Apparently he’d had some accident recently, though, because a series of red welts marked his left side. And his nose was bruised. Maybe he’d been in a fight.
She looked into his green eyes, so like the eyes of the wolf. When she’d gazed into his eyes three years ago, they’d been warm and full of interest. Now they were like chips of green glass, cold and hard.
He said nothing. Not
Well, that wasn’t happening. Mr. I Have a Great Body and I Know It was going to answer her questions. “A wolf let himself into your house a little while ago. Where is he?”
Jake’s expression didn’t change. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, yes, you do! You’re keeping a wolf, either full-blooded or a hybrid, on your property.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Look, I’m not going to report you for it, so you don’t have to lie. Reporting you is the last thing I want to do. I’m not worried about what would happen to you, but I don’t want that wolf confiscated, or transported somewhere. Polecat Lake is his home, and he deserves to stay here.”
Jake met that speech with more stony silence.
“Just tell me this. Are you planning to turn him over to a zoo or a sanctuary? That’s the only thing I can figure out, since you were so hot to get rid of my carving. If you’re giving up custody of the wolf, then you probably didn’t want the carving that looks exactly like him, either.”
He studied her for a moment longer. Then he sighed. “Ted Haggerty always said you have an incredible imagination. He must be right if you imagined that you saw a wolf waltz into my house. There’s no wolf here. There never has been a wolf here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some things to do.” He started to close the door.
“Don’t you dare dismiss me!” She stepped over the threshold. Let him throw her bodily out if he had the guts to do it. “The wolf is not a figment of my imagination, and you damned well know it. Where is he?”
With a shrug that made all those yummy muscles flex, Jake stepped back. “Go ahead. Look around. Maybe this
“See? You know he likes to hide under the bed!” She was determined not to be distracted by all that bare skin. And where had he picked up those welts, anyway?
“Any frightened creature dives under a bed.”
“If you think I won’t look there because I don’t want to seem crazy, forget it.” She stormed past him. God, but he smelled good.
One quick glance around his combination living and dining room, which looked similar to hers in both layout and furnishings, convinced her that a large black wolf wasn’t there. She noticed that the kitchen had a pocket door like hers, so she walked in there, thinking she might find a water dish and a food bowl on the floor. He wouldn’t have had time to hide every bit of evidence.
The kitchen yielded nothing of interest. No food or water bowls. No dirty dishes in the sink. Either the guy was neat or he ate out a lot.
With one last survey to make sure she hadn’t missed any telltale signs of a wolf in residence, she left the kitchen and started for his bedroom. He came walking out of it, pulling on a plain white T-shirt.
She appreciated his decision to put on more clothes. After all the times she’d ogled his naked body through her binoculars, she had difficulty ignoring the up-close-and-personal view. This visit was about wolf welfare, not her infatuation with Jake’s physique.
“I want to look in your bedroom.”
He stepped aside and swept an arm in that direction.
“Thank you.” Keeping her mind on her mission, she walked in. The bed, of course, was sinfully enormous. It was probably one of those super kings, which a man of his size needed.
A comforter in shades of green covered the thick mattress. He’d stacked four pillows against the rustic wooden headboard. An image of him sprawled naked on that magnificent bed popped into her rebellious brain and wouldn’t leave.
“Don’t care, don’t care, don’t care,” she muttered, hoping she could make it be true. Dropping to her knees, she peeked under the bed. Empty. Damn it! She’d wanted to catch him in the lie.
Pushing herself upright again, she turned to find him leaning in the doorway, watching her. “Did you let him out again? I sure hope not, because he’s wounded, or did you miss that little fact?”
“Sorry, but I haven’t seen a wolf around here, wounded or otherwise.”
She hated the way his direct gaze affected her, making her doubt what she’d seen with her own two eyes. “He’s big and black, with green eyes. He fought a grizzly last night, I’m pretty sure to save me, and the bear raked her claws down his side.”
“A wolf attacked a bear to save you? That sounds like something out of the tabloids. Are you sure that’s what happened?”
“Of course I’m sure! I kept him overnight because I was worried the wounds would get infected. But I let him out tonight, and he came around the lake and opened your slider. I saw him do it.”
“How could you possibly see such a thing?”
“I watched through my binoculars.”
His dark eyebrows lifted. “Are you in the habit of watching my place?”
Dear God, now she was blushing. She felt the heat in her cheeks and glanced away. “No, not really.” She wasn’t good at lying when she was face-to-face with someone. “But tonight I was worried about the wolf.”
“Now I’ll tell you what really happened.”
“Oh, because you know?” She retrieved her indignation and pulled it around her like a cloak. She didn’t have to wonder where he got that bruise on his nose. Somebody had probably punched him for being so damned arrogant.
“The explanation is pretty obvious. You became very attached to this wolf, which supposedly saved you.”
“Yes, I did, and it absolutely saved me!”
“Whatever. Anyway, after you let him go, he headed into the hills, like any self-respecting wolf would do. But you desperately wanted to see him again, so when a cloud overhead created a shadow on my deck, you convinced yourself the wolf was here in my house.”
“That’s not right.” But the wolf was no longer in his house, so she’d have a hard time contradicting his story. She’d told Lionel to go home, so she was the only one who’d watched the wolf go through the slider. And she was famous in Polecat for her active imagination.
“You can continue to think what you like.” He pushed himself away from the doorframe. “But if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”
“Why did you give Ted that carving?”
He looked straight at her. “Got tired of it.”
Ouch. Well, she’d asked him after all. She couldn’t complain if she didn’t like the answer. “You could have sold it for a lot of money.”
“Didn’t want the hassle. Are we done here?”
“Yes.” She’d taken about all the insults she could handle for one evening. “We’re so done.”
“Good.” He walked into the living room and opened the front door.
She couldn’t get through it fast enough.
“Have a nice night,” he called after her.
Spinning around, she let go with a parting shot. “I know you’re connected to that wolf, and somehow I’m going to prove it.”
“No, you’re not. Good-bye, Rachel.” He closed the door.
She wanted to yell in frustration. But that wouldn’t accomplish anything and might startle any wild creatures nearby, including, perhaps, the wolf in question. Climbing into her truck, she pulled onto the two-lane road. Instead of going back the way she’d come, she drove slowly the other way and peered into the woods.
“Are you out there, wolf?” She tried to tune in to his mind, but all she got was static. After being the most real thing in her life for twenty-four hours, he seemed to have totally disappeared.
