Collector

Lila Emerson makes her living as a professional house-sitter, moving from one borrowed home to the next with no permanent ties. During her current apartment-sitting job, she looks out a window and witnesses what appears to be a murder/suicide. She is the only eyewitness.

Ashton Archer, an artist, refuses to believe his brother could have committed violence against anyone, himself included. He recruits Lila to help him find out what really happened. Ash is drawn to her at once, wanting to paint her as much as he wants to touch her.

Their search leads into a rarefied circle of collectors. Priceless antiques are bought, sold, gambled away and stolen there, and what a person owns defines who they are. Desire in that world can harden into a deadly obsession.

The book mixes mystery and suspense with a developing romance between two very different people. A woman who has always needed nothing now has a reason to stay, and the people behind the deceit and greed around the dead man's circle have reason to want her silent.