Chapter Two

      Jenna’s jaw dropped. In the next instant she sank back into her chair and hit the seat with enough force to snap her mouth closed and rattle her teeth. Then she stilled completely and groped to take in what she had just heard.

      How would she feel about marrying him? Him? Ross Hayward, once half of the Golden Couple, talking about walking down the aisle again with her. Her? No, he couldn’t have meant it!

      “I must,” she said, finding her voice at last, “have misunderstood you. You weren’t—you couldn’t have been—talking about the two of us and…marriage.”

      He studied her for moment. “I was.”

      Now she had to suck in a breath, a big one. As her lungs filled, a short study of her own told her that he really did mean it. His watchful expression was far too serious to reach any other conclusion. Good Lord. Even in her wildest adolescent dreams, she’d never imagined that this man would ever consider asking her to marry him.

      Then again, he wasn’t asking now, she reminded herself as the brain she normally put to good use began to recover from the undeniable jolt to its circuits. He’d mentioned possibly getting married, which was a far cry from an actual proposal.

      “Maybe I’d better go into a few more details as to what I had in mind,” he said.

      She cleared her throat. “Details,” she couldn’t help but say, “would be good.”

      He sat forward and propped his elbows on the table. “First off, I’d like to get something straight. I’m not currently involved with anyone, and I take it, since you just recently returned to Harmony, that the same is true in your case.”

      “It is,” Jenna agreed. Not only wasn’t she currently involved with a man, she had, in fact, been extremely careful for some time when it came to personal relationships with the opposite sex. The truth was, she’d been burned once, badly, and she had no wish to repeat the experience. She dated on and off when it suited her, but live-in housekeepers didn’t have much chance for a private life, and she’d accepted the restrictions.

      “Then since we’re free in that regard,” Ross continued, “marrying each other could have some definite benefits for both of us.”

      She was slowly getting his drift. “You mean that, rather than just a housekeeper, you’d have a wife to take care of things around here.”

      “You’re right, of course,” he conceded, “but more than that, I would have a mother for Caroline and Katie.”

      “And that’s important to you,” she summed up, all at once sure of her words as she looked him straight in the eye and saw the clear reality of the matter reflected in his gaze.

      “It is,” he confirmed. And with that quiet acknowledgment, he went on to explain how he felt his daughters needed a younger woman’s influence in their lives. “I think it’s going to be even more important as they get closer to being teenagers,” he added, “and Caroline’s already on the brink.”

      Jenna could hardly disagree, remembering how her own mother had dealt so well with her four girls. “I can’t deny that the mother-daughter relationship is important. Having a large family meant that both my parents had to work to make ends meet while I was growing up, and I remember how I sometimes couldn’t wait for my mother to get home—for more reasons than one, I’ll admit, as I got older. As the eldest child, I was often in charge of the younger girls once I was big enough to take on some responsibility, and it wasn’t always easy.”

      He nodded. “That’s why I would prefer a stay-at-home mom for my kids, and in this case, living on my salary alone wouldn’t pose a problem.”

      “No, I expect not,” Jenna replied. Which, she realized, was an understatement. Haywards had been among the more successful of Harmony’s residents for many years. None had ever been truly wealthy, but comfortably well-off would certainly apply, especially when compared with such families as the Lorenzos. The city didn’t have a bad side of town, so Jenna couldn’t honestly say she’d been born on the “wrong side of the tracks” from Ross Hayward. Nevertheless, a social gap remained between them. At least it would in some people’s eyes.

      And now he was suggesting they date with the possible goal of marriage? Her eyes narrowed of their own accord. “Are you sure you don’t want to hire me as housekeeper?”

      For the first time in many minutes, his lips curved in a smile. “I’m sure.” His gaze never wavered from hers.

      “And the position we’re currently discussing would be far more permanent, when you think about it. You would have a secure future, financially and otherwise.”

      And what about love?

      Jenna didn’t voice the silent question. She didn’t have to. She knew this man loved his daughters; that was more than apparent. But his emotions weren’t involved in the bargain he’d just put forward. How could they be when he’d only really known her for a matter of days?

      She was certain he didn’t remember her or her family from their earlier years in Harmony. He had no clue as to how she had once mooned over him, right along with most of the girls her age. To him, she was a known quantity in the fact that she had a history here, but he didn’t actually know her.

      Of course, despite that, he obviously believed she had certain qualities that went hand in hand with being a good parent. And when it came to a wife…

      “So what you’re suggesting is a potential marriage of convenience?” she asked very carefully.

      “Not exactly.” He exhaled a short breath. “It might be based somewhat on convenience, I’ll admit, but I’d want it to be a real marriage in every sense of the word.”

      There was no mistaking the candid look in his eyes. “You mean, a…physical relationship.”

      “Yes.”

      The single word had her pulse fluttering. “I see.”

      “But I wouldn’t push you on that,” he added. “Even if we became husband and wife, I’d give you however much time you needed to feel more comfortable with the situation.”

      “I see,” she repeated after another brief pause.

      “I’ll