Cabe Malone pulled the lovely auburn-haired stranger into his arms and tried to quiet her weeping. Why, the ruggedly virile man wondered, had she chosen to seek solace in the half-finished house he was building? And how had her yearning seized his heart in an instant? Before either of them sensed it happening, their lips met in an embrace of tender need. It was stunning, and completely unexpected, as Penelope Chapman felt herself becoming the woman Cabe longed for—Penny, the soft and passionate side of her she'd never allowed to surface before. In a few days' time the sweetest kind of love burned between them, but too soon they had to leave the private world their dreams had shaped. When Cabe fiercely pursued his love, Penny raced from his arms. Would he ever understand that his lady needed to be cherished, not possessed—and could she learn to accept his loving all the women she was?