Kat blinked up at the man staring down at her, and embarrassment flushing her cheeks. What was going on with her? How could she be so graceful and strong as a bear, but so clumsy and awkward as a woman? Even in her father's building, with her guards not ten paces behind her, she’d managed to do something as ridiculous as walking straight into a strange man. A strange, tall, strong, incredibly attractive man. A man who smelled like the forest at night, and—

Blushing more than ever, she pulled herself away from him and dropped to her knees, scrambling to pick up the sketches strewn across the floor.

She'd been out of sorts for days now, even weeks. Something was wrong, she just didn’t know what. Her parents had been acting strange — she kept catching them looking at her with troubled expressions — but they insisted everything was fine.

On top of that, every time she went out these days, her hackles were constantly raised from the sensation someone was watching her. She felt…hunted. Not something a comfortable feeling for a bear.

Ridiculous!

Her father was so obsessed with her safety, he kept her surrounded by bodyguards twenty-four-seven. Not that she was a captive — she was allowed to go anywhere and do almost anything she liked. She'd flown on private jets to Switzerland to paint mountains and to Africa to paint people; she'd lived for two months in a tree house in Peru, and she'd studied art in France for a year.

If you overlooked their incredibly old-fashioned ideas about dating, her parents were actually quite permissive. Except when it came to her bodyguards. Her very big, ever-present bodyguards. Her friends joked about it, but it wasn’t funny to Kat.

As she gathered up her work, she pretended not to notice the man kneeling beside her, helping her. The collision had apparently stunned him at first, but now he gave her a wide, brilliant smile, his green eyes flashing. Kat’s nerves barely let her lips tweak upward.

Men were a mystery to her — by her parents’ design. Romance of any sort was the one thing they’d denied her. No matter how much she begged and pleaded, they wouldn't explain. When she was twenty-one, they said, she could make her own decisions. Until then, no boys. No dates. Not even group dates. Nothing.

Of course, Kat sometimes met boys anyway. Even all-girl schools had guys around now and then — brothers of her friends and sons of teachers. Then there were the men who worked for her father — some of them quite young and attractive.

But the moment she'd tried to flirt with any of them, they all reacted the same way. They'd turn pale and go stiff, then they'd get away from her as quickly as possible. Whether she took human or bear form, males just didn't seem to like her.

Kat had spent long hours in front of the mirror, trying to figure out what made her so unappealing, but it remained a mystery. The mirror told her she was at least reasonably attractive, and her girlfriends insisted men loved women with curves, but the men of her clan had missed the memo. They all seemed practically terrified by her flirting.

This man didn't seem scared, though. It was hard to imagine him frightened of anything. As they stood, sketches clutched in their hands, he towered over her, and she sensed his power. No doubt about it, he was an alpha — a man used to taking control and getting his way — yet his manner was gentle as he handed over her papers.

"Thank you," she said, forcing herself to speak past the lump in her throat. "And sorry about that. I'm so clumsy…"

“Entirely my fault,” the man said, oozing charm.

He appeared to be relaxed, but an undercurrent of tension she couldn’t identify rippled in the air between them, like heat waves coming off a desert highway.

"Hey, did you draw this?" he asked, looking at one of the pictures he'd just given her. "It's fantastic."

“Um, thanks,” Kat mumbled.

Kat’s art had won awards and sold well at gallery shows, so compliments were nothing new to her. But coming from this man… She wasn't used to anything coming from men like him.

"I'm being rude, sorry. I'm Alex."

He held out his hand, and when her fingers disappeared into his massive paw, a jolt of electricity sizzled through her. Was this…lust? If so, it made her dizzy and tingly all over. A deep part of her, a part that was pure bear, began to rumble. It was all she could to do keep from purring with desire.

There was more between them than the buzzy, effervescent sensation of arousal, though. It defied all logic, but this man made her feel safe — safer than she’d ever felt with a dozen of her father’s bodyguards protecting her. For the first time in weeks, that feeling of being hunted fell away. She felt relaxed and at peace. Almost as if a missing piece of her puzzle had been fitted into place.

“I’m Kat,” she sighed, staring up into the greenest eyes she’d ever seen.

She managed to get a grip on herself and give him her most winning smile, hoping like hell he didn’t run screaming. When his hand tightened around hers in response, she knew he wouldn’t.

"This is very forward of me” he said, “but you're so beautiful and so talented. It's a refreshing combination. Would you go out with me tonight? Dinner and dancing? I'd love to get to know you better."

Kat gaped up at Alex, completely stunned. No man except her father had ever called her beautiful. Her hammering heart drowned out the doubt and replaced it with excitement.

Her father, of course, would have insisted she say no “for her own safety,” but the idea of saying no to this large beautiful bear of a man was unthinkable. Thanks to her self-defense training, Katrina Hamilton probably could take care of herself better than the average she-bear. Besides, she was only a week away from turning twenty-one.

Alex watched her patiently as he waited for her answer. Kat stared up at him, chewing her lower lip, consumed with uncertainty. She’d never disobeyed her father before — at least not at this level — but she'd never wanted anything as much as she wanted to spend time with this man.

A surreptitious glance told her the bodyguards stood at a respectful distance, as usual. They’d learned she preferred them to stay out of her way, which is why none of them helped pick up her sketches. Their bored expressions indicated they almost certainly couldn’t hear the conversation, which meant she might have a chance to get away with it.

“Okay,” she almost whispered. “But we have to be careful and play it cool.”

Alex’s lips twitched up into a smirk that nearly turned her knees to jelly. “Why?”

“Shh, it’s a long story.” Glancing at the guards again, Kat took his arm and tried to ignore the shivers that ran up her spine when she touched him. “Make it look like you’re trying to see my pictures in a better light.”

She led him across the lobby to where sunlight streamed in through the windows, far enough away from the guards they definitely wouldn’t overhear, though they watched her every move.

“I’ll meet you tonight,” Katrina said quietly as she held up a sketch to maintain the ruse. “Where?”

“I’ll have my driver pick you up,” he suggested, completely ignoring the drawing.

Obviously, picking her up at home wouldn’t work, but she could sneak out easily enough. Still, her safety instructors would have insisted doing such a thing was dangerous. They’d told plenty of horrific stories of women going missing — or worse — after getting into a stranger’s car. But one whiff of Alex’s scent overwhelmed her. She could trust him, she felt it down to her very soul.

“All right,” she said, then held up another sketch. “Have him meet me at the Café Orange on Fleet Street at eight.”

He raised an eyebrow, but she just smiled. “I have to meet colleagues there at seven. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all.”

“And…” She hesitated, trying to figure out the best way to say it without sounding like a total weirdo. “I hate being interrupted by people I know on dates, so let’s not go to one of the major dens. I prefer someplace a little more…secluded.”

His eyes narrowed momentarily. “You’re not mated, are you?”

“No, nothing like that. As I said, it’s a long story.” She smiled and tried to flirt a little. “Maybe I’ll tell you at dinner, if you’re nice.”

Better to seem mysterious than pathetic. He surely wouldn’t be interested in a woman who wasn’t allowed to date.

As he gazed down at her, Kat imagined what it would be like to run as a bear with him by her side. What it would be like to hunt with him, to curl up in a den with him, have his cubs…

Slow down, girl! You don’t even know this guy!

Then why did it feel as if she’d known him her entire life?