“You’re so good-looking and powerful,” she said with a sigh. “Not my type at all, not that I’m complaining.”

“Good to know,” he said dryly.

“You could kiss me again. I wouldn’t mind.”

“While that’s a pretty irresistible invitation, I’ll find you something to eat instead.”

She was kind of hungry. “But you do still want me, right? That hasn’t faded.”

He looked into her eyes and she felt the pull of his need. Her insides got all hot and quivery.

“Wow,” she breathed as he turned away. “You’re good.”

“I live to serve.”

He crossed to the kitchen where she heard him opening cupboard doors. She glanced at the mother cat licking her babies.

“I think you’re going to be really happy here,” she whispered. “Kane is nice and gentle. He’ll be a good owner.”

Or he would be, once she convinced him that he wanted to keep the mother cat and her kittens. He was at heart, she believed, a decent man. With her need to rescue, she didn’t find decent very often.

There was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get that,” she said as she slid to the edge of the chair and prepared to stand on one leg.

“This is my place and I’ll get it,” he told her as he walked across the hardwood floor. “Sit. Stay.”

“You kiss too good for me to be scared of you,” she told him.

He ignored her and opened the door. “Yes?”

“I’m Marina Nelson. I’m here to see my sister.” She thrust a bag into his arms. “There are more in the car.”

Willow twisted in her seat and waved. “You came.”

“Of course I came. You said you’d fallen and broken your ankle.”

“I called Marina because I knew she was home this morning,” Willow said to Kane, “Julie’s at work. Are you going to step aside so she can come in?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“You could push past him,” Willow told her sister.

Marina shook her head. “He looks burly.”

Willow opened her mouth to say that he wasn’t all that tough and that he was an amazing kisser, then she thought better of it. It was really the sort of information she needed to keep to herself.

“You look alike,” Kane said.

Willow sighed. Obviously he was going to be difficult. “All three of us do. It’s quite a gene pool. Are you going to let her in?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“If I leave now, I’ll only come back with reinforcements,” Marina told him.

“Right.”

He moved aside and Marina slipped past him. She rushed to the chair and hugged Willow.

“What on earth happened? What are you doing here? What did you do to your poor foot?” Marina sank onto the ottoman and leaned forward. “Start at the beginning and tell me everything.”

Kane took the single bag into the kitchen, then disappeared outside.

“So talk,” Marina said.

“I haven’t been able to forget about Todd,” Willow began. “I kept getting madder and madder. Or is it more mad? Anyway, when I woke up this morning, I just couldn’t stand it anymore.”

Marina looked at her. “Tell me you didn’t come over here to take him on.”

“That’s exactly what she did,” Kane said as he walked in with an armful of bags. “Are there more in the trunk?”

“No, just those in the backseat. Thanks.”

He grunted, then disappeared into the kitchen.

Willow watched him go, admiring the way his slacks tightened around his butt as he moved. She’d never been one of those women who admired men’s rears before, but then she’d never seen one this good.

“Willow,” Marina said impatiently.

“What? Oh, sorry. So I came over here to yell at Todd. He nearly broke up Julie and Ryan and I couldn’t stand thinking about that. I mean who does he think he is? Plus there’s the whole million dollar thing just hanging out there and he’s so self-centered and egotistical you just know he’s thinking we’re dying to meet him now that Julie’s engaged. I just want to beat him with a stick.”

“For someone who’s a vegetarian and so into being one with nature, you’re surprisingly violent,” Kane called from the kitchen.

“I’m not violent,” she yelled back. “I wasn’t the one flashing a gun around. Where is it, by the way?”

“Somewhere you can’t get it.”

Marina’s eyes widened. “He had a gun?”

“Yes, but don’t worry about it. So I came here and Kane answered the door and I guess he thought I was a serious threat because he tried to grab me.”

“What?”

“It’s his job. He’s in charge of security for all of Todd and Ryan’s companies. You have to be clear on that. He’s a little touchy about people thinking he’s only in charge of the house or something.”

“I’m not touchy.”

The words were a little garbled, as if he were speaking through clenched teeth.

She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “He really is. Who knew? Okay, so he tried to grab me, I ran and got through the house, but he caught up with me on the grounds. Then I tripped, and as I went down, I not only ripped off my ankle, I saw the cat there giving birth. So here we are.”

Marina covered her mouth, then dropped her hand to her lap. “I swear, I don’t know if I should laugh or shriek. Only you, Willow, only you.”

Kane walked out of the kitchen, holding a litter box in his hand. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Only if you think it’s a cat box,” Marina said, then turned back to her sister. “It’s completely disposable and biodegradable. Cool, huh?”

“Very. Thanks for that. Where do you think we should put it?”

Marina glanced around the living room. “Somewhere a little more private.”

Kane stared from the women to the litter box and back. What the hell had happened? When had he lost control of the situation, not to mention his life?

“I’ll go find a place,” Marina said. She stood and took the box from him, then smiled. “It’s kind of a lot to take in. You probably need a minute to recover.”

He watched her walk out of the living room and down the hallway. Great, Willow thought he needed rescuing and her sister was convinced he was an idiot.

“Is there a scooper?” Willow asked him. “You’ll want that by the box, along with some paper towels.

He started to ask for what, then stopped himself. Right—it was basically a cat’s bathroom. There would be deposits.

“She’ll know how to use it, right?” he asked as he jerked his head toward the cat.

“Oh, sure. We’ll just show her where it is.”

Marina returned without the litter box. “The bathroom off the second bedroom seems like a good bet. I put it there.” She walked to her sister, bent over and said in a low voice, “It doesn’t look like he has women here on a regular basis, so that’s something.”

He was equally outraged and admiring. “I’m standing right here.”

Willow smiled at him. “We know.”

“He seems okay,” Marina continued. “But given your history with guys…”

“It’s true,” Willow said sadly. “Maybe he’s different.”

“Still standing here,” he announced.

“You could feed the cat,” Willow said. “You’ll probably be more comfortable in the kitchen while we’re talking about you behind your back.”

In a scary, twisted way, her words made sense. He retreated to the kitchen, all the while wondering what had happened. This morning everything about his life had been normal and pleasantly solitary. Somewhere along the way, he’d been invaded. There were people here—he didn’t do people.

He went through the bags. There was canned cat food, a bag of dry and three bowls. He filled one with water and the other with dry food. The mother cat rushed into the kitchen and fell on the food. When he dished up some canned, she abandoned the dry to feast on that.

While she ate, he checked out the rest of the bags. Marina had brought over bread, honey, several packages of frozen soup, bags of cookies, apples, pears, some girly soap and the latest issue of a celebrity gossip magazine. Did she think her sister was moving in?

He felt something brush against his leg. When he glanced down he saw the mother cat rubbing her leg against him. She looked up, purring.

Feeling awkward and stupid and like he was being taken, he bent over and patted the top of her head. She turned and rubbed her jaw against his fingers. He could feel the vibration of her purring.

He’d never been one for pets. As a kid, it was all he could do to feed himself. Plus caring about anything only made you a victim. In the army, there had always been guys who kept dogs around, but he wasn’t one of them.

He straightened. He could hear Willow and Marina talking in the living room, although he couldn’t hear the words, thank God. So now what? Where did he go? This was supposed to be his house, but he suddenly felt like he didn’t belong.

There was another knock on the door. Before he could say anything, Marina yelled that she was getting it. He walked into his living room in time to see an older version of Willow stepping into his house, along with a fiftysomething guy in a suit.

“Mom, you didn’t have to come,” Willow said. “I’m fine.”

Willow’s mother handed Marina a casserole, then rushed to Willow’s side. “You’re not fine. You hurt yourself. What was I supposed to do? Just let you lie here in pain?”

“Oh, Mom.”

The man approached Kane. “I’m Dr. David Greenberg, a friend of the family.”

“Kane Dennison.” They shook hands.

Dr. Greenberg moved over to the ottoman. “All right, Willow, let’s see what you’ve done.”

Willow’s mother moved back. Marina touched her arm. “This is Kane, Mom.”

The older woman smiled at him. “Hi. Naomi Nelson. She said you carried her here and saved her life.”

Willow had managed to make a number of phone calls and pass on a lot of information in the short time he’d been gone, he thought, not sure if he should punish her or be impressed.

“I don’t think she was all that near death,” he said.

“Mom, there are kittens,” Willow said. She pointed at the box.

“Oh, they’re just born.”

While Naomi went to coo over the kittens, Marina murmured something about putting the casserole in the refrigerator. Kane watched as the doctor examined Willow’s ankle.

“Does this hurt?” he asked as he manipulated her foot. “Does this?”

She answered his questions, then looked at Kane. He felt the impact of her gaze all the way down to his groin. Funny how Marina was similar in appearance, but nothing about her turned him on. Yet with Willow, all it took was a look.

Dr. Greenberg continued his exam for a couple more minutes, then patted her knee. “You’ll live. It’s a minor sprain. You have some swelling, which should go away in the next couple of days. Keep doing what you’re doing. Elevation and ice. You’ll be better in the morning.”

“It hurts,” Willow said with a soft whimper.

The doctor smiled. “I remember how badly you handle pain. You’re the one who cried before I ever gave you a shot when you were little.” He dug around in his case and handed her a sample pack of pills. “These will help. Take them now and then don’t even think about driving until tomorrow. You’re going to be out of it.”

She smiled. “You’ve been very good to me.”

“I know.” He stood, bent over and kissed her cheek. “Try not to be such a klutz.”

“I didn’t do this on purpose.”

“But you still do it.”

Naomi hurried over. “Thank you so much for coming.”

The doctor shrugged. “I’ve known them nearly all their lives. They’re like my girls, too. I’m going back to the office.”

“I’ll be there within the hour,” Naomi promised.

Both women fluttered around, bringing Willow water so she could take her pill, more ice, a snack. Kane stayed in the background, watching them move so easily through his place—as if they’d been here before. Or maybe that was the way of nurturers. They were comfortable wherever they went.

At last Marina left, leaving only Willow and her mother. Naomi beckoned him into the kitchen.

“Thank you for all your help,” she began. “I’m sorry we’ve all invaded you like this.”

“It’s fine,” he said, when what he was thinking was more along the lines of “you could be gone now.”

“I’ll just get her things and take her home.”

Kane eyed the woman. She was about five-five and in decent shape, but there was no way she could carry her daughter.

“I’ll do that,” he said, knowing it was the only way. “You can’t carry her inside.”

“Oh.” Naomi looked concerned. “I hadn’t thought about that. With her foot and all…Can she hop?”

“Not well. Don’t worry. I’ll get her home.”

“If you’re sure…” She glanced at her watch and he knew she was thinking she had to get back to work.

“Ask Willow if she’s comfortable with that arrangement,” he said.