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."

5

"I don't know what the hell I'm going to do if the report comes out." Brian leaned his head back against the sofa and stared up at the living room ceiling in Sean's apartment.

"Who did the investigation?" Sean asked, flopping down next to him and handing Brian a beer.

"Some guy named Wiffram."

"Harvey Wiffram. He's good. Most of his work is background checks for corporate clients. If there's dirt to be found, he'll find it."

"Everything was in there, Da's drinking, Ma's leaving, the social workers, every petty crime we got caught for. He even interviewed one of my grade school teachers. She made it sound like we were neglected."

"Technically we were," Sean said.

"But we were okay," Brian countered. "I mean, we were taken care of. Conor made sure of that. Things could have been a lot worse."

"So what's gonna happen?"

"They know about the shoplifting. And that little joyride we took with the neighbor's car. That might tarnish the image a bit. I'm worried about Conor. He had to pull some strings to keep us out of jail. And they have all the information about that murder rap that Da had hanging over his head last year. This could put some serious stink on all of us."

"Why don't you just give up the story?" Sean asked.

Brian frowned. He'd been thinking exactly that since he'd seen the report. But it went against every instinct he had as a journalist. Besides, he was determined to uncover the truth, just to spite Lily Gallagher's efforts.

An unbidden surge of anger raced through him. He shouldn't have been surprised that Lily would stoop so low. Though he hadn't expected her to be as single-minded as he was when it came to her own career, he could certainly understand it. Maybe he'd hoped that their relationship might give her a different perspective on Richard Patterson. It wasn't as if Brian was making the story up. Patterson was a sleazeball.

But to Lily, their attraction was all about animal lust and nothing more. Yes, he'd spent a lot of free time fantasizing about stripping off her clothes and making love to her all night long. There was something about her that could arouse his desire with just the thought of touching her.

It wasn't just lust that drove him, though. He'd always had such control over his desires, able to take a woman or leave her, depending upon his whims. But for some reason, he couldn't let Lily go, couldn't put her out of his head-or his life-for good.

"I'm not going to back off. That's just what Patterson wants. I have to report what I find."

"Is that some kind of rule they teach you in reporter's school?" Sean asked.

"No, it's just part of the job. Conor doesn't walk away from a murder, Dylan doesn't walk away from a fire. And I don't walk away from a story. It's as simple as that."

Sean shrugged and took a long drink of his beer. "Aren't there degrees of importance in your stories?" he said. "Maybe this story isn't as important as you think it is."

Brian considered the suggestion for a long moment. Was Sean right? Had he somehow built this all up in his head? Hell, he'd been trying to break the story for over a year and still didn't have one single shred of solid proof that Richard Patterson had violated any laws. Everyone at the station, including his bosses, would be more than happy if he walked away from it. And if he did, it would solve all his problems with Lily. They could call a truce.

"I can't let it go," he murmured. "Not as long as I think there's something there."

"Maybe she won't use any of that stuff."

"Oh, she'll use it," Brian said. "She's too smart not to. But my guess is that she'll probably save it, maybe wait until I'm just about ready to break the story, then drop it in the media to destroy my credibility. They'll be talking about me instead of the story."

Though Brian wanted to believe that Lily was as coldhearted as that, it was still a stretch. Everything he'd seen in her up to this point had led him to believe she felt at least a small measure of affection for him. Maybe she wouldn't use the report as ammunition. Either way, he'd have to be prepared with a counterattack.

"You need more bargaining power," Sean said as if he'd read his twin's mind.

"And how am I supposed to get that?"

"Find some skeletons in Richard Patterson's closet. Big, nasty skeletons."

"I've been looking," Brian said.

"At his business affairs. You haven't looked into his personal life. Is he cheating on his wife? Does he ignore his children? Does he employ any illegal immigrants? There's a million and one things that might be just as dangerous as what he has on you."

"Can you find something for me?" Brian asked.

Sean scratched his thumbnail over the label on his beer bottle as he considered the request. "Only if you can get me tickets to a Sox-Yankees game next month."

"I can do that," Brian said. "You find me something good to use on Patterson and I'll get you press box passes for the entire series with the Yankees."

The front doorbell rang and Sean jumped up from the sofa. "Pizza's here," he murmured.

Brian grabbed his wallet and tossed it to his brother as he walked to the door. "My treat," he said.

Sean didn't bother to argue so Brian figured he was a little short of cash. He felt guilty asking him to do some legwork for no pay, but Sean didn't seem to mind. He took money when it was offered and worked for nothing when it wasn't.

A few seconds later, Sean returned with the pizza and set it down on the coffee table. Then he went to the kitchen and retrieved two dish towels, throwing one in Brian's direction. "Don't tell Ellie," he muttered. "She'd kill me if she knew I was using her dish towels as napkins."

"Where are Liam and Ellie?"

"They're out looking for an apartment. I told them I'd move out and they could have this place, but with Ellie's salary at the bank and Liam's new projects, they can afford better. I don't know how I'm going to swing the rent on this place alone."

"You could always move in with me," Brian said. "I've got room."

"Nah. I'd have to leave once you and this Lily woman move in together."

Brian laughed, but it sounded a bit too forced, even to his own ears. "I'm not moving in with Lily Gallagher," he protested. Yet, he wasn't entirely convinced that he hated the idea. He at least wanted a chance with her, an opportunity to see if there was anything behind the passion they shared. Or if that passion would just burn out over time.

"You're not going to have a choice." Sean grabbed a piece of pizza and blew on it to cool it down. "It's the curse. There's no getting out of it."

"But I didn't really rescue her. Her life wasn't in danger. She was perfectly safe." He paused. "Well, there were a few other times that I suppose she might have been in a little danger, and I-in front of the pub the other day, I thought she was about to step out into traffic. And then she nearly tripped down some stairs and there was the bike in the park. I mean, she wasn't really in danger, I was just looking out for her." He paused. "Besides, it gave me a chance to touch her."

Sean took a bite of the pizza. He chewed slowly, pondering Brian's admission. "I suppose you could be right. Conor saved Olivia from Red Keenan's thugs. And Dylan saved Meggie from fire. And Brendan pulled Amy out of the middle of a bar fight. That's pretty big stuff."

"And Liam saved Ellie from a burglar. I saved Lily from a boring evening. It's just not the same."

"But you kind of wish it was, don't you?" Sean asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Right now, Lily and I can't be in the same room without finding something to disagree about. I don't know how the hell that's supposed to lead to eternal love and marriage."

"There must have been something that you liked about her."

"We had very hot sex in the back of a limo. That's a nice little fantasy fulfilled for any guy. And then she told me she never wanted to see me again. Most guys would love that. But I wanted to see her again. I still do."