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herself staunchly. She knew who she was. Wasn’t that all that really mattered?
    She was just about satisfied with that mature, rational explanation, when Darlene announced that Taylor was ready to see her. Her heart thumped unsteadily as she walked into his sedate, mahogany-paneled office, an office she could have described down to the last detail in advance thanks to all the times he’d daydreamed aloud to her about how it would look one day. The genuine surge of pleasure she felt at the expression of absolute bewilderment on Taylor’s face told her that all that stuff about maturity was so much hogwash. She liked seeing Taylor shaken up. Even more, she supposed, she liked knowing she could be the one to do it.
    As soon as the door closed behind Darlene, Taylor started shaking his head.
    “Zelda, I can’t imagine what you’re doing here. You know this isn’t a good idea.”
    Thoroughly enjoying herself now that she’d admitted to herself why she’d come, she regarded him innocently. “Why is that?” she inquired sweetly.
    “It just isn’t. There’s too much…” His voice trailed off.
    “Chemistry?” she suggested, to fill the conversational void.
    Taylor glared at her. “No, damn it.”
    “History?”
    He rubbed his temples. “Zelda, it’s just a bad idea. I can’t make it any plainer than that.”
    “You don’t think I’m qualified?” she asked. She pushed the recommendation from Kate across the desk. “I think my letter of reference speaks for itself.”
    He glanced at the letterhead, obviously prepared to dismiss it. She could tell the precise instant when the name registered. Thanks to some highly publicized celebrity cases, Kate Newton had a national reputation as a crackerjack divorce lawyer. His eyes widened as he read every glowing word Kate had written. He cleared his throat.
    “Well, your former boss certainly speaks quite highly of your work,” he admitted.
    Zelda tried not to gloat. “Yes,” she said briskly. “Now, then, if we’re agreed that I’m more than qualified for the job, what exactly is the problem?”
    Taylor was too much the lawyer to say anything that might later be used against him in a discrimination suit. Zelda regarded him smugly while he struggled to find a suitable answer that wouldn’t fuel her desire for revenge for his walking out on her. He choked back every response that apparently came to mind, then finally settled for saying, “I thought you were going back to Los Angeles.”
    She had to admit she enjoyed the little hint of desperation in his voice. “I never said that,” she corrected.
    “Then you’ve decided to fulfill the terms of the will?”
    “Let’s just say that knowing I’d have a job would make me more inclined to stick around. So, what’s it going to be, Taylor? Do I have the job or not?”
    He regarded her intently. “Zelda, are you sure you want to do this?”
    “You mean, stay in Port William?”
    “No. I mean, do you seriously want to work for me?”
    It was the closest he’d come to conceding that she might have cause not to want to be in the same room with him. She leveled a perfectly bland look straight at him. “It’s a job, Taylor. It happens to be one I’m trained for. Beyond that, I don’t think there are any other considerations.”
    Her defiant gaze dared him to contradict her. Finally he sighed.
    “I suppose we could give it a try.”
    Zelda nodded. “Shall we say, one month?”
    “One month would be fine.” He seemed to stumble over the response.
    Zelda caught the distress he tried valiantly to hide and grinned. “I’ll see you bright and early Monday morning, then. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to it.”
    Taylor looked as if he’d rather eat dirt.

Chapter Four
    U nfortunately, Zelda didn’t realize until she was walking back home that her perverse desire to rattle Taylor had overcome her own instincts for self-preservation. If she’d managed to open Taylor’s eyes to another