LITMIR.BIZ

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sure smells good,” she said.

      “Nothing fancy. I found some things in the freezer and in the pantry. So how does stuffed pork chops, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, twice baked potatoes and a pear salad sound to you?”

      “You found the makings for all that in my kitchen?”

      He nodded. “Take off your shoes, sit down and let me pour you a glass of wine. You look tired. What’s kept you so busy on a Saturday?”

      Kendall stepped out of her shoes, then sat on the sofa in the great room and waited for Quinn to bring her the wine before she said anything. “Sit down here with me.” She patted the sofa cushions.

      With his own wineglass refilled and in hand, he sat beside her. “Your working on a Saturday has something to do with me, doesn’t it?”

      “I have a bad feeling about this case,” she told him. “Sergeant George is an ambitious young man. If he could pin this murder wrap on you, arrest you and the DA could win a conviction, it could make both his career and the DA’s. The media would have a field day if one of the most famous criminal lawyers in the country was arrested for Lulu Vanderley’s murder.”

      After taking a couple of sips of wine, Quinn set his glass on a coaster atop the coffee table, then reached over and circled the back of Kendall’s neck with his big hand. As he caressed tenderly, she sighed. His touch was like magic—erotic magic.

      “If the worst happens and I’m arrested, you’ll make a name for yourself by getting me acquitted.”

      “Do you have that much faith in me?”

      He took her glass from her hand and put the crystal flute to her lips. She took a sip, all the while keeping her gaze riveted to his. His black eyes were mesmerizing. God damn it, she thought she was over him, that she’d dealt with any leftover romantic feelings she had for him. Undoubtedly, she’d been wrong. Right this minute, she wanted Quinn as much as ever. Maybe more.

      “I have all the faith in the world in you, honey.” He set her glass down on a second coaster, alongside his. “Besides, I’m innocent. I did not kill Lulu.”

      “I believe you,” she told him, her heart beating erratically as he inched his fingers up her neck and into her hair. When he cupped the back of her head and pulled her toward him, she gasped, knowing full well that when he kissed her, she’d give in completely.

      “Kendall, I don’t want you to think I’m trying to take advantage of you…” He waited, not kissing her, only staring deeply into her eyes. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you, but”—he heaved a deep sigh—“we both know that mixing business with pleasure is a stupid move.”

      Kendall shoved him away and jumped to her feet. Standing over him, breathless with sexual frustration, she cursed under her breath. “Damn you, Quinn.”

      “Honey, I’m sorry if—”

      “I thought I could handle this—being your lawyer, having you staying here with me. But it appears that I’m not as immune to you as I thought I was. It seems that once Quinn Cortez is in your system, it’s not so easy to get rid of him.”

      Quinn stood, but made no attempt to touch her. “I’m getting a place of my own, just in case I’m stuck in Memphis for more than a few days. The gang’s coming in tomorrow. I’ll be out of your hair then. Once this thing is over…”

      He grinned and that killer smile was her undoing. Killer smile? Lethal? Stop using that type of terminology when you think about Quinn. What was wrong with her? She’d always known Quinn’s sex appeal was lethal, that he possessed a killer smile. Those words had never bothered her before now. But that was before Quinn became a murder suspect. Before the thought had crossed her mind that he might have actually killed Lulu Vanderley.

      “Kendall, honey, are you all right?”

      “Huh?” Had her doubts translated into a facial expression that concerned him? God, she hoped not.

      “I didn’t mean to—”

      “No!” She shook her head to dislodge such idiotic thoughts. “No, this isn’t your fault. I’ve probably been sending out mixed signals. So let’s forget all this nonsense and go back to safe ground. We’re friends and nothing more for the duration. We’re not saying no to each other, just not now. Not yet.”

      “Agreed,” Quinn said, then nodded toward the kitchen. “Dinner is ready and it would be a shame to let it go to waste. What say we eat, then you can go with me to the Peabody to meet with Griffin Powell. I have an eight o’clock appointment with him tonight.”

      “Griffin Powell? You’re hiring Griffin Powell?”

      Quinn headed for the kitchen. “Refill the wineglasses, while I put dinner on the table. Eating in here in the breakfast room is okay with me if it is with you.”

      “You contacted Griffin Powell and plan to hire him to do what—investigate Lulu Vanderley’s murder?” Kendall followed him into the kitchen area.

      “I don’t intend to take any chances, in case the police don’t cover all the bases. We both know that they could concentrate all their efforts on finding evidence against me. I want a private investigator who’s on my payroll, somebody who’ll be working to find the real killer, to prove me innocent.”

      “Damn it, Quinn, I’m your lawyer. You shouldn’t be doing anything without running it by me first.”

      “I’m taking you with me to meet with Powell tonight. That’s running it by you, isn’t it?”

      “And if I disagree with you?”

      “About Powell?”

      “About anything?”

      “Honey, you’re a very good lawyer. I trust you. But we both know that I’m the best damn criminal lawyer there is. As much as I trust your judgment, I trust my own more.”

      “Then maybe you’d better defend yourself if you wind up going to trial.”

      Quinn zeroed in on her, his gaze freezing her to the spot. She held her breath as he came toward her, grasped her by the shoulders and held her tightly in place.

      “Don’t do this. You’re pissed at me because…well, because you’re all hot and bothered, because you want me, because we want each other, but we agreed jumping into bed together might not be a good idea.”

      She glared at him.

      “I need you, Kendall. Together, we’ll make an unbeatable team.”

      Clenching her teeth, she grunted, admitting to herself that he was right. “Okay, this situation with Lulu’s murder could wind up meaning your life is on the line, so I’m not going to argue with you. Besides, I should have known we’d have to play this game by your rules.”

      He smiled. “It’s the only way I play.”

      Chapter 6

      Griffin Powell opened the door to his suite and met Annabelle with a cordial semismile. His lips curved upward ever so slightly, but not enough to be a true smile. He was just as she remembered him from their one and only meeting and she found him just as overpoweringly mesmeric now as then. A large, broad-shouldered man, with platinum-blond hair and a pair of dark blue eyes that seemed blank and lifeless one moment, then pensive and calculating the next.

      “Please, come in, Ms. Vanderley.”

      “Thank you.” She walked into the suite as he stepped aside to allow her entrance. When he followed her into the lounge area, she turned and faced him. “I can’t thank you enough for agreeing to meet with me. I hope I can persuade you to take this case.”

      “Won’t you have a seat?” He indicated the sofa with a hand gesture. “Would you care for something to drink?”

      Annabelle sat on the sofa, folded her hands

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