A Howl for a Highlander
Page 8

“They’ve got blacktip reef sharks off the east end and at The Maze. But mostly just divers go there and the sharks circle them. Maybe looking for food because the divers used to feed them there until the government outlawed the practice. Nurse sharks were seen on the west and north dive locations. Hammerheads come into the shallows to eat stingrays on the north end. Generally, nurse sharks are in the shallower areas. They don’t bite unless you’re dumb enough to grab a tail or try to feed one by hand.”
He didn’t look convinced.
She smiled, reached over, patted his hard chest, and wished he’d go swimming with her so he could protect her from all the sharks. He’d look damned hot in a pair of swim trunks. Unless he hadn’t brought any because he was here strictly on business. Did Highland wolves even wear swimsuits? It was too cold for them in Scotland, and she didn’t imagine that his castle had an indoor swimming pool.
Did he even know how to swim? Well, sure. He was a wolf.
“I’ll be fine. See you in the morning.” She attempted to keep any hint of disappointment out of her voice. Swimming alone wasn’t all that much fun, but she wanted to work off some of the tension she was feeling over the problem with the grant money, or lack of it.
Before she totally lost her mind and begged him to protect her from all the big, bad man- and woman-eating sharks, or technically in her case, she-wolf-eating sharks, she seized the small floral bag she’d left in the living room. Without another word, she entered her master bedroom and shut the door. Sure that he wasn’t going to join her, she fished out her bikini rather than a one-piece, dressed, grabbed her phone and a beach towel featuring a beautiful gray wolf with intense amber eyes, and opened the bedroom door.
Duncan was upstairs in the guest room, talking on the phone and explaining how he had to pay so much more for a room because the reserved hotel room hadn’t been available. He sounded angry, and she knew then that he really couldn’t have afforded a lot more. Maybe not even that much. She paused, wondering if he’d explain he was staying with a she-wolf or say anything more about his plans concerning the man who had stolen his clan’s money.
“One lead,” he was saying. “Yeah, a woman whose boyfriend works for Silverman. The boyfriend was supposed to meet her here, but he said he couldn’t come because Silverman still had another job for him in the States. The woman wasn’t a wolf. I don’t know if her boyfriend is or not. But I lost the trail.”
Shelley knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help herself. She was curious how he’d manage what he planned to do regarding the crook. Surely, Duncan couldn’t be thinking of breaking into a bank. Did he even know which bank held the man’s accounts? She was sure Silverman wouldn’t give Duncan a written invitation to his estate.
Her darned phone jingled in her hand, nearly giving her a stroke. Duncan’s conversation suddenly ceased. His footfalls neared the door to his room, and the door shut with a clunk.
Caught eavesdropping, sort of. Thankfully, he hadn’t actually seen her, but he knew where she’d been standing because of her traitorous phone and that she’d been close enough to hear his end of the conversation.
She checked the caller ID on her phone and saw that her girlfriend Wendy was calling. “Are you with your date?” Shelley asked, not wanting to explain that she had found a roommate who was a hot and sexy Highland wolf, which she knew would concern Wendy. It would have concerned her if their roles had been reversed.
“The guy’s fun but not a wolf.”
“I thought for now that would be a good thing,” Shelley said.
Wendy sighed heavily over the phone. “Maybe I’m rushing things a bit.”
“I think so. Too bad you couldn’t have come with me and gotten away from it all.”
“You know me. Too much to do, work-wise.” Wendy let out her breath again. “How can you afford this without the grant money?” Then after a pause, she said, “I’m sending you the whole $5,000. You can’t afford to get stuck with that much of an expense, and I have the loose change to do it.”
Wendy was an heiress with tons of money. Her parents had owned a baby-food factory in Canada and then diversified, and she’d inherited the whole lot. Shelley wasn’t about to ask Wendy for the money since she’d always managed to come up with the funds to go on trips with her friend when she could afford to and had the time. For once, Shelley had the time, but only because of taking off two semesters from teaching. She hadn’t gone on vacation in a couple of years and had really saved for this, but she still meant to be frugal.
“It’s okay. I got a surprise roommate.” Shelley opened the back door, walked out, and then shut the door and crossed the patio to the sandy beach.
She had to tell Wendy about Duncan, and Shelley was sure her friend wasn’t going to approve.
Too bad Wendy couldn’t have come along. Shelley figured she and Wendy could have shared the twin beds, and Duncan could have had the master bedroom. His paying for half of the rent would help with expenses, and having two she-wolves working as a unified force against one Highland hunk would help ensure that she kept this strictly a business proposition.
“I don’t understand what happened with the grant money,” Shelley said, avoiding any mention of Duncan for the moment.
“A guy named Salisbury Silverman happened,” Wendy said. “He wasn’t just after your grant, but several others, too. He also got into money set aside for salaries. You know… the swindler who stole funds from so many individuals and corporations? It was in the local newspaper, only I didn’t read it until I got home from work just now.”
“Salisbury Silverman?” Shelley said, not believing that he was the same crook Duncan was after and that she’d been hearing so much about. How could the man be a wolf and risk such exposure?
The sun had set a couple of hours earlier, and the sky was clear. The temperature had dropped from the mid 80s to the high 70s, and one of the cooler, prevailing trade winds swept the beach, ruffling particles of sand in its wake. Trying to feel more serene despite her friend’s unsettling news, Shelley took a deep breath of the fresh, salty sea air and loved it.
“Listen, I’m going to be okay.” No way could she tell Wendy that the swindler might be here on Grand Cayman, or that she was going to offer any help she could to aid Duncan in getting the money out of Silverman. Wendy would tell Shelley’s mother, and her mother would call Uncle Ethan, and he, being the alpha of their family pack, would charge out to the island to return her home pronto. “I got a roommate so I’m pretty well set.”
“A roommate? Wow, how did you manage that?” Wendy sounded both surprised and warily pleased.
“Long story. He came here on a business trip but his reservation wasn’t any good. He’d been really sweet in giving me a ride to the villa from the airport, so I’d offered him a drink later. Instead, he’s staying here, subletting the guest room.” Shelley slid her toes through the sand, loving the silky, warm feel of it.
“He? Not that I’m all that surprised. I wouldn’t think you’d find an unaccompanied woman on the island looking to sublease a room. But wow, Shelley. You’re a fast mover. You’ll have to send me a picture. Is he cute? He’d have to be if you offered to buy him a drink. But be careful about needy guys. They’re your downfall. Next thing you know, he’ll be moving in with you in your house in Texas because he was evicted from his own place.” Wendy paused in creating her gloom-and-doom scenario, then asked, “What does he do?”
Before Shelley could respond, Wendy was figuring out the situation on her own. “He must have some money to go on vacation in the islands and be able to afford the rent.”
“I agree.” Shelley skipped saying what he worked at because she didn’t have a clue, except that he’d been an extra in a movie. Was he the spoiled younger brother of a laird who didn’t have to do anything but live off his older brother’s generosity? Maybe that’s why he was here trying to get the clan’s money back. Maybe if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to live a life of luxury any longer and would actually have to work for a living.
“First, you took in that professor whose wife kept kicking him out of the house.”
“That was different. His relationship with me is completely platonic. He’s strictly a chemistry kind of guy, but not in the physical sense. Which might have something to do with the problem he and his wife have—not enough physical contact. Besides, I do have an extra couple of rooms. So why should he have had to get a hotel room?”
“Yeah, and when they make the final split?”
“He’s on his own.”
“What about taking in that woman’s standard poodle? And your student’s cat because her mother refused to allow it to live in the house anymore?”
“The woman had had a heart attack and needed a home for her dog. So she keeps Misty company. As for the cat, I found a cat lady who had lost two of her own and loved Trixie.” Shelley spied a seashell poking out of the sand and bent down to pick it up. “For your information, my new roommate is cute. But he’s not moving to Texas with me.” She paused as she looked at the dark water, wondering if a stray shark or two were lurking in the depths. A lupus garou would be no match in either human or wolf form against a hungry shark.
“I’m going swimming.” The ruffle of the breeze and the sound of the waves slapping against the beach added to the ambience of the island paradise as Shelley made her way to the water. “Thanks for offering to pay half of the money, Wendy. I really appreciate it. Everything’s fine for now. I need to swim before it gets too late. You know—the sharks come out to feed at night. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Hey, Shelley!” Duncan called after her.
A prickle of apprehension slithered through her as she whipped around to see Duncan stalking after her. She wondered what he’d heard her say—and what she’d said about him. When she saw the way he was looking her over with predatory interest, she recalled in a flash that she was wearing her bikini and wished she’d worn her one-piece instead.