Wife by Agreement

Hannah flushed as the implication of his words sank in. 'I think you've misread the situation,' she said stiffly.

'It happens,' he agreed with an easy shrug. 'But the offer stands,' he said firmly.

Going back to her room, Hannah reflected ruefully that it was lucky Ethan hadn't heard the conversation. She could imagine he just might take exception to the idea that his wife needed protecting—especially if it was him she needed protecting from!

She'd knocked the bedside light over trying to switch it on. The lamp lay on the floor, its shade at a crazy angle, casting shadows over the deep blue carpet.

Her cream cotton nightshirt was wet with perspiration and she was shaking. It wasn't the first tune she'd had the nightmare of being trapped in the car with Craig, but it was the worst.

Her breathing was just calming when the door burst open and their blond-haired guest appeared. His blue eyes swept the room suspiciously before he moved inside.

'What are you doing?' she asked, surprisingly unalarmed by the intrusion.

'You yelled.'

'Sorry about that. I had a nightmare.'

'So I see.' He bent to pick up the lamp from the floor.

'Why the hell did you lock the door, Hannah?' Ethan's eyes narrowed into slits when he saw the well- built and scantily dressed figure of Drew Cummings. I’m sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for the fact you're in my wife's bedroom at one a.m.' The soft hostility in his voice was more threatening than any raised voice might have been. 'I suggest you share it— now!'

Broad-shouldered and lean-hipped, Ethan was wearing light silk shorts which did nothing to disguise the athletic power of his tall frame. Hannah felt forbidden stirrings just looking at him. Feelings that had been quite absent when she'd looked at Drew, even though they were similarly attired. Sexual chemistry certainly didn't follow any logical pattern.

To give him his due, Drew didn't recoil from the dark suspicion in Ethan's voice. The edgy atmosphere was heavy with the threat of imminent violence.

'She yelled out. I'm a light sleeper.'

Hannah knew she hadn't imagined the warning held in this statement.

'Are you all right, Hannah?' Ethan's hard glance flicked in her direction.

'Just a nightmare. Thank you, Drew, but I'm fine now.' Please let him go before things get really silly! Considering the fact that until recently the only male who had ventured across her threshold had been a three-year-old child, it occurred to her that she was taking two virile, extremely attractive men circling each other with wary aggression quite calmly.

Drew's blue eyes rested on Ethan with a less than friendly expression. 'If you say so.'

'I do.' She gave a sigh of relief as he departed. She whistled softly and sank back against the pillows.

'What was all that about?' Ethan asked, closing the door firmly behind him.

'He appears to think I need protecting.'

'From what?'

'You, I imagine,' she confessed as a bubble of inappropriate laughter rose up in her throat.

'And how did he get that impression?'

'Don't look at me, I didn't say a word. It might have something to do with first impressions,' she mused, throwing him a wry look.

'I don't like being looked at as if I'm a wife-beater,' he growled, in an outraged tone.

'Any more than I like being looked at like a victim. Shall we stop the conversation right there while we're in unexpected harmony?' Her eyes widened in alarm as he sat on the edge of the bed. The light thrown out by the small lamp shadowed the strong curves of his back, highlighting the shift of muscles as he moved. His skin looked so smooth, almost oiled; she wondered what it would be like to rub oil into the hard contours.

'I don't like him.'

'I'd never have guessed.'

'What do you suppose would have happened if I hadn't walked in when I did?'

'You obviously have a theory—do share it,' she urged, propping her chin on her hands. 'I'm all ears.'

'I doubt if it's your ears he's interested in. Prowling around half naked,' he said sourly.

'Like you.' This provocative little jibe earned her a savage glare. She widened her eyes with an innocent confusion that made him grind his teeth audibly. The confusion wasn't entirely faked: she'd let her eyes dwell on the firm contours of his lean, tanned body for longer than was good for her.

'This is my house.'

'This is my bedroom.'

'You're very territorial all of a sudden.'

'I'm very popular all of a sudden,' she countered drily. It was difficult to be flattered when she knew from experience to what lengths Ethan was willing to go to safeguard his children's happiness.

'I find it bloody perverse that you're willing to give a total stranger the benefit of the doubt, but you attach the basest motives possible to everything I do.'