Free Nancy Herkness by Shower Of Stars Page A

will,” he said.
    “All right,” she agreed, to humor him as she narrowed her eyes to give him her most astute businesswoman look. “How reliable is the income of someone who makes his living selling rocks that fall out of the sky?”
    “I’ve made some investments in things other than rocks,” he said with an edge in his voice. “I don’t live entirely on my income from meteorite hunting anymore.”
    A returning fishing boat honked, and Charlie absently raised her hand to wave a greeting.
    “In fact, my investments are good enough that I would want you to sign an agreement waiving any claim to my property in the event of a divorce. Which, by the way, we can get in about eighteen months without any difficulty.” He sat down and stretched his legs out, tilting the rocking chair back with the ease of a man who has solved all his problems.
    Charlie overcame the urge to stomp on one of the rockers to knock him off balance. “You’ve thought this through, I see.”
    “Planning is one of my strengths.” He smiled.
    “Have you planned on hanging your clothes in my closet and showing up when the social worker comes for the home study?”
    “Is that necessary?”
    “Do you think I can just announce I’ve acquired a husband without producing one? And you’d have to go to China with me to pick up the child.”
    He stood up and came close enough to her that Major rumbled a soft growl.
    “I’m not going to strangle her, dog, despite the temptation,” he muttered. “You can put some of my clothes in the closet, and I’ll meet the social worker. I have contacts in China so the trip won’t be wasted.”
    “I thought you were retiring.”
    “I might freelance for Miguel.”
    “You’re actually serious about this?”
    “Deadly serious.” Then the molasses was back in his voice. “You know, I’m not such a bad bargain as a husband.”
    “You have your good points,” she said, stepping backward to slowly scan him from head to toe.
    “And you don’t even know me yet,” he murmured, moving close again.
    Major wedged his body between them, and another fishing boat tooted.
    “Are you on speaking terms with every goddamned sea captain on the East Coast?” Jack asked, as Charlie turned away to wave even more enthusiastically than usual.
    “I’m sort of the unofficial welcome home for the fishermen. They like having someone notice their return.”
    “They like having a tall blonde notice their return.”
    Charlie decided to get the discussion back to business. She took two long steps away from him before she turned. “Let me get this straight. You’re offering me a…a marriage of convenience in exchange for what exactly?”
    “For dropping the book idea permanently, and telling the editors to drop it too.”
    “I can’t guarantee they’ll do that.”
    “I’ve seen your powers of persuasion in action. You can convince them I’m an unsuitable subject for a book.”
    “I’ll do my best.” Charlie shook her head and leaned back against a wooden column. “This is the strangest offer I’ve ever had.”
    “It’s better than the chief’s sister-in-law, two camels and a tent.”
    He was smiling again, and Charlie felt the corners of her mouth turning upward in response. “That’s not a bad deal,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to ride a camel and a tent would come in handy.”
    “But the sister-in-law only had three teeth and made the camels look good.”
    He sauntered toward her, eyeing her in a way that made her wish her shorts weren’t so short and her blouse weren’t so thin. Bracing a hand on the column above her head, he treated her to the unfamiliar experience of having a man tower over her.
    It wasn’t unpleasant.
    A whiff of ocean-scented breeze prickled over her skin, raising goose bumps on her arms. A strand of hair blew loose from its braid and caught in her eyelashes. If she lifted her hand, it would be hard to avoid touching him. As she debated the wisdom of that, he crooked a