"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."