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but I’d like to find out more about his interest in dolphins.”
    He scanned her face with a questioning gaze. “You must be trying for sainthood. Thank you.”
    His comment shocked a short laugh out of her. Maybe she did have a yen for martyrdom, considering her recent personal and professional history. Except people didn’t usually bring it out in her. Just Matt with his air of a half-wild dog, wanting to trust someone but afraid of having his trust betrayed.
    Hannah started toward the door.
    “Dr. Linden, I’d like to ask another favor.”
    Dismay zinged through her as she stopped.
    “Would you have dinner with me Monday and tell me what you learn about Matt and the dolphins? It might help me talk to him.”
    What was he up to with the dinner invitation? His refusal to take no for an answer was causing flashbacks to her ex again. Ward had kept asking her out until she finally accepted.
    No, this was different. She’d seen how Adam watched Matt at lunch. He wanted so badly to connect with his son that he was bribing her with food to give him any tools he could use. The charmer routine was just a way to cover his desperation.
    “You don’t have to feed me,” she said. “I’ll meet you at Moonshine on my way home from work. You can buy me a glass of wine.” That would keep their meeting short, as the wine bar didn’t serve meals. She didn’t want to get drawn any farther into Adam’s situation than she already was.
    “Feeding people is what I do,” he said, “but they have some excellent cheese at Moonshine. Five o’clock?”
    She nodded, knowing she was crazy to think he seemed disappointed when she turned down dinner. The same thought prompted her to say, “I’ll drop Matt off at your house when I’m done with my farm visits. We’ll be driving around in the truck anyway so it’s no trouble.”
    “Do you need directions?”
    She snorted. “Everyone knows where The Aerie is. The hard part is getting reservations.”
    He laughed before he turned serious. “For you there will always be a table.”
    His dark eyes were locked on her, and she felt wrapped in the sensuousness of black velvet against her bare skin. The sensation was so vivid she had to give her head a tiny shake to bring herself back to the reality of standing in Tim’s office in her polo shirt and khakis. “See you later,” she said and fled.

    Adam stowed the dishes in the insulated bags without conscious thought. He was contemplating the enigma of Dr. Hannah Linden. There was a kindness in her that extended beyond the animals she cared so deeply for. Yet she didn’t seem to warm up to him. He wasn’t offended, just puzzled. His job required the ability to make his customers feel as though they were the center of his attention, and he’d gotten good at it. Most people enjoyed it, yet Dr. Linden kept backing away.
    Maybe he’d scared her with his anguish over Trace and his desperation over Matt. He’d twisted her arm into mentoring a surly boy, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising she wanted nothing further to do with him.
    Although when he’d offered her the perfect out for the afternoon, she’d rejected it. She actually wanted to spend more time with his son.
    “What does that say about me that she prefers Matt’s company to mine?” he muttered, zipping up a bag.
    Despite that, he wanted to comb his fingers through her straight, corn-silk, blond hair, an impulse he had squelch every time he bent down to serve her a dish. He wondered if her blue eyes would widen in shock or flutter closed in pleasure. He’d only had a few glimpses of her standing without her lab coat, but it looked as though there were some interesting curves there. Maybe it was because he was a chef that he liked women whose figures showed a certain appetite.
    He shook his head. Given her reaction to him, he shouldn’t bother to speculate on her body. Although he would see her again Monday.
    He piled the bags into a big plastic carrier and hefted it in both