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rates. Raising them considerably. There's no way I can continue to keep my mother there. And I've been sick with worry ever since." She met his gaze.
    "I see." For a long moment, he studied her, and Claire felt an unsettling flicker of fear at the unfathomable expression in his riveting eyes. "Well, I believe I have the solution to your problem."
    Claire, mesmerized by his unnerving gaze, said nothing. The silence in the room settled around them like a velvet cloak.
    Then he smiled and Claire's heart skipped a beat. "All you have to do is marry me."
     

Chapter 5
     
     
    "Marry you!" Claire couldn't believe she'd heard him correctly. She stared at him. "We hardly know each other!"
    "I know everything I need to know about you," he said quietly. His eyes looked like royal blue velvet, deep and dark.
    "B—but, we don't ... we haven't . . ." At a complete loss, Claire sank back against the arm of the couch. All thoughts of her problem had been driven from her mind by Nick's startling statement. "I ... I don't understand." Why did he want to marry her? He'd never even tried to kiss her. Although the night before outside the door to her suite, she'd had a feeling he wanted to. And she'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit that the idea had been very appealing.
    And, if she were going to be completely honest with herself, there
had
been other moments, too. Riding next to him in the limousine the day he took her to the Stardust Lodge. Riding home with him the night they went to the reception at the country club.
    But she'd certainly never expected anything like this. Last night during dinner she'd caught a speculative, almost predatory look in his eyes several times as he watched her across the table. Had he been thinking about this, even then?
    "Look, Claire, I realize my proposal is probably a shock to you. I know that we don't have the kind of relationship people usually have when they contemplate marriage. But I've given this matter a lot of thought. I think when you've heard what I have to say, you'll see how sensible my proposition is."
    Sensible. Proposition. Claire wasn't sure she liked the sound of those words. She still couldn't believe he was serious, although he certainly seemed so.
    Apparently he took her silence for agreement because he continued smoothly, his expression solemn. "Half of today's marriages end up in the divorce court. And of the other half, fifty percent are unhappy after the first year. The only thing most couples have going for them when they marry is sexual attraction. They tell themselves they are in love, when what they really mean is their hormones are acting up."
    Even if Claire had wanted to say something, his dogmatic statement would have silenced her. All cold facts, she thought.
    "My first marriage was based upon the feelings I've just described. Jill and I had nothing in common, certainly nothing upon which to base a long-term relationship. We didn't even like each other very much. After we'd only been married a few months, I realized Jill expected a life of constant excitement, travel, parties. That sort of life is anathema to me. I do enough traveling for business and, although I have many leisure time interests, none of them appealed to Jill."
    He grimaced. "I blame myself for the failure of the marriage. Jill never pretended to be different. I was the one who lied to myself. I thought once we were married, she'd be content to settle down, make a home, have children." He looked at Claire, but she couldn't think of anything to say.
    Sighing, he continued. "Above all else, I wanted a quiet, peaceful home life. While we were dating, I enjoyed showing Jill off, taking her a lot of places. I guess she thought that's what our life would be like." He grimaced again. "And why shouldn't she? I never gave her any reason to believe otherwise. So after we were married, and I got tired of running around every night, she was very unhappy. She needed constant attention. And when she didn't get it