Worth the Risk_ A Contemporary - Megan Hart Page 0,9

"When you are."

"They'll probably all be inside...waiting." She made no move to open the car door and get out. Laila leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, gathering her strength.

"C'mon," Hal said. "They can't be that bad."

"You'll see," Laila said.

Hal's response was gentle. "Not if we don't get in there."

He was right. She opened one eye to peek at him. "I hope LoveMatch is paying you enough to get through this week."

"It will be my pleasure, I'm sure."

His reply could have sounded smarmy or insincere, but Laila found herself believing him. His words sent another warm tingle through her. Despite the way he seemed to attract destruction, she was very glad she'd picked him instead of muscle-bound Rick.

They got out of the car together and stared up the short but steep flight of stairs to the wraparound front porch. In warmer weather, it would be nice to sit on the rockers up there, but Laila shivered at the thought of sitting outside tonight. It was getting downright cold.

Laila led the way, readying herself for the onslaught she expected as soon as they stepped through the etched glass doors. I love my family, she reminded herself. And they meant well. And she didn't want to disappoint them, which was why she was why she'd hired Hal in the first place. So why did she feel so guilty?

Just before they entered the hotel, Hal tucked her hand into his. Before she had time to feel uncomfortable with the sudden, intimate contact, he'd tugged her forward. Inside.

"Laila, bubbeleh!" Bubbe Esther rose from where she'd been holding court in the luxuriously appointed lobby. "You made it!"

"Finally," said Laila's brother Eli from his place at the bar. He tipped a mug of what Laila knew had to be cider toward her. "We've been waiting dinner on you for hours!"

"Hush," Laila's mother Irene scolded her oldest child. "She's here now."

"Come in, come in," called Zayde Saul from Esther's side. "Warm yourselves up.It's colder than a witch's you-know-what out there."

Even though her other siblings and their families weren't there, the crowd seemed overwhelming. For a fleeting moment, Laila wanted to turn and run. She'd never make them believe Hal was her fiancé, and she'd disappoint them all. Then Hal slipped his hand from hers and put his arm around her shoulders. Squeezing her. Giving her unspoken support.

"And so, who's this handsome man with you, huh?" Esther demanded regally. She tipped her head to look over her glasses at him. "Introduce us already."

"Bubbe, Mom, everyone," Laila said. "This is David Mulder, my--my--" That was it. She was choking on the words.

"I'm the lucky man Laila has agreed to marry," Hal said smoothly. He stepped forward to shake Saul Alster's hand. Laila's grandfather returned the shake with a hearty clap on Hal's shoulder.

Her family swarmed around him, descending on him like the biblical plague of locusts. Hal shook hands, endured teasing comments and generally made his way through the massive group by smiling and nodding. Watching him, Laila began to breathe easier. It was going to be all right. Hal was charming them already.

"I'm glad you finally brought your mystery man to meet us. Mom and I were beginning to think you'd invented him." Laila's sister Ruth smiled to show she was just teasing and gave her a one-armed squeeze. She nodded toward Hal, now being grilled by their brother, Michael, and his wife, Hannah.

Laila's laugh was brief. "As if!"

Ruth shrugged. "Well, I'm just glad you brought him. It's going to be a great week! The kids are all so anxious to meet their new uncle."

Like the kids have a clue, Laila thought, but fondly. Ruth's two boys Henry and Noah were four and six respectively. Even as she thought their names, they hurtled themselves from across the room toward her.

"Aunt Laila!"

She rocked backward from the force of their enthusiastic greeting then knelt to hug and kiss them both. "You smell like chlorine."

"We were swimming," Henry said solemnly.

Noah grinned, showing missing spaces where he'd lost teeth. "The pool is just the coolest, Aunt Laila! It's got buckets that fill up and pour out right on your head!"

"Sounds fun," she said and grabbed each of them for another kiss and hug.

"We're starving," Henry told her. "You taked forever to get here."

"Now you sound like Uncle Eli." Laila ruffled each boy's head and stood again. "Go find your cousins."

Noah wrinkled his nose. "Oh, those girls."

Laila laughed and tweaked his nose. When the boys rushed off, Hal suddenly appeared by