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Melanie struggled to breathe. Why did a man who wanted to send her up the river cause her heart to skip like a stone across the water’s surface?

He was a Neanderthal, big and brawny, with muscles to spare. She’d bet the farm he had no brain in that gorgeous head of his.

Their first and last conversation played back in her mind. ‘So you’re an artist?’ Duh! How obvious did something have to be?

Kay touched Melanie’s hand from across the table. “Melanie, he’s watching you.”

“Yeah, he’s hoping to put me away.”

“I don’t think so, Mel. Those luscious eyes of his are saying, ‘I want your body’. Not, ‘I want to send you to Attica’.”

Melanie snorted. “Right. I think you’re misreading those eyes. They’re saying, ‘I hope you don’t drop the soap’.”

“Come on, Mel, that only happens in male prisons.”

Melanie shook her head. “That’s not the point, Kay. He wants to blame me for that fire. I know it. And with my past with Dean and the previous arson charge, he just might be able to. Don’t you watch the news? Innocent people are framed every day for crimes they didn’t commit.”

“Calm down. You’re not going to be one of them. Maybe we should do a little investigation of our own. See what we can find out about Dean. Where he was that night? Hell, maybe he set the fire himself to try and frame you.”

Kay’s implication was preposterous. No way would Dean burn down his own house. “Why would he do that?”

Kay sighed and thrummed at her bottom lip. “Well, maybe he figured if you weren’t going to be his, then you’d belong to no one. Believe me, men don’t like being dumped. They like to do the dumping. He might have done this to get even with you for that. Who knows? I just think we need to do a little spying on the Grainger’s, see what we can find out.”

“Kay, we are not detectives. I haven’t a clue how to spy on someone. Do you?”

Kay’s eyes lit up. “No. Paul Nader does, though.”

Melanie’s jaw slacked. No way would he get involved. “Your ex-fiancé isn’t going to help us, Kay. He hates you.”

The light in her friend’s eyes faded. “No he doesn’t. He loves me. That’s why it’s so hard for him to be civil.”

Melanie wanted to laugh at her friends clouded perceptions. “You keep telling yourself that, Kay. He does have every right to hate you. Who wouldn’t after being left at the altar and thrown over for the best man?”

“Well, technically that’s true, I did do that. Yet I know he still loves me. Besides, you know I didn’t sleep with Roy. He was just my escape route out of an event I was not ready for. Sleeping with the same man for the rest of my life. I wasn’t sure if that’s what I wanted or not.”

“Didn’t you tell me Paul was the best lover you’ve ever had?”

“Yeah, had, the operative word. What about the men I haven’t had? I just wasn’t ready to stop looking for something better.”

“So have you had any luck since you broke up with Paul?” Melanie already knew the answer. Kay told her every detail of every romp she’d ever had—including how powerful the orgasms were.

“No, though who knows. He might be just around the corner. Or sitting in this room right now.” Kay glanced around her, her gaze landing on Knox. “Hell, maybe Mr. Fireman over yonder might be able to start a little blaze that he could ever-so-slowly put out. He’s an awful big man. He probably has big attachments.”

Why did Kay’s remark not surprise her? Melanie loved her friend dearly, yet some days, she reminded her of a sailor on leave.

“You know what they say?” Melanie used Kay’s words from earlier.

Her friend’s eyes sparkled and she played along. “No what?”

“It’s not the size that counts. It’s all in the way you use it.”

Kay scrunched up her face, looking aghast. “No, honey. It’s the size. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. The only ones who say that size doesn’t matter are men with tiny dicks.”

“Am I interrupting?” a deep, male voice asked, intruding into their conversation.

Melanie turned to find Knox standing just inches away, his eyes dancing with amusement. He’d obviously heard everything.

She glanced at Kay whose face now resembled an over-ripe tomato.

“What do you want?” Melanie asked, her eyes narrowing, any humor from earlier gone.

“I wanted to apologize for the other day. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot.”

Melanie snorted. Talk about an understatement. Wrong foot her ass. It was much more than a foot. The entire leg and half a hip were included.

“No problem. You caught me at a bad time. I’d been up all night.” She wasn’t going to tell him how she really felt. She was in enough trouble.

“Anyway, you two enjoy your lunch.” He started to turn. Kay’s next words stopped his leaving. “Would you like to join us?”

Melanie wanted to strangle Kay at that moment. She settled for a swift kick under the table.

“Ouch, Mel. That hurt.”

Melanie turned to Knox and caught the twitch playing around his mouth.

Was he laughing at her? Did he find her discomfort entertaining? Melanie would see who left O’Malley’s with the last laugh.

She smiled. “Kay, ask Mr. Manning about what you were wondering earlier.”

Kay’s eyes narrowed and her friend shook her head, pretending not to have understood her.

Melanie’s grin widened. “You know—about his equipment.”

Kay looked mortified. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you do. Remember… You wanted to find out how far his fire hose extended.”

Manning’s jaw dropped, just the type of reaction Melanie had hoped for.