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