“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he said gruffly, his eyes helplessly going to the little points on the tips of her firm young breasts that revealed how attracted she was to him.

Her eyes sketched his hard face. She knew how he felt about Grace. She couldn’t fight a ghost. Not that she wasn’t tempted. But she had too much baggage to get involved with a lawman who was working, unknowingly, on a cold case that concerned her.

“It was all the tequila,” she said. “You know, it makes people act out of character.”

He stared down at her. “We didn’t have any tequila.”

“I know, but the fumes were everywhere,” she continued blithely and with a wicked little smile. “I’m sure that’s what caused it.”

He chuckled in spite of himself. “Tequila fumes. Now I’ve heard everything.”

She reached up a hand and touched his hard cheek gently. “Everybody gets lonely sometimes,” she said softly. “It’s not a big deal. Honest.”

He sighed heavily, scowling. “It was still a bad idea, Clancey,” he said quietly.

She shrugged and smiled, pulling her hand away. “But it was fun.”

He shook his head. “It was fun,” he had to agree.

“On Monday I’ll threaten you with old case files and phone calls you don’t want to take, and we won’t even remember tonight.”

“You think so?” He looked at her in a new way, a different way. “You play like an angel.”

Play? “Oh, the guitar,” she said, belatedly. “My grandfather was a good tutor. I miss him very much.”

“I miss my mother,” Banks said quietly. “It’s hard to give up family.”

“Very hard.”

He tweaked her hair. “I’ll see you Monday, kid. You and Tad have a good weekend.”

She grinned. “You, too. Thanks for dinner. It was great.”

“You’re welcome.”

He turned and got into the SUV, but he didn’t move it until Clancey was in the house with the door closed and locked. She liked that protectiveness of his. She liked kissing him, too, and that was something she was going to have to forget. There were a million reasons that she couldn’t get mixed up with Colter Banks. Morris was the main one.

She went to bed and finally slept. Her dreams were wild and erotic, and all about Banks.

NINE

Several days went by, during which Clancey looked for apartments with no luck. She and Banks were getting along well, but they never discussed anything personal. She was determined to forget what had happened when he took her and Tad to the restaurant. She had to, for her own peace of mind. Kissing Banks could become very addictive.