Read Online One in a Million by Susan Mallery - Free Book Online Page A

assumed there would be children in his future, but when he thought about them they were vague shadows playing on the field at some sporting event. Not real people. Not like Stephanie's kids.
    Thinking about Brett, Adam and Jason reminded him of the previous evening. He'd enjoyed helping with homework and staying for dinner. The boys were a lot of fun, each with a distinct personality.
    Brett was still waiting to accept him, but Nash re spected that. Jason was ready to charm the world while Adam was shyer. As for Stephanie...
    Better not to go there, he told himself. As it was, he'd had a restless night filled with erotic dreams of his hostess. He couldn't remember the last time he'd awakened so damn hard. Not since he was a teen ager and in the throes of adolescent hormones. Back then he'd had lots of desire but little knowledge about what was supposed to happen between a man and a woman. Now he knew exactly what he wanted to do to and with Stephanie, should he ever get her in his bed.
    He grinned as he realized a bed wasn't required. He'd been pretty creative in his dreams. Based on what he remembered, he could happily make love with her just about anywhere. One particularly vivid nocturnal event had been of him holding her up against a wall. She'd wrapped her bare legs around him and he'd He groaned as heat and pressure poured into his groin. Determined not to arrive back at the B&B with a hard-on the size of Argentina , he concen trated on the road and forced himself to think about how the houses lining the streets would look if they were all painted green.
    The distraction nearly worked. By the time he pulled up in front of the B&B, he was no longer hard, although a dull ache lingered. It throbbed in time with his heartbeat. Experience told him it would go away... eventually.
    He climbed out of his rental car and started to ward the large house. As he walked along the path, he heard sounds coming from a small gatehouse by the driveway. The front door was open.
    Nash changed directions. When he reached the gatehouse, the faint sounds became a song on the radio. He followed the music into an empty living room in the midst of being sanded and patched. Stephanie stood in a doorway about fifteen feet away. She had a piece of sandpaper in each hand.
    That morning she'd been dressed in what he thought of as her "public" clothes. Tailored slacks, a dark pink sweater. While he'd been gone, she'd changed into jeans and a T-shirt. A scarf covered her head.
    As he watched, she reached up and rubbed at a spot well above her head. Her T-shirt rode up, ex posing a bit of stomach. Instantly his groin sprang to life. What was it about this woman and her belly? Shouldn't he be finding her breasts erotic, or even her legs?
    “ You need a ladder," he said conversationally.
    She jumped and squeaked, then glared at him. "I have to go to the grocery store in the next couple of days. I swear I'm going to swing through the pet department and buy you a collar with a bell."
    “It's not going to fit."
    “I'll put it around your wrist."
    “ You'll have to wrestle me into submission first." He'd meant the comment as a joke, but at his words, her eyes darkened and awareness sharpened her features. Tension crackled in the empty room.
    So this attraction wasn't all one-sided, he thought with satisfaction. Not that the information meant anything. Stephanie was a single mom with three kids. Which meant she wasn't exactly the kind of woman looking for a good time with no commit ment. Too bad.
    He might want her, but there was no way he would take advantage of her. He'd grown up with a single mom and he knew how hard that life could be. He wasn't there to contribute to the problem.
    He ignored the tension and the need snapping between them and pointed to the bare walls.
    “ Is this going to be the presidential suite for Se renity House?" he asked.
    Stephanie blinked slowly, as if coming out of a trance. "What? Oh. No. It's for me and the kids." He