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Ms. O’Malley, that there are probably several items we need to discuss.” Stone motioned for her to go past him, into the attic.
    “Such as?” Emma said, crawling through the window and waiting for him to follow.
    “Why’d you think there was danger up here?”
    She stepped quickly to the stairs and headed down. Emma wasn’t confiding her problems to him . She’d spent the last week being interrogated over every aspect of River Run, and his razor sharp mind wouldn’t take anything she admitted at face value. He’d delve into her past with the tenacity of a terrier, destroying all her carefully laid masks. “An overactive imagination?”
    In all honesty, he’d probably fire her and then where’d she go?
    Stone Connor didn’t appear to be the type of man that wanted trouble around. And she was definitely trouble.
    For now, her identity and past would remain a secret.
    “I don’t buy that,” he said, when they’d reached the kitchen.
    She whirled around and pierced him with what she prayed was a don’t-mess-with-me stare. “I’m certain that a man as strong and virile as you has never awoken to a nightmare of life threatening proportions and thought the shadows were out to get him. I’m sorry if my petty, female fears seem inconsequential to you, but they exist.”
    He walked backward, hands held palm forward in defense. “I didn’t mean to get your Irish up.” Stone turned and exited the kitchen, then paused in the living room. “For what it’s worth,” he called. “I do.”
    “Do what?” she replied, not bothering to hide her annoyance.
    “Have nightmares of life threatening proportions.”
    And before she responded, he was gone.
     
    ***
     
    Once more, Stone found himself gazing out his French doors, blocking the beauty of the view and concentrating on his internal struggle. Damn that woman. Wasn’t she just a walking, talking vampire of emotional upheavals?
    He’d not slept well the past few nights. The week was quickly coming to an end, and the thought of his father this close to him continued to ignite fireworks of anger and resentment. Why was Nate here? More importantly, what did Emma O’Malley have to do with him?
    The sound of footsteps creeping up from within the house flashed all types of childhood memories across his mind. He’d not reacted well. His heart still pounded when he thought how close Emma came to falling off the roof.
    “Damn careless,” he swore and hammered another nail of self-doubt into his coffin.
    Stone couldn’t help but sense there was more to Emma O’Malley’s story than a simple girl who happened to apply for a job with his grandmother. His mind was trained to analyze situations from every possible angle, scrutinize the enemy, then infiltrate and overwhelm. He was lost here.
    He didn’t understand the enemy. But, he wanted the enemy. Stone walked into the bathroom and stared at his reflection. What was she doing to him?
    The feel of her pressed against him on the roof and that one moment where her face lost all traces of worry as she watched the eagle soar caused an aching deep within his soul.
    Once Emma O’Malley realized what Stone Connor stood for, she’d run. And when she did, she’d take all temptation with her. She’d take away his sudden desire to breathe.
    She wasn’t for him, anyway. And it had nothing to do with her idealistic, pet-loving, schizophrenic attitude. He refused to care for anyone that associated with his father. Isn’t that why he’d left in the first place?
    Trill laughter filtered through the closed door of the master suite. He heard voices in the kitchen and wondered who’d arrived. Checking the calendar Emma provided him with, he noted they still had an entire day before guests began invading.
    Curious, Stone left the safety of his room and ventured back into the kitchen. River Run’s rooms were bursting with activity. People were hugging, crying, laughing, and talking all at once. An elderly gentleman consoled a