Free Temporary Husband by Day Leclaire

for her future health.
    Fleeing into the bathroom, she slammed the door closed. This was not good. She leaned against the cool, painted surface and nibbled her lower lip. How much had he heard and just how mad was he? Enough, she decided, and plenty mad. If she read that glitter in his eyes correctly, he was seriously ticked off. She sighed.
    This was not going at all as she’d planned—except for last night and this morning. That had exceeded every dream she’d ever envisioned and then some. She shoved her wedding band more securely onto her finger, her movement reflected in the mirror over the sink. Curious, she dropped her bag and crept closer, studying herself for any changes the past few hours had wrought.
    Her hair couldn’t have been more rumpled if she’d just come in from a fast ride in an open convertible. Beneath wispy bangs, her eyes glowed a vivid green, brimming with happiness and startling in their intensity. She looked as though she’d found the key to all the secrets in the universe and then some. Well, maybe she had. She’d certainly found a whole new world locked within Jake’s arms.
    She adjusted her grip on the sheet and it dipped lower, exposing a small patch of reddened skin. It was a brand of possession—Jake’s possession—and she swallowed, remembering the delicious rasp of his stubbled cheek against her breast.
    Three different fiancés had attempted every wile under the sun to lure her into their beds and not once had she been tempted. But with Jake…No wiles. No lures. Just a passionate, irresistible man with wicked gold eyes and a touch that drove every thought but one from her head. And look where that one thought had led her—straight into marriage and then into his bed.
    Had it been a mistake? She shook her head without a moment’s hesitation. No. She hadn’t made a mistake. She’d chosen a warrior to fight Mrs. Marsh and ahusband who’d made her passage into marriage a memory more precious than anything that had gone before.
    Jake pounded on the door. “Move it, elf,” came his muffled order. “You can’t hide in there forever. Get your tail out here and face the music.”
    She sighed. So much for precious memories.
    Catapulted into action, she took the fastest shower on record and scrambled into her clothes, happiness gripping her despite her worries. The past twenty-four hours had been the most wondrous, enchanted moments of her entire life. And the idea of a future filled with equally wondrous, enchanted moments brought a silly grin to her mouth.
    It disappeared the instant she stepped from the bathroom.
    “Who the hell is the kid at the door?” Jake demanded.
    She hesitated, casting him a quick, sidelong glance, noticing he’d also taken time to dress. Well-worn jeans clung to his lean hips, delineating the powerful length of his thighs. More distracting was his unbuttoned shirt, which did nothing to conceal the impressive breadth of his darkly furred chest.
    “He’s my nephew.”
    Jake’s eyes narrowed as he shoved his feet into boots. “He has something to do with your inheritance?”
    She shot a quick look at the gaping door, certain the boys were eavesdropping on every word of their conversation. “He is my inheritance, but, ah…” She wavered, torn between the desire to answer Jake’s questions and her anxiety over leaving the boys standing in the hallway unattended. She’d learned from past experience that they didn’t do well on their own. In fact, it was amazing they hadn’t already lost patience with the delay and erupted into the room. “Could we discuss this later?”
    “No. We’ll discuss this right now.”
    “Then, could we make it fast? The boys are waiting.”
    “Tough,” he retorted, then froze. “Whoa. Time out. You said boys. As in…plural? There’s more than one of ‘em?”
    “There’s two. Buster and Chick.” She edged toward the door. “Look…They’re my sister’s kids. She and her husband were killed a year ago and