Logan Hardington was one fine-looking specimen— Human or Mer. Handsome face and warm, dark brown eyes below thick hair the color of a sea lion’s pelt after a few hours in the sun. The light dusting of hair on his chest was a shade darker. Broad, tanned shoulders ta-pered to a taut abdomen where his black shorts rode low on his hips above long, well-toned legs. His face and lean, muscled body looked as if they’d been carved by a master sculptor.
Her sister, Mariana, who was a sculptor, would love to get her hands on him. Of course, Logan’s wife might have something to say about that.Here’s hoping the wife didn’t mind a houseguest.Logan climbed aboard, and Angel took mental notes of which muscles contracted, the angle his upper body assumed to counterbalance the forward momentum, how his arms moved… If only she had her tablets to mark down these observations. Damn Harry.“Hey, sport,” Logan said, “I’m sorry, but there’s a change in plans. No fishing today. I have to handle something with work. We’ll go tomorrow.” Then he looked at her. “As for you, Angel, I can drop you at the bus station—”“But you said she could stay with us,” Michael inter-rupted, hopping up from his seat and planting his fists on his waist. “I don’t wanna watch TV anymore while you work. I want Angel to play with me. Why can’t she be my babysitter?”“Michael, hold on a minute—”“Sit on a baby?” Why in-the-sea would anyone want to do that?Angel didn’t know how Humans cared for their infants since her sister-in-law, Erica, had remained on land for the birth of her daughter, but she would have thought that sitting on a baby was a bad idea. Showed how much she knew. Book studies could only get her so far. She needed real-life practicals, and this one had landed in her lap—and she actually had a lap.But how had Michael gotten a baby? Her research showed Humans weren’t capable of reproduction until the onset of puberty, the same as Mers.Both males stared at her. “Don’t you know what a babysitter is?” Logan asked while Michael giggled.Obviously not what she’d thought it was. And, appar-ently, it was odd for her not to know what one was. “Of course I do. I was only joking.”Michael figured it out and managed to muffle his laughter, but she could see the questions behind Logan’s eyes. She’d have to do a better job of fitting in.“See, Logan?” Michael tipped the rim of his cap back. “Now you don’t have to take off from work tomorrow. Angel can watch me. I won’t have to go to daycare, and you can save the money. Rainbow likes to save money.” The child’s smile was every bit as wide as Harry’s, but full of lovely little teeth, a few spaces between themwhere the baby ones had fallen out. She wondered how many gold coins Matilda had placed beneath his pillow or if the Tooth Fairy Brigade only celebrated Mer tooth loss. “Michael, that’s not going to happen. Angel has more important things to do than watch you while I’mat work.”Ah. Babysitting. An odd phrase, but now completely understandable. Her people called it Mer-minding.“Actually, I don’t. My study doesn’t take all my time.” Not to mention, babysitting Michael would be her field study.“See? She can!” Michael was now bouncing on both feet, his cap crushed between his hands, his thick auburn hair, so like his father’s, flopping by his ears.Logan was trying to glare at her over his son’s head, but Angel purposely kept her gaze averted. She liked Michael’s idea and didn’t want to give Logan any am-munition for his argument.Yes, Rod would have issues with this whole thing, but if he’d allowed her the opportunity to apply for the job she’d wanted, this situation could have been avoided. But Rod had spouted off about no more Human inter-action by members of his family—interesting how he came up with that stipulation after he and Reel had both married Humans—and then Harry had pulled his idiotic move, so her fins were tied.Besides, when she pulled this off and went back to Atlantis with firsthand information, she’d be the perfect candidate for director of the Coalition. Rod would have to give her the position—who better to work towards fostering Mer-Human relations with the goal to save the planet than a Mer who’d actually lived among them?The Council would thank her for the leaps she’d made in advancing Mer knowledge.If she didn’t blow it…“Michael, why don’t you go see Tony so Angel and I can talk.”“I don’t wanna.” Michael puffed out his lower lip and crossed his arms. “You said I could have what¬ever I wanted for my birthday and I want Angel for my babysitter.”Logan looked ready to spit snails. Instead he rolled his eyes toward the heavens and scraped a hand across his jaw, the slight rasp setting Angel’s skin to tingling.“Look, sport, no offense to Angel, but I don’t know her well enough to feel comfortable about her watching you.”She glanced away when Logan’s eyes drilled into hers, and she hunched down in front of the little boy.“Michael, how about if we do this on a trial basis? Maybe your dad would feel better about me babysitting if he spent the day with us. If he’s happy with the way I look after you, we can discuss the situation then, okay?”“But I don’t want you to go away.” The little boy’s bottom lip trembled.Angel couldn’t help herself. She hugged him. He was no different from any other child she knew. “I’m not going anywhere, Michael. I promise.”QOh, hell.Logan looked at the scene before him and tossed in the proverbial towel. First the problem at work, now this. He couldn’t deny Michael the one thing he wantedfor his birthday, but he also couldn’t leave his son in the care of a total stranger.It was a good thing he could work from home. He’d been doing it since Rainbow—Christine—had dropped Michael off with nothing but a note, a stuffed toy rac-coon, a bag of tattered clothing, and a few children’s books. What were a couple more days? Not the ideal situation, but school wasn’t that far off.“All right, Michael. If that’s what you want, Angel can hang out with you while I’m working today, okay?”“You’re the best, Logan!” Michael wrapped his thin arms around Logan’s thighs, giving him his first official Dad hug.A lump formed in Logan’s throat. What would it take to get a “Dad” out of him? Logan didn’t know, but if caving in to babysitter demands was all it took to get a hug, he’d give the kid whatever he wanted.He patted Michael’s shoulders. No, actually he wouldn’t. The hug was a nice perk, but responsible par-ents didn’t give in to every whim and demand, even if doing so solved problems.Not that he had any idea of responsible parenting given the pair he’d grown up with, nor the mother he’d inadvertently chosen for his son. Common sense said you couldn’t give a kid everything he wanted, although he had to believe that giving in every now and then wasn’t so bad.He had wondered how he was going to be a single, working parent when Michael had arrived and had put Give Up Sleep at the top of the list. Visit a Dozen Day cares had taken priority for tomorrow. But now, with Angel around, those To-Do items were no longer necessary.Then Angel stood up and smoothed his T-shirt down almost to her knees, and Logan had to yank his gaze from her legs. Actually, he would be visiting someplace tomorrow: a women’s clothing store.She stretched, and the T-shirt slid up her thighs.No. Make that today. The problem at work could wait another hour or so while they found her something ap-propriate. If Angel was going to be around his son, a T-shirt wouldn’t cut it. She needed clothing. Now. For his sake even more than her own.THE SEAGULLS WERE LAUGHING AT HER.Atop a lighting fixture at the end of the dock, the birds started making noise the minute Angel stepped off the rocking boat.They could cut her some slack. So she was a little un-steady. This was the first time she’d ever had legs, and disembarking a rocking boat wasn’t easy. Not to men-tion, she was still floating over the fact that she’d pulled it off. Logan was letting her stay. She had an excuse and an opportunity to test out her plans for the Coalition.Now she just needed to figure out how to pull off a disappearing act every other night to ensure the return of her tail so she could stay for more than a day or two. Much as she wanted to learn about Humans and get the directorship, she didn’t want to sacrifice her tail to do so, which is what would happen if she had legs for more than two consecutive sunsets.“How long have you had the boat, Logan?” She turned around as he climbed over the gunwale. “Do you use it often? Have you ever lived
Logan tilted his head to the side, studying her. “You want to prove something to them.”It wasn’t a question, but it was so right on the cur-rency that Angel grabbed it with both hands. “Right. They think I can’t do this, and if not for that damn shark, I could have proved them wrong in a tailfli—in a heartbeat.”All of which was true—if slightly skewed.Logan studied her another moment or two, his eyes narrowing, and Angel refused to remember how they’d darkened when he’d almost kissed her… or, rather, when she’d imagined he’d almost kissed her.Oh, Zeus. Let it go already. If she wanted to be taken seriously in the Mer scientific community, the last thing she needed was to swim down that stream about a Human. With The Council’s, and most of the Mer popu-lation’s, prejudice against all things Human, her obser-vations would be tossed aside as lovesick musings. She pulled her arm from his grasp—and ignored the sudden chill that raced over her skin.“Okay, Angel, I know all about n
MICHAEL CHATTED ALL THE WAY OFF THE DOCK AND BACK UPthe steps, with his father patiently responding, discuss-ing anything and everything. Who owned which boat in the marina, why Tony cussed so much when he didn’t think Michael could hear him, what they were going to have for dinner; the little boy never seemed to run out of questions to ask. It was both interesting and beneficial to listen to the two of them.Interesting because Angel had wondered what Human conversations were like beyond Beach-Speak, the only dialogue she’d ever observed in the wild, and benefi¬cial because it gave her something to focus on rather than that near-miss of a kiss and the fact that Logan Hardington was a man.“You can ride in the back with me,” Michael said when they approached the big, black vehicle. “Usually Rocky does, but he stayed home today. Rocky doesn’t like boats.”She’d have to thank Rocky, because she’d always wanted to ride in one of these. The purloined Jet Skis and other small watercra
“Blech.” Michael knocked his hat sideways. “Girl stuff.”“Girls like girl stuff, Michael,” his father said, straight-ening the hat. “Someday you’ll be glad about that.”“Nuh-uh. Girl stuff is yucky.”“Not if you’re a girl.” Angel reached in front of him for the perfect pair of purple shorts, a few shades darker than her amethyst tail, with delicate filigree like lace coral around the edges, then held them against the tops of her legs. “What to do you think of these?”Michael shrugged his shoulders, but Logan turned the most interesting shade of red and walked away without a word. An odd garbled sound, but no word. Was that some Human language she wasn’t familiar with?Michael just giggled. “Logan still doesn’t know you’re a mermaid, does he?”She shook her head. “No. And you have to remember not to say anything.”“I won’t. I promise. I always wanted my very own mermaid. I hope you get your tail back soon. I liked it.” She was going to have to remind him about that word, mermaid
THANK GOD SHE’D SAT IN THE BACK.Logan rushed out of the boutique with the image of Angel’s shapely, toned legs peeking out from beneath the hem of his shirt searing his brain and shooting straight to his groin. Yeah, as if the hardening of her nipples from the store’s air-conditioning and that jumble of hair—not to mention the sexy lingerie she’d held against her body and that kiss they’d almost shared—had nothing to do with his condition.God help him, he couldn’t forget one single detail, and his body’s reaction was making walking damn difficult. He angled away from Michael before adjusting his shorts, not wanting to contemplate what he’d be going through if she’d sat next to him in the SUV, those thighs inches from his—especially after watching them ascend the dock steps, then having her in his arms, almost kissing her… He’d been utterly relieved by Michael’s seating arrangements.And thank God for the store clerk. If he’d had to spend one more minute with Angel holding lingeri
ANGEL WAS GONE.Mariana swam through her sister’s condo, making a mental list of what was missing: the slate tablets of notes Angel kept stacked on the desk in the study, the box of urchin spines she stored next to the Human perfume bottle of octopus ink, that bottle of octopus ink, and the sea-pak from the foyer closet.The shutters were closed on every window, and cloth¬ing was strewn all over the bedroom, the Human shirts Angel had bought at the Salvager’s Market floating atop the furniture in the soft current that wended through downtown Atlantis. This mess wasn’t like Angel. She was a total neat freak about her “treasures,” only getting maniacal like this for one reason.Mariana somersaulted back to the living room. The sea stars were missing. The little colony of colorful echinoderms Angel had recently adopted from Rod’s office usually spent the day wandering around the coral sculpture Mariana had designed for just that purpose.She swam over to the kitchen sink. Yep. The he
ANGEL FELT LIKE A PRINCESS.Okay, so, technically, since her family was royalty, she was a princess. But other than the occasional “my lady,” the title didn’t mean a hill of shells in her world. Here, though… wow.Wendy must have melted that plastic with all these clothes. Angel knew it’d be fun to try on silky item after silky item, then put more on top of those. Swishy dresses, flowing skirts, lightweight pants, colorful tops. They were all so beautiful, like a tropical coral reef on a sunny day. That Humans could create such beautiful products said a lot about them—and gave her hope for the future.And the shoes! Oh, the shoes. The flats came in so many colors, and Wendy had insisted she try on a pair for each outfit. Really, Angel hadn’t needed much convincing. She loved the flamingo-colored sandals the saleswoman had said were the latest style. They were comfortable and looked so very pretty on her new feet. And then, the high heels! All different heights, some thick-heeled, s
Okay, so maybe someone Up There wasn’t on his side after all.Logan opened the door to the ice cream parlor for Angel, leaning back to keep from touching any part of her or that bag.She’d picked out red lingerie.He’d actually given the saleswoman carte blanche— and his credit card—to outfit his son’s new babysitter, and, between the two of them, a woman who was sup-posed to know fashion and another who had as many degrees as he did, they’d come up with red lingerie. It’d be ironically funny if Michael weren’t involved.Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe he should have just given her the money, bought her a one-way bus ticket, and told Michael she’d had to go home. He wouldn’t have to worry about what she wore, what her favorite flavor was, how her hair felt on his skin… nor what it’d be like to kiss her.Then Michael grabbed Angel’s hand and tugged her forward, his smile almost bigger than he was, and Logan knew he wasn’t going to ask her to leave. He couldn’t break Mich