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was then, too?”
    “Not exactly. We never exchanged niceties in the kitchen. All I knew when I walked in tonight was that you were broke, everything else fell into place as we talked.”
    Time to make a dignified exit, or as much of one as she could manage. “I’m sorry for all of this, but it wasn’t like I had grandiose plans of liquoring you up and flying to Vegas to get married by Elvis so I could have access to your bank accounts.”
    “Then what was this?”
    She sighed, counting to ten mentally. This man might be gorgeous, but he had the personality of a worm. He folded his arms across his chest, his face tightening with skepticism.
    “I don’t need to explain my motivation to you. I know the truth, and it wasn’t to take advantage of some supposedly wealthy man. Good night, Chet. Sorry for your troubles.” Jill pushed past him, moving through the restaurant as if her feet were attached to skates.

Chapter Two
    The ice in Chet’s veins thawed, restarting his heart. Jill rushed across the crowded restaurant floor before he had time to reply. Though not tall—five-five or six—her willowy form, straight posture, and narrow shoulders gave her the appearance of height. With a proud tilt to her chin, she tromped down the stares of several auspicious couples spaced throughout the room before focusing straight ahead.
    Had he misjudged her? After almost six years, was he doomed to compare every woman he met against Gina, his money-hungry ex?
    Jill’s face burned a picture into his mind. Her raven-colored bangs rolled under and contrasted with her light complexion. Her pert little nose, flecked with tiny freckles, had haunted his dreams for the last year. He’d been unable to get her out of his mind, and even seeing her at first tonight, he’d doubted his own memory. Until she’d smiled.
    That smile, along with the tears lighting her eyes that night in the kitchen a year ago, was what had driven him to take her in his arms and kiss her. An impulse he’d questioned many times over the last several months.
    A chill shot across his flesh and he shook it off. She was cute. And the sexy way she dressed from another era… He liked how she dared to be different in a world of designer clones.
    Hell no, she wasn’t cute. She was a bona fide, fifties-throwback bombshell.
    Chet hadn’t spotted the bombshell quality when she’d been wrapped in chef garb, but there was no chance of missing it tonight. He’d forced himself to listen as her perfect red-lipsticked mouth enunciated each syllable in her throaty, sex-phone-operator voice. Not at any other time in his life had he felt such an overwhelming attraction to a woman—not since their jaw-dropping kiss in the kitchen—and he was letting her walk out without a backward glance.
    Not on your life!
    He still didn’t fully understand what had made him kiss her that night—was it the fact he felt out of control when her eyes filled with tears? Whatever the feelings, they overcame him again. There was something about Jill…
    Hell, he’d actually gone back to the restaurant several months later because he couldn’t stop thinking about her. And now here she was. Alive and in person.
    Chet darted through the restaurant, ignoring the open-mouthed stares of the other patrons and several of the wait staff. He pushed through the double doors in hopes of catching Jill before she had a chance to leave.
    The sputter of an engine and flicker of headlights coming from the far corner of the parking area drew his attention. Jill’s shadowy profile was illuminated in the bright lights of the lot.
    He couldn’t let her go. Wouldn’t let her walk out of his life without some type of guarantee he’d see her again. He wasn’t attracted to Jill in the normal sense—his whole body went into full alert when she was around.
    He’d almost screwed up when he’d taken the defensive. Hell, maybe he had.
    He needed to see her again. Nothing long-term, not his style. But a date, or two,