“Hey there, Ellie,” Brian said, standing and brushing the crumbs off the front of his sweater. “It’s nice to see you again. How was the game?”

“It was great,” she said, giving him a warm smile. “The Red Sox lost, but it was still fun.”

Liam ignored a tiny sliver of jealousy as Brian held on to her hand for just a bit too long. “You know, if you spend much more time at our place, you’re going to have to start paying rent,” he told Brian.

“I’ll remember that next time you come over to do your laundry for free.”

Sean pushed to his feet. “What are you two doing here?”

“Someone broke into Ellie’s apartment,” Liam said.

“Again,” Ellie added.

“Again?” Brian asked. “You’ve had more than one break-in? Gee, Charlestown doesn’t have a real high burglary rate. Do you think there’s some kind of crime wave starting there?”

“I think I’m being stalked,” Ellie said. “That, or I’m really unlucky.”

“Ellie is going to stay here until we figure out what’s going on with her apartment.” Liam took her arm and tugged her along to his room. “Why don’t you get settled? Then we’ll go out and get some dinner.” He closed the bedroom door behind her, then strode over to the sofa. “Did you ransack her apartment?” he demanded, his voice a harsh whisper.

“No,” Sean said. “I went though everything, but I put it all back in place before I left. Someone must have been there after me. It wouldn’t have been too hard for him to get in-I couldn’t reset the alarm because it wasn’t set in the first place. Ellie might have noticed.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you’d been watching him like you were supposed to,” Liam said.

“Wait a second here,” Brian interrupted. “Sean broke into her apartment?”

“No, I had a key,” Sean said. “The other guy broke in.”

“How’d you get a key?”

“Liam gave it to me.”

Brian frowned. “I’m seriously out of the loop here, aren’t I?”

“It’s a case we’re working on,” Liam said.

“Ellie’s an embezzler,” Sean commented.

Liam bristled. “She is not.”

“She might be,” Sean snapped.

Brian got to his feet and grabbed his jacket from the end of the sofa. “I don’t think I want to be in the middle of this. I’m going down to the pub to have a pint of the black stuff. Guinness always seems to clear the head. There should be a pretty good party going on there now after the game. Da is serving free hot dogs.”

“I’ll go with you,” Sean said.

“No way,” Liam said. “You’ll go figure out what Ronald Pettibone is up to. Did you trace that license plate I gave you? I know he was the one who tried to run Ellie down.”

“Someone tried to run down Ellie?” Brian asked. “Forget the Guinness. This sounds like a good story.”

Sean grabbed his twin brother’s arm. “You’re always sniffin’ for a story, aren’t you?” Sean muttered. “Come on, I’ll let you drive. Let’s see if we can find this Ronald Pettibone.”

“And don’t come back tonight,” Liam warned. “Sleep at Brian’s.” When they’d both walked out the door, Liam flopped onto the sofa and grabbed a piece of pizza, munching on it distractedly. How the hell was he supposed to keep Ellie safe if Sean didn’t do his part? This was his case and here he was, feet up on the coffee table, eating pizza when he should have been out doing his job.

Liam tipped his head back. There were moments when he cursed the day he’d decided to help with this case and his impulse to ride to Ellie Thorpe’s rescue. Now it seemed he was pulling her out of harm’s way nearly every day.

“I’m doomed,” Liam murmured. If this wasn’t enough to bring the Quinn family curse raining down on his head, he wasn’t sure what was. He and Ellie might as well start picking out the china and monogramming the towels. Marriage couldn’t be far behind.

ELLIE STARED at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, then forced a smile. A nervous knot tightened in her stomach and she wondered if it might be better to just stay in the bathroom until morning. But then the bathroom at her place had been the scene of their last intimate encounter. Perhaps the hall closet here at Liam’s might be a better choice.

She smoothed her hands over the Patriots jersey that Liam had given her to wear to bed. Like a fool, she’d brought everything she’d needed-except a nightgown. And the last thing she wanted Liam to think was that she’d done it on purpose in the hope that a naked body in his bed might be too tempting to resist.

Ellie groaned softly. Sex. That’s what this was all about. If the opportunity presented itself, how could she refuse? Liam was just too much to resist. But her past troubles with men still nagged at her. What had she done wrong? Had she been too aggressive or maybe not aggressive enough? Had her skills in the bedroom been a disappointment? Ellie stretched the jersey tight across her breasts. Maybe it was her body.

She’d only have one chance with Liam and she didn’t want to blow it. He was the kind of man who would bring out her passionate nature. He made her feel sexy and uninhibited and a little bit naughty. She glanced down at the sink and her stomach did a little flip as she remembered that afternoon in her bathroom.

Their first intimate encounter had been…overwhelming. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to remain conscious for anything more exciting than that! Taking a deep breath, she raked her fingers through her hair, then turned for the door. When she stepped out, she found Liam smoothing a sheet over the sofa.

She pasted a smile on her face. They hadn’t discussed sleeping arrangements, but it was obvious that they wouldn’t be sharing his bed. She tried to hide her disappointment. “You don’t need to do that. I can fix it.”

Liam shrugged. “I’ll sleep out here. You can have my bed.”

Ellie reached out and took the pillow from his hands. “No, don’t be silly. I’ll be fine here. I don’t want to put you out.”

“All right,” he said softly, clearly uneasy with the discussion. “But if you need anything, I’ll be close by.” He sent her a sideways glance and, in that instant, Ellie saw the desire in his eyes. But for some reason he’d chosen not to act on that desire tonight. What had changed?

Liam reached out, hooked a finger under her chin, then gave her a quick kiss. “Sleep tight,” he murmured. “I’ll see you in the morning.” With that he turned and walked into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Ellie sat on the sofa and pulled a down comforter around her shoulders. Things had been going so well. Though they hadn’t spent a night in bed together, she sensed that their relationship was moving forward. But now it had come to a full stop.

“He’s just another man,” she muttered, reaching for the light. She flopped down on the sofa and pulled the comforter up to her chin. “Nothing special.”

She pinched her eyes closed, but as she tried to relax, her head spun with thoughts of Liam. She settled on an image of him lying in his bed, naked, the sheet low on his waist. She’d never seen him completely naked, but Ellie knew what was beneath the shirt-a broad chest and narrow waist, muscled arms and a smooth back. She could almost feel his skin beneath her fingers and she clenched her hands into fists to banish the sensation. And she could certainly guess at what was beneath the jeans.

Though she tried everything she could to relax, nothing worked. At first she thought it was the upset over her apartment, but after considering all that had happened during the day, Ellie decided that the reason she couldn’t sleep was lying in a bed just a few short steps away.

After an hour of tossing and turning, Ellie threw the comforter off and sat up, cursing softly in the dark. She walked to the small kitchen at the back of the flat and pulled open the freezer door. When she couldn’t sleep, a pint of gourmet ice cream always did the trick.

“Oh, my,” Ellie murmured. Half the freezer was stacked with frozen pizza and the other half with a variety of ice creams. She pulled one carton out after another. “Rocky Road, French Vanilla, Cookies and Cream.” Ellie grabbed another carton. “O-oh, Chocolate Chip Mint. I love that.” She rummaged through the drawers until she found a spoon, then opened the first carton, leaving the freezer door ajar so she could gaze at her selection.

Ellie had never trusted herself with more than one pint of ice cream in her freezer at a time. The temptation was just too great and ice cream was her drug of choice when she felt depressed about her social life. She opened the carton of Rocky Road and scooped out a spoonful, then let it melt in her mouth.

“This is better than sex,” she murmured.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

A tiny cry slipped from Ellie’s lips, as she spun around, her spoon clattering to the floor. Liam stood in the kitchen, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts that rode low on his hips. A wave of mortification washed over her and she quickly turned and stuck the ice cream back in the freezer. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I just thought something to eat would…”

He raked his hand through his dark hair. “No, it’s all right.” He reached around her, his chest brushing against her arm, the heat of his skin against hers making Ellie feel a bit dizzy. “I came out for the same thing.”

He grabbed the open carton and handed it back to her, then selected Chocolate Chip Mint for himself. Ellie handed him a clean spoon. Liam scooped a spoonful out of the carton and held it out to her. Hesitantly, Ellie leaned forward and let the ice cream slide onto her tongue to melt in her mouth.

“Mmm. Good,” she said.

Liam grinned, then took a bite himself. “What do you have?”

He reached over and scooped out some Rocky Road and held it out to her. But as she took the spoon into her mouth, a bit of melted ice cream dribbled down her chin. Liam reached out and caught it, then held his finger in front of Ellie’s lips.