Lily set down her fork. "Yes," she said. "And just so we don't have to keep having this conversation over and over again, let me see if I can put this in words simple enough for you to understand. I. Am not. Leaving. Certainly not because you have some ridiculous notion that I'm out to cheat Glynnis of her inheritance. Your sister was kind enough to offer me a place to stay when my apartment went condo, and unless she asks me to leave, this is exactly where I plan to remain." At least until the last week in May, when her next stint as chef for a corporate yacht was scheduled to begin—but Lily didn't feel any burning need to share that information with Glynnis's brother.

She looked him over. Why did the guy have to be such eye candy? He had that flushed, moist glow of the freshly showered, and his hair was still damp, his cheeks smooth and shiny from a recent shave. He was just plain fan-yourself attractive, and lordy, didn't it just figure that the first man to rev her engine in way too long would turn out to be a judgmental oaf? Life was so unfair.

Never did it seem more so than when he asked in a silky baritone, "Did my sister happen to mention that the house is in my name, not hers?"

Zach watched as Lily absorbed the news. She looked stunned for a moment, but he had to hand it to her, she recovered quickly. Her fine-boned little chin lifted, and her eyes were cool as they met his head-on.

"And I assume you mean to challenge the legality of my contract with her?"

"Maybe." He crossed his arms over his chest and gazed down at her. But she looked way too good, so he transferred his attention to the plate in front of her, which held the most delicious-looking omelet he'd ever seen. Its tantalizing scent had been responsible for pulling him to the kitchen in the first place, and actually seeing its golden-brown perfection made saliva pool in his mouth. His stomach growled.

"Then I guess we'll see each other in court," Lily said, snapping his attention back to her. Cheeks flushed and eyes so bright a blue he suspected colored contact lenses, she pushed back from the table and rose to her feet. She carried her plate over to the sink where she scraped its contents, giving him a long, level look over her shoulder. "Because I'm still not leaving."

For one brief moment Zach didn't care. He watched the perfect omelet disappear down the garbage disposal and wanted to howl. Just because she couldn't finish it didn't mean it had to go to waste. He would have taken care of it for her. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten a proper meal, but it sure as hell hadn't been during the past twenty-four hours. Hunger, lack of sufficient sleep, and worry over his sister sent him across the space separating them. "Where's Glynnis?" he snarled, even though he knew damn well that hotheaded demands were destined to fail.

Lily didn't reply, but something in her eyes confirmed Zach's suspicion that she knew the answer, and with a lack of control that wasn't at all like him he wrapped his hands around her upper arms and pulled her up onto her toes. Bending his head, he got right in her face. "Where the hell is she?"

The warmth and the softness of her skin registered first. Then he saw her crystalline blue eyes go wide, and the genuine fear that flashed through them struck him like a punch to the gut. With an oath, he set her free. He stepped back and plowed a hand through his hair. "I just want to know where my sister is." Hearing the apologetic tone in his voice, he snarled, "For all I know, finagling yourself a cushy berth here wasn't enough to keep you satisfied."

"Meaning what—that now you think I've harmed her? For heaven's sake! She's gone on a trip!" Crossing her arms over her breasts, she rubbed her arms. "You might want to consult a professional about that paranoia."

Shoving down the flash of guilt he felt seeing her hands pat the flesh he'd just manhandled as if searching for bruises, he honed in on the pertinent information. "A trip where? With who?"

"North," she replied coolly. "With a friend." Eyes narrowed, she thrust her jaw up at him. But she couldn't quite hold his gaze.

It told him louder than words could have that the "friend" was someone he wouldn't approve of. "Aw, crap. She's off with another fortune hunter, isn't she?"

"Insinuating that I'm one too, I take it?"

"If the high heel fits, honey chile." Although, taking in that tousled blonde hair and those kiss-me-daddy lips, he'd grant that gulling a naive young woman might be a departure for her. Little Miss Lily's wiles were probably more often practiced on the dick-bearing segment of the moneyed set.

"My gawd." She blew out a disgusted breath and shot him a look that should have dropped him in his tracks. "You are some piece of work."

"And don't you forget it. Now let's you and I sit down and get nice and comfy. Then you can tell me exactly where up north Glynnis has gone—and just who the hell her travel buddy is."

"Can I now," she said flatly. "And is there anything else I can do for you while I'm at it?"

"I wouldn't say no to one of those omelets."

"Oh, you bet—I'll get right on that. Meanwhile, I tell you what." She cocked a hip at him, gave one pretty, rounded cheek a resounding smack, and tendered him a sweet smile. "Kiss this."

He gave the anatomy in question a comprehensive perusal, then slowly raised his gaze. "Wouldn't say no to that, either."

A soft shriek of frustration escaped her, and pivoting on her toe, she stalked from the room—or at least that was the impression conveyed by the unyielding set of her golden-skinned shoulders as she left the kitchen. Genuine stalking had to be a tough act to pull off in heels that tall.

He watched the rhythmic twitch of her hips as she walked away. How can someone as sweet as Glynn is have such a pig of a brother ? Her words from last night whispered in his mind, and he scowled. What was it about her, anyway, that loosened every restriction that ordinarily guarded his tongue? Two lousy minutes in her company seemed to be all it took to destroy years of having manners drummed into his head.

This wasn't how he'd been raised to talk to women. Grandmother must be spinning in her grave—she'd had very concrete ideas of how gentlemen dealt with ladies, and she would've skinned him alive to hear the disrespect he'd tendered Lily.

But, damn , the woman had annoying ways of getting to him! Like dabbing on just enough of that scent she wore to make him want to get closer to sniff out more. Or doing whatever it was she did to make herself look as if she'd just tumbled out of bed after a bout of really hot sex. Not to mention the way she walked, with those hip swinging, tippy-toed little steps.Hell, she even ate seductively. The look on her face when she'd been forking that omelet into her mouth had practically knocked him on his butt. He'd seen women in the midst of an orgasm who hadn't looked half as ecstatic.

He shook his head, trying to get the image out of his mind. He didn't get it. What the hell was it about her that drew him so? It wasn't as if Lily were the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. Or even the sexiest, when it came right down to it. But just let her be in the same room and, without any effort on her part it seemed, she kept his attention trained squarely on her.

And you think that's by accident, genius?

Zach swore. Well, duh. Keep a guy's attention focused on disheveled blonde hair and a well-rounded little fuck-me body, and it sure as hell won't be his mind doing the thinking. Lily Morrisette might be about the girliest female he'd ever clapped eyes on, but she had a habit of meeting both gazes and situations head-on, a way of refusing to ever back down, that was almost masculine in its determination. She knew precisely what she was doing.

He didn't think he was jumping to any hasty conclusions by questioning her motives. Glynnis certainly had a record of trusting the wrong people. She'd run afoul of some real losers in her life, and more than one young buck had thought to score himself a free ride by attaching himself to her. But they hadn't all been out to take her, so it wasn't as if he automatically suspected every person she came into contact with. She'd managed to make some regular friends; he'd give her that. Every one of his sister's girlfriends he'd met up until now, though, had been her own age—young women in their early twenties who'd tended either to start giggling or to flirt blatantly whenever he tried to have anything resembling an intelligent conversation with them.

They were nothing like Lily. They lacked that aura she had of knowing the score, for one thing. It took years and experience to gain that kind of worldliness. He might not be the greatest judge of age, but he'd put money on Lily being quite a bit older than his sister— somewhere closer to his own thirty-six than to Glynnis's not-quite twenty-five.

And all things considered, he had to wonder: What would someone as self-assured as Lily want with an ingenuous girl who was nine or ten years younger if it wasn't her money?

The origins of their association definitely bore closer examination.

Lily paced her room, seriously irritated. And to think she used to dream of having a big brother! If Mr. I-Am-the-Commandant-of-All-I-Survey was any example, she could count herself fortunate she'd been an only child.

She made a conscious effort to unclench her teeth. But, really! She'd excused his rudeness last night because he'd obviously been tired and not thinking clearly, but how dare he continue to heedlessly assume she had no integrity? Yes, she was a busty, blue-eyed blonde who loved makeup and jewelry; so rarely in her life had any man bothered to look deeper than that. But there was a big difference between being considered a dumb blonde and Zach's careless assassination of her character.