“Hi, babe.” He greeted her with a wink and gave her a long, suggestive head-to-toe appraisal. “Rough night?” A smile, boyish yet sinister, curved his thin lips.

After the initial shock of seeing him, Erin regained her composure and propped her shoulder against the doorjamb, keeping a careful distance between them. Without conscious thought, she tugged on the belt of her robe and pulled it more tightly around her slim waist.

“I’ll ignore your insinuations for now,” she replied with a plastic copy of his smirk pasted on her face. “What are you doing here?”

Hopping off the railing in a lithe movement, he responded, “I couldn’t seem to get through to you on the phone. So I decided if Mohammed wouldn’t come to the mountain….”

“I get the gist,” she retorted coldly. She could feel an uneasy caution tighten the muscles of her back. “That doesn’t explain why you’re here, banging on my door loudly enough to wake up the entire neighborhood at seven in the morning. What do you want?”

“How about a cup of your coffee, for starters. From there, who knows how far our relationship can progress?” There was another long, suggestive look.

“I’m sorry, Lee, but as you already guessed, I did have a rough night last night. I’m tired and I’m not up to playing word games with you. Why don’t you just tell me what it is you want? Then you can leave.” She crossed her arms over her breasts to shield herself from his gaze. Lee made her uncomfortable, but she did her best to hide her apprehension.

“Why are you always so suspicious of me?” he asked in a low voice that was meant to be hypnotic.

“Because I know you.”

“Erin, baby,” he cooed, coming more closely to her. Involuntarily she shrank back. “What’s happened to you? Let me make you feel better.”

“And just how do you think you could do that?” she asked wryly, a grim smile twisting her lips and her black brows cocking nervously.

“We used to get along just fine,” he suggested smoothly, and his hand reached out to trace the neckline of her robe.

Jerking away from him, Erin glared at his bemused face. “Look, Lee, just say whatever it is you think you have to say to me and then leave.” She paused for a moment, and then continued. “What is it? Do you need money again?”

Sandy-blond eyebrows shot up with undisguised interest. “Ah, well, that’s not the main reason that I came over here, but now that you mention it, I could use a few bucks.” He smiled his most winning smile and shrugged his shoulders. Erin was surprised at her reaction, total disinterest in his most becoming grin. “You know how it is—I had a run of bad luck.”

“Haven’t we all?” she muttered under her breath, and raked her fingers through her tangled black curls.

“Ah, come on, Erin. Don’t give me that. The way I hear it, you’re loaded.”