Free JCastle - H1 Bridal Jitters by aka Jayne Ann Krentz Harmony Series Page B

  strange things to her   insides,
    she   tried another   sip of   the wine punch.   Just a marriage-of-convenience.
    They were   common enough.   It would   end in   two years   unless she   and   Sam
    elected   to renew   it for another   two-year period.   There would be   no 8 Ch
    armed reason to do that,   she assured herself; no   excuse to convert the   MC
    into   a   more formal   and far   more binding   covenant marriage.   Adeline was
    right; she   had   to project   a   little more   good-natured   enthusiasm   here,
    Virginia   told   herself. She   had   agreed to   the MC,   after   all. It   was a
    terrific business move. And   she certainly could not   blame her friends   for
    throwing   a party. They   meant well. And   she was genuinely   fond of most of
    them.    She   was    surrounded   with   a    representative   sprinkling   of   the
    professional   and not-so-professional types   involved in the many legitimate
    and not-so-legitimate businesses that had grown up around the excavation   of
    the   Dead City   of Old Cadence.   There were   a number of   academics from the
    university who   were   in   the   process   of   building   distinguished   careers
    studying   the alien   ruins. There   were also several   contract and freelance
    para-archaeologists, such   as   herself,   and a   few   of   Sam's   ghost-hunter
    buddies   who provided security   to the excavation   teams. In addition, there
    was a colorful   assortment of gallery   owners, hustlers, and   ruin rats   who
    worked   the fringes of the trade in   alien artifacts. It was a mixed lot, to
    say the least, but they   were all bound by   their mutual interest in   making
    their   livings from the exploration and   excavation of the ruins left by the
    long-vanished Harmonics. It should   have been a   cheerful occasion, but   she
    could feel the panic nibbling at her stomach.
    "Sorry, Adeline. I guess I'm not in a party mood tonight."
    "Fake   it," Adeline   said with a   stern look. Virginia   gave her a reluctant
    smile. "Yes, ma'am."
    "That's better." Adeline searched her face more closely. "What's the matter?
    I thought you were excited about this arrangement. Why the cold feet?"
    "I'm not getting cold feet."
    "Yes, you are. This is your old pal, Adeline, remember? I BRIDAL JITTERS 9
    know    you   better   than   anyone   else.   You've   been   getting   increasingly
    short-tempered and high-strung for the past two weeks."
    Virginia glared at her and   picked up the punch   ladle. "I've been a   little
    busy   lately, okay? I just finished the Henderson job yesterday, and Sam and
    I signed our first joint client this   morning. We start work on the   project
    tomorrow.   On top of everything else my family is hassling me about this MC,
    even though I've explained a hundred times that it's just a business deal."
    "Your family is still convinced that Sam is just taking advantage of you?''
    "That's their official position." Virginia   ladled more punch into her   cup.
    "But   the truth is, they want me   to settle down in a covenant marriage with
    Duncan."
    Adeline shrugged. "Can't blame them. Duncan   is a great catch. Good   family,
    good connections. Nice guy."
    "Duncan   and I   are friends, but   it will   never amount to   more than that."
    Virginia dropped the ladle back   into the bowl and   took a hefty swallow   of
    the punch. "Duncan and I both know it, even if our families don't."
    "You mean you don't love him, and he doesn't love you."
    "Yes. That's exactly what I mean."
    Adeline   raised her brows. "So, instead of a nice, safe marriage to good ol'
    Duncan, you're going to take a flyer on a two-year MC with a man you   hardly
    know and who is a ghost-hunter to boot. Gee, can't imagine why the family is
    upset about that   decision. Nope. Can't   think of a   single reason why