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The thought had crossed my mind to find an alternative way to make this donation, but so did the fact that all these people are gossiping about me now that I’m back after twenty years.

They’re speculating.

Whispering in their convoluted game of “telephone.”

Spreading the types of vile rumors the people of Cape Blackwell are so damn good at concocting.

If I had hidden away tonight the way I wanted to, it would only have added fuel to that fire and created an out-of-control inferno that couldn’t be easily extinguished—if at all.

“I plan to deliver this check and get out.”

Ellis chuckles low, the sound reverberating through me as much as the bass from the band does. “That sounds like a brilliant plan to me.” He grins mischievously. “Let me know if you need a distraction to make your great escape.”

A distraction.

That’s what Ellis is right now.

He brilliantly pulled me from the brink of a breakdown—and a very public almost gun wielding—and brought me into this moment. Where I can concentrate on his strong body swaying with mine. His scent permeating the air around me. The very real feeling of safety in his arms.

But it isn’t real.

None of it is.

When this song ends, so does the illusion I’ve far too easily fallen into.

It’s hard not to allow myself to dive deeper into it, to swim in the luxurious warm water of his penetrating gaze with this handsome, intelligent, protective man who stepped in as my knight in shining armor the moment he saw I was in need.

The longer we sway together, with nothing but the music and sound of our breathing, the harder it becomes to ignore the sexual charge building.

It thrums between us.

Draws us closer.

Makes my heart race and the blood pulse in my ears as I become intensely aware of everywhere our bodies touch.

Our palms pressed together.

Our fingers entwined.

My hand draped over his strong shoulder as the heat of his permeates my skin through the fabric at my lower back.

His chest rising and falling against mine.

It is all too much and not enough at the same time.

And whatever this is absolutely cannot happen.

I pull back slightly to put the tiniest bit of distance between us as I search for something to say. Anything that might break the unbearable tension. “I was…surprised to meet with you the other day. I wasn’t aware Attorney Allen had brought on another lawyer.”

Ellis nods and offers a tentative smile. “I met him at a Yale alumni weekend several years ago. He knew he was close to retiring. I had my own practice but was looking for something more.”

“You seem a little young to be running your own practice.”

His bark of laughter as he drops his head back draws added attention from those already keeping us in their peripheral vision. Several brows rise in question or shock at the outburst. “I may be young, but I am more than qualified. I graduated high school at fifteen. Did my undergrad in three years. And graduated from Yale Law at twenty-one at the top of my class⁠—”

“I don’t need your résumé, Ellis.”

He grins. “I like that.”