When Sheldon Ford walked into her life, Tyanna Montgomery thought she had been carried up to heaven on the strong wings of a sexy black angel. But when he disappeared, she came crashing down to earth. Now he's back with some wild tale about having been undercover to take down a Miami mob-boss -- which means he's either big trouble or flat-out crazy, and either way Tyanna should let him go. But damn if the man doesn't still make her heart race and her body ache with wanting him!

Sheldon should never have returned -- and now he's put his sweet woman in serious danger! But living without Tyanna's loving would not be living. Though she doesn't believe a word of his story, that doesn't make the threat less real -- and he'll protect his ebony queen to his last breath. But will she still want him when she realizes that taking a chance on this love means risking a lot more than her heart?

"Lord have mercy, it's hot," Tyanna Calhoun uttered as she stepped out of the air-conditioned gym and into the muggy Miami night. It didn't matter that the sun had gone down hours earlier; it was still as hot and sticky as it had been during the day.

The city was going through one of those summer heat waves where the nights were as hot as the days. As always, it was the humidity that was the killer. It was barely June. What would July and August be like?

Tyanna frowned. She shouldn't have bothered to shower in the gym. She would only have to take another one when she got home.

Not that Tyanna was complaining -- entirely. She'd lived in upstate New York when she went to college, and it was then that she learned how lucky she was to have been raised in South Florida. For four years of her life, she had complained to anyone who would listen about how much she hated the cold, how she couldn't stand the North after October. She became less active, not wanting to do anything if it meant trudging through one of the winter's many large snowfalls. Her four-season friends had gotten a chuckle out of her misery, telling her that her blood was too thin from having been raised in a warm climate. Well, whatever the reason, Tyanna knew she wouldn't endure another winter up there if her life depended on it.

Whenever the heat got to her, Tyanna remembered her days in the North -- days when she'd wanted some freedom from her family -- and she kept her mouth shut.

Her body adjusting to the temperature, she strolled through the parking lot, making her way to her car. She'd parked near the back, as the gym's manager preferred the staff do, in order to leave the front spaces open for clients.

Man, was she ever looking forward to going home and jumping into bed. Maybe she'd have a glass of wine first to help take the edge off. It had been one of those days. She'd had to go into work early to fill in for another personal trainer who'd gotten sick on the job. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't had to spend two of her sessions dealing with men who clearly had complexes when it came to women. Sure, she was filling in for Morton, but just because she had a pair of breasts didn't mean she was incapable of doing the job.

And then there was the one pervert who'd been so fascinated by her that all he'd been able to do was ogle her body during his supervised workout.

Tyanna was used to dealing with creeps and idiots, whiners and chauvinists, but she much preferred not to if she didn't have to. She was happy with her own clientele, some men and mostly women she'd been working with for the past few months. They knew she was good at her job and respected her for it.

All in all, she enjoyed her job at the gym. Every day brought something new, which not many people could say about their line of work. The one snag she'd had in the past months was Jay, one of her clients who had developed a crush on her. He was no longer using a personal trainer, but he still frequented the gym. He was harmless -- just annoying -- though on occasion his ridiculous come-on lines did make her smile.

Now nearing her car, Tyanna dug into her purse for her keys. And dug a little farther. Where were they? She'd gotten rid of her bigger purse, thinking it would be easier to find items in a smaller one. But no. Murphy's Law had to have a hand even in purse issues.

Damn that Murphy anyway.

Just as she was resting her purse on her car so that she could get a better look, she heard the sound of shuffling feet nearing her. Before she could turn to see who it was, a hand closed around her upper arm.

Her heart pounding, she instantly sprang into action. While turning her whole body, she swung a fist. The...

Kayla Perrin is a USA Today and Essence Bestselling author who resides in Southwestern Ontario with her young daughter. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Sociology and a Bachelor of Education, having entertained the idea of becoming a teacher—but she always knew she wanted to be a writer.Teachers were being laid off in Toronto when Kayla graduated with her B Ed degree. Frustrated, she used her time to pursue her life-long dream of becoming a published author and proved that dreams can come true! Indeed, not landing a teaching job was a blessing in disguise. In eight years, she has had 23 original releases hit the shelves with three more scheduled for this year.Kayla’s novels have received plenty of accolades and awards. She has twice had books voted onto Romance Writers of America’s Top Ten Favorite Books of the Year list, nabbing the number 2 spot for her 2002 Avon release Say You Need Me. She has also been the recipient of a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine for multicultural romance in 2002. In 2001, she received an Arts Acclaim Award for her writing from the city of Brampton, Ontario. Kayla’s novel Sweet Honesty also voted an RWA Top 10 Favorite Book of the year, was optioned to be made into a movie of the week by Black Entertainment Television.Her books have been profiled in Entertainment Weekly, Ebony, Essence, and Cosmo.In 2005, her Avon novel Gimme an O! received rave reviews from Publishers Weekly, The Globe and Mail, and Entertainment Weekly. Her first full-length erotic novel, Getting Even, launched Harlequin’s SPICE line in May 2006.