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back again and hit the wall, her breath coming in a long rush, but suddenly his touch was too hot, melting through her skin to brand her very bones. She felt something rise in him, wild and feral, trying to break free. The moment was fraught with danger. She didn’t move or speak, terrified if she did, something would happen that could never be taken back.
    His fingers dug into her hip. Hard. Possessive. She felt the difference. The heat seared her. Scorched like a thousand flames. He went from being protective to predatory in one single moment. She felt the difference, felt the change sweep through him. A single sound escaped her throat. She heard it in the silence of the warehouse. Fear. Pure fear.
    Instantly his hand dropped from her hip and moved to the nape of her neck. His fingers curled there. Gentle.
    “Cat.” His voice was pure indulgence. “Nothing is going to happen to you. Tell me where the light switch is.”
    She was acting crazy. She was letting fear dictate, fear and imagination. She wasn’t over her past. She would never be over it, and she’d never be truly free. She took a breath, forcing air to move through her burning lungs.
    “Right by the door as you walk in. Just about a foot above the door handle.”
    He flicked the light on immediately and she found herself staring up into his eyes. They looked like gold to her. Ancient Florentine gold. His eyes glittered down at her. For a moment she saw speculation. The interest he’d shown when she gave him attitude, but there was no aggression in them. Nothing in the least bit predatory. Just a man being kind to a woman who lived alone. A man taking charge.
    “Are you all right?”
    She nodded, feeling like a complete idiot. She knew danger and there was none radiating from this man at all. She bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I don’t have men in my space.” How lame was that?
    His hand slid her hat from her head and handed it to her. “You have a big space here, Kitten. Stay here and let me look around.”
    His eyes didn’t leave her face and she couldn’t move, only nod slowly. His gaze drifted over her as if inspecting her carefully. Seeing her. Seeing too much. She had secrets to hide. Not little tiny secrets, huge ones. She couldn’t afford a man like this around her. He took in too much. Saw past every guard. And for some reason she wasn’t very good at keeping things under wraps around him.
    Abruptly he turned away and began to walk around the warehouse. Not walk – he prowled. He moved like a great jungle cat, all flowing muscle, fluid and absolutely silent. He was a thing of beauty to watch. He moved with absolute confidence, and she doubted if he missed anything.
    His gaze searched the high places as well as the low. She could see he was systematically checking every concealed space and yet at the same time, seeing everything. There wasn’t much to see. Mostly, the warehouse was empty. It was a single story, very long and very wide. What had been an office was now her bedroom.
    Malcom had begun work on renovating the warehouse some years ago and then stopped when he met his wife. She hadn’t been so enamored with the idea of living in the warehouse district. He had thought it would be nice to have his apartment and dojo together so he’d bought the building. He met his wife four months later.
    She was very happy it had taken Malcom four months to meet the woman he had fallen madly in love with. That meant he’d worked on the warehouse. She had a makeshift bathroom and a really good bedroom space. Her kitchen area was the most finished of any room. She had a sink, counter, stove and small fridge. Malcom had started with a kitchen and bathroom, paying most attention to the fact that he liked to eat properly because he worked out so much.
    “You have a hose for a shower.”
    Of course he would notice that.
    “It’s still in the building phase,” she admitted. Since he was talking now, she assumed there was no one ready to jump out and