His mate did not seem afflicted with the same all-consuming desire. She clicked her tongue, looking him up and down as if he were a used car she was already regretting buying.
“Not what I would have ordered,” she muttered. She went to the only window, peering out past a faded blind. “But we’ll have to make the best of things. I just hope no-one saw you. Honestly, turning up in a suit and sunglasses? You might as well walk around with your badge glued to your forehead.”
Wait.
His hand flew to his face. His sunglasses were still there, strapped securely to his head.
She hadn’t seen his eyes. She couldn’t have looked into his soul, and recognized him as her doom. So how did she know?
Unless… she didn’t.
“I think there may be a misunderstanding,” he said cautiously, not yet daring to allow himself more than the faintest glimmer of hope. “I am Special Agent Shan Zhao, Federal Bureau of?—”
“Shifter Affairs,” she finished for him. She adjusted the blind, making sure the window was fully covered. “I know. I’m Leonie MacCormick, the camp’s head counselor. We metwhen you were here a couple of weeks ago, though I don’t expect you remember me.”
Every nanosecond of that encounter was burned into his memory. He restrained himself to a noncommittal nod. “You know why I am here?”
“Yes, and I’m not happy about it,” Leonie said bluntly. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing personal. I appreciate everything Shifter Affairs does to keep the rest of us safe. I’d just rather you weren’there. My job is hard enough already. The last thing I need is a hulking secret agent stomping about camp, distracting my counselors and riling up the kids.”
Honey and cream.Truth.
Only long habit let him prevent any flicker of reaction from showing on his face. Inside, he sagged with relief.
She didn’t know. She’d accosted him in righteous fury, but not for the reason he’d feared.She didn’t know he was her mate.
“So,” Leonie added in the same brisk, no-nonsense tone, “take off your clothes.”
Shan, who had just been starting to relax, froze again.
“What?” he managed to get out.
“You heard me.” Leonie turned, bending over to present him with generous, mouth-watering curves, perfectly displayed by tight khaki shorts. “Clothes off. Now.”
His monster wasverykeen on this proposal. So were other parts of him.
He was so rattled, he actually found himself reaching for his belt buckle. He balled his hands into fists, fighting for control.
When he spoke, it took every ounce of discipline to keep the snarling hunger from showing in his voice. “Why?”
Leonie shot him an exasperated look over her shoulder. “Weren’t you listening? I’m not letting you walk aroundcamp looking like a Presidential security detail.” She went back to rummaging through the lower shelves, hunting through boxes. “Oh, where did I put them? I know we still had a few pairs squirreled away from when Buck kept crash-landing on the roof…aha! Here, try this on.”
She tossed a bundle of cloth at him. Shan caught it, and found himself holding a pair of men’s jeans.
“You…want me to go undercover?” he asked.
“Since the alternative is having the entire camp ablaze with gossip at the worst possible time, yes.” Leonie shook out a T-shirt, revealing a Camp Thunderbird logo emblazoned across the front. She held it up against his chest with the impersonal air of a tailor taking measurements. “Ugh. Far too small. Has anyone ever told you that you have unreasonable shoulders?”
This conversation was starting to feel like being strapped to the roof of a runaway train. “No.”
“Well, you do,” Leonie informed him. Without waiting for a reply, she dug through a pile of T-shirts, extracting one from the very bottom. “This is still going to be skintight on you, I’m afraid. But short of borrowing something from Ragvald, it’s the best I can do. Quick, get changed. If anyone catches sight of you in that suit, I’ll be squashing wild rumors all summer.”
Since the last thing he wanted to do was make her life any more difficult, Shan took the clothes. He stood there, waiting for her to leave.
She didn’t.
He cleared his throat. “I will need privacy.”
Leonie started, as if only just realizing she’d been staring at him expectantly. “Oh, right. Sorry.”
