demanding to be petted with a series of loud meows. Hannah knelt to stroke her.
“Even still,” she called to Brett and Daniel as they walked away. “Daniel, look out for him.”
Daniel glanced at her over his shoulder as they walked toward the two saddled horses near the stable. “Always.” And for a man of few words as he seemed to be, that was as much promise as she could hope for.
She remained at the office door, letting out an appreciative hum as she watched Brett swing into the saddle. “That is one fine specimen of a man, Sleekie.”
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