THIS IS FOR VALERIE EN. Sorry for your loss and I know you love Raine. “He’s asleep,” came the loud whisper of a little boy. “I told you he would be,” his sister replied. “Mom said not to wake him.” She looked around. “We could knock over that chair, and that wouldn’t be us. Or we could —” “Who’s she?” asked the boy. He was pointing across Jamie to Hallie’s head, which was barely visible above the covers. “The exercise lady,” said the girl, trying to sound as though she knew. She was three minutes older than her brother and she took the age difference quite seriously. When she saw a little flicker in Jamie’s closed eyes, she knew he was awake, and she had to resist a giggle of anticipation. “She probably got cold. Jamie is really fat so she’d be warm near him. She —” “Who is fat?!” Jamie growled, then with a twist pulled them both up into the bed. The girl threw herself onto Jamie and he began tickling her, but the boy stepped over Hallie and lay down to stare at her. “Sssssh,” Jamie was saying to his little sister. “Hallie’s trying to sleep. She’s worn out from taking care of me.” The girl lay still on Jamie’s chest and looked at him with a frown of concentration. “Did you fall on the floor and roll on her?” A flash of guilt ran through Jamie’s eyes. When he’d first returned from the hospital had been the worst. Every noise, every quick movement, every closed-in space had set him off. But then he smiled at his little sister. “Only twice and you know what? She liked it.” “If she likes you, she must be crazy,” his sister said seriously. “I’ll get you for that.” Jamie started tickling her again. When Hallie began to wake, she thought maybe she was still in her dream. In her mind, there were cakes and champagne that she knew had been brought over from France by one of the Kingsleys. And she could hear children laughing. Smiling, she opened her eyes to see a little boy who looked like Jamie staring at her. He had the most beautiful eyelashes. She smiled back at him. But then, Jamie’s arm landed on her head just in time to keep another child from rolling on top of her. He moved to his side so his whole body was pressed against Hallie’s back, and she looked into the eyes of the two children who were both fixated on her. Jamie began nibbling at Hallie’s ear. She was still in such a dream state that she smiled at all of it, for surely none of it could be real. “Are you in love with my brother?” the girl asked. “I think she is,” Jamie said. “She can’t stay away from me even at night.” Hallie was coming awake. “Stop that!” She batted at his head and twisted around to face him. “For your information I’m in bed with you because —” She broke off, her eyes so wide they nearly touched in the middle. “Good morning,” came a deep male voice. Jamie rolled to his back, his eyes closed. “Tell me that’s a recording and he’s not really here.” Hallie’s first thought was to get out of bed, but she had on only a beat-up old T-shirt, and besides, Jamie’s heavy leg with the big brace on it was half thrown across her. She managed to sit up, a child on each side of her, and they looked across the wide expanse of Jamie. What she saw were two truly gorgeous young men. They were both over six feet, broad shouldered and slim. They had on cotton shirts and trousers with a crease down the front. Their faces were like something off a runway show: chiseled, with long aristocratic noses, lips like something off a Greek sculpture. One had thick, coal black hair and eyes that were almost as dark. In the right clothes he would look like a pirate. The other one was equally as handsome, but his hair was lighter, his eyes a golden brown. In a movie he’d play Captain America. “Are they real?” she whispered to the little girl. The men smiled, eyes twinkling. “I guess,” the girl said, unconcerned. “They’re bad on horses, but that’s because they’re —” “Let me guess,” Hallie said. “They’re Montgomerys.” The young men laughed. “Our reputation precedes us.” The darker one said, “I am Adam and this is my cousin, Ian.” Jamie finally opened his eyes. “I thought you weren’t going to be here until next week.” He sounded annoyed. “Aunt Cale wanted to see the old house they bought,” Ian said, smiling at Hallie who was trying to comb her hair with her fingers. “Who’s here?” Jamie asked. “Everybody!” the little boy said as he stood up on the bed. “I’m Max and this is Cory. Jamie and Todd are our brothers.” Hallie took Max’s hand so he wouldn’t fall off the bed. She was still looking at the young men, smiling at them, when another man entered the room and she started blinking rapidly. He was a bit shorter than the others, but still tall, and he was built like a bear. His T-shirt clung to muscles that seemed to ripple even when he was standing still. As for his six pack, she wasn’t sure but he just might have a twelve pack. Finally, she looked up at his face. “Sweet” was the only word she could think to describe it. Short dark hair that had a bit of curl in it, blue eyes, a cleft chin. Max yelled, “Raine!” and launched himself off the bed. Without breaking his look at Hallie, the man caught the boy, then nestled him in the crook of his right arm. When he held out his left arm, the girl used Jamie’s stomach to push off. Raine caught her, then held both children, who snuggled up to him, faces buried in his strong neck. All Hallie could do was sit on the bed and look across at the lot of them. There were the two elegant, lean men on the left, and on the right was the big man holding the two beautiful children. And Jamie was stretched out on the bed. “I think I’ve died and gone to Heaven,” she whispered. “Out!” Jamie yelled as he sat up. “The lot of you, get out!” None of them so much as moved. “Are you and James a couple?” Adam asked. “No, not really,” Hallie said. She motioned at the bed. “This happened because we, uh . . . I mean, we . . .” She didn’t want to embarrass Jamie about the nightmares, but neither did she want them to think there was an attachment when there wasn’t one. And all in all, the beauty of all four of the men was making her a bit incoherent. “Out!” Jamie growled. “This minute.” With dazzling smiles, the three men left, and the children followed them. When they were alone, Jamie turned to her. “Why are you in bed with me?” She didn’t want to explain anything. Instead, she threw back the covers and got up. “I need to dress. See you downstairs.” She took off running.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 14:48:44 +0000
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