Not much, apparently.

Not enough to encounter the total resistance Mac was getting from her

now.

The old b.a.s.t.a.r.d was shrewdly presenting her with a fait accompli, leaving the dirty details to Mac.

Even though he'd spent his career dealing with the fine art of dirty

details, he wished Simon was within punching range.

He was getting the feeling that the depth of his daughter's opposition

was just one in a long list of items Simon had glossed over when filling Mac in on this job.

Heaving a disgusted sigh, he turned to face her, leaning against the

counter.

"Look,"

he said flatly.

"We'd better get this all out in the open, even though you're probablynot going to want to hear it. h.e.l.l,"

he added under his breath, "I know you're not going to want to hear it.But I won't be leaving until I've thoroughly investigated these phonecalls and letters you've been receiving. I was hired by your father tosecure your house and to make sure that the wacko who's beenthreatening you doesn't get close enough to hurt you. Once I'm certain you're in no danger, I'll be out of your hair. You'll be free to do whatever it is you like to be alone to do out here, and I'll be on abeach in the South Pacific, working on an all-over tan with someonemuch happier about having me around."

He stopped then, his explanation complete, but Raine was looking at himin disbelief.

The fact that he appeared no more pleased than she about this state ofaffairs didn't make her feel any better.

"I still can't believe this. He hired you to be my bodyguard, didn'the?"

He lifted one shoulder.

"If you want to call it that."

She shook her head incredulously.

"What are you, a cop or something?"

"Or something,"

he agreed.

"My partner and I own a firm called Security a.s.sociates. Our jobsentail different things for different people, but our priority is tokeep our clients safe. It's obvious your father didn't give you thewhole story on the phone, but you did agree to have me come here,remember?"

Oh, she remembered, all right.

And she could now see how easily her father had manipulated thisarrangement.

She'd already reached the conclusion that she needed to hire someone toa.s.sess her security needs.

With all she'd had to do lately getting ready for her upcoming show,she had, in a rare moment of dependence, allowed her father to choose areputable security company for her.

He'd done that, and more.

He'd used her acquiescence to set his own plans in motion.

But this.

She found it difficult to comprehend how her father could be this callous about her feelings.

To hire a stranger--a man--to stay here with her, to live with her, if

only for a short time.

whatever could he have been thinking?

The answer, of course, was that her father hadn't been thinking, at

least not about what had happened eleven years ago.

He never thought about that, had never dealt with it.

He reacted to the' here and now.

He'd determined what was needed, and he'd arranged it, leaving her, as

usual, to deal with it as she would.

"She waited for panic to set in, to crowd aside her anger at her father's machinations.

Under no circ.u.mstances could she allow a stranger to move into her

home, no matter what his motives were.

The man was here, but that didn't mean he had to stay.

"Mr. O'Neill,"

she began resolutely.

"Mac,"

he corrected.

"Just Mac."

"All right--Mac,"

she agreed.

"You probably don't know my father well, but this sort of... shall we

say misunderstanding is common for him. I neither need nor want a

bodyguard, and I will not pay for those services. I am in need of your

security advice, however. I'm sure we can work something out in that

area."

She watched him warily, hoping he'd agree.

She couldn't afford to take time away from her painting right now to investigate another security company.

Mac turned his back on her then, already bored with the scene.

He wasn't a man who avoided confrontation, but arguing held no appeal for him.

Her show of stubbornness would change nothing.

He shut off the water in the sink, reached fora sc.r.a.per beside the

faucet and began scrubbing the broiler.

"I've already been paid for this job, Miss Michaels, by your father.

That means we do this his way. It'll be a h.e.l.l of a lot easier on all of us if you'd just give in gracefully this time."

He'd struck a nerve, although, with his back to her, he was unaware of

it.

Rair~e had stopped giving in a long time ago, and despite what he thought, it had been a difficult habit to break.

It had been necessary in her long quest for independence, and she

wasn't going to backtrack now.

She.

had tread many miles on the path of least resistance before discovering

that it didn't lead anywhere she was particularly interested in going.

"Whatever he's paying you, I'll double it,"