“I hope so. Are they members of your WARM group?”
“No. They’re not activists.”
“That’s a relief. I imagined them ratting on you for being involved with a human.”
“I’ll ask them not to. They’re old friends, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Thanks. I feel a whole lot better about this. And the good news is, I have coffee for breakfast.”
“And clothes? I could use some clothes. I’m having a hell of a time keeping this towel on.”
“And that’s a problem?” Her mood improved dramatically as she anticipated the evening they were about to have. The next day could be a real letdown, but until then, she’d enjoy herself.
“You wouldn’t be so cavalier if I ended up steaming something far more critical than the rice.”
“No, I wouldn’t. Take care of yourself. I’ll be there soon.”
“Good. The cabin is empty without you. I— Shit! I smell something burning. Gotta go.” He disconnected.
Rachel started to put her phone back in her purse, but it blinked, indicating a text. It was from Lionel. Heart pounding, she opened it.
Found clothes that look like Mr. Hunter’s. Went by his place. Truck was there. He wasn’t. Thought about it. Suspect foul play. Headed for your cabin.
She started to respond, but that would waste valuable time. She could call Jake, but that wouldn’t really help matters, either. Shoving the phone in her purse, she grabbed the duffel and ran out through the open slider.
She’d rather not imagine a scene between Lionel and a seminaked Jake. But explaining why his clothes were in the bushes would require some creative storytelling. She didn’t know if her presence would help or hinder, but she knew she had to get to the other side of the lake as fast as she could.
Chapter 20
After Jake had steamed the rice, he’d decided to sauté it with some olive oil and spices he’d found in Rachel’s cabinet. After getting that going, he’d unearthed his phone, retrieved the messages from Ann and Bruce, and called Rachel.
He didn’t know how he was going to spin his association with her so Ann and Bruce wouldn’t blab to the entire Hunter pack that Jake, who railed against Weres hav**g s*x with humans, was a hypocrite who’d done exactly that.
But he didn’t want Rachel to feel responsible. This lapse was his fault, not hers. He hoped that the Hunters wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Because they’d known his folks so well, maybe they’d let it go.
But his conversation with Rachel had distracted him from his cooking long enough for the rice to burn and set off the smoke alarm. Grabbing the smoking pan, he put it in the sink, where it hissed angrily and gave off a miserable stench. The smoke alarm continued to screech, so he opened the kitchen window to let out the smoke. So much for his famous cooking skills.
Not five minutes later, someone pounded on the front door. “Anybody in there?”
Jake recognized Lionel’s voice and groaned. The kid meant well, but he was becoming a total pain in the ass.
“Miss M!” More pounding. “Miss M, if you’re in there, your house is on fire!”
Jake stood in the kitchen in his towel debating his next move. By now most of the smoke had cleared and the smoke alarm had stuttered to a stop. Maybe Lionel would just go away.
Or not. The front door opened, and Jake belatedly realized Rachel wouldn’t have thought to lock it behind her. And why would she? He was here and there was no crime in Polecat, anyway.
“Miss M!” Lionel called out again. Then he paused. “Well, guess I’d better check things out,” he muttered, obviously to himself. “Could be serious.”
“Lionel, I’m here.” Left with no choice, Jake stepped out of the kitchen.
Lionel’s eyes got huge and then his face turned red. “Uh, hi there, Mr. Hunter.” He looked everywhere but at Jake. “Thought nobody was home. Miss M’s truck is gone.”
“She’s . . . running errands.” Jake resisted the urge to clasp his hands in front of his groin, but then he might disturb the delicate balance of the towel.
“Oh.” Lionel glanced toward the kitchen. “So what’s burning?”
“I was sautéing some rice. I got distracted.”
“Ah. Must be fixing dinner for you and Miss M.” Lionel nodded and darted a quick glance at Jake.
“Yes. She’s not here right now.”
“I figured. I, um, have your clothes.”
For a moment Jake was disoriented. Rachel was supposed to have his clothes. Why would Lionel have his . . . Oh. Those clothes. He’d forgotten to ask Rachel what she’d done to keep Lionel from noticing them in the first place.
“They were sort of scattered under a bush out on the trail. I was afraid you’d been murdered or something. Although I couldn’t figure out why they’d take your clothes off and shove them under a bush.”
“Well, obviously I’m fine.” Jake scrambled for a reasonable explanation and came up empty.
“Yep. That’s good.” Lionel surveyed the room with great care, as if he’d never seen it before. “I didn’t know you were a nudist, Mr. Hunter.”
“I’m n—” Jake caught himself. Maybe that was as good a cover story as any. Once he left Polecat, it wouldn’t matter whether word got out that Jake Hunter was a nudist.
“It’s okay if you are,” Lionel said. “I think people can be anything they want. It’s just that sometimes families take their kids out on those trails, and I don’t know how it would work out if they came upon a nak*d man running through the woods. They might call the cops on their cell phone, and then you could get arrested.”
“Thanks for the warning. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“And the bad part is, when you got arrested, you’d be nak*d.”
Jake coughed to keep from laughing, and the towel trembled dangerously. “That’s true. I would be nak*d.”
“Not the best way to be when you’re hauled off to jail.”
“I suppose not.”
“Listen, not to change the subject or anything.”
Jake swallowed the laughter that kept bubbling up from his throat. “Oh, please do.”
“I hate to tell you this, but sometime while he was being transported to the sanctuary, your wolf got out of his cage.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Uh-oh is right!” Lionel took a deep breath. “I checked the news, and thank God there’s no story about a wildlife transportation team being mauled by a black wolf, so maybe he just managed to slip out without hurting anyone.”
“He’s a very smart wolf.”
“Well, I shot at him.” Lionel’s gaze moved away from Jake again. “I’m sorry to have to tell you that because I’m sure you care about him, but he was ready to attack Miss M, and I think he would’ve if I hadn’t shown up.”
“I can guarantee that wolf wouldn’t hurt a hair on her head.”
“Ha. You didn’t see what I saw. He was going after her.”
Jake couldn’t argue with that. He’d been going after Rachel for some time now, only not in the way Lionel thought.
Lionel’s glance skittered past Jake again. “So do you want your clothes? I have them out in my truck. I didn’t expect to see you here, or I would’ve brought them in with me.” Lionel blushed again. “I mean, it’s obvious you don’t want them now. You have this whole nudist thing going on. But they’re nice clothes. A little dusty, but nice.”
“I’d like them back,” Jake said. “Thanks.”
“All righty!” Lionel swung his arms back and forth. “I’ll just go out and get them.” He started toward the door right as Rachel came through it.
Jake was relieved to see that she’d left his duffel in her truck. All she carried was her purse and a mesh bag containing what looked like coffee and candy bars.
“Hey, Lionel!” Setting her purse and mesh bag on an end table, she gave Lionel the biggest, fakest smile Jake had ever seen.
“Hi, Miss M. I see you’ve been buying candy bars again.”
“Well, yes, I have.” She looked over at Jake with a wide-eyed, innocent expression. “I see Jake’s been keeping you company while I was gone. How nice.”
“Yeah.” Lionel shoved his hands in his pockets. “We’ve been having a conversation. I told him it was fine with me if he wants to be a nudist.”
Rachel coughed and ducked her head. When she looked up again, her eyes were swimming with tears of laughter. She swiped at them with the back of her hand.
Lionel glanced at her, his brow puckered. “Are you okay, Miss M?”
“Yeah, fine.” She nodded vigorously. “Just swallowed wrong. You were saying?”
“About this nudist thing. I think Mr. Hunter needs to be careful out on the trail. He could get arrested.”
“Mm.” She cleared her throat. “Well, that’s good advice, don’t you think, Jake?”
“Excellent advice.”
Her eyes twinkled. “Can’t have a nak*d man running around scaring the kids.”
“Exactly!” Lionel smiled in triumph. “That’s what I told him.” He peered at her. “You’re not a nudist, are you? Wait. I don’t want to know the answer to that. If you are, don’t tell me. I don’t want that mental image.”
“I’m not a nudist, Lionel.”
“Whew.” His shoulders sagged. “That’s good to hear. Well, I’ll go get Mr. Hunter’s clothes and . . .” He glanced from Rachel to Jake. “Uh, how about if I just leave them by the front door? You two probably want to be alone.”
Jake decided to put an end to this party. “By the door would be great, Lionel. Thanks for picking them up for me.”
“No prob.” Lionel started out again but paused and turned around. “About tomorrow morning . . .”
“Come at your regular time,” Rachel said. “Jake has some friends in town and he’ll be meeting them in the morning. I’ll be out in the workshop, as usual.”
That plan made sense, but Jake couldn’t help feeling sad that he wouldn’t be spending the morning with her. He’d come back after meeting with the Hunters, though. Wouldn’t he?
“Then I’ll be here in the morning.” Lionel hesitated, his manner suddenly shy. “I have that piece of wood nearly carved. Should finish it up tonight. I could bring it over tomorrow if you want.”
Rachel gave him a genuine smile this time. “I would love for you to do that. I can hardly wait to see it.”
“Then I’ll bring it.” Lionel’s natural good cheer had returned. He grinned at both of them. “See you later.” Head held high, he walked out the door.
Rachel glanced at Jake and dissolved into laughter. “A nudist?”
Jake gestured toward his towel-draped body. “The guy finds my clothes under a bush and walks into the house while I’m wearing nothing but a towel. I thought it was a brilliant deduction on his part.”
“I suppose so.” She continued to chuckle. “So you just agreed with his conclusion and let it go at that?”
“I started to contradict him, but then I realized he’d handed me the only logical explanation, so I rolled with it. Better to be thought a nudist than a werewolf.”
“There’s that.” Her gaze roved over him. “You’d make a pretty impressive nudist, though.”
“Thanks. Not my thing. As I’ve said, I was raised in a conservative household. Even our shifting was done in private.”
“And yet, you stripped down in front of me in broad daylight. That seems out of character, now that I think about it.”
“Oh, it was.” He walked over to her. “But when I’m with you, I get sort of wild and crazy, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“I’ve noticed.” She lifted her face to his. “And I like that in a werewolf.”
“Good.” He cupped her face in both hands. “Because I think it’s about to happen again.” His lips hovered over hers when a rap sounded at the door. “Damn. I thought he was going to leave them and go away.”
“Me, too.”
The rap came again.
Rachel sighed. “Let me go see what he wants. He’s only trying to be helpful, after all.”
“I’ll go check the ribs. They should be about done.” Jake reluctantly let her go and walked into the kitchen. The towel started to fall and he knotted it more securely.
Had he been the nudist Lionel thought he was, he would whip the towel off and discard it, because the major part of the food preparation was over. But being a nudist was the last thing Jake would consider. The more he thought about his behavior on the trail, the more he marveled that Rachel could get under his skin and make him do something so uncharacteristic.
He heard the front door open. Sure enough, it was Lionel.
“Sorry to bother you again, Miss M, but I forgot to ask if you’ve seen that wolf. I still don’t trust it not to come back around here, and I don’t think Mr. Hunter understands that it’s a dangerous animal. He talks just like you, like it’s no problem.”
Rachel’s reply was filled with kindness. “I know you’re worried, Lionel. I promise if I’m threatened by that wolf I’ll call you right away.”
Jake smiled. Instead of lying to the kid, she’d managed to dodge the question entirely. Nicely done.
“Make sure you do call me,” Lionel said. “Anyway, you might as well take the clothes since you’re standing here.”
“Thanks.”
“Okay, now I really am leaving.”
“Good night, Lionel.”