"Finally, our neighbor Mrs. Geleski comes over to the house. She'd been getting into bed for the night and heard somebody breathing next to her-the poor woman just about had a coronary. She looks over and sees John crammed down in the space between her bed and the wall. He was sawing logs, peaceful as could be."

"Good grief," Audie said.

"So that was John. And one day when I was seventeen, I was supposed to be on John duty when Timmy and I started fighting over a girl-Mary Beth Horan. We were busy beating the crap out of each other and John got hit by a car, right in front of me, killed instantly."

Audie stopped breathing. She watched him hang his head. "Oh, Quinn."

"Timmy and I had been at each other's throats since elementary school." Quinn kept his eyes down. "Hockey, soccer, academics, girls-we competed in everything-but by high school it was usually just girls.

"So that day he was telling me all this crap about what he did to Mary Beth-I was wild about her-and I completely forgot about John. He rode his bike right out into the middle of Artesian Avenue and got hit."

Quinn rubbed his face with both hands and groaned, looking up at Audie again. "I ran to my brother and started screaming for help, and that's when I see Timmy walking down the sidewalk, real slow, with a smile on his face. Then I heard him laughing."

The devastation in Quinn's eyes blasted a hole right through Audie's heart.

"I wanted you to understand why I don't like Timothy Burke."

"I understand," she said softly.

"And that's not all." Quinn ran his hands through his hair and slumped forward, letting his elbows rest on his knees. His face was just inches from Audie's now, and she could feel the rage building in him again.

"Recently, I was with a woman named Laura. She and I were together for almost three years."

"I know," Audie said.

He looked surprised.

"Stanny-O told me."

He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "What else did he tell you?"

"That he thought you were eventually going to marry her, but she left you and moved to Miami. That's all he told me."

Quinn nodded slowly. "Mmm. Well, she did move to Miami, but as far as marrying her… no. I don't think so." Quinn's eyes stayed on Audie for several long seconds, and she saw him weighing something in his mind.

"In fact, Laura got very pissed when I said I wasn't ready to settle down with her. So she started seeing Timmy Burke on the side, for several months at least. I don't know all the details. I don't want to know them. But the juicy part is she knew all about my history with Timmy when she did it-kind of the ultimate kick in the nuts."

"Good God. When was this?"

Quinn's eyes looked so tired. He looked so defeated. "Last spring. I found out in April."

Audie stared at him and felt her face go hot. Then she hissed in disgust. "April? I was seeing Tim then."

He nodded a little and smiled grimly. "Small world, huh?"

"Wow." She felt sick to her stomach. "But we never… uh…" Audie shook her head. "Look. We weren't-you know-involved. He took me to dinner quite a few times and I went to a lot of functions with him, but I… " Why did she feel she needed to explain herself to Quinn? "I didn't like him much. I asked him not to call me anymore. And I was hoping that would be the end of it."

"He told me the other day that he was in love with you."

Audie's eyes went wide. "Oh, hell."

"He told me you went down on him in the car."

"What!?" She jolted to her feet in the narrow space between them, and Quinn was suddenly staring at her belly button and a narrow strip of exposed skin above her shorts.

"Audie. Sit down." He pulled her next to him on the table. She was shaking with anger.

"I'm sorry, but I thought you should know what he was saying."

"My God. The guy is absolute scum."

"I didn't believe him, though."

She stared at him openmouthed. "Well, thanks a million."

"He also said you were 'coming around' and that you two were getting back together."

"Like hell!" She tried to stand up again, but Quinn grabbed her wrists and pulled her down in his lap.

"So that's the story with Timmy Burke."

"God, Quinn." Her mind cleared and she remembered how this whole conversation had begun-with his little brother dying.

She placed her hand againstQuinn's upturned face. "I'm so sorry about John." Her fingers brushed against his cheek. "I'm so sorry that happened. I don't know what to say."

Though his eyes were shadowed by old grief, it did nothing to dull the power there, the intensity, and Audie felt herself shiver in his gaze.

"Just say that from now on you'll tell me anything that might pertain to your case-about Timmy or anyone else-OK?"

She nodded, allowing herself to see things through Quinn's eyes. Maybe Tim Burke was more than just an annoyance. Maybe he was an honest-to-God stalker.

"I refuse to let anything happen to you, Audie."

She nodded again, helpless in his stare and burning up because she was touching him, because the backs of her thighs were pressed down into the hard muscle of his legs.

"Even if it's not Burke, it's somebody. But I'll keep you safe."

The hell he would. Audie was perfectly aware that she'd never be safe around Stacey Quinn-not when he made her heart pound and her blood throb and when he smelled so good and felt so hot against her skin.

Maybe safety was highly overrated.

She dipped her mouth to his because she just couldn't fight it anymore, and his response was serious and sure and Audie felt him moan deep in his chest as his hands cupped her bottom and he pulled her tighter.

Audie devoured him. She grabbed on to his shoulders and kissed the man like the world was coming to an end and this was the last kiss she'd ever be able to give him, her last chance to convince Quinn that it was good to be alive.

Her tongue slid into his warm, wet mouth, and she brought her teeth down on his lips and he tasted like hot wine and hot man. She could feel him begin to smile under her kisses, and she felt his hand slide over the contours of her hips.

Then his hands were up the back of her tank top and his touch seared her skin, and suddenly she sensed that she was moving up and coming to rest on the couch, Quinn now on top of her, Quinn now covering her with his hard weight and his clean smell. His hands were roaming up the front of her shirt, and when his fingers touched the sensitive tips of her breasts she groaned with relief.

"Oh, God, woman," he whispered. "Do you have any idea how sexy you are?"

"Medium sexy?" she mumbled.

"Wrong. Very, very wrong."

Quinn put his mouth on her throat and she leaned her head back so he'd have more room to do whatever it was he was doing with his tongue and teeth and lips.

"I have a confession to make," Audie whispered between hard breaths, her head lolling to the side.

"Confessions cleanse the soul."

"This is not a clean confession."

"Those are the best kind."

"You are the sexiest man I've ever known in my entire life, Stacey Quinn." She grabbed his butt and pulled him against her, arching under him to feel how hard he was.

"You're a pushy little Protestant thing, aren't you?" He reached behind him and pulled her hands from his ass and pushed them over her head, pinning them to the armrest with one hand.

"Do you like to play rough, Audie?" He laughed when her eyes flashed wide beneath him, and he thought it was time he let the tip of his tongue take that long, hot slide up her throat

When he did, all she could do was gasp.

Quinn raised up and used his other hand to shove the soft cotton top up under her chin. No bra, just Audie, and she was displayed beneath him and he could hardly believe he wasn't dreaming.

He brushed his palm over one fabulous, golden, round breast, then the other, enjoying how her toffee-pink nipples peaked with the barest friction.