A Howl for a Highlander (Heart of the Wolf #10)

A Howl for a Highlander (Heart of the Wolf #10) Page 22

When they walked into the shop filled with sunglasses, swimsuits, beach towels, and floral jewelry, the clerk’s eyes grew huge to see Shelley with Duncan. The clerk was wearing another floral shirt, and Duncan assumed she either bought the merchandise in the store herself or modeled it to help sell the rest. Like before, she virtually blended in with the merchandise.

“I see you must have found a place to stay since you’re still here,” the woman said, her voice catty as she gave Shelley a brittle look.

Shelley looped her arm through Duncan’s. “Oh yes, I had a spare bedroom and was only too happy to share it with him.”

He was afraid Shelley would spoil it by saying she’d made him pay for the room, but she only gave the clerk a simpering smile. Duncan felt as though he was about to be in the middle of a wolf and cat fight.

“I need a swimsuit,” he said, then quickly started looking through the first of the racks of swim trunks to get on with the business of purchasing a suit and escorting Shelley out of there as fast as he could.

But he smiled a little as he jerked the swimsuits aside, looking them over and thinking about how Shelley had actually sounded jealous over another woman’s interest in him. He’d never experienced such a thing before. He couldn’t help enjoying the attention.

“Hmm.” Shelley pulled out a pair of Speedos and held them in front of him. With the way she spread the skimpy bathing suit against him and looked lovingly at his crotch beneath the fabric, he was already swelling with interest.

The woman’s eyes were glued to his crotch, too, and he wondered if she had wished she had offered to let him stay with her that first night. Shelley wasn’t helping him keep his focus on finding the right suit, either. He was ready to try on the suit and Shelley, too, for size.

Before Duncan could find something more suitable to wear on the pirate ship where there were bound to be families, Shelley ran her hand over the Speedo, which meant she brushed against his thickening erection. He jerked back, gave her a look letting her know that he’d pay her back later, and plunged his hand into the rack of swimsuits to pull out something else.

“I don’t know,” Shelley said, holding up the Speedo. “It might be too small.”

“They stretch,” the clerk said. When both Duncan and Shelley looked at her, her face blossomed with color.

Shelley made a fist inside the Speedo and stretched it, studying it as if she was comparing her fist with the size of his erection. “Yes, I see. I guess it would work. We’ll get this one.”

“We’ll get this one,” Duncan said, contradicting her by pulling out a pair of long swim trunks, more like his Bermuda shorts but these would dry faster.

Shelley smiled agreeably. “We’ll get both. This one,” she said, moving her finger around inside the Speedo, “for when you swim alone with me and that one for when you swim out in public.” She looked over at the clerk whose face was still crimson. “What do you think?”

With the bag of bathing suits in one hand and his other arm draped over Shelley’s shoulder, Duncan hurried her out of the shop. “I didn’t know you could be so wickedly bad.”

“Well, the woman was eyeing you like her next meal, and I wanted her to know that she couldn’t have you.”

“That you have me instead,” he said, his voice thick with lust. Hell, how could the little wolf have done that to him so easily? In public?

“Yep.” Shelley tipped her chin up defiantly.

“So… does that mean we truly will sleep together tonight?” He still wasn’t sure if she’d change her mind. Even though he had it in mind that they were staying together, no matter what. They needed to get some sleep, and he couldn’t if he was worrying about Sal or his goons breaking in and stealing her away.

Hell, she’d made him so hard that Duncan could barely walk. He’d planned to swim with her tonight sans clothes again, but he supposed since she’d bought the Speedo for him, he’d have to wear it to appease her. He wouldn’t mind her stuffing her hand in the swimsuit while he was wearing it.

“Swimming and sleeping are two different things. But yes, I agreed that because of your constant running up the stairs to check on me, we’d stay together and sleep.”

“You have to know, Shelley, that after your little demonstration with the Speedo in the shop, you’ll have to pay.”

She grinned up at him, and he thought he was going to have as much fun making her pay as she’d have in getting her punishment—of the most pleasurable kind. Then, he had the sneaking suspicion she had every intention of making him pay instead.

Before they went on their pirate cruise, they stopped to have lunch in George Town at a restaurant that specialized in hamburgers with every kind of topping imaginable. That’s when another woman caught Duncan’s eye. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, not the sexy red dress, but he recognized her as the smoker from the bar who was dating Silverman’s lackey named Kenneth. Her eyes widened to see Duncan.

Shelley looked over to see what had caught his rabid attention. “Who is she?” She sounded as though she was ready to do whatever it took to keep the new woman at bay.

Duncan hadn’t expected to see Shelley acting jealous over another woman so soon. He liked the way Shelley was ready to exhibit her wolf teeth when she thought a woman wanted him.

“She’s the woman I met in the bar that first night whose boyfriend works for the guy who wants to take you out.”

“Sal… oh.”

The woman glanced at the men’s room, and Shelley said to Duncan, “Do you think the boyfriend made it to the island and he’s in there?”

“I believe so.” Duncan leaned over and kissed Shelley on the cheek. “Trying to get anything out of a human who works for Sal—if this guy is human—won’t do any good. Not unless he handles Sal’s money. I doubt Silverman allows anyone to handle that but himself.”

She sighed. “I’m still the best bet for getting to Sal, don’t you think?”

“No,” he said flatly, not about to let Shelley be his pawn, no matter how much it might help his cause.

She shook her head. “You are one stubborn Scot. Okay, after we sail on the pirate cruise and swim, we can go home and shower. Then I’ve got to go back to the reserve. With us spending this morning shopping, eating lunch, and next the pirate cruise, I haven’t had a chance to get back to the forest. I have to do research every day.”

“All right. I’ll take you over, right after we shower.”

She sighed. “I know you don’t want to spend all that time in the forest. You don’t have to, you know.”

He grunted.

“I’m serious. No one will bother me. I doubt Sal would force me to go anywhere with him. He’s not into kidnapping, just money theft. However, if I could have a dog with me…”

Duncan raised a brow.

“Because of the birds nesting on the ground and other wildlife in the forest, the reserve doesn’t allow anyone to walk their dogs. But if I could, you could have joined me and been my guard dog.”

He leaned close and whispered, “Only a wolf could adequately protect that hot body of yours.”

She grinned. “Now that would be some sight, truly. Brown eyes narrowed, fur all fluffed up in big, bad wolf mode—even if I had you on a leash—”

He tilted his chin down.

“If I had you on a leash, even then I’m certain no one would want to cross your path. Not unless it was a kid who might want to pet the big doggy and not know any better.”

He grinned darkly at that.

Movement near the woman he’d seen in the bar caught both his and Shelley’s attention. They both glanced over as a short, wiry man wearing jeans and a floral shirt headed for the woman. The boyfriend, Duncan suspected. The woman mentioned Duncan and tossed her head in his direction, and the man looked over at him. Duncan met the man’s gaze squarely. He wouldn’t pretend not to have noticed that the conversation was about him. He also didn’t plan to have anything to do with the man. As far as Duncan was concerned, he was a no-account.

He knew the man wasn’t a wolf because he was not smart enough to stay put. Instead, he must have thought he’d try intimidation. Maybe tell Silverman how he told off the Scot. Maybe show off for his girlfriend.

Whatever his reasons, the man was way out of his element.

Unlike an aging soldier who had been waging war for years and knew his craft well, Duncan had soldiered for many years but was still in his prime. Not that an encounter couldn’t be lethal for a wolf, but this man just didn’t know what he was facing. Not knowing the enemy’s strengths was the worst mistake any man or wolf could make.

If the man had been a wolf, Duncan would have made the effort to straighten his back and show off his broad shoulders and chest, to display how tall he was even when seated, and to intimidate without even rising from his chair. He didn’t bother, which in effect told the man that Duncan didn’t feel the need to posture.

Shelley was staring at the man, as if she couldn’t believe he’d confront Duncan in the restaurant.

Silverman’s man crossed the floor and stood across the table from Duncan. He wasn’t getting any closer, Duncan noticed from the corner of his vision. At that point he wasn’t making the effort to look in the man’s direction, which was another ploy to show that this Kenneth meant nothing to him. It also could show weakness, if the man thought Duncan was afraid of him and seeking a way out of the place in a hurry. Or that Duncan was hoping Kenneth would disappear if he didn’t look at him.

But Duncan hadn’t seen a waitress yet, and he wanted to at least order Shelley’s and his drinks.

“Who the hell are you?” Kenneth asked so loudly that couples at other tables nearby looked over.

Duncan glanced casually at the man, acting almost surprised that he would address him. He was sure that Sal’s minion took that for a sign of weakness, too. A wolf would know better.