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asked to pay.”
    “Couldn’t I pay you back out of my allowance instead? I don’t mind. I have a lot saved up.”
    Sully looked nonplussed for a moment, like he’d had all the air knocked out of him. Jessica knew just how he felt. Iris had managed to knock the wind out of her sails a few times. She was an unusual child, an odd blend of naïveté and wisdom. She had a way of looking at a person that cut right to the soul. So did Sully, but he did more than look at her. He talked to her; he touched her; he got to her.
    Taking a minute to recover from Iris’s earnest offer of repayment, Sully crossed his arms before he said, “Even if you do repay the city from your allowance, your father’s going to have to be told. This is a serious matter.”
    “Yes, sir, I understand,” Iris said, and slumped in her chair.
    “Instead of taking you downtown, I’m going to leave you in the custody of Miss Daniels.” When Iris sighed in relief and smiled, he added, “Next time you go to court.”
    The grin faded. “Yes, sir.”
    “And you’re grounded,” Jessica added firmly, hoping it was the right reaction to Sully’s lecture. He didn’t seem impressed.
    “You.” He pointed at her and inclined his head toward the foyer. “I’ve got a few more things to say.”
    “Of course you do,” she mumbled quietly as she followed him.
    Looking behind her, Jessica saw Iris slip out of the chair and begin laying out cards on the coffee table.Before she could ask what it was all about, Sully took her arm and marshaled her past her luggage and out the door into the hot summer night.
    Although a breeze came off the ocean, it did little more than push the heat around. Not that Sully needed any help pushing heat or her around at the moment. He was the cop, and obviously used to being in control.
    He didn’t stop until they’d walked a few paces to the edge of the gently curved drive, which looped around the front yard of the estate and back to the gate. When he let go of her arm, he seemed to do it in slow motion. Like the earlier handshake, his touch lingered a second longer than necessary. The pads of his fingers left warm spots behind.
    “Fair warning, Jessie. I’m going to be keeping my eye on the two of you.”
    “My name is Jessica,” she told him, barely resisting the urge to rub her arm where his fingers had rested. “And not to seem ungrateful for the attention of a big, strong man, but what on earth for? There’s nothing wrong. I grounded her. Case closed.”
    “Call it a hunch. You know, a five-letter word for feeling.”
    “Oh, come on, Sully,” she cajoled, unable to keep the edge out of her voice and horrified that he wanted to keep digging. “This is nothing but a little girl’s overactive imagination!”
    “Then you shouldn’t mind my dropping in from time to time until I’m satisfied on that point.”
    “Well, that depends on how often you’ll be droppin’ in,” she snapped and began to pull her windblown hair away from her face. “I’m afraid it might be a lot since you don’t strike me as a man who’s easily satisfied. Ow!”
    A strand of hair had gotten caught in the clasp of her watch. She sucked in another sharp breath and halted, arm half-lowered, not wanting to rip out any more hair and feeling incredibly stupid. Without waiting for an invitation, Sully reached to untangle the strand and then tucked it behind her ear. His fingers trailed gently around the shell of her ear, and once again she felt trapped in the odd never-never land of sensation that his touch created. The contact was too brief to be sensual and yet lasted too long to be ignored. Anticipation swirled through her, only to die as he dropped his hand away.
    “I’m not easily satisfied, but not to worry, Jessica. You haven’t got anything to hide, have you?”
    Plenty, Jessica thought. The prospect of trying to hide it from Sully made her uneasy. As usual he stood too close. Or maybe the night was too small to swallow him up