There was the problem as she saw it. Could she actually believe anything he said? He was a good actor. She’d fallen for him hook, line and sinker, and he’d betrayed her. She tried hard to keep an open mind. At first she hadn’t wanted to hear anything he said. Then she wanted him to be Ridley again. Eli wasn’t Ridley, but there seemed to be a part of him that was.

“Woman, you keep it up and you’re going to find yourself in trouble.”

“Maybe.” She turned around again, and this time had a cup of perfection in her hands. “But this just may buy my way out of it.” She took him the coffee. “Drink that, Mr. Grumpy Pants, and see if it doesn’t improve your disposition.”

His gaze moved over her face with a brooding look she tried not to think was hot and sexy, but of course she really did. She began making her own cup of coffee, needing to do something besides look at him. Looking at him didn’t help her confusion.

“All right. I’ve got some coffee in me. Now are you going to tell me why you were looking for a phone?”

She burst out laughing. She couldn’t help herself. He was like a dog with a bone. He wasn’t going to drop it, but then she was beginning to realize he didn’t drop anything important to him.

“You like your way, don’t you?” she asked.

“In all things, Kitten. You’d better get used to it,” he cautioned. “Now answer the fucking question before I throw you over my shoulder and haul your ass back to my bed to show you who you’re supposed to be with – let me give you a clue – his name is Eli Perez.”

Catarina heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Seriously, Eli? Are you going to threaten me with sex every time you don’t get your way?”

She heard him put the coffee cup down, and the chair scraped. Her heart jumped and she spun around to face him. He was on his feet, stalking her purposefully. She held up one hand to ward him off, laughing in spite of the sudden fear coursing through her body. Fear and excitement.

“Who the hell said anything about sex? I’m considering something entirely different.”

She didn’t want to test him and she backed up until she collided with the counter. “You do know that your behavior is causing serious disappointment, Eli. I held out hope for my Zen fantasy, and you’ve buried that deep.”

“Catarina.” He bit out her name between clenched teeth.

“I noticed you didn’t have a phone. It was an observation, that’s all. Rafe would be the last man on earth I would call in this situation.”

He stopped, towering over her, in her space. She could feel the heat from his body and she remembered how it felt to melt against him. She didn’t close her eyes and hold that memory to her, but she wanted to and that confused her even more.

“A situation like this?” he echoed.

“He’d kill you, Eli. He might even kill me, leopard or no leopard. At the very least, he’d make me pay with the blood of the people I care about.”

His golden gaze searched her blue one. One hand cupped the side of her face, his thumb sliding over her skin. “That’s it. You observed I had no phone and you just confirmed it out loud?”

She nodded. “And don’t forget the part where you totally shot down my Zen fantasy.”

His smile was slow in coming but it was genuine and it warmed his eyes. “I’ll have to see what I can do about replacing that one with something else.”

She felt a shiver go right through her. She had wanted to see if she could make him smile like that. He might be the worst grump in the world in the morning with no coffee and he had definitely shattered every dream she had of a Zen master, but he was gorgeous and all man standing in her space, smelling like a rain forest and sex. He looked darkly sensual, and intensely masculine.

“One more thing, Kitten,” Eli added, his fingers skimming her chin with the same gentle caress, robbing her of breath. “I wouldn’t bet the bank on Cordeau being able to kill me so easily.”

She shivered again, this time because he sounded like he meant it. She even took a step back but bumped against the counter. There was no way to look away from his focused stare. She was caught there, her mouth dry, her heart pounding. His dangerous quality was back, clinging to him like a second skin. He wasn’t the same kind of dangerous as Rafe, but she could see the predator in him now. She saw the leopard, and there was no doubt in her mind that he could kill if he needed to. That he would kill if he needed to.

“Don’t.” He said the word softly.

She couldn’t breathe. She stared up at him, shaking her head, having no idea what he meant.

“Don’t look at me like that. Don’t ever be afraid of me. You took a step back and you look as if you think I might hit you. That could never happen, baby.”

Clutching the coffee cup, she lifted her hand to her scalp, the memory of his behavior in the warehouse and the truck washing over her. What had she been thinking? That he really was Ridley Cromer just because they’d had sex? Her body ached all over. She had marks on her skin. That hadn’t been making love. They’d had sex. Rough sex. She’d suddenly felt all sweet and melty inside. That didn’t change who or what he was.

“Kitten.” He groaned softly, and his fingers went to her scalp, massaging gently. “I didn’t hit you. Remember that when you’re condemning me. You attacked me more than once and I restrained you, but I didn’t hit you. In the truck, I had to stop you. A leopard can track through scent. Your scent could not be on that ground. You knew he was leopard and you knew you were risking him finding you.”