And Babies Make Four by Ruth Owen Page A

man sitting beside her was any indication, it was probably going to get worse.
    Donovan hadn’t spoken two words together since dawn—when he’d shown up at the bungalow in rumpledclothes, looking as if he hadn’t slept a wink. Noel hadn’t slept that well herself—though her insomnia came from intellectual anticipation and stimulation, not rank lust.
    He showered and dressed in record time, though the fact that he changed into jeans and a sleeveless black T-shirt that had JUST DID IT -emblazoned across the front did little to improve her temper. As they’d loaded the computer equipment into the back of the Jeep she’d reminded herself that she didn’t give a damn who Donovan slept with. Still, the tension between them had increased all morning, like a gathering storm—
    “Visual,” demanded a familiar electronic voice.
    Sighing, Noel glanced down at the notebook computer cradled in her lap. Males, even cybernetic ones, were not high on her list at the moment. “Einstein, I described the entire landscape to you a minute ago.”
    “Four-point-six minutes ago,” he corrected. “PINK and I require data for geophysical analysis. Need visual. You promised.”
    Yes, she had. When they’d packed away the fragile camera equipment for the rough ride up the slopes she’d promised to be PINK and E’s eyes for the duration of the trip. But as they drove deeper into the wild, virgin heart of the island, she realized she had no words to describe the glorious scenery around her. “There’s a limestone cliff on our left. It’s about a hundred feet high and as gray as … as oatmeal.”
    Out of the corner of her eye she thought she caught a flicker of movement in Donovan’s rock-solidjaw. But when she glanced toward him his face was remote and his eyes were still firmly focused on the path ahead.
    She cleared her throat and continued. “There’s a valley on our right. It’s full of a lot of different kinds of plants. They’re … very green, and—”
    “Oh for God’s sake!” Donovan explained. “Green plants?
Oatmeal?
Where’d you learn to describe landscapes?
Popular Mechanics?
”
    “I suppose
you
could do better?”
    “A
blind
man could do better,” he shot back. “Einstein, the valley below us is called Heaven’s Canyon. It was born about a hundred and forty million years ago, when volcanic mountains reared up from the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. You can still see the marine fossils buried in the layers of limestone. It’s the heart of the island’s sacred lands, the source of the shaman’s ancient power. It’s also incredibly beautiful—even if Dr. Revere doesn’t think that’s worth mentioning.”
    But I
do
think it’s beautiful, she protested in her heart. When she’d first glimpsed the lush valley unfolding between the somber gray mountains she’d felt as if someone had given her a priceless and undeserved gift. But she was first and foremost a scientist and she had to keep her mind on the task at hand—her research project. Besides, she wasn’t about to share her private feelings with a cretin like Sam Donovan. “I’m impressed you can remember all that,” she said bitingly, “especially considering how you spent last night.”
    “What’s the matter, sweetheart? Jealous?”
    She raised her chin and glared at him with a look of haughty disdain—which was no mean feat on a Jeep that was bucking like a storm-tossed ship. “Of course not. Your private life is none of my concern. You can sleep with every woman on the island for all I care.”
    “
Every
woman? Including my blushing bride?”
    She
was
blushing, dammit. Donovan was the crudest, most irritating man she’d ever met—yet the thought of being married to him spun her insides around like a Mixmaster on overdrive. It wasn’t fair. Fuming, she raked her mind for an insult that would put the jerk in his place. “Sorry, but I don’t think I can spare the time. My schedule’s too full to work in the
five minutes
or so