“It’s okay. We’ll live for the moment but plan for the future, right?”
“Something like that.” He switched off his laptop and closed it. “Let me get you some coffee and check on the bread.” Setting down his laptop, he picked up his mug and stood.
“Doesn’t bread take a long time to bake in those machines?” She was no expert, but her mom had one and she remembered a several-hour process.
He shrugged. “I’ve been up awhile.”
“How long?”
“Two or three hours.”
Something about the way he answered her question tipped her off that he hadn’t been working on his laptop in the predawn hours while she slept. “Did you go for a run?”
“Yes.” He looked wary. “Running helps me think. But don’t worry. I didn’t shift in the house. No one’s around at three in the morning, so I could go outside and do it. I know a quiet place back in the trees.”
“You could have shifted in the house. It’s your place, after all.”
“I didn’t want to scare you.”
“I wouldn’t have been scared.” She realized with some surprise that was true. No matter what form he took, he was still Jake. She’d known him as a man and as a wolf, and he was the same soul, as he’d pointed out the night before.
Another image flashed, of dancing light coming out from under her closed kitchen door. Of course that’s why he’d gone in there, to try to heal himself. She should have figured that out sooner. “You give off light when you shift, don’t you?”
He nodded.
She wanted to see him do it. Yes, partly because she was curious and hated to miss something she’d never have a chance to witness again. But that wasn’t the main reason. They’d shared so much—the fear and drama of the bear attack, her misguided attempt to care for him afterward, and now their intense sexual connection, which fostered an intimacy she’d never known with anyone else.
If she never witnessed his shift from man to wolf, or from wolf to man, she’d miss a significant insight into what made him who he was. She’d never forget him, but when she did remember, she wouldn’t know the whole story. That seemed important.
But she wasn’t sure how to ask. If her request came out wrong, she might offend him, as if he were a trained dog being asked to perform tricks. She had far more respect for him than that.
Taking a deep breath, she searched for the right words. “Jake, I know this might be inappropriate, and if so, you can tell me, but I would love to—”
“Yes.”
Her eyes widened. “Yes? How do you know what I was going to ask?”
“It wasn’t rocket science.” His green eyes were gentle. “You’d just asked a question about my shift, and then your forehead got all crinkled up, and you stared at the floor for quite a while. I could almost hear you thinking.”
She gazed at him as she remembered something else. “That reminds me. After I let you go that evening, I imagined getting mental messages from you as you ran through the woods headed for home. Did I make that up?”
“No, you didn’t. I seem to be able to communicate with you, at least a little bit, when I’m in wolf form.”
“I knew it!” The idea thrilled her.
“It shouldn’t be possible. Werewolves can communicate telepathically with one another and with many other animals, like the bear, for example. But I’ve never heard of a werewolf connecting mentally with a human.”
“Wow. That makes me special, huh?”
“Extremely. But then again, you’re special without that.” He held her gaze. “Special enough that I trust you to watch me shift.”
“Thank you. I’m honored.”
“But let’s not rush into it. We can have breakfast and head out on that hike you envisioned to give us more time to figure out our next move. The hiking idea was brilliant, by the way.”
She smiled. “I have my moments.”
“I can attest to that.” He gave her a once-over that made her blush.
Thinking of those
“No problem. I know a trailhead near your cabin that almost no one uses. We’d have the privacy somewhere along that trail for me to show you what happens when I shift.”
“Thank you, Jake. I hope you don’t think I’m just a voyeur.”
He traced her jaw with one finger. “You’re not
“I’d rather shower first, if that’s okay.”
“Help yourself.” But the longer he looked at her, the hotter burned the flame in his green eyes. “Maybe you’d better lock the door, though.”
She gulped. “Okay.” Turning, she walked back into his bedroom and was acutely aware of his gaze following her there. She had the sensation of being tracked. And she liked it way too much.
Chapter 15
Jake had wondered if they could pull off their plan without a hitch. Ted had been notified that they were hiking today, but as Jake rode with Rachel over to her place, he suddenly remembered someone else who could be a problem. “What about Lionel?”
“I just thought of him, too. He’ll probably be sitting in the parking area, waiting for me and wondering where the hell I am.”
“What are you going to say?”
She glanced over at him. “I’ll let him think that you and I had a wild night together, which we did. He’ll be a little embarrassed and let it go.”
“Okay.”
“I’m like his big sister. He’d rather not think about me having a sex life.” She approached the parking area at the end of the path leading to her cabin. “And sure enough, there he is. Let me do the talking.”
“Absolutely.”
Lionel sat in his old truck, his earbuds in place, his head moving in rhythm with the music only he could hear. But he could see perfectly well, and Jake noticed him glance into his rearview mirror when Rachel parked to his left. He’d registered the fact that Jake was in the truck with her.
Depending on how observant Lionel was, he also might notice that Rachel was wearing the same clothes she’d had on the day before. Jake figured Lionel didn’t miss much.
“Hey, Lionel!” Rachel didn’t look Jake’s way as she grabbed her backpack, climbed down from her truck, and walked around to Lionel’s.
Jake took his time opening the passenger door. If she wanted to advertise that he was her new lover, he’d play along. Romances sprang up and disappeared every day. He and Rachel could be a flash fire that burned itself out in no time.
Except he wondered if anyone would believe that of Rachel. Nobody knew him well enough to make a judgment, but Ted and Lionel might doubt that Rachel, a woman with deep emotions, could conduct a brief affair without getting hurt. In fact, she couldn’t. Neither of them could, and on some level they both knew it.
Jake was willing to be the bad guy who left her. He didn’t care what others thought of him. But he cared about hurting Rachel, and he now realized that was inevitable.
Rachel said something to Lionel and they both laughed. She was making light of the situation, which she should when it came to Lionel. Jake vowed to mimic that attitude. Maybe they could fool Lionel into thinking nothing serious was happening.
