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settled, a great hole appeared in her wall where her brand new shelves should’ve been. They lay in disarray amidst the clutter and mess on the floor. Alex swore. ‘Didn’t you look for a supporting beam?’
    ‘Course I did,’ a dusty figure muttered. ‘Take a look yourself.’
    Alex did. He poked and prodded and then swore at whatever he’d discovered. Kit’s heart sank. Her budget didn’t run to expensive repairs and—
    All her thoughts slammed to a halt when he stuck his head through the hole and peered upwards. ‘Alex!’ The protest squeaked out of her. What if more stuff fell down?
    It was only when he backed out again that she noticed the three deliverymen edging towards the door. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ She’d meant to utter the words in her best scary secretary voice, but it came out as a squeak too.
    ‘Sorry, love, but we’ve delivered your furniture. There’s nothing more we can do here.’ With that they turned tail and fled.
    ‘Hold on a minute!’
    A firm hand wrapping around her upper arm prevented her from setting off after them. ‘It’s not their fault, Kit. Let them go.’
    She wrenched herself out of his grip and then coughed as dust rose up around them, disturbed by her agitated movements. It settled on the shoulders, the sleeves, the lapels of Alex’s finely tailored suit. It settled everywhere, even on his eyelashes. Kit yanked her gaze away. She didn’t want to notice how the dust on his eyelashes made the brown of his irises deeper and clearer. She didn’t want to notice anything about Alex Hallam.
    He went to take her arm, but she evaded him. She didn’t want him touching her again either. She didn’t want to notice how his touch was imprinted on her soul. As if she were his woman. She wasn’t!
    She whirled away from him. ‘What do you know about any of this anyway?’
    He brushed a hand through his hair, shaking plaster dust out of it. He shrugged and sort of grimaced. ‘I’m a builder by trade, Kit.’
    ‘No, you’re not. You’re a multi-millionaire property developer.’ She planted her feet. ‘Builder my foot,’ she muttered under her breath.
    ‘I’m a multi-millionaire property developer and a builder by trade.’
    She frowned. ‘But you have an economics degree.’ She’d seen it on the wall of his office.
    ‘Mature-age entry. Part-time attendance. How do you think I funded a tertiary education?’
    She stared at him and then shook her head. Had she ever really known him?
    All the intimate ways she had known him rose up through her. When he raised an eyebrow she realized she was staring. She pushed the memories away and bit her lip, wished it weren’t so hard to catch her breath. ‘So…’ she waved at the hole in the wall ‘…you know about all this?’
    He nodded.
    She bit back a sigh. ‘Right then, you’d better tell me the worst.’
    He glanced at the wall and then back at her. A frown formed in his eyes. ‘The wall stud is rotten with damp. That’s why it didn’t hold the shelves and, as you can see, when they fell they took a great chunk of plaster with them. Kit, there’s a hole in the roof. Looks as if you’ll need to find a new place to rent.’
    ‘I’m not renting, Alex.’ Kit wanted to sink to the floor amid all the chaos and rest for a bit. ‘I’ve bought this house. It belongs to me.’
     
     
    Alex pushed his jacket back to plant his hands on his hips. ‘How the hell does one buy a house in just three weeks?’
    ‘Private sale.’ Her hands rested in the small of her back as she grimaced and stretched. ‘We rushed it through.’
    The owners had seen her coming a mile off. ‘At least tell me you had a building inspection done.’
    ‘The previous owners told me it was fine. The real estate agent said he could vouch for them personally.’
    ‘Did you get anything in writing?’
    He knew the answer before she shook her head. How could a woman so savvy and efficient in dealing with demanding clients and