Free Hazel and the Alien Biker (Intergalactic Brides 5) by Jessica Coulter Smith Page A

enjoy her time with Reyvor. What had she been teaching her eldest daughter? Nikki was too young to be so jaded, and Hazel knew she only had herself to blame.
    “Reyvor has asked permission to get to know us better,” Hazel told them. “He would like me to consider marriage to him, but I told him things were moving too fast. At no point did he say he didn’t want the three of you. I’d think the amount of money and time he’d spent would show you he cares about each of you.” Hazel smiled. “He may even like the three of you better than he likes me. Instead of marrying me for money, maybe he’s marrying me for my kids.”
    Nikki looked almost hopeful. “Would that be so bad? He could be our dad for real. Take us to the park, drop us off at school… I bet he’d even come to parent-teacher conferences and open houses.”
    “I’m sure he would. He pointed out he doesn’t have a job so he would have plenty of time to spend with us. So, I’m going to ask the three of you something. Do you want Reyvor to be part of this family? Think about it hard. If something were to happen and he were to lose that big house and all of his money, would you still want him around? If you only want me to marry him because he’s rich, then none of us deserve him.”
    “You like him,” Nikki said.
    “He’s a nice man, Nikki. He gave us a meal when we were starving, and a safe place to sleep when anyone else would have turned us away. It would have been easy for him to drop us off at a shelter this morning, but instead he took us shopping and out to eat, then asked our opinion on a home he wanted to purchase.”
    “So if he’s so great, why did you tell him you needed more time?” Nikki asked. “Shouldn’t you snatch him up before someone else does?”
    Hazel smiled. “It doesn’t work quite that way, Nikki. Marriage to Reyvor is a forever deal. He doesn’t believe in divorce, so I need to make sure this is the right path for us to take. What happens if we don’t suit? What if we find out later he’s like your dad and will beat us?”
    Abby scowled at her. “Reyvor would never beat us. He likes us.”
    “I thought your daddy was a nice man too. It would be foolish to jump into a relationship with Reyvor when we don’t know much about him.”
    “He lost his mate, Mom,” Nikki said. “Did you ever think maybe he’s lonely? He smiled at us and laughs with us, but there’s still a bit of sadness in his eyes. I think he misses her, and maybe being with us makes things better for him.”
    Her daughter was too insightful.
    “I’m sure things are better with us around, honey, but you don’t know the details of his relationship with his wife. Reyvor talked to me about her and they didn’t have a fairytale romance. I have my reasons for being cautious. He’s a nice man, but he isn’t perfect.”
    “Neither are you,” Winnie said. “He’s handsome. I think you’re pretty, Mommy, but Reyvor could probably date a model if he wanted to. But he doesn’t want to, he wants to date you. I think you should kiss him and get married.”
    All of her daughters were against her when it came to Reyvor. He’d completely charmed them, and she had to admit he’d charmed her too. She just refused to fall into another relationship completely blind. The things he’d said today about not having time for his mate, about the guilt he felt, were enough to make her reserved. What if he got tired of them? What if he woke up one day and decided he’d made a huge mistake? Like Winnie said, he was very good looking and could probably have any woman in the world, so why her? It wasn’t like he was in love with her.
    No, but he’s just the sort of man you could fall for . And it was true, he was. He’d been very considerate, overly kind, and had the patience of Job when it came to her children. But Hazel was afraid if she gave him her heart, he would break it. She’d survived the abuse from her ex, but she couldn’t survive losing