Werewolf in Seattle

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  Dulcie waved her polishing cloth in Luna’s direction. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Let his Lairdness of Glenbilbo take you hot tub shopping.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Could we set aside a few hours for staff use of the hot tub?”

  “Of course.” Colin gave her his high wattage smile. “I believe in keeping the staff happy.” He glanced over at Luna. “Meet you at the helipad in forty-five minutes. I’ll ask Janet to pack us a lunch to eat on the way.” He continued on down the stairs.

  Dulcie flapped her hand in front of her face. “Whew, that Were is hot.”

  “If y’all like the type.” Luna struggled for nonchalance and was afraid she’d failed miserably.

  “What are you talking about? He’s a stud! Every female in the world would like his type, Were or human. What’s the matter with you?”

  “I just don’t think it’s a good idea to mix business with pleasure.” The hypocrisy of that statement made her tummy hurt, but she was battling for her very existence and compromises had to be made.

  Dulcie rolled her eyes. “I can see that Sybil has this one in the bag. I knew you were a straight arrow, but I didn’t think you were quite this straight. But here’s a tip. Don’t piss off the boss. Even if you don’t want to play footsie with him, when he invites you to Seattle to shop for books and hot tubs, you go to Seattle and shop for books and hot tubs.”

  “Y’all have a point.” Luna hadn’t figured that Colin would pull rank on her, but he had, and in front of Dulcie, which had worked out well for him. She couldn’t refuse to go without seeming to sabotage the entire operation. And that she definitely didn’t want to do.

  “You bet your sweet ass I have a point. Power to the sisterhood, girlfriend! We’re counting on you to keep that Were happy.” Dulcie glanced at Luna’s sweatshirt and jeans, which she’d been wearing since last night. “I suggest you clean up a little bit, too. I hate to say it, but your hair’s a hot mess.”

  Luna instinctively touched her hair and realized she hadn’t done a thing with it since rolling around in Colin’s bed, followed by walking along a misty, wind-blown beach. She hadn’t bothered to look in a mirror, but had headed straight to the office and barricaded herself in there to work on the spreadsheets. She probably looked deranged.

  That wasn’t far off. The past couple of days had taken their toll on her, and she only hoped she could hold onto her sanity until Colin boarded a plane and headed back to his native land. She wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

  No, that wasn’t true, either. There were moments when she wanted nothing more than to strip naked and welcome Colin into her outstretched arms. But she throttled those urges every time they arose. She wasn’t about to give her body to someone who disapproved of her ancestry. If sex was the only thing that would keep him happy, then they’d all get kicked out of Whittier House.

  But she could be reasonably accommodating, so she showered, washed her hair, and dressed in a flowered summery frock, another of Geraldine’s gifts to her. Of course Geraldine hadn’t known about Luna’s unorthodox background, either, but Luna hoped that Geraldine wouldn’t have cared. She’d defied the MacDowell clan to mate with a foreigner from Vancouver.

  Still, that wasn’t the same as being descended from a human mother and a Were father. Luna hadn’t chosen that for herself, and sadly, she could understand Colin’s objections to mingling the two species. The impetuous mating between her mother and father had caused her plenty of anguish.

  Yet now she lived in a castle with other friendly Weres. Assuming Colin didn’t go back on his word, she had a chance to make a nice living for herself and her new friends. She didn’t think he would go back on his word, but refusing a simple request to accompany him to Seattle wasn’t very smart.

  She strapped on a pair of sandals, grabbed a straw purse and her sunglasses, and walked out the door to the helipad. This was a simple request, wasn’t it? She could manage to browse through a few bookstores and check on hot tubs without turning the day into a complicated dance.

  Colin stood beside the helicopter, his hair tousled by the wind from the chopper blades, his Wayfarers making him look like a fly-boy, himself. A paper bag dangled loosely from his long fingers.

  Giving the two men a wave, she ducked under the swirling blades and joined them next to the cockpit. “Hi, Knox.” She become friends with him through the many times he’d taken Geraldine on shopping trips, but he’d earned her total respect the night he’d flown in the medical team. Despite being a Trevelyan, the pack Geraldine and Henry had ignored, he’d grieved right along with Luna as Geraldine had lost her fight for life.

  “Beautiful day for a trip to the city!” Knox shouted above the noise of the rotor. “I’ll put Colin in back and you next to me, like we did the time Geraldine took you shopping.”

  Luna nodded. The seating arrangement had been Geraldine’s idea, because she’d wanted Luna to have the full experience of flying over the sparkling water and into the city. Despite Luna’s mild acrophobia, she wasn’t bothered by riding in a helicopter, possibly because she was strapped in and someone else was in charge of getting them safely back to ground level.

  Trevelyan Enterprises had its own helipad at the top of one of Seattle’s office buildings. It was an elegant and quick way into the heart of the Emerald City, and Luna had enjoyed her trip with Geraldine.

  Colin glanced at her, but she couldn’t read his expression behind his dark glasses. “You look great,” he said in a voice barely loud enough to carry over the roar of the helicopter.

  “Thanks.” She turned away. From now on, every interaction between them would be strictly business.

  Chapter Twelve

  Colin climbed into the helicopter. The picture Luna had made as she walked toward the helipad in that flowery dress and big dark glasses, her glossy hair shining in the sun, would join all the other images etched permanently in his memory. Her beauty made his heart ache with longing for the uncomplicated connection they’d had the night before.

  He’d arranged for the helicopter in hopes he’d be able to coax her aboard. If she’d refused to come, he would have gone alone. He had more than books and hot tubs on his mind. He wanted to meet Luna’s grandparents. He wouldn’t give her away, but he wanted to assess whether they might be a support system for her.

  Perhaps she would never confide in him again after the things he’d said this morning, but she carried a heavy burden knowing she was half Were. If her grandparents were compassionate and trustworthy, they might become the family she’d never had.

  He’d already done some research online using the netbook he’d brought with him and a secure site dedicated to Weres. The site had been live for only a few months, so Luna might not know about it. But her grandparents obviously did.

  Edwina and Jacques Reynaud used the site to promote their new venture, the Byron Reynaud Foundation, which benefitted orphaned or displaced Weres. Judging from the information Colin found, the Reynauds were kind and generous souls who’d decided to devote their golden years to doing good works. They didn’t seem like the sort to reject a granddaughter who provided the only connection to their beloved son.

  Colin wasn’t sure how Luna would react when he told her how he’d spent his morning. But she needed to know what he’d been up to, and a trip to Seattle would give them plenty of time to discuss it. If all went well, they might chance a visit to the Reynauds, although Luna might choose not to identify herself as their granddaughter.

  But first he’d needed to get Luna to Seattle. Barging into her office with the suggestion hadn’t seemed right, and then fortune had smiled on him. With less than an hour before takeoff, he’d met her on the stairway and coerced her into coming along. Having Dulcie there to support his plan had been a bonus.

  Luna hadn’t wanted to go, which didn’t surprise him. But he was willing to manipulate the situation to get her into the chopper and on her way to Seattle. He’d insulted her background and caused her pain when he’d wanted to g
ive her joy.

  She was right to ignore him, now. But he fervently hoped that eventually she might connect with her grandparents. Having family again might make up for the fact that he’d unwittingly forced her to reveal her secret.

  He passed out the lunch, sandwiches all around and those silly little juice boxes Americans were so fond of. The helicopter ride was as noisy this morning as it had been the last time he’d flown over Puget Sound. He sat back and tried not to be bothered by the easy interaction between Knox and Luna.

  Knox took pains to give her a good show, pointing out sights and angling the chopper so she could see more easily. When they flew over a pod of orcas, Luna pressed her nose to the window until they were out of sight, and then gave Knox a dazzling smile and a thumbs-up.

  Colin ground his teeth together, not happy with being odd man out even if he deserved it. She used to smile at him like that, but thanks to the phone call and what came afterward, she’d stopped smiling when she looked at him. God, how he missed her smile.

  He tried to convince himself a friendship between Knox and Luna was a good thing. Now that Colin had removed Luna’s fear of sex, she was free to explore that side of her nature, and she should after being celibate for so long. He’d been lucky to be her first lover, but he didn’t expect to be her last.

  Knox Trevelyan seemed like a considerate, intelligent sort, someone who would appreciate Luna’s finer qualities. Once the inn opened for business, Knox would fly guests over on a regular basis. He might even park the chopper on the helipad and stay the night.

  Colin’s jaw tightened. Yes, it would be extremely noble of him to give his blessing to a sexual relationship between Knox and Luna. But he wasn’t that noble. Fortunately he’d be in Scotland and wouldn’t know what was going on. He’d suspect they would gravitate toward each other, though, and his imagination would torture him with images of Knox and Luna together.

  By the time Knox landed the helicopter on the roof of the Trevelyan Enterprises building in downtown Seattle, Colin was in a mood. He had no bloody right to be in a mood, either. He had no claim on Luna and would never have one.

  But no matter how many times he told himself that, whenever he looked at her, something primitive inside him howled mine. Well, too bad. He was a civilized Were, one who wasn’t ruled by his primitive instincts, thank God. If he were, he would have mated with Luna last night.

  He went very still, mesmerized by that unacceptable thought. It had hovered, unacknowledged, in the back of his mind ever since he’d met her. He’d agreed that she could run the inn, but some part of him had known that he had other plans for her.

  Those plans hadn’t risen to a conscious level because his pack would object to an American Were with no pack affiliation. He would have had to win them over gradually, but he could have done it. Now, however…now he was caught in a trap of his own making.

  Taking Luna as his mate would contradict his belief that the races shouldn’t mix. He still held that belief, so mating with her was out of the question. Unfortunately, knowing that didn’t stop him from wanting her with a desperation that he’d never felt with another female Were.

  “Colin?” Knox poked his head in through the passenger door of the chopper. “You coming out?”

  That’s when he realized the rotors were quiet and both Luna and Knox stood outside the helicopter, waiting for him to climb down. He wondered how long he’d been sitting there looking totally daft.

  “Sorry.” He extricated his sizable body from the small space. “I was thinking about something and lost track of where I was.”

  “Obviously.” Knox laughed. “You were gone, man. Completely checked out. I admire that kind of concentration, though.” He held out his hand. “Have a great time in the city.”

  “Thanks.” Colin shook Knox’s hand and resisted the urge to apply a little more pressure as a warning that he was a Were to be reckoned with. How juvenile was that?

  “Still planning to head back around midnight?”

  “Midnight?” Luna shoved her glasses to the top of her head and stared at him. “I can’t stay until midnight, Colin. I have several things to—”

  “Humor me.” He smiled at her, knowing she wouldn’t smile back at him the way she had with that cheeky bastard Knox. “I haven’t had dinner at the top of the Space Needle since Geraldine brought me here as a teenager. I made reservations for nine, so we could watch the sunset and see the lights come on. It’s spectacular.”

  Her eyes narrowed. Twelve hours ago she would have greeted that story with a soft gaze filled with understanding. Well, that wouldn’t be happening anymore. Clearly she suspected him of being devious, which was right on the mark.

  “You’ll love the view from the Space Needle, Luna,” Knox said. “As long as you’re here, you should see it, and the real show doesn’t happen until after dark.”

  She turned to Knox, and all the concern Colin used to enjoy was focused on the pilot. “Bless your heart for thinking of me, Knox. But then y’all will be up until the wee small hours of the morning. That seems very selfish of us.” She flicked a glance at Colin that plainly said it was selfish of him.

  “Hey, Colin pays me well for it, and besides, I get a kick out of night flying. You go enjoy the Space Needle. And then I’ll show you some pretty night views on the way home.”

  Colin wondered if it was too late to request a different pilot—a graying, paunchy pilot.

  “All right, Knox.” Luna favored him with another warm smile. “You’ve convinced me. Take care.” She pulled her dark glasses over her eyes before turning to Colin. “Shall we go?”

  “Yes.” Colin felt a stabbing pain in his right temple.

  “That vein in your temple is standing out again,” Luna murmured conversationally as they walked toward the rooftop doorway leading down into the building.

  Colin noticed that he no longer rated a bless your heart either. “I’m not surprised.”

  Luna had never been wooed before, and she couldn’t imagine why it was happening now, except that Colin must have liked the sex and wanted more of it. He might think a romantic dinner at the top of the Space Needle would do the trick, but it would be a cold day in hell before she climbed back into bed with him. He could fly her to Paris for dinner, and she still wouldn’t get naked for him.

  But she couldn’t afford to tick him off, either. He’d promised that their personal relationship would have nothing to do with their business relationship, and so far he’d kept his word. But Dulcie was right. Playing along, at least when it came to the business side of their relationship, was the best plan.

  “I thought we’d visit a hot tub showroom first,” Colin said as they rode an elevator down to the lobby of the Trevelyan Enterprises building. He’d tucked his Wayfarers into an inner pocket of his designer sport coat. “We’ll need to drive a ways, because I checked and there aren’t any in the heart of the city.”

  “I wondered about that.” She’d wondered a lot of things about this apparently impromptu trip. “Are you going to drive?” She was pretty sure Scottish people used the wrong side of the road, which could make for some tense moments if Colin planned to take the wheel.

  He glanced at her. “Worried that I’ll get us both killed?”

  “A little.”

  “Well, you can relax. I’ve arranged for a driver.”

  “When? I didn’t mention the hot tub until an hour before we left Whittier House.”

  “I contacted George Trevelyan right after I talked to you. He gave me the name of a good dealer and offered the loan of a car.”

  “Oh.” Luna had always suspected there were advantages to being well-connected in the Were world. She’d never had that going for her, not even with Geraldine, who’d been a maverick. Geraldine had never traded on her status as a MacDowell once she left Scotland and had seemed proud of the fact.

  Luna thought of something else. “Was it difficult to get a reservation at the restaurant on short notice?”

  “George
took care of that, too. He made sure we had a table.”

  “That George is a handy Were to have around.”

  “Yes, he is.” Colin gazed at the numbers flashing by on the elevator and consulted his watch. “We’re right on time.”

  Apparently it was an express elevator, because they were in the sparkling marble and gold lobby before Luna had a chance to ask any more questions.

  Colin put a hand to the small of her back, a subtle gesture to guide her toward the revolving doors leading to the street. She moved out of reach and walked a little faster. His touch still had the power to affect her, damn it.

  So did those electric blue eyes. When he’d mentioned wanting to eat at the top of the Space Needle for old time’s sake, he’d managed to tug at her heartstrings for a split second. She’d quickly squashed that reaction. This entire trip had ulterior motive written all over it.

  Stepping quickly into one wedge of the revolving door, she made her way out to the sidewalk. A white stretch limo sat at the curb, engine idling. Surely Colin hadn’t hired a limo to take them hot-tub shopping.

  He joined her on the sidewalk, and immediately the driver climbed out and opened the passenger door.

  Luna glanced back at him. “Seriously?”

  “It’s what George had available. All the town cars were in service.”

  “I hope y’all realize that pulling up to a hot tub store in a limo will ruin any chance of getting a bargain.”

  Colin smiled. “You’ve obviously forgotten that I’m a Scot. We always get a bargain.”

  Now that was funny. She had to clamp her lips together to keep from laughing.

  “It wouldn’t kill you to smile, Luna.”

  Instead of answering, she ducked into the limo. Too bad she liked Colin so much. Well, she liked him a lot except when she didn’t like him at all. When he graced her with that amazing smile—the one that made her heart race and her body tremble—then she absolutely hated him.