“Kiss me, lass.”

“I … shouldn’t.”

Her breathless, husky murmur enchanted him. “Is it so bad then?”

Adrienne drew a deep breath. She stood up, moved away from him, and tipped her head back to study the sky. The night had cleared; the cloud cover had furled out to sea and the storm had passed without breaking. The sound of the surf ebbed and flowed below them in unfaltering rhythm. Stars pierced the mantle of night and Adrienne tried to locate the Big Dipper when suddenly a small, bright star seemed to shiver, then plummeted from the sky.

“Look!” she said excitedly. “A falling star!”

Hawk surged to his feet. “Whatever you do, don’t wish, lass.”

She turned a pure, glowing smile his way, and it dazzled him so completely that for a moment he couldn’t think. “Why ever not, Hawk?”

“They come true,” he finally managed.

Her gaze fled back to the falling star. Adrienne held her breath and wished with all her might. Please let something very good happen to me soon. Please! Unable to say the words even beneath her breath, she willed her vision to the stars.

He sighed. “What did you wish?”

“You can’t tell,” Adrienne informed him pertly. “It’s against the rules.”

Hawk cocked a questioning brow. “What rules, lass?”

“You know—the wishing-on-a-star rules,” she informed him in a tone that said everybody knew those rules. “So what did you wish that came true?”

Hawk snorted. “You just told me I’m not allowed to tell.”

Adrienne rolled her eyes and made an impatient sound. “That’s only until they come true. Then you can tell anyone you want.” Her eyes blazed with curiosity. “So—out with it.” She pushed lightly at his chest.

Hawk stared at Adrienne with fascination. Over the space of this wishing-on-a-star conversation, his wife seemed to have slid backward over the years. In her unfettered gaze, Hawk could clearly discern the trusting child she had once been.

“It’s not what I wished, rather what a friend of mine wished upon me,” Hawk said softly.

“And that was?” Adrienne urged.

Hawk almost laughed aloud; he half thought she might box his ears if he didn’t answer her quickly enough for her liking. “Kiss me, Adrienne,” he said huskily, “prove to me it’s not true. That a friend can’t curse you with a wish upon a falling star.”

“Come on, Hawk, tell me what his wish was!” Laughter lilted on her lush, pouty lips, and he wanted to kiss her until she made all his private wishes come true.

“Will you kiss me, then?” he bartered.

“Oh! Everything’s a deal isn’t it?”

Hawk shrugged. “Tit for tat, lass. ’Tis the way of this world. If a villein has beans and no meat, he finds someone with meat and no beans. I’m merely offering you a mutually satisfying trade.”

“Do I get coffee too?” she asked shrewdly. “Tomorrow morning? For the kiss tonight? Toll troll paid in advance?”

“Och, wee lassie, who taught you to drive such a hard bargain?” But if he had his way, he’d coax enough sweet kisses from her tonight that he’d need only roll over in the morning to kiss her again. In his bed.

“Was that a yes, Hawk?”

“Cease and desist, lass! Shoot me another one of those beguiling looks and I’ll be giving you my buttery with the coffee and perhaps toss in a few horses.”

“I have your word, then?”

“You have my word and my pledge.”

“Deal.” Adrienne sealed their bargain hastily. Answers, coffee, and the excuse for a kiss. How could she ask for more? “My answer first,” she demanded.

Hawk’s great dark head fell forward, his mouth to her ear. Shivers slid up her back when his breath fanned her neck. “What? I can’t hear you?” she said, as he mumbled something indistinct.

“It’s really too foolish to bear repeating….”

“A deal’s a deal, Hawk!” she complained, shivering violently as his lips grazed her neck again and again.

Hawk groaned. “He wished for me the perfect wife. That my wife would be all that I ever dared dream of … all I ever hoped for. And then he wished that she would refuse to love me. Refuse to touch me. Refuse to share my bed.”

“Why would a friend wish such a thing?” she asked indignantly.

“Why would a wife do such a thing?” he countered smoothly against the tender lobe of her ear.