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bedraggled woman before him. She just stood there staring mutely at nothing, her body trembling. Then she shuddered and started to crumple. Jon reached out quickly, grasping her arms to keep her from collapsing onto the dirty carpet.
    â€œI’ve got nothing!” Beth mumbled faintly. “No place to live, no clothes, no money. Apparently no job either.”
    She felt cold in his arms, and Jon realized she was in shock as she continued to ramble to herself. “My whole plan to turn my life around is evaporating into thin air, like everything else in my life…and I’m filthy and so hungry!”
    Jon barely heard the last whispered plea, but he could tell that it had tipped her over the edge. Beth burst into hysterical sobs while he held her upright in his strong grip. Then, unexpectedly, Jon found himself turning her toward him and gently wrapping his arms around her, offering warm consolation rather than cold restraint. He began muttering soothing words as he tried to calm her.
    â€œThere, there, it’ll be all right,” he repeated over and over.
    Jon wondered—dazed, himself—what could possibly have come over him to pull a virtual stranger, a woman he’d met in jail no less, into his arms. However, the way Beth mindlessly clung to him told him that she needed and welcomed his strength. Her tears touched a jaded part of him, awakening a deadened heart and making him want to offer comfort and support to a woman—this particular woman. He considered challenging the roommate’s right to sell the stuff, but right now he just wanted to hold Beth in his arms and make her feel safe.
    What in the world am I doing?
    Even as Jon silently argued with himself about his sanity, he heard himself murmuring more consoling words. He was keenly aware of his hand on the bare skin of her lower back, the sensation sending tingles up his arm. The feel of her lush bosom pressed against his chest created inappropriate desire throughout his body. Against his will, he felt his erection surge.
    He had to get some distance between them. Easing her away, he took deep breaths to slow his libido. Then he surprised them both when he said, “Come with me. I’ll take you to my place. Feed you some lunch. You can clean up, and then we’ll figure out what to do.”
    Her face flamed with hope, but then, before his eyes, she shuttered…her demeanor altered subtly but distinctly from head to toe. She was still sniffling and looking bedraggled in the practically obscene outfit, and her boot still lacked a heel, but somehow Beth had transformed. She stood tall, shoulders back, and met his stare defiantly.
    â€œI have nowhere else to go and no money, but I won’t go with you, won’t set one foot in your apartment, unless you believe me when I tell you I’m not a prostitute.”
    â€œI…” He wanted to trust Beth, but the evidence was against her. Rapidly he reviewed the facts—she’d been arrested with whores, even her roommate thought she was one, and the Pretty Starlets Diner had never heard of her. But she had no local priors, and now that he thought about it, the young woman who’d answered the phone at the diner had been suspiciously aloof and uninterested in answering his questions.
    â€œI…” he tried again. “I want to believe you. It’s possible that I misjudged you. I don’t know what to believe anymore. That’s a start, isn’t it?”
    â€œNot enough.”
    Beth turned away from him toward the stairs, and suddenly he didn’t want to let her go. He didn’t understand it, but a near panic filled him when he thought about where she would go, alone and broke. He might never see her again.
    â€œPlease! I really want to help you. Please let me.”
    Beth slowed, her back still to him, and he waited. Finally she said, “Okay. I still need a lawyer, but I won’t be your personal charity case. It may take