BRIAN (The Callahans Book 1) by Glenna Sinclair Page A

tonight when I was alone in my bed. But I couldn’t help myself. He was still as virile and strong as he’d been then; he still exuded masculinity like sweat. I could see why a girl like Rachel would be attracted to him. And I could see why he would be attracted to her, too. What I couldn’t understand was what kind of a future a relationship like that could have. And why he would want something like that.
    But, again, this was the same man who made love to me while his pregnant wife waited patiently at home. He never was one who thought things out very well.
    We landed in New York a few minutes later. He held my arm as we stepped off the plane together, navigating the narrow steps carefully. He didn’t let go as we walked to the waiting SUV, his touch warm and safe. Again, I would be ashamed of myself later, but I actually leaned into him for a brief moment as we waited for the chauffeur to open the door.
    “Have you ever been to New York?”
    I shook my head. “Most of my travel was restricted to the western states.”
    “We’ll have to do a little tour of the city tomorrow before we leave.”
    “You don’t have to do that.”
    He smiled softly. “I want to.”
    ***
    “What do you want to do when you get out of school?”
    I shrugged, rolling into him as I ran my hand slowly over his bare chest. “I’m going to be a nurse. I’m going to help people.”
    “Besides that.”
    “Get married. Have a houseful of kids.”
    “A houseful? How many is that?”
    “A dozen.”
    He laughed. “Are you sure you can handle that? I mean, these narrow hips…”
    I slapped his chest and he yelped, rolling over as laughter spilled from his lips. I followed him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back onto the bed beside me. Somehow he ended up on top, pressing me almost roughly against the mattress.
    “How about five?” he said. “I could handle five.”
    “Three girls and two boys.”
    “I’ll do the best I can, but that sort of thing isn’t really a conscious decision. It’s up to the boys.”
    I laughed. “Don’t you think I know that? I wouldn’t be a very good nurse if I didn’t.”
    “You’re going to be a brilliant nurse.” He brushed the hair out of my face and pressed his forehead to mine. “I can see it now. We’ll move to California, some lovely place near the beach, and you’ll work at a big, fancy hospital and I’ll work construction, and we’ll have five beautiful kids with dark hair like yours and green eyes like mine.”
    “It’ll be perfect.”
    “How could it be anything else?”
    ***
    I stepped out of the shower and wrapped up in the soft cotton robe the hotel provided. I had my own robe, but who could resist such luxury? Brian told me to help myself to the minibar—I didn’t even know there was still such a thing as a minibar—and to order all the room service I wanted. But I was happy just to curl up on the bed and watch a little television. When was the last time I’d enjoyed a good movie?
    Unfortunately, there wasn’t much on worth watching. I ended up watching some silly reality show, but it was still fun. I combed my hair and took my time rubbing lotion into my skin, wondering how Brian’s dinner with his daughter was going. I made the reservation, so I knew they must be done by now. I hoped it went well, but I got the impression from the way he talked on the plane that it wouldn’t. I couldn’t imagine my daughter getting engaged and not calling me immediately. But my relationship with Brianna was a little different, clearly.
    I twisted my hair into a loose braid and got up to slip into a nightgown when my phone rang. I jumped because it was the hotel phone, not my cell phone.
    “Ms. Myers?”
    “Can I help you?”
    “This is Gunther, the bartender here at the hotel? I was wondering if you could come get Mr. Callahan.”
    “Is he okay?”
    “Yes. But he’s drunk and he’s causing something of a disruption.”
    “Okay. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
    I