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you?”
    “Are you?” The question-for-an-answer came flying back.
    “I told you I was leaving as soon as I finished the project.”
    “How soon will that be?”
    “Under a week to finish, if it’s acceptable to the client. If not, I have to either return the money or start all over, and that will take some time. I’m just getting started in this career, so it’s not likely I’ll return the money. You can’t do this, Adam. Think of Liam and J.T.”
    He breathed heavily, those steely, cold eyes narrowed now, a vein in his throat throbbing beneath his tanned skin. “Can’t do what?”
    “You know what. You can’t let them provide for you. You’ve got to make something of yourself. You’ve got to get a steady job.”
    “So now you’re telling me how to live my life again, is that it?”
    She leaped over his anger, thrusting at him, determined to make her point. “I care for the Tallchiefs. Elspeth has become a dear friend. You can’t just dip into their lives and take and live off them, then go on your merry way.”
    His hand raised and Jillian didn’t expect the finger that stroked between her brows. “You said the same before. Still defending people from me, Jilly? Maybe my relatives would have believed me all those years ago. Maybe with their help, you might have read the truth in the newspapers or heard it from the radio. Then you might have been forced to believe me.”
    Jillian pushed down her temper. “It’s a waste of time to argue with you.”
    She ripped out her checkbook, slapped it open on thewooden table and scribbled a hefty figure. “Here, this is road money, so you can be on your way.”
    “Money isn’t the answer, Jilly.” Adam dismissed the check on the table and his low voice said his temper rippled at the offer. “But then, raised as you were, maybe you don’t understand the difference. You always did what your parents wanted, didn’t you? Even offering yourself to save Tom.”
    She faced him, careless of her fists balled against her sides. He’d humiliated her all those years ago. Was it her pride that nicked at her now? Or the truth? “Leave my parents and my brother out of this. You’ve done enough damage.”
    This time, Adam’s finger stroked his jaw as he considered her. “Not quite. I’d be blind not to recognize the reaction you had when you saw me just now. Those amber eyes almost swallowed me. What’s the matter, Jilly? No love life?”
    While Jillian considered a proper flattening retort, Adam did the worst thing—he leaned down to brush her lips lightly. “To see if you taste the same,” he whispered as she tried to catch her breath.
    She shivered and fought the surge of fear curling around her, choking her.
    Adam frowned, pulling back. “You’re shaking, and you’ve just paled. You’re not angry now, Jillian—you’re afraid. Of me?”
    Locked in panic, Jillian fought the nightmare of her husband’s sexual attacks. Unable to move, she could only stare at Adam. “I—I’m not afraid of you.”
    The frown became a scowl. “We may be cutting and slashing at each other because of the past, but I’d never lift a hand to hurt you, Jillian.”
    She tried to speak, to make light of her reaction, and couldn’t. She could only stare at Adam, images and pain swirling around her, swallowing her.
    “Jillian, it was only a little kiss,” Adam said very softly. “Sit down.”
    Instead, panic threw her to the door. She opened it and ran through the rain to her SUV. She slammed the door, locked it, and sat shaking, her fists locked onto the steering wheel.
    When she managed to look at the cabin, Adam was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. Then, as if he could not stand more of her, he stepped inside and closed the door.
    Jillian forced herself to calm, to breathe evenly, before she started the SUV. After reaching her rented home, she tried to work, but the creative design she’d seen in her mind escaped her. Images of Adam had pushed it away.
    In her