By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, stop here.

Ellie gasped and nearly passed out from shock when a man—tall, dark and dreamy—stepped out from behind the trees.

“Whoa, hey, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The man’s voice was deep, a little raspy, completely mesmerizing. He held up his hands as if in surrender but when he stepped forward, she screamed. And fell backward off the bench in her haste to get away.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

Heart pounding, Ellie scrambled to her feet, keeping the bench between them.

Oh holy shit. This was it. This was what they warned women about in those running magazine articles.

How could she have been so stupid? Alone in the woods at six o’clock in the morning with no one around to hear her scream for help.

The man looked long and lean, a little over six feet tall she guessed. With those legs, he’d catch her easily if she ran. His arms bulged with muscle under the short-sleeved green t-shirt that clearly defined his broad shoulders and flat stomach, while his thighs filled out his worn jeans.

Despite her fear, she could appreciate the sheer masculine appeal of the man. He was gorgeous.

Straight, shaggy-cut black hair hung to his shoulders, long bangs off a side part nearly obscuring light-colored eyes…maybe gray. He wasn’t close enough for her to tell the exact color, and if she had her way, he wasn’t getting any closer.

His face was all angles—chiseled cheeks and chin and straight, pointed nose. Hell, she thought she even glimpsed pointy ears beneath that silky-looking hair. A slight smile turned up the corners of his wickedly sexy mouth but it was the scattering of freckles on that nose that capped his appeal for her. Hell if she knew why.

The real question was why he was lurking in the woods, stalking innocent women. With his looks, he’d be able to seduce any woman he wanted.

Which made the situation all the more surreal.

Okay, play it cool. You can get out of this. “Wow. You scared the hell out of me. I wasn’t…expecting to see anyone out here this early.”

“You’re right.” His smile kicked in again and this time her breath caught in her throat at his pure masculinity. “There shouldn’t be anyone out here this early.”

Right. Maybe she was reading this situation completely wrong. What if this guy was a park ranger? She’d gladly take a ticket for trespassing instead of rape and murder any day.

Playing on her blonde, violet-eyed looks for all she was worth, Ellie fluttered her eyelashes at him and turned on the bright smile that had gotten her out of many high school scrapes.

“I am so sorry. I didn’t realize… I mean, the sun is up and I just wasn’t thinking. Am I in trouble?”

His smile widened and she felt heat that had nothing to do with the air temperature begin to pool low in her stomach.

How inappropriate was that? From terrified to horny in two minutes.