KATIE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED doing a dropkick and punch right into Jorlan’s solar plexus, followed by a knee to the groin, and as a finale, taking his rolling pin and bashing him over the head. The man was entirely too confident, too cocky (in every way) and most assuredly a jackass. And to top it off, he was too damn sexy for his own good.

      Even the redhead had noticed.

      Just thinking about the redhead sent her already heated blood into a serious boil. Where is that rolling pin? she thought savagely. Where is it? At the moment, she’d even settle for the spatula. Jorlan might need her love, might want to use her body, but he still wanted to sleep with every woman he encountered. Yes, he was a jackass and a womanizer and there was no way in hell Katie was falling for him.

      She paced the living-room floor, her movements clipped, jerky. The soles of her shoes squeaked with each step. Her palms were clenched so tightly her nails dug half-moon crescents into her skin, and her knuckles had long since lost all traces of color. Five minutes later, her muscles were still clenched. Somehow, and God only knew how, she managed to paste a carefree smile on her face when the screen door groaned in protest and Jorlan entered the house. His massive frame filled the entrance.

      “You are tense,” was the first thing he said.

      Tense! Tense! She rounded on him, one finger pointed at his chest. “Are you blind? I’ve never been more relaxed in my life.”

      One inky brow rose in mocking salute. “Then why is your eye twitching?”

      She spun away from him, blocking his view of her face. “There’s something in it. An eyelash, I think.”

      “Then there is no need to tell you that the girl—”

      “Girl? What girl?” Katie tried for a carefree laugh, but couldn’t quite manage it. Jorlan could do what he pleased, with whom he pleased, and show interest in little redheads all freaking day if he wished. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

      “Then allow me to remind you,” he said at last. Silently, he moved behind her, placed his fingers at the base of her neck and gave a gentle squeeze. He bent down, allowing his breath to fan her ear. “The girl found me desirable. Had I shown any interest, I could have had her sooner rather than later,” he said.

      Lord, she both hated and loved his words. “You showed no interest?”

      “Nay.”

      Slowly, she released a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding.

      “I should have been interested,” he added in a self-disgusted growl. “She was a woman who knew what she wanted and was not afraid to try and obtain it.”

      “Just what are you implying?” Katie spun around to confront him. “That I’m too cowardly to go after what I want?”

      He clasped a pale lock of hair from her ponytail and brushed the strands across his lips.

      She shivered.

      His gaze locked with hers. “That is exactly what I am saying, katya. You have been afraid of what I make you feel since the beginning.”

      “That may be true,” she retorted, “but how dare you judge me? You don’t know me, not my likes, my dislikes or my past. You have no idea what made me the woman that I am.”

      “You are right,” he said, his voice just as dark. “I do not understand you, nor do I know much about what makes you do and say the things that you do.” Then, “But I would like to.”

      But I would like to, echoed so sweetly in her mind and so shocked her, she could only blink up at him. His tyrannical disposition she could resist. This…gentle caring she could not. Suspicions sparked in the back of her mind, like a candle in a shadowy room. “Is this a ploy to make me fall in love with you?”

      He ignored her question. “From the moment I first appeared to you, you have driven me half-mad. I cannot explain the connection between us, but I do know that it is there.”

      This was everything she’d ever wanted to hear from him, and yet self-preservation proved tenacious, clinging to her with a sharp grip. “What you’re saying is wonderful, and I want to believe you. I do. But how can I truly believe that you’re interested in me as a person and not just my love?”

      “Can I not say the same to you?” he demanded quietly.

      He could, she realized then. He really could. Since he first appeared in her garden, she had lusted after him like he was the last piece of chocolate in a PMS survival kit. She probably would have slept with him already if he’d claimed just once to love her or even that he would stick around for a while. But she’d never once stopped to consider the man beneath the brawn.

      He lightly fingered her earlobe. “I want you to know about me, and I want to know more about you.”

      “What do you know about me already?” She didn’t mean to sound so desperate, like a child pleading for assurance, but she just couldn’t help herself. Things were changing between them with every word he spoke, and she liked the changes. Maybe too much.

      “I know that you do not smile nearly enough. I know that you were generous to allow me into your home when I had nothing to offer you in return. And I know that I hurt you by calling you a necessary burden.” His fingers released her ear, traveled to the base of her neck and lightly massaged. “For that, I am truly sorry.”

      Katie stilled, absorbing the warmth of his hands and the glow of his apology. But surely she had misheard him. Surely this man, this warrior who took great pleasure in ordering her around, had not just apologized.

      “Jorlan—”

      “Nay. Say no more. I once thought taking only your body while remaining distanced was best. Not so now.”

      And yet, she thought suddenly, he seemed more distanced from her than ever before. There was a flat tinge to his eyes that clashed with his honeyed tone. For the life of her, she couldn’t make herself care that this might be a ploy.

      “You intrigue me,” he continued, “and I find myself constantly thinking about your thoughts and actions. Were I home, I would still wonder, and I would regret not knowing. We have this day, and only Elliea knows how many others, to learn of each other. If you wish.”

      If she wished, Katie silently repeated. What did she truly want from this man who had no plans to stay? Just how much of herself was she willing to risk? The answer had seemed so clear only this morning.

      “No alliance is one hundred percent secured,” he said. “In this, at least, we know the final outcome.”

      He was right, of course, but that didn’t make her decision any easier. “Saying goodbye will be harder if we’ve initiated any type of emotional relationship.”

      “Only if we make it so.”

      So where did that leave her? She truly had tried to ignore her attraction to him, but it hadn’t gone away. It had only grown stronger. So strong, in fact, she had only to picture his face in her mind and bam! She desired him. Katie closed her eyes. Opened them. Gazed up at him. “Just give me a little more time, okay? That’s all I’m asking.”

      He lightly pressed his lips