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Chapter 1

Thirty ht knew it had co, since her idea of life in the fast lane was prettyof Cool Ranch Doritos, a cold Shiner Bock, and an extra-large telescope

Despite the fact that she’d been required by the SETI Institute to not only read, but memorize, several sections of the US Disaster Preparedness Plan, she hadn’t been prepared Not for this

Not at SETI’s satellite-launch party, when she’d been doing her level best to keep seventy-year-old Dr Danzinger’s age-spotted hands off her ass and his e

Not when she’d gotten the phone call telling her that her father was dying

And not now, as she stood in the security line at the Honolulu airport, waiting her turn at legalized groping while other passengers took surreptitious—and not so surreptitious—glances at that very sae

Not that she blah heels weren’t exactly typical travel apparel Then again, an e on her oddess at the fundraiser in the first place It had all been part of the scheme her twin sister had come up with after one tequila shot tooback after duer

Just the thought of the wo her eyes She could understand the hula part—who couldn’t? But what kind of scientist actually fell for an astrologer? Especially when that scientist was one of the top astronomers in the world?

It was enough to make her scream—or it would be if she didn’t have much more dire problems at the awking, chattering crowd of tourists and TSA workers currently congregated at Security Checkpoint Nunified as she felt Then again, none of thelorified handkerchief

As she tugged up the bodice of the skintight, strapless dress—so about every twenty seconds since she’d put the da on—a Honolulu TSA officer wielded a security wand like ato turn Lyric froy-T-shirt-wearing scientist

If only she’d had some pixie dust, she could have skipped the whole airport experience altogether and flown home under her oer Or better yet, a Star Trek teleporter—faster, cleaner, and no cavity searches

As the wand swiped across her breasts, the thing suddenly went crazy—the red lights blinking like she’d won her way out of Contestants’ Row on The Price is Right

“Any metal in that dress?” the round-faced Hawaiian woman asked as she tried really hard not to look down the front of Lyric’s dress In all fairness, Lyric’s double Ds er had told her

“Yes,a corset under this dress” One made of so many metal stays and steel rods that she felt like her breasts were into tell that to the TSA agent She feared the mere mention of rods of steel could land her behind bars of iron The last thing she needed was to be accused of plotting to blow up the Honolulu airport with her lingerie

Time ticked away as the wo the lines of the corset Lyric would have glanced at her watch, but it aiting patiently in a bowl on the end of the baggage-scan belt, along with her teeny-tiny purse Leaning closer—careful not to knock the shorter woman in the head with one of her boobs—she continued, “I know this is your job, but I’ve had a faht to Dallas”

The TSA agent eyed Lyric’s strapless cocktail dress “Uh-huh”

“No, really” Lyric sed convulsively and forced out the words she had spent the last half hour trying desperately to forget “My father just had a heart attack I left a work benefit and caht leaves in just a few minutes”

The woman didn’t respond, which only made Lyric feel s almost as much as she despised the way her voice had shaken when she’d spoken, so she shoved her fear for her father deep down inside herself Held her head high Threw her shoulders back And did her best to ignore the fact that one of her boobs had just attempted a jailbreak