The Texan's Contract Marriage - By Sara Orwig Page 0,40

remember.”

“You’ve done it all. No wonder nothing excites you.”

“Oh, yes, there are things that excite me,” he replied, his voice changing as he flirted again.

“I’m not asking what.”

“Who, not what. You already know the answer.”

Pulling on her T-shirt, she wriggled it down over her hips, glancing around to see him watching her.

She picked up all her things. “I’ll change and be back.”

“Sure,” he said, flipping a towel over his shoulder as he headed inside with her.

After a shower, she dressed in a deep blue cotton sundress and sandals and dried her hair, letting it fall loosely over her shoulders. When she went outside, he was waiting at the table. He looked relaxed in chinos and a navy knit shirt. A chilled bottle of champagne was on ice and he had already partially filled two flutes. He handed one to her and picked up the other.

“Here’s to a happy union that blesses all concerned, especially Noah.”

“I’ll drink to that,” she said, touching his glass lightly, watching bubbles rise in the pale golden champagne. She sipped her drink and looked out to sea.

“Sit here, Camille. We’ll have our drinks before dinner.”

She sat in a lawn chair, and he sat in another close beside her. “This is truly beautiful, Marek, and I’m having a wonderful time.”

“I’m glad,” he said, gazing at the water. She was beginning to be able to tell when he was thinking of his fiancée and grief was present because his voice and expression were both remote.

“This is the hardest time of day. Sundown. Somehow it seems a time of loss. The sunshine is gone, the night isn’t here. This is when I’ve had a bad time. You’d think it would be late at night, which sometimes it is, but this time of day really gets me.” He talked, but she thought he had almost forgotten her. He was looking toward the horizon. To the west the sun was a ball of orange fire only half-visible above the horizon.

She couldn’t think of anything to say that would help him. He was wrapped in his own world, and his hurt was understandable, but at least today, he had had moments when his pain had lifted and she had glimpsed the lively man he was before the crash.

She gazed out to sea, still shocked that she was locked into a marriage of convenience with a man who might always love another woman. Would he break her heart if she fell in love with him? She would do exactly as her father had suggested—keep the money tucked away so she could return it if this arrangement did not work out to everyone’s satisfaction.

“Marek, what do you want from life? You’ve already been enormously successful in business. You have the ranch you love.”

“I want to be a dad for Noah. I hope our marriage and this arrangement work out.”

“Aside from Noah, what do you hope to achieve? You have an enormous fortune, so it’s not that. What is it?”

“Still make money. Also to help others. I have certain charities and, of those, there are a few I’m particularly interested in. I’ve established a ranch for homeless kids. It’s not far out of Fort Worth. Some kids are there on a temporary basis, some permanent. I’ve gone through our church.”

“That’s great,” she said, surprised by his answer.

“Don’t sound so startled that I would help someone.”

“I’m just surprised at the particular project.”

“I only put up the money and helped them get established, but I’ve liked working with them occasionally. For my own pleasure I’ve done calf roping in rodeos this past year—and won, amazingly enough. That takes my mind off everything else. Do you like rodeos?”

“I know as much about them as you do opera.”

“Maybe a rodeo is like an opera—you either love it or you don’t like it at all.”

Smiling, she shook her head. “Rodeos and opera—I don’t think you can quite lump them together even in that way.”

“I’ll take you to a rodeo sometime soon. There’ll be one in New Mexico.”

They talked, drifting from one subject to another until dinner was served, delicious blackened grouper.

Over dinner, conversation became more impersonal and she felt better about him. The staff was discreet, keeping out of sight most of the time.

After dinner the dishes were cleared away while they moved to another area on the veranda. Marek spoke briefly to the staff and then joined her again. It was almost dark, and various veranda lights and torches on the beach had come on or been lighted.

“I suppose