“Sorry, ma’am,” he said, a flush turning his skin a dark brown. “I meant to say that you haven’t got a bra on.”
She shook her head, resolved to ignore him and the others.
Marnie set a cup of coffee in front of her. Hannah picked it up, wondering if she could pour it down the pilot’s throat instead. Time was running thin.
The older woman grinned, mirth lighting her dark eyes. “I can see why my boys are interested in you. You can handle yourself, girl. But I’m sorry to tell you that unless you like boxer shorts in an extra large, you’re out of luck. And I definitely don’t stock bras, although the way some of these men have gained weight, a few of them might need a little support.”
“It’s my thyroid, Marnie,” a particularly large man said as he crossed his arms and hunched his shoulders as though trying to hide his chest.
Marnie’s eyes rolled. “Roughnecks. Suddenly, they’re so sensitive. Now, which of my boys is giving you trouble? I bet it’s Gavin. Unless you’re leaving over the underwear thing. Then I’d say that’s either Dex or Slade. I like my briefs, to tell you the truth. I don’t think I could give them up.”
Hannah could probably live without the underwear, though she’d intended to fight them on the bra issue. She also needed to figure out how to get the plug out of her bottom. It was still there, a subtle reminder every time she moved of the pleasures she’d be missing now that she’d left those perverted, wonderful men. “It’s just…Gavin isn’t interested in me.” Marnie’s dark eyes turned shrewd. “I doubt that. I know him. I’ve been worried about him for the last ten years. When I heard he’d brought a woman here, I was so damn happy. Now that I’ve met you, I’m even happier. You’re what he needs. I’m guessing you’re already involved with Slade and Dex, while Gavin is being the stubborn holdout.” Hannah flushed. “You’re perceptive.”
“Well, sweetie, men don’t usually give edicts about whether a woman can wear delicates unless they’re involved, and I know Slade and Dex have been looking for a woman to share for a long time.”
“That’s a way of life around these parts, Miss,” the large man with the thyroid issue said with a big smile. “We ain’t got a lot of women here. We have to share. And if the James boys are only offering you three men, well, me and my brothers are willing to offer you five.”
“Not really a selling point,” Hannah said, unable to keep the horror from her voice. What on earth would she do with five men? Most likely, she would go crazy. The amount of cooking and laundry alone would make her suicidal.
“Don’t mind them.” Marnie reached out and covered Hannah’s hand with her own. “So you say Gavin doesn’t want you?”
Tears threatened. “Yes. He’s made it clear that I’m not good enough for him.”
“Horse pucky,” Marnie replied. “He’s been on a path to self-destruction for years. Ask yourself why he brought you here if he isn’t interested.”
“Well, I seem to have some sort of stalker…”
Marnie shrugged. “Dex’s area of expertise. That don’t require Gavin being here.” Good point. Hannah hadn’t considered that. Everything lately had been such a whirlwind.
The time to think between all those orgasms had been short.
Why would Gavin need to be here? The trouble at the site was either computer or mechanical. That was Slade’s end of the business. Dex was security, and he’d taken the lead on working with the Lenox brothers, as well as looking into the malicious virus at the River Run office. Gavin didn’t need to be here at all. Had he come simply because he wanted to?
“You might be right.”
“’Course I am.” A satisfied smile crossed Marnie’s face. “I talked to him yesterday. He always calls me when he’s coming in. I asked him what he was doing here, and he did that sputtering thing that men do when they can’t really explain themselves. I’ll bet Dex and Slade could have handled everything. Gavin should probably be in Dallas, but he chose to come here with you.”
“What you’re saying makes sense, but he pushed me away, Marnie. He said some really ugly things.”
“Men don’t always make the best decisions when it comes to admitting they’re in love. Stop thinking about what he said. Start thinking about how he’s treated you since you met him. That’s what his heart is telling you, even if his mouth is lying.”
How had Gavin treated her? She’d been so hurt by his slurs that she’d almost forgotten everything else between them.
He’d trusted her with a job she hadn’t been entirely qualified for. He’d been patient and kind while she learned. When she’d been rear-ended on the freeway, she’d called Gavin to let him know she would be late to work. Minutes later, he’d appeared at the scene, just as the police were taking her statement. He’d lifted all the responsibility off her shoulders, including getting her car towed and driving her to work while it was in the shop.
Gavin didn’t do that for all his employees.
She also bet he hadn’t put his last secretary on his piano and made love to her like he was a dying man and she was the only one who could save him. She could be pregnant with his child right now…and a part of her didn’t hate that idea. At the time, all she’d been able to think about was getting closer to him. Because she loved him. Maybe Gavin had been under the same spell.
And maybe she was making excuses for him because the alternative hurt too badly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Hannah said with a sad sigh. “He might have feelings for me, but he won’t face them.”
And she wouldn’t come between him and his brothers. Her own family had been so fractured that she couldn’t stand being the reason Slade, Dex, and Gavin fought.
Would Slade and Dex accept her goodbye? She doubted it. They would probably be on the next plane to Texas once they figured out she’d gone. They would hunt her down. Because they loved her.
Was it too late? Had she already come between them and Gavin? Was she giving up Dex and Slade for nothing?