Stunned by his sudden appearance, she took his form in all at once. He was still as handsome as sin. His dark brown hair was short in back with long bangs that draped becomingly into eyes so silvery gray they appeared almost colorless.

Captivating and searing, his eyes could haunt a woman night and day. And she ought to know, since they’d done nothing but torment her since the moment she had first seen them.

That same air of danger still clung to him seducing her, wooing her. Oh, but he was a man to make any woman’s heart pound.

His face had grown thinner over the years, adding sharp, angular planes to it. But they in no way detracted from the perfection of his patrician features. Dark brows contrasted sharply with his silver-gray eyes, and his broad nose still had the tiny bump in the center where she’d broken it.

Glory, but he was scrumptious. Completely and utterly scrumptious, like a rare treat of succulent chocolate after a long abstinence.

He’d always possessed a powerful, compelling, masculine aura that was downright salacious in nature. An aura that reached out and captured the attention of anything female within its mighty grasp.

And heaven only knew, she was far from immune to it.

But the Devil would move his home to Antarctica before she ever let him know that.

“What on earth are you doing here?” Catherine asked as she finally found her voice.

“Needing a doctor,” he said sardonically, shaking his left foot.

Catherine looked down to see the charred black leather in the bright winter moonlight. A rush of embarrassment filled her.

“Why is it,” he asked, “every time we meet, I end up needing a doctor?”

She lifted her chin at his playful tone. Her days of finding him amusing were long past. “Are you trying to charm me?”

Not even the dark could mask the wickedly warm look in his eyes. “And if I were?”

I’d probably end up surrendering to it.

But she had no intention of letting him know that, either. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. She couldn’t afford to let him break her heart again. The first time had been painful enough. And in truth, she wasn’t sure if she could survive losing him again.

Instead, she sought to protect herself by putting an end to whatever thoughts might be playing through his mind.

“I’m not a girl anymore, Mr. O’Callahan. I no longer dance to your tune.”

O’Connell took a deep breath as he sized her up. He’d almost forgotten his old alias. But the cold tone of her voice chilled him more than the winter wind at his back.