"Pray for his health, Kate, but leave off the happiness part," Joley muttered.
Jonas threw a brotherly arm around her. "If he was your man, I wouldn't have to worry about you so much. He'd scare everyone off. Maybe I ought to bribe him."
Joley pinched him hard and shoved a cookie in his mouth. "You're such a joker, Jonas. Ha, ha, ha. Very funny."
Hannah leaned back into Jonas and instantly his arms came around her. His chin nuzzled the top of her head.
"What else is in that scrapbook?" he asked.
"My page," Elle said, shyness in her voice. "The first pictures are of you directing the wind. I love to see the power in you, your hair blowing and your arms outstretched to the sky. You glow, Hannah, and you look so feminine. Nothing makes me prouder than to see you that way. And the others are of you in the kitchen. When I come home and I'm so tired and..." She broke off, looked around at her sisters' faces and then down at her hands. "When I feel so weary that I don't think I can go on, there you are. The moment I see you, I know I'm home. That's what you represent to me, Hannah. Home. Safety. Love and acceptance."
Hannah turned her face into Jonas's chest for just a moment to brush aside the emotional tears. Elle was so quiet and rarely talked about herself or her feelings, and when she did, Hannah felt privileged. "That's such a beautiful thing to say, Elle. Thank you."
"It's the truth," Elle replied simply.
There were nods all around. "She's right, Hannah. Now that Elle brought it up, you do represent home and family for all of us," Sarah agreed.
Hannah couldn't talk so she read the letter instead.
Hannah,
Hey Goldie-locks, though I'm no writer like Kate and I sure don't have the Joley touch, I can't let another day pass without telling you how much I love you. And what you've meant to my life.
Did you know that one of my first memories is of jumping in my crib chanting Hann, Hann, Hann and knowing that you'd come running? You'd pull me up over the rails and out of the crib, hug me close and dance me around the room. When I was crying you tickled me and made me laugh. Hey, I still have the tiny penguin you gave me when I was five. It's a treasure I keep in my purse and pull out when I'm a little sad or lonely, and need a reminder of how much I'm loved. Who could forget our penguin walk and laughing until we cried? And my prom date... when I wrecked my dress and Joley fried my hair... remember how you held me tight, reassuring me that it wasn't the end of the world? Like always, you dried my tears and fixed everything better than new. You made me look like a fairytale--even though my date turned out to be a frog and not Prince Charming. Somehow you even made me laugh over that disaster. I always think of you on the catwalk, twirling under the wind and rain and night sky... you were the one who showed me the stars.
Hannah, I always knew you were there for me and more importantly that you'd understand how I was feeling. Through all these years you've been the one to help lighten the load when I started feeling the pressure of being the seventh of seven. You'd tease me and make me laugh and remind me that we're all in this together... sisters forever. Did you know that your sweet smile has always been one of the brightest spots of my life? You're brave and courageous and one of the most giving people I've ever had the privilege to know. Maybe you've never realized--I'm sorry I've never told you before how much I've always looked up to you (in every way--all puns intended) and how much your mischievous ways bring me real joy and make me laugh out loud in a world that's sometimes pretty sad. You've always been there for us, being what we needed you to be, keeping the smile strong in our hearts. Now it's your turn. Please be brave and strong just for you this time. You deserve everything good and wonderful. I love you so much.
Love,
your baby sis, Elle
Now Hannah was crying in earnest. "Elle, I love you, too. Thank you all. This was the sweetest, most thoughtful thing you could have done. I'll treasure these pages for the rest of my life." She hugged the scrapbook to her tightly.
"You're not finished," Jonas said. "I made you a page, too. This book is about things we love about you. Don't worry, I didn't put in any embarrassing pictures, because I didn't have any."
"You really made me a page?" She turned her face up to his, her heart lurching.
"Of course I did. I put a mixture of my favorite pictures up, there's one or two that really matter, but mostly there're ones with animals. I know you love dogs, even though you don't have one of your own."
"It wouldn't be fair. I'm never home long enough to spend time with a pet. Sarah's dogs love me, though."
She opened the scrapbook to Jonas's page. There was a small silence as she stared at the series of pictures of Hannah and Jeanette Harrington dressed in 1920 vintage clothes. She recalled that afternoon vividly. She'd been invited for tea and Hannah had found a closet filled with spectacular clothes. She looked at the pictures, trying to see through the tears in her eyes. She was so little with curls everywhere, wrapped in a too-long coat with a band and peacock feathers on her head. She was holding Mrs. Harrington's hand.
She blinked rapidly to clear the tears, focused on the masculine scrawl on the next page, and in spite of the lump in her throat, burst out laughing. "'Reasons Why Hannah Should Marry Jonas,'" she read the title out loud.
"I've listed them all." He pointed to the long column. "Joley made me put reasons why you shouldn't, and as you can see, there're very few and they're lame."
"Lame?" Joley echoed. She jabbed her finger at the first one. "That's reason enough. I'm next in line for the big fall and it's your duty to protect me by staying unmarried forever. And..." She glared at Jonas. "I put stars by the next one and three exclamation points."
Jonas peered over Hannah's shoulder. "She did that after I was finished, the little sneak. I am not arrogant and bossy. I am charming."
Hannah choked and her sisters whooped with laughter. Joley and Elle fell over holding their stomachs. Libby tried to maintain her composure, but even she succumbed, laughing with her sisters.
"You've all lost your minds," he said with great dignity. "Not that I was ever certain you had minds in the first place." He grabbed another handful of cookies for comfort, and when Hannah doubled over laughing, he leaned down, swept her hair out of the way and attacked her neck in retaliation, leaving a very large red mark. Satisfied, he went into the kitchen looking for something more substantial to eat, leaving the women to sober up.
Chapter Sixteen
"JONAS! Jonas, come down here," Sarah called from just outside the door.
Jonas muttered an insulting protest loud enough for her to quit knocking. When he heard Sarah's footsteps fading down the hall, he rolled over, taking most of the covers with him, groaning as the sun hit his face through the French doors. "Baby, we're being summoned."
"You're being summoned, not me," Hannah said. "I'm still asleep." Not that she'd gotten any sleep with Jonas stroking little caresses down her spine all night.
Lying in bed beside Jonas without touching him had been a lesson in frustration. He'd certainly taken every opportunity to touch her, leaving her mood edgy and her body hypersensitive. She couldn't count how many times his hands had slid over her bottom. His pillow had somehow managed to be the exact height as her breasts, so he'd spent a great deal of time breathing warm air over her nipples, his mouth inches from her straining flesh.
In desperation, and to keep from begging, she'd turned over, keeping her back to him, and he'd immediately curled his body around hers, pressing his thick erection tightly against her butt while his hand tucked very naturally right beneath her breast. Just as she thought she might drift off, his hand would move, his knuckles skimming the underside of her breast, and a jolt of lightning would sizzle through her entire system and her muscles would clench. She had never felt so wound up, pulsing with heat and desire, in her life.
It was enough to make any woman crabby and Hannah was no saint. She lifted her head to look at him. "Go away and let me sleep." She hadn't slept for ten minutes. "Y
ou were supposed to be restful and hold the nightmares at bay."
His grin was slow and sexy. He leaned over and brushed kisses back and forth over her lips. "Then I did my job. You didn't have nightmares. Don't forget we're going to sneak out tonight. I've got to go to the office and do a little work. I'm running the tapes again of the crowd. Jackson's trying to find out if anyone's turned up missing."
"Just a regular day on the job. Find out who's trying to kill your girlfriend." She tasted the word and it felt strange. Girlfriend. She'd never been anyone's girlfriend. "Does that make you my boyfriend?" She laughed softly at his expression.
"I'm no boy, Hannah, I'm a manly man."
Her laughter bumped up a notch. "A charming manly man."
"Laugh away, baby." He rolled on top of her, capturing both wrists and slamming them to the mattress on either side of her head. "But I'm going to remember and take my retribution."
At his suddenly aggressive action, her heart beat triple time and her entire body sang. He had her so primed with his all-night touching that her blood was pounding in her veins and pooling low and wicked in her body. His legs nudged hers aside so that his hips fit between her thighs. He tugged at her earlobe with his teeth, licked the pulse beating in her neck and kissed the very bright strawberry mark he'd left there the night before.
She could almost see the electricity arcing between them. She certainly felt it. She stared up at his hot, seductive mouth and felt weak just looking at him. Incredibly, she could taste him and all he was doing was looking at her, his hungry gaze drifting possessively over her face. A rush of liquid heat pooled low and wicked in her body in response. When his sinful mouth settled on hers, she forgot all about body image and the reasons why she wasn't going to make love with Jonas Harrington.
She wrapped her arms around him, her lips melting under his, her hands finding his hair and dragging him closer. Flashes of fire whipped through her body, as his tongue stroked along hers with demand. Sexually, there was nothing hesitant about Jonas. He took what he wanted and he made certain she wanted it, too.
"Good morning," he murmured.
She swallowed hard, absorbing the dark lust in his voice. There was something intoxicating about the sound, rough and husky and seductive, that crawled down her spine, made her breasts ache and sent muscles, already slick and hot, clenching with need. She could barely breathe through the arousal, her inner thighs so sensitive that when he moved, she felt the walls of her most feminine core begin to pulse and ripple in response.
"Jonas, really, I'm sorry to bother you, but you have a phone call. Pick up," Sarah insisted.
He'd been so far gone he hadn't even heard the telephone ring. Still lying over her, he reached lazily for the phone. "Harrington."
"Duncan Gray, Jonas. This is a secure line. I wanted to keep you informed that Boris Tarasov tried to rescue his brother two nights ago. They knew where he was being held and when we were transferring him. In the gun battle, he was shot and is in critical condition."
"The traitor?"
"Not yet, but I'm narrowing it down."
"Thanks for the information, Duncan."
Hannah blinked up at him as he hung up the phone. "What was that all about?"
"An old case, nothing important." He trailed kisses down the side of her face to the corner of her mouth.
"Are you sure? Your worry lines are back."
"Are they? Not over that case. The perp's in custody and it has nothing to do with me anymore. I'm out of that line of work for good." And he was. For the first time he realized hearing Duncan Gray's voice hadn't made him feel guilty. Hadn't made him feel as if he needed to go out and rid the world of evil. He was a man with a woman he treasured, and being with her, making certain she was safe, his family was safe, was enough for him. He could be the sheriff and come home at night and be satisfied.
He grinned at Hannah. "I'm happy, baby, and you did that all by yourself."
Sarah thumped on the door again. "Jonas! Jackson's already here to pick you up. He says you've got some big meeting you're late for." She gave the door one more hard smack. "And I'm not coming back up here. I'm not your messenger."
Jonas sighed, brushed another kiss over Hannah's trembling lips, his teeth tugging at her intriguing lower lip. "Thanks, Sarah. I'll be right there." He pushed up into a sitting position, the muscles on his back rippling beneath his skin. "I'll be home this evening to pick you up, baby. I'll sneak you out of here and we'll have a good time. Don't think about things too much. Just rest. Libby said you need lots of rest."
Without warning he turned back to her, pushed up her tank top, exposing her soft stomach and the crisscrossing lines made by the knife, bent his head and pressed a kiss just below her belly button. His tongue felt like a velvet rasp as he traced one of the lines leading downward into the pajama bottoms riding low on her hips.
Hannah gasped, her stomach muscles bunching, and between her thighs, the damp heat sizzled and sparked, demanding satisfaction.
His smile was sheer confidence, his eyes intense with desire, his mouth touched with a dark lust. "I'll see you tonight, baby." There was seduction in his voice, a rough promise of excitement.
Hannah rolled over, taking the covers with her, hiding her head and trying to slow her breathing as his footsteps faded away. Jonas Harrington could stir up more passion in her in three seconds than any other man could take a night doing.
Hannah groaned and sat up, her body humming, her breasts too sensitive, and the ache between her legs growing stronger as she thought about him. So, okay. She might have to revise her thinking a little.
Downstairs she could hear her sisters moving around and she squared her shoulders. Today was going to be different. Today she was going to act normal and make good decisions based on what she wanted to do, not what she thought everyone wanted from her. Today was going to be the start of the new Hannah Drake.
HANNAH spent the better part of the morning and afternoon assuring her sisters she was capable of doing housework and cooking. She found that Libby was right in that she seemed to have less energy and often had to rest, but as soon as she could, she got back up and did normal household chores, interacting with her sisters as much as possible.
She planned dinner for her siblings, even though she knew Jonas was taking her on an evening picnic. Most of the day she managed to keep from thinking constantly about the attack. Before it had consumed her every waking thought, but she was happy that she managed to replace the dread and fear with anticipation of seeing Jonas and the idea that she might actually be brave enough to seduce him.
All the while, she was aware the reporters and the crowd hadn't gone away. It was a little thinner, she thought, but she could hear Reverend RJ shouting and once, when she glanced out the window, she saw that he'd climbed on a small step stool and was waving his arms around as he delivered his sermon in his theatrical voice.
"Hey, woman, you're mooning around again," Joley said. "You're looking lovesick and that's just wrong. I can't take it, Hannah." She made a face at the contents of the refrigerator. "If you actually fall madly in love with Jonas, what's going to happen to me? And Elle? You said you weren't about to fall like our older sisters. We made a pact, remember?"
"Get out of the fridge. I'm making you dinner." Hannah closed the heavy door and leaned against it. "I did make the pact with you and Elle, but I didn't think I had a chance with Jonas. I didn't think he was interested."
Joley rolled her eyes. "I love you, Hannah, but when it comes to men, you don't know a thing."
"And you do?"
"I know enough to stay away from them. What in the heck is all that racket outside?" She was already heading for the living room, where she could peer out the large picture window.
Sarah glanced up from the magazine she was reading. "Come away from there, you don't want to give any of them the satisfaction."
"That horrible man, the Reverend something, is out there in front of the cameras again, Sarah," Joley hissed,
her teeth clenched. "Can't Jonas have him arrested?"
"For what? Preaching? That would look lovely on the news. He'd lose his job, the Reverend would sue and get even more publicity. Right now he's just soaking up the press and they're so bored out there they'll do anything at all for a story."
Joley's eyebrow shot up. "You think?"
"I know." Sarah lowered her magazine when Joley's tone got through to her. "What are you thinking, Joley? Don't do anything crazy." When Joley ignored her and continued to look out the window, Sarah put the magazine on the table beside her tea, really alarmed. "Hannah," she called, sticking her head in the kitchen. "Joley's up to something and you're going to have to stop her. She never listens to anyone else."
Hannah dried her hands on a towel and followed Sarah. "What's wrong, hon? And come away from the window before a photographer gets a picture of you."
Joley shrugged. "What's one more photograph? At least this time it will be for a good cause. That idiot Reverend is out there using the attack on you to preach to everyone about the consequences of sin."
Hannah went still. "He's talking about me? Are you sure? Where's Jonas?"
Sarah wrapped her arm around Hannah's slender waist. "There's no need to worry. He doesn't appear to be interested in coming in here to talk to any of us. He wants his moment in the sun with the television cameras and the press."
Hannah moistened her lower lip with her tongue. "He's slime, Joley, not a real preacher. He started his own church for the purpose of conning people out of their money and sleeping with every woman in his sick little flock. He's disgusting. I know, because I touched him. I felt dirty for a week. You stay away from him, Joley."
"Is Jonas aware of what the Reverend is like?" Sarah asked.