Susan Mallery: Father in Training

"Blake, come on, honey," Sandy called.

"Maybe you and I could go for a drive someday," Kyle offered.

Blake stared up at him, nodded, then ran off to join his mother.

As Kyle picked up the chamois, he watched Sandy and her kids enter the big house. He remembered how dirty it had been. Yesterday, the exterminator had come by to drop off his traps, so the mouse problem was being handled. Still, there was the whole upstairs that Lindsay said they hadn't even started on. And painting. How would they get that done?

He wiped off the roof of the car. Maybe he shouldn't offer to help. Maybe he should just take care of it. She would hate that. Of course, if he didn't give her a chance to refuse, she would have to hate it silently.

He looked at the oversize home again, then tossed the chamois down and went inside his house. He knew exactly how to take care of Sandy's problem. He had brothers, and they all owed him.

It was like being descended upon by locusts. Tall, handsome, male locusts. There were only three of them, but that was enough.

Sandy stood at her front door Friday afternoon and stared at the men in front of her.

"We're here to help," Kyle said.

"But I don't-"

He pushed past her into the house. "Sure you do. Be polite, say thank-you, then show us what needs to be done. We're not going away."

Lindsay came running down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she stared at the three men. "Wow."

Yeah, wow, Sandy echoed silently. There was enough testosterone in the room to float a football team.

"She's speechless," the tallest of the men said. They all had dark hair, but this one had cool gray eyes and was wearing a gold earring.

"Sandy?" Kyle said, coming up and putting his arm around her. "Not her. She's just mentally organizing her next attack. Sandy always has a plan."

She usually had a plan, she admitted to herself. She just didn't have one right at this minute. Besides, how was she supposed to think when Kyle was standing so close? She told herself she should pull away, but her legs weren't listening. It had been bad enough when she'd walked over to his place that morning. He'd been wearing shorts and nothing else. Just the thought of his bare chest was enough to make her hyperventilate.

"Maybe you should introduce us," the third man said. He was obviously one of Kyle's brothers, but Sandy couldn't remember which one. He had the same dark hair and warm brown eyes. He was handsome as sin. They all were.

"Good idea," Kyle said. "This is Lindsay." He pointed to the preteen still standing on the bottom stair, gaping at them. "And this is Sandy."

Kyle's brother waved at her daughter, then nodded at her. "Hi, Sandy. I'm Travis. The second oldest of the Haynes brothers. You dated Jordan, right?"

She shook the hand he offered and grinned. "I'm amazed you could keep any of us straight," she said. "Girls came and went through your lives with the speed of light."

Travis chuckled. "Maybe, but a few were memorable."

Sandy felt herself blush at the compliment.

The man with the earring moved toward her. "I'm Austin Lucas." His gray gaze met hers. He was almost as handsome as Kyle, but there was something dark about him. Dangerous. She noticed a ring on his left hand and wondered who'd been brave enough to tame this man.

"Hey, enough of that," Kyle said, stepping between them. "You're married, she's not interested, let's get to work."

"I picked up the paint you ordered from the hardware store," Travis said, stepping out onto the porch.

"We've brought a decent ladder, too," Austin told her.

Sandy barely heard them. She couldn't seem to notice anything, not even when Blake and Nichole rushed into the room to see what was going on. All she could do was stare at Kyle, at his dark brown eyes and that lock of curly hair that fell over his forehead. He'd almost sounded…

She shook her head and told herself to quit being silly. He hadn't sounded anything. It wasn't possible. A man like Kyle wouldn't be interested in a woman like her. And even if he was, she wasn't. She wanted a mature, responsible man, not a handsome hunk who probably had women lined up for miles. None of which explained why Kyle had ended the conversation between herself and the other man. Or why he'd specifically told her that Austin was married. Kyle wasn't jealous. Was he?

It was a dangerous train of thought. Mostly because her heart hadn't recovered from its earlier aerobic workout when she'd gone to find her children and had also found Kyle practically naked.

His chest had been as big and broad as that tank shirt had promised three days ago when she and her kids had arrived. His tan went clear to the waistband of his shorts, and probably lower. The sprinkling of dark hair, the faint outline of impossibly firm muscles and the heat radiating from him had made her palms itch to press against him. She'd wanted to touch and taste and-

"Mom, how long are you going to stand there staring into space?"

Lindsay's question jerked her back to the present. She landed with an emotional thud, then blushed hotly as she wondered if everyone knew what she'd been thinking about. She glanced around frantically. No one seemed to have noticed. Austin and Travis trooped past her carrying ladders, paint cans and drop cloths. Kyle was standing next to her, studying the list she'd posted to the wall detailing the chores that had yet to be done. Only Lindsay stared at her, exasperated. "Mom?"

"I was thinking," she said quickly, then cleared her throat. "Kyle, this is very nice of you and your brothers, but I really can't-"

He turned and smiled. Her heart rate increased. Thank God he was wearing a T-shirt so she didn't have to deal with his chest again. "Of course you can. Just say 'Gee, Kyle, you're a nice man. Thanks for your help.'"

"Kyle, you are a nice man, but-"

He turned and touched his finger to her lips. Electricity shot through her body, starting at her mouth and jolting clear down to her toes. Her blood heated as an unfamiliar longing stirred to life deep inside her belly.

"No buts," he ordered. "You can't do all this work by yourselves, Sandy. We both know that. You can give in gracefully, or you can fight me and look like a stubborn fool. The choice is yours."

His eyes were an impossible color. Not black, just a deep, dark shade of brown. Long lashes framed his eyes. He had a straight nose with a small bump on one side. She wondered if it had once been broken. From what she remembered, the Haynes brothers weren't afraid of a good fight.

She forced her thoughts away from the man and back to the task at hand. Her children stood around her, gazing up at her hopefully. They'd worked hard these last few days. Unfortunately, Kyle was right. They couldn't do it all themselves. They'd barely finished the downstairs. There was still the upstairs to clean out, not to mention the painting. Her body ached, her muscles screamed in protest every time she even thought about climbing the stairs. This was supposed to be their summer vacation, and they needed a break.

"Thank you," she said at last. Lindsay and Nichole cheered.

"Just because we're accepting help doesn't mean we're not going to work," she said. "Girls, you know the routine. Start upstairs with the bedrooms. Blake, you come with me and we'll tackle the bathrooms." She looked at Kyle. "Travis and Austin are painting. What are you going to do?"

He winked. "Supervise."

By five that afternoon, the smell of paint drifted through the house and all of the upstairs had been cleaned. Kyle had done more than supervise. He'd taped off windows, painted the wooden window frames and all the downstairs baseboards. Travis and Austin had finished painting the kitchen and then had moved into the dining room.