She fought back the urge to throw her arms around his neck and scream like a ninny. "I'll survive the shame somehow," she said with a wry smile. "But what about you? Is it all right if people know you're chasing some North Shore Protestant Cubs fan?"

He chuckled deep and low and ran his finger down the side of her face. "You're right. Let's deny everything."

Quinn's green eyes glowed in the morning light, and Audie heard herself sigh with contentment. Talk of murder, stalking, and betrayal notwithstanding, she didn't think she'd ever been as happy as she was right at that instant, with her heart in chaos and her vision filled with nothing but Stacey Quinn.

"What's your schedule today?"

Audie shrugged. "The usual. I've got a National Public Radio spot at noon. I'm going running with Tinley at two. Then I've got the TV segment at five."

"I'll change over with Tinley at the TV studio and we'll get some dinner."

She grinned at him. "Sounds good, Quinn."

"At my house."

"Sounds real good."

He leaned closer to her, and she had to close her eyes because he had so much power over her. He whispered roughly in her ear, "Do you think you'll have time in your schedule to be thoroughly ravaged this evening?"

She produced a tiny squeaking sound and turned her face away.

"I'll take that as a yes."

With Audie safely on her way, Quinn returned to the squad room, where Stanny-O sat, waiting.

"'Lassie'?" he inquired, slowly stroking his goatee and grinning. "'Sweet Audie'?" Stanny-O strolled over to the edge of his partner's desk and held up Audie's untouched coffee cup. "You know, she really should have had some of this, Stacey. The woman looked exhausted."

He stood in the shadows of the WBBS studio and watched her. Her head was tilted demurely and she glowed in the perfect pink jacket, discussing the secret to keeping a kitchen garbage disposal smelling clean and fresh.

It was something Quinn knew she didn't give a rat's ass about and never would, and it cracked him up.

He chuckled quietly, shoved his hands in his pants pockets, and wondered if he was already totally, irrevocably, in love with Autumn Adams.

There she was under the studio lights-everything he needed and nothing he'd ever imagined, all rolled up into one gorgeous package.

He could see the peek of her sweat socks and running shoes behind the long anchor desk and watched as she nervously tapped one foot against the floor. Quinn's gut twisted. She was his. This disorganized, accident-prone lapsed Presbyterian was all his, and he could hardly believe his good fortune.

"And as always, thank you, viewers, for another wonderful week of handy comments and suggestions," she said.

Kyle Singer shot a dazzling smile into the camera. "And thank you, Homey Helen-we'll see you again next Monday. In the meantime, don't go away, Chicago -we'll be back with more news right after these messages."

Quinn watched onetime suspect Kyle Singer kiss Audie on the cheek as she unclipped her microphone. An hour with Kyle was all it had taken to convince Quinn and Stanny-O that he was harmless-and as gay as you could get. He had no interest in Audie beyond friendship.

Quinn watched her carefully step off the platform and chat with a producer, all Homey Helen from the waist up and all Autumn Adams from the waist down. Her legs looked long and strong and she stood casually with one hand on her hip-like a jock, Quinn thought.

In his reverie, he was nearly lulled into thinking Audie would make it across the studio without tripping. Then she turned abruptly, smashed into a production assistant, and grunted in surprise as they both went sprawling.

Quinn helped the women to their feet and walked Audie out through the lobby.

"If you keep this up, you're going to end up in a body cast."

"That ought to make things challenging for you."

"That's one challenge I don't think I want," he said.

"I warned you I was a spaz." She turned toward him as heopened the front door and smiled down at her. He was one fine-looking man, this Stacey Quinn, all neatly pressed and self-assured and grinning-and he was her man. He'd said so.

She'd felt it.

"Whaddya say we go home and freshen up my garbage disposal, sweet thing?"

Audie laughed hard and swung her arm lazily around his waist, feeling her stride match his down the sidewalk. He squeezed her shoulders.

"Wanna drive my Porsche?" She tossed him the keys and sidled over to the passenger door.

"You planning on taking your clothes off in the car again?"

"Nope. I can wait until we get to your place."

When they got to his place, Quinn handed her a cold beer and told her to relax out on the deck while he cooked. She did as she was told, realizing with a sigh that she could get used to this. She took down her hair, removed her jacket, kicked off her shoes and socks, and let her head sink back against the chair cushion.

The next thing she knew, Quinn was crouched in front of her, patting her knee.

"What?" She bolted to attention.

"Dinner's ready. You fell asleep. I think maybe I wore you outlast night."

"Oh." She blinked, trying to focus on Quinn, her eyes opening wide at the sight of the table. "What's this?"

"Dinner." When Quinn stood up, she saw he'd donned a bright green barbecue apron that read: "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, You Know Something's Cookin'."

"Nice apron."

"Thanks."

He went around to the back of her chair and pushed her closer to the table, then pointed to the serving dishes.

"Grilled salmon with a warm dill sauce. Saffron basmati rice. Mixed green salad with blue cheese, pears, and caramelized almond vinaigrette. I hope you like it."

Audie was quiet for a long moment, trying to keep her mouth from hanging open. Then she looked at him casually spread out in his chair right next to her, in his apron, a satisfied grin on his face.

"You're incredible, Quinn. Thank you for this. You're the only man who's ever cooked for me."

He chuckled and began to help himself to large amounts of food. "I seem to be a lot of firsts for you, Audie." He didn't look at her. "I hope you're OK with that."

She just stared at him, still trying to wake up, still trying to put all this in perspective. He had no idea how true that statement was.

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Stacey."

One corner of his mouth curled up in delight. "It's my pleasure."

Audie served herself some of everything and thought about that statement. "It really is, isn't it? You get pleasure out of cooking and doing things around the house, don't you?"

"Yes." Quinn was chewing and obviously enjoying the fruits of his labors. "My mother taught me to cook. She taught me to take pride in making things organized and clean so that people could be at ease and happy in our home-you know, hospitality. I think that's why I need to have things in order before I feel freeto enjoy myself."

Audie closed her eyes in pure bliss. "My God, Quinn. This is delicious."

"Thank you."

"So." She took a sip of white wine. "Hypothetical situation here. Let's say we're done having this delicious meal and we go into your messy kitchen, but I start taking off my clothes right in front of the dishwasher."

Quinn raised his eyebrows. "This is purely hypothetical, of course."

"Of course. So, would you just walk around me to load the dirty dishes or could you let everything sit while you make wild passionate love to me?"

Quinn chewed and narrowed his eyes at her. "How much time would that take, exactly?"

"So it would bug you."

"Yes, it would bug me." He took another mouthful. "I take it that kind of thing wouldn't bother you much."