Lieutenant Alex Cruz eats, sleeps and breathes law enforcement. He's tough and brusque, and cops and criminals alike tremble before him. And that's the way he likes it. Until he meets Caitlin Summers—and decides he wants her trembling beneath him. The beautiful scholar is doing dissertation research in his cop shop, and seriously messing with his head. His self-imposed sexual abstinence comes to a screeching halt in Caitlin's ratty hotel room and dies a permanent death in his bed. . . and his kitchen. . . and his living room. Caitlin is also intelligent and funny, kind and generous, her smile a burst of warmth in his cold, austere life. And that scares the crap out of him. With his head and heart fighting a battle of wills, Alex can barely concentrate on work. And that's too bad—because his dangerous job and his newfound love are about to clash in the worst way possible.