“You don’t have to try so hard,” Liam said, reaching out to take the towel from her hand. He wove his fingers through hers, lifted her hand up to his mouth and gave it a soft kiss. “Just relax.”

Ellie stared at the spot where his lips had touched, her breath slowly leaving her lungs. So much for platonic intentions, she mused. Maybe if she tipped the refrigerator on top of herself, he’d kiss her on the mouth.

“Is there another beer in the fridge?” Liam asked.

“Yes,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “I’ll get it.”

“I’ll get it,” Liam said.

Ellie decided to busy herself at the stove, checking the pasta sauce that was warming on one burner, then salting the water that had come to a boil on the other. “I hope you like pasta.”

“I’ll eat pretty much anything, especially if it’s home cooked. Sean and I eat a lot of take-out and frozen pizza. And we eat at my dad’s pub whenever we’re working there. I can’t remember the last time I had a home-cooked meal.”

“Is Sean your roommate?” Ellie asked, anxious to keep the conversation rolling.

Liam took a sip of his beer. “My roommate and brother. We have a place over in Southie, near where we grew up. My dad owns a pub and my brothers and I work there whenever we can.”

“You have more than one brother?”

He nodded. “Conor, Dylan, Brendan, Brian, Sean and me. And we have a sister, Keely.”

“You’re the youngest?”

“Of the boys. Keely’s the youngest of all. Where is your family?”

Ellie sighed. “I don’t have any family, except for my mother. But I don’t know where she is. She took off when I was three or four. I never knew my father. My grandparents raised me and they died while I was in college. So it’s just me.”

“Sounds like you had a pretty tough childhood,” Liam commented.

“No, it was really wonderful. My grandmother was a librarian in this little town in upstate New York. And when I wasn’t in school, I hung out at the library with her. I just loved books-I still do. I mean, there’s an answer to every question in a book somewhere. You just have to find the right book.” She paused, realizing how silly and naive her words sounded.

“What do you do for a living?” Liam asked.

She grabbed up a handful of dried pasta and dropped it into the water, then stirred it with a plastic spoon. “Nothing right now. I’m looking for a new job. I just moved to Boston from Manhattan.”

“And what did you do there?”

“I worked in a bank. I’m an accountant.”

“Why Boston?”

“I had to get away from New York. I just couldn’t work there anymore.”

“Why is that?”

Ellie really didn’t want to get into a conversation about all her man troubles, especially with a man she was trying so hard to impress. “I really don’t want to talk about that. It’s in the past. I’m starting a new life here.” She paused, searching for another topic. “I didn’t think you wanted to accept my dinner invitation. I thought maybe I was being too bold.”

“I don’t mind that.”

“Some men do. That’s always been a bit of a problem with me. I’ve never really been myself around the men I date-not that I’m dating you. I guess I feel as if I can talk to you. You saved my life.”

“Speaking of which, I noticed that you don’t have a decent dead bolt on your door. And you could probably use some sash locks on these windows that open onto the back porch. If you’d like, I can pick up some stuff at the hardware store.”

Ellie nodded, warmed by his offer. How had a man like Liam Quinn ever stayed single for so long? A sudden thought hit her. What if he wasn’t single? What if he had a steady girlfriend? But then surely he wouldn’t have accepted her dinner invitation. But what if he’d felt obligated to accept?

“He probably was just looking for money,” Liam continued. “You don’t keep any large sums of money in the house, do you?”

“No,” Ellie said. “I don’t have any large sums of money. Why don’t we have our salad now while the pasta cooks?” She turned to retrieve the plates from the refrigerator, then walked out of the kitchen into the dining alcove. She set the plates down and Liam held out her chair for her, pushing it in as she sat. Then he took a spot across from her.

He grabbed up the wine she’d put on the table and poured her a glass. “I think we should have a toast,” he said. “To the burglar who brought us together.”

“And to the white knight who rode to my rescue,” Ellie added with a laugh.

Liam’s expression shifted slightly and, for a moment, Ellie thought she’d said something terribly wrong. But then he smiled and clinked his beer bottle against her wineglass.

Ellie took a gulp of her wine, watching him over the rim of the goblet. The liquid burned as it went down, but the sensation caused warmth to flood through her limbs, making her relax just a bit. Ellie knew that she’d have to stop after one glass, though. She was having a hard enough time keeping her distance as it was, especially while operating under the influence of Liam Quinn.

3

“WOULD YOU LIKE another glass of wine?” Liam picked up the bottle and filled Ellie’s glass, not waiting for a reply. God, she was pretty when she was drunk. Her face was flushed and her eyes glittered with amusement and she kept leaning over the table, giving him a tempting view of her breasts beneath the low-cut neckline of her sweater.

“I really shouldn’t,” she said with a giggle. “Two glasses is my limit.”

Liam didn’t have the heart to tell her that she’d reached her limit about three hours ago. The bottle was empty and Ellie Thorpe would probably wake up tomorrow morning with a raging hangover.

Usually, Liam was loath to take advantage of a woman who’d had too much to drink. But his mind wasn’t on sex tonight-not that he hadn’t thought about pulling Ellie to her feet and dragging her into the bedroom. There was something highly attractive about a woman who was completely unaware of her sexuality.

The way she smiled, the way she reached out and touched him every so often, the way she licked her lips after she took a sip of wine-all of it was driving him a little crazy. But Ellie was guileless, completely unaware of the effect she was having on him.

Liam watched as she stuck her finger into the frosting of the chocolate cake she’d served for dessert, then put her finger in her mouth. He couldn’t help but imagine what that mouth might do to him, how her lips might move over his body, how her tongue might taste. He swallowed hard. Maybe this would take more strength than he possessed. He knew enough about women to know that he could have Ellie tonight if he simply asked.

But Liam had to settle a few things before he took that step-if ever. Now that he had her good and drunk, he needed to get her talking. About her job at the bank. About Ronald Pettibone. And about the two hundred and fifty thousand that Sean suspected she’d stolen.

“So, tell me about your job in New York. Why would you leave an exciting city like that to come to Boston?” The question sounded innocuous enough, Liam thought.

“Oh, let’s not talk about New York!” Ellie replied. “Bad memories of a very bad man. Make that four or five bad men-I’ve lost count.”

“What about that guy on the sidewalk this morning?” Liam asked, unable to contain his curiosity. There had been something between them, something that hinted at a prior relationship. The more he’d thought about it, the more he’d wondered who the guy had been. He’d gotten a fairly decent look at him, but he didn’t resemble the photo of Pettibone. “Was he a bad man?”

Ellie groaned. “He was-or is-nobody.” Her frown quickly turned to a devilish smile. “Are the men better here in Boston? Please tell me they are.”

“I don’t know. Maybe you should tell me a little more about the men in New York.”

“Who do you want to know about? If I tell you, will you promise to drive to New York and beat them all up?”

Liam chuckled. “I’ll consider it. Why don’t you tell me about the man who made you decide to leave?”

“That was Ronald,” she said, crinkling her nose. “Ronald Pettibone. And, let me tell you, he didn’t have one petty bone in his body, he had about five hundred. God, I don’t know why I always pick the jerks-present company excluded.”

“What did Ron-”

“Ronald,” Ellie corrected.

“What did Ronald do?”

“He made me fall in love with him. And then he made me into something I never wanted to be. And then he dumped me. And then he had the nerve to ask me to return all the gifts he’d given me.”

Liam gazed across the table at her stricken expression. She sure didn’t look like a coldhearted criminal. But she did look like a woman who might do anything for love. And sometimes that kind of woman was more dangerous than a woman bent on a life of crime. “Any man who dumps you has got to be a little crazy.”

She smiled brightly, reached over and squeezed his hand. “That’s a nice thing to say. You’re a very nice guy. Have you ever been dumped?”

“A few times,” Liam lied.

“I have this really good book you should read.” She pushed out of her chair and turned toward the bookcase on the far wall. But the combination of the wine and the quick move caused her knees to buckle. Liam bolted out of his chair and caught her before she hit the floor.

“I think maybe we can leave the book for another time,” he murmured, pulling her against his body, his mouth just inches from hers. He could feel the warmth of her breath against his chin and he fought the impulse to capture her lips.

Ellie’s eyes fluttered shut and her head swayed from side to side. “Are we dancing?” She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed. “Let’s dance.”

“Let’s not. I think we better get you to bed.”

“Okay. I’m a little drunk, though. I may not remember everything in the morning-but I know it will be good.”