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Just like her father. They both made a woman feel as
     if she were the only one on the face of the earth.
    “But I thought that the Townsend firm specialized in corporate law?” Adam took another swallow.
    She watched him drink. His mouth was a hard, masculine line, yet his lower lip was full. Then there was that intriguing dimple.
     “They do now, but my father started out in criminal law. I think he still has a yearning for the more dramaticcases. He’s handled a few sticky ones from time to time. Did you read about the Byrnes embezzlement?”
    “Sure. It was up in the millions, right?”
    “Six, to be exact.” As they finished rehashing the Byrnes case and a couple of others, Adam held up the bottle, offering more
     wine. Liz shook her head, glancing at her watch. Ten to eight. Oh, damn.
    She’d forgotten the hour, where she was, everything except the enjoyable conversation, being with someone interesting. It
     had felt good, the give and take, the occasional funny aside. Still, it definitely wasn’t like her to disregard her commitments.
    She stood. “I’ve got to go.”
    “It’s not that late.” Adam rose, too, and touched her arm. “Listen, I made a batch of chili yesterday. A friend from Texas
     gave me the recipe. It’s hot enough to sizzle your socks. Stay and have some with me, please?”
    “I can’t. I’m supposed to be at my parents’ house for dinner in ten minutes.” She brushed back her hair. “I can’t believe
     it’s so late.”
    “Neither can I.” He took a step nearer. It had been a long while since a woman had made him forget the time. It seemed he
     always had one eye on the clock these days. “Were you lying earlier?” He reached to touch the ends of her hair, lightly, briefly.
     “Are you afraid, after all?”
    She looked into his eyes. They were Paul Newman blue, darkening as he watched her. There was something dangerous here. Not
     in the physical sense, yet she sensed something of the predator in Adam McKenzie. A man born to be in charge. A man a smart
     woman would avoid.
    And she was a smart woman, Liz knew, one who followed the rules, played by the book, a dutiful daughter. But at least once
     in every good girl’s life, she experiences an irrepressible urge to reach out and touch the flame.
    “Where’s your phone?” she asked.

CHAPTER 2
    Adam stirred the contents of the large pot. “Mmm, how does that smell?” he asked Liz. “Terrific, right?”
    She knew she probably looked apprehensive. “I don’t usually eat red meat. Beef, that is.”
    “Don’t tell me you’re one of those born-again vegetarians?”
    “No. I like chicken and fish. But about a year ago, my friend Molly Washington and I went to Chicago on a little vacation.
     She’s a vegetarian. And she dragged me through those awful slaughterhouses. Ever since then…”
    “Uh-huh. What do you think they do with chickens, chloroform them gently? Or fish, drown ’em, maybe? C’mon, just one taste.”
     He dipped the spoon in deep. “Just one.”
    Liz opened her mouth and took some, tasting hesitantly, then took the rest. Swallowing, she conceded, “It’s not bad.”
    “Well, thank you for your lavish praise. Are you also a reformed smoker?”
    “I’ve never smoked. It’s just all those big-eyed cows. Thesounds they made going inside the building.” She shuddered, remembering.
    He laughed. “Deliver me. A do-gooder.”
    She didn’t know him well enough, but she cuffed him on the arm with her fist anyway. “Stop that.”
    He reached for two bowls, began spooning. “After you eat this, you’ll be a convert.”
    He was right. She ate every bite and half of a crusty roll. Her mouth was on fire, but she loved the taste. The chili was
     delicious but quite ordinary fare compared to what her mother was probably serving.
    Katherine had been cool on the phone when she’d called and given a breezy explanation of being delayed by work, which wasn’t
     exactly the truth. The mitigating factor had