Brian

4

"I need the camera goddess!"

Brian grabbed his jacket and slipped it on, then searched his desk for a tie. He liked to look respectable when he appeared on-air, but sometimes news happened, whether he was dressed for it or not.

"Taneesha!" he shouted, striding through the newsroom. He poked his head into the editing suite and found her sitting at the control board with one of the news editors.

"Come on," he said. "We have to go."

Taneesha glanced up. "I need to get this offline editing done by noon. They want this piece for the six o'clock news."

"This is more important," he said. "Jerry can finish that for you, can't you, Jerry?"

The tape editor nodded. Taneesha got up and followed Brian through the door. "What's up?"

"A judge just issued an injunction on Patterson's waterfront project. He claims there are some irregularities with the financing that need to be explored. Dave is going to get me a transcript of the court report. We have to go ask Patterson what he thinks. Catch his reaction on camera."

"Quinn, we don't have a story here. You've got the news director and the station manager telling you to back off. If we go sticking a camera in Patterson's face, it's going to come back and bite both of us in the butt. He'll file harassment charges if you're not careful."

"I'll take full responsibility," he said. "Bob's got the van parked in back. I need you to get me a good shot. We're building our case here. Persistence will pay off."

Taneesha grudgingly agreed, picking up her pace as they headed to the station's parking lot. As Bob promised, he was waiting with the engine running. Taneesha was the best cameraperson at the station and in Brian's opinion, Bob was the best driver. He wove in and out of lunch hour traffic, easily making it from the station to the financial district in less than ten minutes. He pulled up in a No Parking zone in front of Patterson's office building.

"So, how are we going to do this?"

"Patterson has a meeting this afternoon with his investors at his club. His driver is scheduled to pick him up here in a few minutes." Brian pointed to a Lincoln Town Car parked in front of them. "That's his car. So I figure, he's coming this way."

"How did you know he had a meeting?" Taneesha asked, grabbing up the camera. She checked the battery pack, then balanced it on her shoulder.

"The guy who owns the car company that Patterson uses is an old high school buddy. We once stole a television together."

Taneesha gasped. "You stole a television?"

"It was just sitting there on the back of the delivery truck. I had very bad impulse control when I was young."

"And I can see you haven't changed much," she muttered.

Brian stared out the window at the front entrance to the office tower. "He'll see the van when he comes out. If he turns and runs, I want to get that on tape, too. The fact that he won't want to talk to the media will make even a bigger statement." He paused as the doors came open. "Here he is," Brian murmured. "Get ready."

But just as Brian was ready to hop out of the van, he noticed a figure exiting the building right behind Patterson. "Lily," he murmured, his hand frozen on the door handle. For a long moment, he didn't move, her presence causing him to rethink his actions.

"Quinn!" Taneesha whispered.

"What?"

"If you don't go now, I'm not going to get a chance to focus. Go, go!" Taneesha urged.

Brian yanked the van door open and hopped out, grabbing his microphone and switching it on. Taneesha followed with the camera. "Okay," she said. "I've got him. Go ahead."

Brian kept his eyes fixed on Patterson, afraid to even glance at Lily. She was the perfect distraction, dressed in her tidy little business suit, her hair pulled back into a prissy knot. He imagined removing the hairpins one by one and letting her-geez, he had to remember his purpose here! "Mr. Patterson," he called. "Judge Ramirez has issued an injunction to stop the waterfront project. Do you have a comment?"

"No comment," Patterson growled, staring directly into the camera.

"He claims that an investigation by an independent panel found some financial irregularities. Would you like to explain what he found?"

"No comment," he said, picking up his pace.

"How much money did your company contribute to Senator Jerry Morgan's last campaign? Was that money given in return for favors?"

Patterson quickly slipped into the car and slammed the door.

"Mr. Patterson is late for a meeting, but I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have."

Brian turned back to Lily. She smiled at him, but he could see the anger glittering in her eyes.

"Mr. Patterson's contributions to Jerry Morgan's campaign are a matter of public record. As for the injunction, we're confident that once given the chance, we'll be able to answer the court's questions to their satisfaction. The waterfront project will provide hundreds of jobs for Boston residents and Mr. Patterson believes that this will be of great help to the citizens of this city in these tough economic times. If you have any further questions, please feel free to call me."

"And what is your name?" Brian asked.

"Lily Gallagher. That's G-A-L-L-A-G-H-E-R. Lily with one 'L'. Got that?" Her eyebrow arched in a subtle challenge.

Brian grinned. "Yeah, I got that."

"Good. I wouldn't want you to make any mistakes." She leveled a disdainful gaze at him, then turned on her heel and started back inside.

Brian watched her retreat, his gaze dropping to the enticing sway of her hips and the shift of her backside beneath the formfitting skirt.

"Brrrr," Taneesha said. "I'm feeling a little chilly." She started toward the truck. "This was a waste of time. A comment by the ice queen and that's about it."

The ice queen? That description couldn't be further from the truth, Brian mused. But Brian wasn't about to tell Taneesha that Lily had the capacity to generate more "heat" than any women he'd ever touched. Just the scent of her hair or the sound of her voice was enough to make him ache for her.

He handed the microphone to Taneesha. "We're through here," he murmured. "I'll meet you back at the station." He jogged to the entrance.

"Where are you going?" Taneesha shouted.

"I've got a few follow-up questions," he said, waving. Brian caught up to her at the elevator, smoothly stepping between her and the doors. "Hi, Lily," he murmured. "It is Lily, right? Lily G-A-L-L-A-G-H-E-R?"

Lily crossed her arms over her breasts and sent him an uneasy look. "I-I don't have anything more to say to you."

"I told you I wasn't going to back off," Brian said. "People are starting to talk about Patterson. It's only a matter of time, Lily. You can't save this guy."

"I'm going to do my job," she said, straightening her spine.

"And I'm going to do mine," he countered. "Have you had lunch yet? I know this great seafood place just a few blocks from here." He grabbed her hand, weaving his fingers through hers. "Come on. You'll love it."

Lily stared down at their tangled fingers, then suddenly yanked her hand from his. "No! I'm not going to lunch with you. I'm not going anywhere with you. We will not be seeing each other outside of my capacity as Richard Patterson's media spokesperson. And you can quote me on that."

She punched the button on the elevator over and over again, as if she were frantic to get away from him, but the doors still didn't open. A few seconds later, a maintenance man carrying a toolbox walked up beside them. "That elevator is out," he mumbled. "Some idiot hit the stop button and now it won't start. You can wait for the other one or use the west elevators."

Lily started toward the stairs and Brian had no choice but to follow. "You know Patterson is ass deep in alligators, here," he shouted. "If I don't expose him, some other news reporter will. At least with me, you know I'll get the facts straight."

"I was hired to do a job and I'm going to do it," Lily said, shoving open the stairwell door.

Brian jogged after her. "Don't you have any ethical qualms about this?"

She stopped at the first landing and turned to face him. "What does this come down to? A little piece of property with a view of the water? We're not talking about war or disease or famine here. We're talking about a shopping mall and a few restaurants and some condos. I think you're the one who needs a little perspective. Why don't you go investigate some drug dealer or murderer?"

Brian stared at her for a long moment. He was sick of talking business. There were so many more pleasant things to talk about when he was with Lily. "You're thinking about kissing me right now, aren't you," he said.

Lily gasped. "Wh-what?"

"You heard me." He glanced around the stairwell and frowned. "What the hell are we doing in here? Patterson's office is on the twentieth floor."

"I'm in shape," she said. She jogged up another flight of stairs and Brian groaned softly. Though he worked out, twenty floors was a long way up. After chasing her that far, he might not have the energy to kiss her. With a low curse, he slipped out of his jacket, dropped it on the floor and started up after her.

"You can admit it, you know," he called, his voice echoing through the stairwell.

"Admit what?"

"You like me. I'm not afraid to admit that I like you."

She stopped on the next landing, then slowly turned. Step by step, she descended. But when she was just above him, her heel caught on the edge of the step and she lurched forward. He reached out and caught her in his arms, slowly letting her body come to rest against his. Brian smiled and bent forward, waiting for her to surrender to a kiss. Five seconds later, he was still waiting.

A weak smile twitched at her lips. "Now who's thinking about kissing who?" she murmured.

"Whom," he corrected.

She pushed away from him, then smoothed her hands over the front of her suit. "This is war," she said. "And I'm not about to cozy up to the enemy."

"It doesn't have to be war," he said, leaning forward and brushing his lips over hers. He waited for a moment, sure she'd retreat up the stairs. But when she didn't, he tried again, this time testing her lips with his tongue. Lily hesitated but then opened for him, a tiny sigh slipping from her as she did.

Brian picked her up, his arms wrapped around her waist, and set her down beside him, then captured her face in his hands. Their kiss turned more intense as Lily ran her hands over his chest. Kissing Lily was always an adventure. He was never quite sure how she'd respond, but when she reciprocated, he found himself instantly caught in a vortex of desire.

Her body was soft beneath the conservative clothes. He slipped his hands under her jacket and circled her waist, then yanked her closer, her hips tight against his. Clothes were a barrier to his need and he tugged at her blouse at the same time she fumbled with the buttons of his shirt.

Why did he want her so much? He'd had other women but Lily was different. Whenever he was near her-and even when he wasn't-he needed to touch her, to kiss her… to reassure himself that she was really there. Was this all about the chase? Brian had been known to be relentless in his pursuit of the opposite sex, only to grow bored once he'd made the conquest.

His thoughts jumped back to the first night they'd spent together, to that moment when he'd "saved" her from a boring evening with a boring man. Maybe Sean had been right to warn him. His brothers had fallen victim to the Quinn curse. But Brian thought that if he just didn't believe in it then he wouldn't be affected by it.

A door creaked above them and Lily froze. He slowly drew back and gazed down at her, her eyes wide. She blinked, then swore. "That is absolutely the last time I let you kiss me." Frantically, she rearranged her clothes, then hurried up the steps.

Brian didn't follow her. Instead, he leaned back, against the wall and raked his fingers through his hair. Maybe he ought to heed her warnings. After all, he couldn't seem to control himself when he touched her. Considering that little problem, he might do something stupid-like fall in love. And recent history had proved that when a Quinn fell in love, there was no way out.

"We need a strategy," Lily said, pacing the width of the conference room. "Brian Quinn isn't going to give up."

Her mind flashed back to the kiss they'd shared in the stairwell and realized she might as well be talking about the undeniable desire between them, rather than her problems with Patterson.

Up until that kiss, Lily had maintained the delusion that she was still in control of her feelings for him. But all it had taken was a simple meeting of lips to make her realize he held some strange power over her, the power to turn her into a woman obsessed with her own lust. She just had to avoid him, that was the only solution to her problem.

"I'll just have to avoid him," Lily repeated.

She glanced around the room at Patterson's public relations staff, then forced a smile. "The injunction will be lifted within the week and we're going to schedule the ground-breaking right after that. Meanwhile, I need you all to flood the media with positive messages. We need the public to turn on Quinn. We need them to see that the waterfront project is good for Boston and that he's just stirring up trouble for his own benefit."

"But he's one of the most popular reporters in Boston," Derrick Simpson said. "His Q rating has been through the roof for a year now, especially with women."

Lily sighed. Yes, she did have a difficult job ahead of her and there was no doubt the women of Boston found him as irresistible as she did. But there had to be a way to get Brian Quinn to back off the story. Just the whiff of a scandal was enough to drive investors away. "We need to shift his focus," Lily said. "What we really need is a bigger scandal. Some public official taking a bribe or some celebrity caught sleeping with his sister-in-law."

"You can't make that happen, can you?" Margaret Kinger asked.

Lily frowned. "Shift his focus?"

"No, make a celebrity sleep with his sister-in-law."

She smiled. "I'm good, but not that good. But there should be a way to keep Brian Quinn distracted." Lily quickly evaluated her options. "We could… mislead him. Make it so he's not sure which sources to believe and which to discredit. It will be difficult for him to track down the truth that he might not have time to get the story straight."

"That's a great idea," John Kostryki said. "We can plant some false leads. And then, if he's lazy and reports them without checking his sources, we've got him. His reputation as a reporter in this town will be ruined."

Lily hesitated. She shouldn't have any qualms about hitting Brian Quinn right where it hurt-in his reputation. Still, she didn't want to completely ruin him, she just wanted to keep him busy for a while, until all the furor died down. "That's a possibility," she said.

"We could catch him in a compromising situation," Allison Petrie suggested.

"I hear he has quite a reputation with the ladies," Margaret said. "If we catch him with the wrong kind of woman that might cause him to lie low for a while."

Lily found that idea downright distasteful. Plus, she couldn't ignore the current of jealousy that shot through her at the thought of Brian with another woman-especially some sexy harlot with big breasts and the appetites of a nymphomaniac. "We can consider that."

"You know, he has a record," Derrick said.

"He was a singer?" Lily asked. "Now that might be something. I mean, if he imagined himself some kind of rock star and he was really awful, we could get his record played on the local radio stations. That would be really embarrassing."

"Not that kind of record," Derrick said. "A criminal record."

Lily gasped. "Brian Quinn has a criminal record? How do you know that?"

"Mr. Patterson had him investigated after he reported on building code violations on the Minuteman Mall project."

"I read the report," Lily said. "I didn't notice any mention of a criminal record."

Margaret held out a file folder. "This is the latest report from the investigator. It came in this morning and Quinn's got a whole history with the police. They way it looks, the only reason he isn't in jail right now is that his brother is a cop."

"Did you know that Quinn actually had the nerve to crash the benefit that Richard Patterson sponsored last weekend?" Allison asked. "A whole bunch of people saw him there."

Lily snatched the folder up. "From now on, I'd like to be the first person to see the reports from the investigator. Margaret, you make sure that happens. We'll meet again tomorrow morning. I want to brainstorm a few more options."

She opened the folder and quickly scanned the report. There was a complete background piece on Brian's childhood. "We-we can use this," she murmured. Lily glanced up at the four expectant faces staring at her. They were looking to her to take the lead, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. Not yet. "We'll meet again tomorrow morning. I need time to look this over."

When Lily got back to her office, she didn't go inside. She wandered over to her assistant's desk and picked up her messages, then flipped through them. There were two from Brian, one with a number she recognized as the station's and the other listed as his cell phone.

"I think he might be calling for a quote," Marie said. Lily crumpled them up and tossed them both in a nearby trash can. She meant what she'd said! They were virtual enemies on opposite sides of an issue. And she would not put herself in a position to be seduced by the enemy again.

Lily slipped the investigator's report inside her bag. "I'm going to get some lunch," she said to her assistant. "And then maybe I'll walk over to the park. If Brian Quinn calls again tell him that I have nothing to say to him." She paused. "No, just tell him that I'd appreciate it if he'd stop calling. No, wait, don't say that." She shook her head. "Don't say anything. Just take a message."

As she walked out to the elevator, she couldn't contain her curiosity. The report, like the first one she'd examined, was neatly typed and meticulously researched. But this report focused more on Brian's personal life than his professional one.

The elevator opened and Lily stepped inside, joining a crowd of workers on the way down for their lunch hour. When she finally reached the lobby, she hurried outside, into a rush of pedestrians marching down the sidewalk. An unbidden surge of loneliness washed over her, as stifling as the warm, humid air.

Every day she spent in Boston, Lily was reminded that she was a stranger in this town. She had no friends, no one she could confide in, no one who might sympathize with her problems. The only person she felt close to was Brian Quinn and now she'd resolved to put him out of her life for good.

Lily sighed and walked toward the park at Post Office Square, a pretty little oasis in the midst of skyscrapers. When she reached the park, she headed right for the glass fountain and found a grassy spot nearby where she could listen to the soothing sound of water.

She spread the folder on her lap and picked up the report, skimming through it to find mention of the fund-raiser. "According to several guests," she read out loud, "Brian Quinn attended the fund-raiser sponsored by Richard Patterson, held at the Copley Plaza Hotel on Saturday, June 14. He entered without a ticket and was seen dancing with a red-haired woman in a gold dress, her identity unknown to other guests."

Lily took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. There was no mention of what Brian had done after he danced with her, nothing about them leaving together or having sex in the back of her limo. Relieved, Lily flipped back to the first part of the report and began to read. The detective had done a thorough job of describing a rather difficult childhood.

Lily read about Brian's fisherman father and his missing mother, about the difficulties in their home on Kilgore Street in South Boston, the older brother who took care of five younger siblings before becoming a cop. Another brother had become a fireman. "Conor and Dylan," she murmured. "Brendan the writer. Sean is a… private investigator." She frowned. And the youngest brother, Liam, was a freelance photographer. There was also a sister, but Lily skimmed over details of a complex history.

So far, she hadn't found anything that could be used against him. It wasn't a crime to have a bad childhood, an absent father and a mother who deserted the family when he was only three. But then she moved onto the next paragraph and she stopped. "Brian Quinn has several juvenile offences on his record including miscellaneous charges of shoplifting, vandalism, and petty theft. There is proof of an auto theft at age fifteen, but his older brother, Conor, then a rookie cop, convinced the owner to drop the charges." Grand theft auto. Now there was something that his bosses at the station probably didn't know about.

Was she willing to drag his past out into the light? Lily had been forced to play dirty on occasion, but she'd never deliberately hurt another person. And giving the public this information might seriously affect Brian's career. "Knowing his luck, it would raise his popularity," Lily muttered.

Lily lay back on the grass and covered her face with the report, blocking out the sun. She needed to relax and put all her cares and worries aside for a few minutes. Her thoughts drifted, the sound of the fountain in the background soothing her mind. But the images that filled her head weren't of pretty waterfalls and swaying trees. Instead, she saw naked bodies and disheveled clothes, historic scenery passing outside tinted windows. This time, she didn't brush the images aside, but let them linger.

"Imagine my luck."

The voice came out of nowhere and at first, Lily thought it was part of her daydream. But then she realized that she'd dozed off, right in the middle of the park. She slowly lowered the report to find a tall figure standing over her. Though the sun was behind him and she couldn't see his face, she knew who it was. She pushed up, setting the report behind her. "I don't think this has anything to do with luck. I think I must be cursed."

"You, too?" Brian asked. "I guess we have one thing in common."

She glanced up at him and watched his gaze slowly drift from her face to her feet. She wore a business suit, hardly a sexy outfit. But then Lily noticed that her silk blouse gaped open in the front and her skirt was bunched up on her thighs. She quickly rearranged her clothes only to catch him grinning at her.

"May I sit down?" he asked.

Lily braced her hands behind her, trying to ignore the pounding of her heart. Why did he have to be so charming? Even dressed as she was, he made her feel like the sexiest woman on the planet. "No. But you can continue standing there. I forgot my sunscreen and you're providing shade."

"When I was a kid, I dreamed about a career as a tree," he said, sitting down beside her. He set a paper bag on her lap.

"What's this?" Lily asked.

"Lunch. I called your office and your assistant told me that you were probably in the park."

Lily gasped. "She told you where to find me?"

He nodded. "Right after I told her I was an old friend from college, here in Boston on business. I also told her what a lovely voice she had and that Marie was my favorite name. Hey, I have picked up a few valuable skills as an investigative reporter."

"I still can't believe she did that." Lily tossed the bag back in his direction and got up, tucking the report under her arm before he had a chance to see it. "I have to go." She hurried toward the sidewalk, then glanced back at, to find him smiling at her.

But the smile quickly turned into a frown. He scrambled to his feet and came after her. "Lily, look out for that-"

Her foot caught on something and she looked down and found it tangled in the wheels of a bicycle lying on the grass. She felt herself falling. There was nothing to stop her from tumbling on top of the bike… until she felt a strong hand on her elbow. When she looked back, she found Brian standing next to her.

"Be careful," he murmured. "Watch where you're going." He smiled as he smoothed his palm along her back and she felt her defenses waver. "Come on. Have lunch with me." He walked over and retrieved the bag.

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you."

"I'm a nice guy. Women have a hard time resisting me." He sat down at her feet and then patted the grass next to him. "I wasn't sure what you liked for lunch," he said as he opened the bag. "After you ordered a salad the other night, I figured you were probably one of those women who eats like a gerbil."

"A gerbil?" Lily laughed as she sat down, thinking about the numerous desserts she had devoured in his name.

"Yeah, one of those little ratlike animals they have in all the kindergarten-"

"I know what a gerbil is," Lily said. She leaned over and looked in the bag. "So did you get me a salad?"

Brian pulled out a sandwich wrapped in paper. "Nope, I got you a grinder." He pulled out a dark brown bottle. "And a root beer." Lily slowly unwrapped the sandwich. "It's really good," he explained. "It has all kinds of meat in it and cheese. Boston is famous for them. In fact, we've taken sandwich-making to new heights."

"Gee, the Pilgrims, the Revolutionary War and now sandwiches," Lily teased. "All we have in Chicago is wind and deep-dish pizza."

Brian shrugged as he twisted off the cap of the root beer. "I thought since you were here, you might want to know something about the city."

She realized her comment sounded awfully cynical. "And what other culinary treats should I sample?" she asked, taking a sip of the soda then smiling as it foamed up in her mouth. He handed her a napkin and she dabbed at her lips.

"Well, you'll definitely want to try Boston Baked Beans. I like to eat those with fish. And New England Boiled Dinner, which is a traditional Irish dish. Since I'm one hundred percent Irish, I grew up on that."

"Really?"

Brian paused. "No, not really. We didn't eat too well when I was a kid. The closest we came to boiled dinner was wiener water soup."

She'd read his file and knew that his childhood hadn't been easy. But it was different hearing the story directly from him. She sensed what it cost him to open up. Brian Quinn, with all his charm and good looks, did not like to appear vulnerable, especially to her. "What is that?"

He grinned. "My family didn't have much money and so we had to make the food budget stretch. If we had the money for hot dogs, then we'd boil them up for dinner and save the water. The next night, my brother Conor would take the water and throw in carrots and potatoes and celery and catsup to make a soup. He wasn't much of a cook, but we learned to like wiener water soup. With Wonder Bread."

"You said your brother Conor did the cooking."

"My da was working and my ma wasn't around. She left when I was three years old." Brian hesitated, as if he wasn't sure whether to go on. "My family came over to the U.S. from Ireland when I was just a baby. I was born there, but I don't remember any of it. What about your folks?"

He'd turned the conversation deftly away from himself, but Lily didn't mind. She could at least give him something in return for his honesty. "They live in Wisconsin," she said. "I grew up in a small town there."

Brian blinked in surprise. "You're a small town girl? How did you end up in Chicago?"

"While I went to college at Northwestern, I interned for DeLay Scoville. They liked me and hired me after I graduated and I've worked there ever since."

"And Boston? How did you end up here… with me?" Brian asked.

Lily met his inquisitive gaze straight-on. "A real estate developer in Chicago hired us to handle his public relations. I was the account manager. He had a little bit of a scandal and I helped minimize the media coverage of it."

"So, you could say you came to Boston just for me?" Brian murmured, reaching out to touch her face. He rubbed her lower lip with his thumb, then stuck his thumb in his mouth. "Mustard."

Lily felt a warm flush creep up her cheeks. "You never give up, do you," she murmured.

"In my business, persistence is a virtue." His gaze locked with hers for a moment and Lily was certain he was about to kiss her. She'd already decided that she wouldn't resist. It was no use. But then Brian glanced down and pulled another sandwich out of the bag and unwrapped it. "You know, if you want a real New England meal, I should take you to a clambake."

"No dates," Lily warned.

Brian sighed. "This is getting old fast. Why not? I don't have anything to hide from you. And I don't care what you hide from me. We're a perfect match."

"No, we aren't."

"We felt pretty perfect that night in the limo," Brian said.

"You shouldn't base anything on that night," Lily said. "That was just… lust. Sex. Nothing more." Though she'd said it before, this time it sounded so cold and calculating. Even if it was just lust, it was incredible, toe-curling, mind-numbing lust. The kind of lust a woman dreamed about.

"You were just using me, right? Any old guy would have done the job. Hell, if I hadn't come along, you'd have invited that… what was he, an insurance salesman? You would have invited him for a ride."

"No!" Lily cried. "There was a little more to it than that."

"Then it wasn't just about sex?"

Lily squirmed a little under the intensity of his questioning. "There was some attraction," she admitted. "Mild attraction. And I do find you very interesting. Intelligent and witty. And you're handsome, but I get the feeling you know that already." She took a dainty bite of her sandwich. "I'd assumed that the feeling was mutual or you wouldn't have come with me, too."

Brian stretched his legs out in front of him and considered her question. Then he sent her a devilish grin. "Nah, it was just about sex for me."

Lily snatched up the bag and hit him across the chest with it. "You are such a-a jerk."

He held up his hand. "Truthfully? The first time I saw you in that dress I thought, this is a girl I have to meet. You were beautiful, more beautiful than anyone at the party. And when that other guy sat down, I figured you were already taken. But then, you looked over at me and I could tell you needed rescuing. So I stepped in and the rest is history." He paused. "I liked the way your hair fell against your neck, I liked the scent of your perfume and the sound of your voice. And I liked the way you felt in my arms when we danced."

Lily stared at him for a long moment, her sandwich still clutched in her hands. "That's very nice of you to say." She looked away. "But I suspect you say nice things to a lot of women."

"A lot of women don't deserve them like you do," Brian countered.

Lily set her sandwich down and wiped her hand on a napkin. "Have you considered how difficult dating might be? First, we didn't start off the way a normal couple would. And we disagree on some major issues. We'd probably spend most of our time arguing."

"How do we know unless we try?" Brian asked.

Lily sighed. "What if I said I'll think about it and get back to you."

He grinned. "I guess I'll have to be satisfied with that. At least now we're making progress." He rolled over on his stomach and set his sandwich in front of him. "What's this?" he asked.

When Lily glanced over her shoulder, her heart stopped. He had the investigator's report in his hand. He made to hand it to her, then froze, his gaze fixed on the file folder which had his name emblazoned on the front in big block letters. "Give that to me," Lily demanded, reaching out to snatch it from him.

But Brian had quicker reflexes. He scrambled to his feet and walked away from her, reading as he moved. When he finally stopped he was standing next to the fountain. Lily wasn't sure what to do. Maybe it was best he knew how far Richard Patterson was willing to go to protect his interests. If he hadn't found the report first, she might have considered telling him… warning him… as a simple courtesy.

Lily got to her feet and approached him. But before she could explain, he looked up at her with a furious expression. "You had me investigated?" He laughed harshly, then slowly shook his head. "I can't believe this. This is my life. Either you're planning to use this against me or you were a little worried about the man you had sex with." She opened her mouth to explain, but he held out his hand. "Never mind. Whichever it is, I don't want to know."

"I didn't ask for the investigation," Lily said. "Patterson did. He wanted something to use against you."

"This stuff happened when I was a kid." His jaw went tight. "I guess wiener water soup isn't nearly as interesting as my juvie record, is it? Doesn't make for good ammunition. But just think about how the press is going to eat this up-my father was absent and when he wasn't, he was drunk. My mother ran away from home and didn't come back. We lived in a run-down house in Southie that didn't have heat in the winter or electricity when we couldn't pay the bill. Sometimes we stole food from the market just to eat. And all we cared about was staying one step ahead of the social workers. What a pathetic childhood I had. Won't everyone feel sorry for me."

"I'm not going to use this," Lily said.

"No," Brian countered. "Don't back off on my account. Because if you do, I might be tempted to cut you a little slack. We'll just agree that there are no rules. That way, neither one of us can be held responsible for what happens." He glanced around. "I have to go."

Lily watched as he stalked away, the report still clutched in his hand. "I need that report. You can't take it."

Brian stopped short, then slowly turned. His lips were pressed into a tight smile as he approached her. "You need the report." He nodded, then flipped the report over her shoulder. She heard a splash behind her and closed her eyes. "There's your damned report."

She turned to see the report in the center of the fountain, water pouring down over it. And when she turned back, he was nearly to the street. "I thought you didn't care what I hid from you!" she shouted.

Why did every encounter with Brian Quinn seem to end badly? "Maybe it's for the best," she muttered, kicking off her shoes and crawling over the low wall that surrounded the fountain. "If he hates me, then he'll stay away from me. And if he stays away from me, then I won't be tempted to-" She brushed the images out of her head, refusing to give into another daydream about what they'd shared.

Though the fountain contained no standing water, the shower falling down from the center couldn't be avoided. She held her breath and stepped beneath it, snatching up the report before she nimbly retreated to the other side of the wall.

Water dripped from her hair and the shoulders of her suit were soaked. With a soft curse, Lily smoothed her hair out of her eyes, picked up her shoes and returned to her spot on the grass. Brian had left their sandwiches there, along with the two bottles of root beer. She flopped down on the grass and decided to finish lunch. Maybe by then, she'd be dry enough to return to work.

Lily grabbed up her sandwich and took a big bite. "And he wants to date," she muttered. "I can't spend fifteen minutes with the man before he gets on my last nerve."