to let you turn me into a hermit!"He frowned impatiently."Call me Mac. And it's necessary, Raine."She continued as if he hadn't spoken."My friends are always welcome in my home. If Andre and Greg can't come here, that means I'll have to spend more of my time going to their offices for meetings. That will take me away from my painting and make your job more difficult,"

She could tell by the way he considered her words that she'd made a valid point.

She pressed on.

"And I can't just tell the students they can no-longer come here to paint.

The peacefulness here is inspiring. I'm not going to rescind my invitation."

"If you won't, I will."

His voice was impatient.

He should have known she wouldn't give in easily.

"It's not going to be all that peaceful around here, with all the work my men will be doing, so they won't be missing much."

"I refuse to alter my life any more than i,ve already agreed to. Don't you understand?"

She tried to reason with him."If I let this weirdo completely change the way I live, I've also lethim win. I' won't do that, Macauley--I can't. It's taken me too longto take control of my life. I won't give it up now."

He didn't know which annoyed him more, her continued use of his given name or her obstinanee.

"You're overreacting. We're not talking forever here, just a fewweeks at the most. You're not giving up your life to someone, but alittle healthy dose of fear has done wonders to keep some peoplealive."

"And too much stifles them to the point that they might as well be dead,"

she retorted.

"If a person isn't experiencing life, she isn't living it, either."

His temper snapped at her stubbornness.

He rose swiftly to his feet and crossed to her in two long strides.

"What you're experiencing here, lady, is something most people go out of their way to avoid,"

His voice was close to a shout, but she didn't back down, and her gaze

was just as furious as his.

Jerking her chin up with one hand, he bent down so that his face was inches from hers.

"" You talked about being scared earlier, Raine, and you sure as h.e.l.lshould be. There's a sieko out there who's trying to get yourattention. Trying to frighten you, and baby, whoever it is mightalready have been close enough to be on your property. Remember thatthe next time you think about bucking me.

Maybe it's someone you know, maybe not. Maybe he walks right into yourhouse, and he's welcomed here, or maybe he hides in the shadows. Hecould be out there at night, watching this place, watching you" " Stopit! " she cried.

His taunting words painted a scene straight out of her nightmares.

The stress she'd been under for the past few weeks seemed to gel, and for a second it was all directed at this man.

Her fingers clenched into fists and she pushed hard against his chest,

punctuating her words.

"Just--stop it!"

Chapter3 Raine became aware of her actions at the same moment Mac

gathered both her fists into one large hand.

She stared at him in shock, her body frozen by her loss of control.

Their gazes melded.

Her eyes were pure amber now; and he was struck with the realization

that the look he'd thought he'd recognized in them upon their first meeting hadn't been a fluke.

For an instant they were full of anguish.

Why the h.e.l.l did she try to pretend to be unaffected by all of this?

Because she was far from unaffected, that was clear.

She was close enough that he could feel her heart racing, her body quivering.

She tugged at her hands, but he didn't release them.

She looked down, wishing to escape from that speculative regard.

She was afraid of what he'd see.

He was so observant she felt like a b.u.t.terfly impaled on a pin beneath

that searching stare.

Certainly she had.

all too good an idea what he might find if he looked hard enough, if he

was perceptive enough.

He released her wrists, and she immediately turned away from him.

It really wasn't a question of whether or not the man was perceptive.

She had a sinking feeling that very little got by Ma-cauley O'Neill.

She moved toward the fireplace and pretended an intense interest in its

decorative oak mantel.

"I'm sorry,"

she said in a low voice.

He said~.

othing, and she still wasn't controlled enough to turn around and face

him again.

She fore~ a shaky laugh.

"I can a.s.sure you that I only attack someone once a week, so you're

safe for the next several days."

He remained silent, and she angled her head around to peek at him.

He was expressionless, watching her silently, and her throat went

dry.

She'd never met anyone so difficult to read, and she suddenly wondered why it seemed so important to know what he was thinking.

When he did speak, he didn't mention her loss of control or her

apology.

"If you'd think about this rationally, you'd admit that it makes sense to limit the number of people who have access to you."

He was silent for a moment, thinking swiftly.

Then he said grudgingly, "Maybe we won't have to bar guests completely.

If Andr~ and Greg are still allowed in here, will you agree to tell the

art students to stay away?"