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nightmare—daymare?—her brain was inflicting on her.
    Footsteps boomed up the stairwell, and in an instant, Collin Morgan was framed in the doorway, not hesitating for even a second before racing toward her and pulling her into his arms.
     

Chapter Four
     
    “Marnie, are you okay?”
    Collin could feel her heart racing against his chest. She had smashed her body against him, her arms wrapped so tightly around his neck that he could barely stand up straight. She’d coiled one leg high around his hip, stretching the material of her flowy skirt and making him all too conscious of the warmth between her legs against his.
    Fuck, she felt good. This close, it was difficult to maneuver without revealing how aroused he was. His jeans were getting tighter, the hard shaft of his erection straining against the fabric, and he wanted to shift, just slightly, until they were pressed together in just the right place.
    Thank God some small part of his brain managed to hold on to his control. She was frightened and in need of comfort. She didn’t need some asshole who was thinking about driving deep into the heat between her legs, making her arch and shout and—
    Shut it down, asshole.
    He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself as much as her. “Marnie?”
    Her face was pressed into his shoulder, like a child hiding under a blanket from something in a scary movie. Fuck, she was breathing fast.
    He brought one hand up and gently rubbed her back, looking around the room as he waited for her breathing to slow. This attic room was nice. They built solid houses back in the day, and the attic was still in great shape, despite that it looked like no one had bothered to do anything with it for the past hundred years. Plywood shelving and a few glass-fronted cases were arranged in short rows, placed just far enough apart for a slender person like Marnie to slide through. A thick white cord of electrical wiring ran from a conduit on the wall near the light switch, up to a single light bulb that swung from the highest rafter.
    Code violation, that’s for sure. But he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. At least nothing that merited such a response.
    “I saw—” she paused and looked around, as though confused by something, but then shook her head. “I saw a rat. Or at least what I thought was a rat.”
    “Want me to have a look around?”
    She nodded nervously, and Collin slowly let her go. Though Marnie blushed when she realized just how closely she had been clinging to him, she didn’t move away. Instead, she followed him as he walked through the room and looked along the baseboards for any sign of rodent infestation.
    “I don’t see a way that a rat could have gotten in. Unless—oh, maybe there’s an opening behind the eaves. I didn’t realize you had a cubbyhole in here.” He stopped at an open door tucked under the eaves and picked up the box lying on the floor just in front of it. “Nice box. Is it antique?”
    “I—I don’t know,” she stammered, coming close to peer at it. “I just found this door for the first time and this box was inside.”
    “Maybe you startled a rat that had hidden inside, then. I don’t have a flashlight on me, but I can get one from my car.”
    She shook her head. “It’s okay, really. You’ve already done more than enough. I never thought I was the kind of woman to startle easily. I always thought I had a strong stomach. But I’ve never seen a, um, a rat before.”
    Why did she always stop before she said rat ? Did the very word disgust her? Not that he was judging her. It was just surprising. For some reason, he’d built an image of her as a stalwart, self-sufficient kind of woman who wouldn’t have been so afraid of a rat.
    Though he couldn’t deny that it had felt good to be her protector.
    Her protector? Are you a caveman? He curled his lip, disgusted at himself, and shrugged. “No problem.”
    “What about you, what are you doing back here? Did