Free Nerds Are From Mars by Vicki Lewis Thompson

“I’d rather be all manly and go without one.”
    “Then we’re off.” She pulled a sweater out of the closet and tucked the room key in her pocket as he held the door for her.
    As they started down the hallway toward the elevator, a blond, All-American type came walking toward them. He smiled. “Bradbury! I’ve been looking for you ever since I got here.” He stuck out his hand. “Where’ve you been hiding, buddy?”
    “In plain sight, Blackstone.” He shook the guy’s hand. “Darcie Ingram, I’d like you to meet a friend of mine, Dr. Aaron Blackstone. He’s the leader of Thaddeus Sterling’s Mars team and a damned good scientist.”
    Darcie held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Blackstone.”
    “It’s my pleasure, but cut out that doctor crap. It’s just Aaron. I know what brings Bradbury to this conference, but how about you, Darcie?”
    “Oh, I’m just a space groupie.”
    “Actually, that’s not true,” Nolan said. “Darcie’s a well-known astrologer. She has a book on the shelves called The Power of Astrology .”
    Darcie’s eyebrows lifted, both because Nolan had outed her and because he’d known the name of her book. Apparently he’d spent a little quality time on Google before coming to her room.
    “Astrology, huh?” Aaron’s voice took on a fake heartiness. “That’s great! I’ll have to pick it up.”
    His obvious hypocrisy bothered her a lot more than Nolan’s open skepticism had. But she played along because he might think he was doing the right thing by pretending to be impressed. “Thank you. Any bridges we can build between my field and yours will help us all.”
    “You’ve got that right. Well, gotta run. Great meeting you, Darcie. Bradbury, I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon if not before. We have that panel discussion at three.”
    “Right.”
    “Sterling’s riding me about picking a fight with you but I told him to stuff it. I refuse to buy into his competitiveness. We’re scientists, not jocks.”
    “Good. I hate the way they’re pitting us against each other. Of course, that’s easy for me to say when you’re kicking our butt.”
    “We just got lucky recently. See you later, buddy.”
    “Looking forward to it.” Nolan gave him a wave before he and Darcie continued toward the elevator.
    Once they were inside with the doors closed, Darcie grabbed him by the shoulders and planted one on him. Then she stepped back because she didn’t want to initiate a clinch in an elevator that could open on any floor as they headed down.
    Nolan smiled. “Thanks, but what was that for?”
    “Being my hero back there. But weren’t you the one who advised me to keep my profession to myself at this conference?”
    “Yes, and I apologize for giving you that bad advice. However, it might help if you’re with me whenever you announce what you do.”
    “You’re offering to run interference for me?”
    “I guess you could call it that.”
    “I feel like kissing you again.”
    “Don’t let me stop you.”
    “I’d better not kiss you again. We’re at the lobby level.”
    He grinned at her. “Ask me if I care.”
    “Well, I care. Hanging around with an astrologer is bad enough. Making out with her in public will do nothing for your reputation as a serious scientist.”
    “But it’ll do wonders for my reputation as a hot nerd.”
    “Which brings me to my first flaw,” Darcie said as the elevator doors slid open. “I’m selfish. I don’t want that information spread around. I want to keep it to myself.”
    “That’s not a flaw.” Nolan followed her out of the elevator. “It’s the most flattering thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
    “That’s hard to believe.” She walked beside him across the polished marble floor of the lobby and was very careful to keep a collegial distance between them and not a smaller, couple-like distance. “I’m sure you’ve won all sorts of academic awards over the years and been praised to the skies for your lab