Bloody hell. He’d been an idiot. Being sleep deprived and lust-filled was no excuse for not anticipating George’s next move. George had casually mentioned that Luna should check out whether she was related to Edwina and Jacques Reynaud. But as Edwina’s doting nephew, George wouldn’t wait for her to do that, would he?
George would want to be on top of things, especially now that he had his eye on Luna’s project. By now he would have contacted his aunt about her. No doubt he’d mention that she had a Southern accent and a mysterious past, but had apparently started life in New Orleans. He might even describe what she looked like and approximately how old he thought she was.
Unless Edwina and Jacques had known nothing about Sophie, the woman their son had loved—highly unlikely—they would now suspect who Luna was. Her plan of cloaking herself for the first meeting was already compromised.
He could wake her and tell her that, except that seemed pointless. Whatever happened tomorrow, she’d need sleep in order to face it. And so would he. But no matter how this played out, he would not allow George, or the Reynauds, for that matter, to hurt her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Luna woke up to sunlight streaming in the open window and Colin singing some Scottish ditty in the shower. Taking a deep breath, she caught a whiff of warm cinnamon buns, along with the distinctive scent of bacon. Sitting up, she noticed a cart had been wheeled into the room while she slept.
A couple of dining chairs had been placed at either end of it, and two covered plates obviously contained their breakfast. Two carafes held coffee, tea, or both. She wouldn’t put it past Colin to have ordered both coffee and tea so that he’d covered all the bases.
The single red rose in a bud vase had probably been a flourish added by the hotel staff and not Colin. No matter. He’d already won her over on that score with the bouquet of daisies from the Pike Place Market.
Luna stretched her arms over her head. She could get used to waking up like this—rested, pampered, and happy to be sharing the space with a hunky Scot.
Once he turned off the water, she called out to him. “Your breakfast is getting cold! Come and eat!” Climbing out of bed, she thought about getting a robe out of the closet and decided against it. If she could shift in front of Colin, then she could certainly eat breakfast naked in front of him.
He walked in from the bathroom still toweling off that gorgeous body.
She looked him up and down as she sashayed closer. “If y’all want, I can finish the job with my tongue.” She took great satisfaction in watching his reaction, especially the one south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
He grinned at her. “I thought you were worried about our breakfast getting cold.”
“I am. I just said that because I wanted to see what would happen.”
He gestured toward his crotch.
“I already noticed.” And the harder he became, the wetter she got.
“You’re quite the tease, aren’t you, now?” Stepping toward her, he looped the towel around her waist and dragged her against him. “I’ll teach you to taunt my wee man and get him agitated.”
“I’m so frightened.”
His laughing blue gaze roamed over her. “I can see that. Your nipples are scared stiff.” Dropping the towel, he spanned her waist with both hands, lifted her up, and spun her toward the nearest wall. With arms braced on either side of her head, he caged her there. “Now what have you got to say for yourself?”
Lifting her chin, she gave him a wicked smile and took hold of his cock. “Think you can manhandle me?”
“I do.” He grasped her wrist and easily removed her hand. “And I will. I hope you like cold eggs, lass, because your breakfast is about to be delayed.”
“Oh, no.” Flushed and giggling, she pushed against his muscled chest. “Anything but that.”
“Too late for pleading.” Cupping her bottom in both hands, he lifted her up against the wall, probed once, and shot the bolt home.
She gasped with delight. “Well done.”
He dragged in air. “You could help, you know, if you’d wrap your lovely legs around my arse.”
She complied, and she also braced her hands on his shoulders for better balance. “I love it when you talk Scottish.”
“Ah, do ye now? But ye like action better than speech, I ken.” With that he began to drive into her with sure, masterful strokes.
“Aye,” she said with a strangled moan. “Aye, I do.”
He plunged into her until she was cross-eyed with pleasure, yet begging for more.
“I’ll give ye more, ye sexy wench.” He boosted her up the wall so that he was pushing up and in.
The different angle stimulated a whole different set of nerve endings. “Ohhhh.” She began to pant.
“Like that, do ye?” He increased the pace.
“Yes, yes!” She exploded, coming with a joyous shout of release as he continued to pound into her.
“Again!”
She gulped for air. “Again?”
“Oh, yes.” His breathing was ragged. “You can.” He thrust upward and rhythmically squeezed her bottom with his long, talented fingers.
She came again, crying and whimpering with the beauty of it, whispering her gratitude as she convulsed around the sure strokes of his thick penis.
Then, and only then, did he surge forward, quivering in the grip of his own orgasm. Breathing hard, he leaned his forehead against hers. “Incredible.”
“I…I didn’t know I could…”
“I did.” There was a smile in his voice. “Oh, I did. You just needed a little rest, is all.”
Colin happily ate a cold breakfast, but he wasn’t happy at all knowing he had to deliver the insight that had come to him right before he’d fallen asleep. He waited until Luna finished eating. He would much rather have said nothing and kept the mellow mood they’d established.
More than mellow, actually. On some level, if he could shut out the problems with his family and whatever Luna would face with the Reynauds, he’d never felt more at peace in his life. With Luna he felt at home and settled in a way he never had with anyone else.
He hated like the devil to shatter that feeling, both for his sake and hers. But she needed to hear his conclusions.
She was understandably distressed. “So my grandparents may already know who I am?”
“It’s quite possible.” He took another swallow of his tea. Thanks to the carafe, that was still hot. “But maybe not. It depends on whether George did what I would expect of him, and how much Edwina and Jacques knew about your mother.”
“I have no idea. She told me the bare minimum about my father, obviously leaving out the most important fact, and she never mentioned his parents.” She brightened. “Maybe she never met them. Maybe, because she was human, he kept her a big, dark secret.”
“Even if he tried to, you said that some Weres you talked to mentioned that he died going after a woman. His parents found that out, I’m sure.”
“Probably, but if they never saw her…” She continued to look hopeful that her plan would work.
“Do you resemble her?”
“Yes. I have her picture in my room at Whittier House. I look a lot like her.”
“In a way, that’s better than if you looked like their son. They’d pick up on that immediately.”
Luna glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “It’s almost nine. What should we do?”
“Get dressed.”
“Well, duh.”
He couldn’t help laughing. “I’m serious. Until you put some clothes on, you’re a walking temptation to forget all about this and take you back to bed.”
Her green eyes grew serious. “Maybe we should forget all about this. We don’t have to hook up with the Byron Reynaud Foundation. They may suspect something, but if I never go knocking on their door, they might not find out for a long time, if ever. They’re old, right?”
“Not that old.” He shook his head. “If you’re imagining you can wait them o
ut, keep this under the rug until they die off, then—”
“Not exactly! Well, sort of, but I don’t want anything to happen to them. It’s just that…I’m scared.”
“I know,” he said gently. “But think of all the scary things you’ve conquered recently. Taking a risk and meeting them is just one more. What’s the worst that could happen?”
She took a shaky breath. “The worst that could happen is that the two living relatives who would understand my Were nature could be forever lost to me if they reject me and say nasty things about my mother. If I never go to them, then I can hang onto my fantasy that they would have loved me if given the chance.” She shrugged. “Maybe that makes no sense.”
“It makes sense. But it’s the coward’s way out, and you’ve proven to me time and again that you are no coward.”
She met his gaze. “Damn your hide, Colin MacDowell,” she said softly. “Y’all expect so much of me.”
“Because I know you can do it.”
A smile tipped the corners of her mouth. “Sort of like having two climaxes in a row?”
“Don’t you dare start talking about sex.”
“Who knows? Maybe, with the right circumstances, I could have three in a row.”
With a groan, Colin left his chair and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. He’d keyed in the number for the Byron Reynaud Foundation yesterday, and he clicked on it now.
“Want to have phone sex?” She left her chair and came over to stand beside him. “Go into the living room and I’ll call your phone from the one on the nightstand.”
“This is for your own good, Luna.” He put the phone to his ear and willed his erection to subside. He couldn’t make her go see her grandparents, but he could set it up for her and give her the option of going or not.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Trust me.”
“That’s what they all say.” She looked worried.
A receptionist named Angela answered the phone. “Yes, Angela, this is Colin MacDowell, Laird of Glenbarra.”
“Showoff,” Luna muttered.
Colin ignored her. “I now own Whittier House in the San Juan Islands, and I plan to convert it to an inn. I’d like to make an appointment for me and my associate, Luna Reynaud, to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Reynaud today about having a benefit for their foundation on our opening weekend.”
“Luna Thisbe.”
Colin turned his back on her as the receptionist asked what time. “This morning, if possible. Yes, eleven would be fine. See you then.” He disconnected the phone.
She regarded him with a dark expression. “Now you’ve gone and done it. And you used my real name.”
“George Trevelyan knows your real name, so you might as well give up that idea.” He gazed at her and waited to see what she would do. “You don’t have to go. If it’s really that frightening, I can call back and cancel the appointment, but if I’m right about George and his strategic nature, you’ll have to face them, perhaps sooner rather than later.”
“And when I do, you won’t be here.”
“Probably not.”
She swallowed. “Then I want to go this morning, with you.”
“That’s my girl.”
“But if they’re mean, then—”
“If they’re even slightly mean, or the least bit rude, we’ll leave. I won’t let them tear you to shreds, Luna. That’s why I want to go with you, to be your backup.”
“What if it turns into a scandal and affects business at the inn before we even open?”
“I’m not a shrewd businessman like George, but I have paid some attention, because lairds are expected to do that. I’ve noticed that scandal doesn’t usually hurt business. If anything, it helps.”
“Oh, great!” Luna rolled her eyes. “Are you hoping for a scandal, then?”
“Of course not.” He set his phone on the nightstand and took her by the shoulders. As he did so, he told himself to resist the soft temptation of her skin beneath his fingers. “I want this meeting to go well, for your sake and theirs. But if it doesn’t, don’t worry about the inn. If I ever doubted it would be a huge success, George’s interest tells me we’ll have a booming business in no time at all.”
She held his gaze for several long seconds. “Then I guess we’d better get dressed, Your Much Honoured Laird of Glenberra.”
He smiled, and because he couldn’t deprive himself completely, he gave her a quick, hard kiss before he let her go.
“You’re sure y’all don’t want to try the phone sex thing?”
He shook his head. “We can do better than that once we get back to the island, lass.” He was already anticipating the night ahead, and he refused to think about the possibility that it might be their last.
“Can I see their picture again?” Luna spent the cab ride to her grandparents’ house alternately checking her lipstick in a small mirror she kept in her purse and asking Colin for his phone so she could look at the picture of Edwina and Jacques Reynaud one more time. He always handed it over with a patient smile.
He kept his arm loosely around her shoulders during the ride. A couple of times she started to tell him how much that meant to her, but she was afraid she might get choked up if she started talking about…anything, really, but feelings in particular. So she squeezed his thigh and hoped he knew that his presence was the single most important part of the trip.
The house looked even more imposing than it had in the picture. It was on the right side of the street, and Luna had chosen to sit on the right side of the cab, so she had a fine view as the cab pulled up to the curb.
On a street filled with lovely big homes, all with groomed lawns and lavish flowerbeds, the Reynaud mansion was perhaps the most impressive. The paint seemed whiter, the drapes in the windows more elegant, the flowerbeds more carefully tended, the lawn more manicured.
Sidewalks flanked the street, along with several large shade trees. Their roots had buckled the sidewalk in places, which spoke of the age of the trees and the neighborhood, but other than the cracked sidewalk, nothing was out of place.
The homes suggested wealth without trumpeting it. If the owners drove Bentleys and Ferraris, they were obviously tucked away in garages. No children played in any of the front yards and no dogs gamboling about fetching sticks. A couple of sleekly dressed runners jogging by on the sidewalk were the only people Luna could see.
She stared out the cab window and tried in vain to slow her racing heart. A little cottage would have been easier to deal with, although the people inside were the scariest part. Maybe the size of the house was unimportant. Geraldine had lived in a very large castle, and she’d been a sweetheart.
Luna glanced at Colin. “I know it will be expensive, but I’d like to have the cab wait for us, in case we need to make a quick getaway.”
“I can wait,” the driver said, looking back at them from the rearview mirror. “Long as you don’t mind the meter going all that time.”
“We don’t mind,” Colin said.
“Then I’ll just pull up under that tree and read my newspaper.”
Luna swallowed. “Then we might as well go in, I guess.”
Colin was out of the cab in a flash. “Let me get your door.”
His gallantry touched her. Yet this was the same Were who had backed her up against the wall less than three hours ago. She’d loved that, too. Whether he was treating her like royalty or coaxing her into a lusty round of sex, she felt like the luckiest female in the world to be near him.
She took his hand as he helped her out of the cab. “Keep holding onto me,” she said.
“You’re sure? I said we were business associates.”
She laced her fingers through his as they started up a flagstone walkway. Ahead of them, a balcony on the second floor shaded the carved entry door. “If George has blabbed to them, he’s probably told them we’re more than associates.”
“True.” He gave her fingers a quick squeeze. “That blouse looks g
reat on you.”
“So y’all said when we bought it yesterday.”
“But not because it matches your eyes.”
“It doesn’t match my eyes?” She knew he was making conversation to distract her, and she appreciated that.
“Oh, it does match your eyes, but that wasn’t the main reason I like it.”
“What was the reason, then?”
“When you tuck it into your jeans, your tits look amazing.”
“Colin!” She laughed, and that was probably what he’d hoped for.
As he reached for the doorbell, the large door swung open before he could push the button. Edwina and Jacques Reynaud were framed in the doorway. Edwina, dressed in a pale blue lightweight suit, her hair perfectly styled, stood in front. Jacques, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and looking considerably more casual, hovered behind her.
Edwina stared at Luna. Slowly her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She seemed dazed and disoriented, and her hand went to her heart. Finally she spoke. “Sophie?”
Luna squeezed Colin’s hand so hard she felt him wince. “No, Mrs. Reynaud. I’m her daughter.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
So they did know. Colin balanced on the balls of his feet, even though there would be no physical fight involving these two seventy-something Weres. But he wouldn’t mind fighting someone, if he only knew who deserved the blame for this cock up.
He’d like to make George the culprit, but from the way Edwina had looked at Luna, there was no villain. Edwina would have recognized Luna as the reincarnation of Sophie no matter when and where they’d met. George might have planted the idea, but this mess had been created more than twenty-seven years ago.
Edwina’s face nearly matched the white exterior of her house, and she looked a little unsteady on her feet.
Colin stepped forward, drawing Luna with him, and cupped his free hand under Edwina’s elbow. “Maybe it would be best if we could all sit down,” he murmured.
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