favorite.
To get her thoughts together, Lani moved around the room, touching those things now, unable to sit still.
Jennie had gone quiet, but now she had a question. âWhat exactly do you mean, pretend? â
âColin needs to finish a very important projectheâs working on, but heâs being hounded. He thought a fiancée would help.â
âWhatâs the matter with him that he canât get a real fiancée? Is he ugly?â
Lani thought of Colinâs piercing eyes, of the lean rugged body that had left her breathless. âNo,â she managed to say. âDefinitely not ugly.â
âIs he mean?â
No one could hold her the way Colin had last night and be mean. âNo.â
âUh-huh.â Jennyâs brilliant green eyes sparkled. âI get it. You just want to live in sin without people bothering you. Thatâs okay, honey, I understand a healthy sexual drive. I lived through the sixties, remember?â
âItâs not like thatââ
âHormones arenât easy to deny,â Jennie went on blissfully. âWhy in my day, we didnât even try. We just married young so it was all legal.â
âIt has nothing to do with hormones,â Lani said weakly, grabbing for the jug of cider when the older woman reached for it. âYouâve been reading too many of those romances, Aunt Jennie.â
âThey give a woman a better sex life.â At Laniâs startled laugh, Jennie smiled and nodded. âI read that somewhere.â
âCan we get back to my engagement?â
âSure. What youâre trying to tell me is that youâre not really marrying him.â Aunt Jennie studied a boxof open cigars on the low table in front of her couch before choosing one. She didnât dare light it, not with Lani within reach, so she just clamped her teeth around it.
âWhat do you think of the whole thing?â Lani asked.
âWell, I think itâs a damn shame, honey. Make him earn it. Donât give it to him for free.â
âHe has nothing to earn,â Lani insisted, blushing in spite of herself.
âOf course he does. I hope heâs going to at least cook, or do the grocery shopping.â
âNo, you donât understand. Itâs for show. All of it.â
Jennieâs jaw went slack and the cigar tumbled out into her lap, making Lani thankful Jennieâs doctor had given her strict orders not to light up. She was a danger to society.
â All for show?â she repeated in disbelief.
âWellâ¦yes.â Mostly.
âYou mean youâre notâ¦?â
âNo.â
Her great-aunt sadly shook her head. âOh, honey. I taught you better than that.â
Â
L ANI DIDNâT KNOW what she expected that night. Certainly that she and Colin would spend a considerable amount of time talking, gathering facts and coming up with a common story.
Colin was a planner, she knew that much. She knew how important it would be to him to have this all analyzed and prepared for his mother and aunts.
But she was alone, pacing Colinâs large, eerily empty house. The house itself was beautiful; old, airy and full of character. The inside should have been a delight. But though Colin had been there a number of years, he had hardly furnished it. Most of the glorious rooms remained practically empty.
Lani wondered why. Her sneakers squeaked on the wood floor of the wide hallway as she paced.
She knew so little about him.
Why was he so private? What secrets did his dark, mysterious eyes hold? Did he ever share himself? What made him so leery of physical affection?
He might like to think that his cool, aloof front would keep people at bay, but not Lani. Oh, no. It only made her all the more curious.
Lani thought of last night and smiled. He certainly wasnât leery of passion, heâd been hot, earthy and completely uninhibited. That heâd made her feel those things, too,