Free Million Dollar Marriage by MAGGIE SHAYNE Page A

a hands-off arrangement. Well, she supposed she’d have the answer
     to that question today. When she got the results of her ultrasound exam, she’d know
     whether putting off having a child for another year was a viable option.
    And there was another worry that kept haunting her mind. Try as she might to forget
     them, Lily’s words kept floating back to her. Holden Fortune could hurt her if she
     let him. And she was damned afraid she could let him, all too easily. There was still
     something inside her…some feelings lingering there, left over from high school, she
     supposed. That childhood crush, that first case of puppy love had left remnants. Or
     were they scars? And why was it she still felt like a clumsy, skinny teenager when
     she was around Holden Fortune?
    Her doorbell chimed before she even finished drying her hair. She’d pulled on jeans
     and her favorite white T-shirt with the cat decal. Her feet were still bare, her hair
     still damp. Great. Well, he might as well get a good look at what he was getting here.
     And she supposed she couldn’t look much worse than she had this morning, waking in
     his arms still wearing the clothes she’d slept in.
    She opened the door.
    Holden smiled at her. “I know, I’m early. Sorry.”
    “It’s okay. Come on in.” He did, and looked around. Her cat, Cleo, eighteen pounds
     and about as graceful as a moose, stomped over to him, stared up for a second or two,
     and then rubbed against his legs.
    Holden bent to scratch Cleo’s head. “Wow. That’s some cat.”
    “You allergic or anything?”
    “Not that I know of. Although if I were, I suppose we’d know soon enough. I’ve never
     seen so much hair on one animal.”
    “He’s a Persian,” she said. “They have a lot of fur. And it isn’t the hair that causes
     allergic reactions, anyway, it’s the dander. But if you’re not careful…” He’d scooped
     the cat into his arms and straightened with a grunt before she finished. Lucinda licked
     her lips. “If you’re not careful, that fur will be all over your clothes,” she finished.
    “You’re one heavy fellow, you know that? What do you eat, sides of beef? Hmm?”
    Lucinda watched him. He didn’t drop the cat and start brushing stray hairs from his
     shirt, or wrinkle his nose in distaste or start sneezing, the way her last three dates
     had each done, respectively. He just kept petting the cat, who began purring so loudly
     it sounded like a B-52 was dive-bombing her living room.
    “What’s his name?”
    “Cleo,” she said. And when she said his name, her pet looked toward her.
    “Poor thing’s obviously underfed,” Holden said. He stopped petting, and Cleo immediately
     batted his hand. “Oooh, bossy little cuss, aren’t you?”
    Lucinda took Cleo from his arms and put him down, and Cleo gave her a disgusted look
     before padding away. Then she looked back at Holden. “So, you don’t hate my cat?”
    “No. Was I supposed to?”
    “Where I go, he goes. You ought to know that.”
    Holden smiled. “Oh, man, my mother is going to—”
    “I hadn’t thought of that,” she interrupted. Then she paced away, hand on her chin.
     “She’ll probably hate him. All the cat hair on that expensive furniture of hers. And
     he’s going to be all over that house. We’ll never keep him quarantined in one wing.”
    “Lucy, will you slow down? I was going to say, my mother will be in seventh heaven.
     Dad would never let her keep pets in the house, and she always wanted to. She and
     Cleo will be best friends, I guarantee it.”
    “Oh.” She lowered her head.
    “Thought you’d found a reason to turn me down, didn’t you?”
    “Oh, don’t worry. There are others.” She looked up, saw the disappointment in his
     face, felt guilty.
    “Should we discuss them now, then? Because I’ll tell you, Lucy, I’m willing to do
     anything to make this work. It’s the perfect solution to both our problems, and the
     more I think about it, the