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know you would never have done such a
     thing," her father had assured her quietly. "The papers always
     blow that sort of thing out of all proportion. Frankly, I'm just
     as glad you've decided to start over in another state, however. It
     wouldn't have been easy to overcome the scandal down there in
     California. One's business reputation is a precious commodity,
     easily damaged."
    Sabrina had heard the lecture on several previous occasions and
     had quickly moved to nip it in the bud this time. "Mine's more
     than damaged, Dad. It's dead and buried. Out here in Texas,
     though, no one cares. Want to buy a stuffed armadillo?"
    "This is hardly a joking matter," her father had pointed out
     grimly.
    "It certainly wasn't a joking matter for the armadillo," Sabrina
     had agreed absently, glancing across the counter at the stiff
     little creature. "Most of them come to a sad end out on the
     highway. They don't move fast enough. But at least this one got
     himself immortalized."
    Bennet Chase had made a few more valiant attempts to redirect the
     focus of the conversation, but he knew he'd lost control of it.
     Attempts to exert fatherly guidance over his one daughter ended in
     this fashion more and more frequently these days. His last really
     successful effort had been to bulldoze her into taking accounting
     courses in college. It had been decidedly downhill from there. Now
     he had to face the fact that she had gone off the deep end
     entirely. Selling stuffed armadillos in Dallas was probably about
     as far as a respectable young accountant could fall.
    Sabrina knew that her sober, responsible family, all males since
     her mother had died, feared for her future. She had fought their
     natural dominance all her life, but now she had truly slipped out
     of their grasp entirely.
    What everyone was going to have to realize these days, she vowed
     as she swam toward the reef, was that Sabrina Chase was making her
     own rules now. Men such as Matt August were going to learn they
     couldn't use her for a doormat. Actually, when she thought about
     it, throwing him out of her room last night had been rather
     exhilarating. So what if she'd misjudged him initially? She'd
     gotten rid of him when she'd realized her mistake, hadn't she? It
     would be a while before he tried to victimize another innocent
     tourist.
    Resolutely Sabrina inhaled through the snorkel and dived deeply
     to examine the intricacies of the reef.
    Crouched on the rocky outcropping overlooking the beach, August
     watched the woman in the sleek black maillot. He had spotted her
     renting the snorkeling equipment at a shop adjacent to his
     bookstore. It had been easy to follow the taxi she'd then taken to
     this cove.
    The section of beach she had chosen was virtually empty. A small
     party of vacationers splashed about in the water several yards
     farther along, but no one appeared to be sharing the day with
     Sabrina.
    Snorkeling alone was not the safest practice, but Matt had a
     hunch she probably wouldn't welcome any advice this morning.
     Especially not from him.
    As he watched, she surfaced to clear her tube and mask and then
     plunged under again. He could barely see the outline of her body
     as she held her breath and went to the bottom. The reef she was
     exploring was a massive thing stretching for some distance across
     the open end of the cove. It was a perfect location for fish
     watching.
    Someday maybe he'd bring Brad here. The kid was thirteen this
     year. It had been a long time since he'd seen his son. Somehow
     time got away from a man down here in Mexico. Matt had the uneasy
     suspicion that priorities were slipping, shifting, and he wasn't
     quite sure how to keep them in order.
    Drinking his whiskey in an expensive hotel bar had been one way
     of pretending he wasn't losing ground. Hotels were careful to
     maintain a pleasant illusion, he'd discovered. They knew how to
     avoid that seedy touch that could creep so easily into one's