Free Nancy Herkness by Shower Of Stars Page B

finger around the errant hair and pulled it away from her eyes. Then he tucked it behind her ear, brushing the sensitive skin between her hairline and her earlobe with his fingertips. The goose bumps disappeared under a wave of rippling warmth that made her gasp.
    “I think this marriage could be convenient in many ways,” her prospective husband murmured in her ear.
    He had shifted almost imperceptibly but now Charlie could feel the slide of his khaki slacks against her thighs and the friction of cotton against her blouse. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the intertwined scents of salt water and warm, clean male.
    Then she ducked neatly under his arm, nearly colliding with Major who had been keeping them under close surveillance.
    “Sorry, Major,” she said, dropping a hand on his head. “Not to be coy, but may I have some time to think about your very flattering offer?” She considered batting her eyelashes but decided against it.
    “You have until Monday morning at 9 a.m.,” her suitor snapped.
    “‘Marry in haste, repent at leisure,’” Charlie quoted.
    “Oh, I’m already having second thoughts,” he said. He touched his fingertips to his lips in a mockery of blowing her a kiss before he strode off the porch and disappeared around the corner of the house.
    Charlie sank into a rocking chair and listened to Jack leave Winter Circle with a bad-tempered squeal of the Land Rover’s tires.
    Major trotted over to lay his head in her lap, and she scratched him behind his ears. Setting aside the shock of the bizarre proposal, she considered its pros and cons…
    Despite her brave words, she really didn’t want to write a book about a man who didn’t want to be written about. Some of her colleagues would call her a wimp, but she didn’t enjoy confrontational interviews or unauthorized investigations…and, as Mike had pointed out, having a husband would certainly solve her problems in the short term. A two-parent family was more acceptable to an adoption agency than a single parent. Of course, hunting meteorites was not exactly a low-risk profession; he undoubtedly traveled more extensively and more hazardously than she did. But he’s retiring, so that won’t be a concern. His investment income would give her the paperwork cushion she needed to find a good, home-based job. Not that I’d touch a penny of his money, she thought, remembering his requirement for a prenuptial agreement with indignation.
    She had her own savings.
    But his would look good on the financial statement.
    However, all of that was just the paperwork. Going beyond that, things got more complicated. They would have to pretend to be a loving couple in order to hoodwink the social worker, and Rhonda Brown didn’t strike her as an easy person to hoodwink. She would also have to make up a really creative story as to why she was getting married so suddenly. As a writer, that was not beyond her capabilities. It was when she considered the flesh-and-blood reality of Jack Lanett as her husband that Charlie swallowed hard. He had made his interest in physical contact quite clear. And that wink at the lecture hall…that was so unexpected. She swallowed again.
    Would she have the good sense to say no?
    Was it good sense to say no?
    “Of course, it is,” she told Major firmly. “I don’t jump into bed with men I don’t care about.”
    Except for Nick. She winced. Less than a year after her divorce, she was assigned a story on an ecology-minded resort hotel in the middle of Egypt’s Western Desert. Nick Rogers got sent along to do the photography. Adrere Amellal was one of the most exotic places Charlie had ever been. Since there was no electricity, the hotel was lit by candles at night. The swimming pool was fed by a spring and surrounded by date palms and oleanders. She had thought achingly what a perfect place it would be for a honeymoon.
    On their second afternoon there, Nick suggested a swim. They lolled about in the