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of going through the academy. And, if I remember correctly, you were the one who jumped to conclusions. I was selling property, not my body. I only let you take me in because I needed a ride.”
    “There are other ways to get a ride than being arrested.
    All you had to do was ask. And from what I’ve heard, it was your decision to quit law enforcement. Right? You’re not upset with something I said, are you?”
    “Upset? Upset! Why would I be upset?”
    “I didn’t think so,” he lied. “I need to run some errands, so tell your father I enjoyed his cooking and the company. If he wants to discuss the burglaries, he can contact me at home in a couple of hours.” He set their bowls in the sink.
    “I’ll be sure and tell my father exactly how much I enjoyed visiting with you, too.” She followed as he strode toward the front door. He could almost feel the daggers landing in his back.
    Shuuuuuu . . . thunk!

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    He hesitated at the front door, then turned. Damn. Her expression could’ve been carved from stone, but she still made a pretty sexy statue.
    Jessica De Milo, except she had the arms to caress him . . .
    or slap the shit out of him if he didn’t get the hell out of her life.
    It was a damn shame they couldn’t have met at a different time or place. Some things weren’t meant to be. He certainly wouldn’t be the one to corrupt her. He had some ethics, but he did hate leaving her with a bad impression of him.
    He opened his mouth, but no words came. What could he say? That he didn’t mean what he said?
    No, he’d done the right thing. Long-term relationships never seemed to work out for him, and being the boss’s daughter, Jessica spelled trouble with a capital T. It was only one step up from being a preacher’s daughter.
    “See you around.” He opened the door. Then why did he feel lower than a sunken ship?
    “I doubt it. I don’t get to the station that often.” Her words were clipped.
    Conor took a deep breath as he stepped outside. All the way to his car he told himself he had done the right thing. Sometimes doing the right thing sure felt wrong, though.

    Chapter 5
    The front door opened and Jessica’s father hurried inside. “Has Conor left?”
    She uncrossed her legs and tapped her toe as she scowled at her obviously unrepentant father. “You’re three hours late, and you didn’t fool me one iota.” He closed the door and tossed her the keys to her Mustang. She deftly caught them.
    “How’d it go?” He hurried to the sofa, rubbing his hands together. “I knew you two would hit it off right from the start.”
    Maybe her father needed to call Dr. Parker and make an appointment to have a CT scan of his brain. It definitely wasn’t functioning right. “The first time I saw Officer Richmond, he arrested me! How did you get an attraction from that encounter?” His forehead puckered. “That’s irrelevant. He saw you on the corner and stopped. Never discount the role fate plays in your life.”
    Fate? She could think of a dozen other words, and fate wasn’t one of them.
    And her father wasn’t showing one bit of remorse. He TEMPERATURE’S RISING
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    acted like an engagement announcement was just around the corner. She couldn’t believe he harbored such notions. On second thought, this was her father—the matchmaker.
    Well, she was about to burst his bubble. “If I never see Conor Richmond again, it’ll be too soon. The man is full of himself.” And darn it, why did he have to be such a great kisser? A spark of electricity had jumped between them. At least, that’s what it had seemed like to her. Electricity and fire and . . . Damn, he was doing it to her again.
    Being attracted to him ticked her off almost as much as Conor did. He’d said she was soft. Where had he gotten that impression? She was thoughtful for a moment. Unless her cousins had been scamming him. Very possible.
    Once they’d told a rookie that she had three boobs.
    When curiosity got