Chapter 8
WADE STOOD ATOP THE LA PLAYA tree house and surveyed the Canary Islands section of the island. He found it rather whimsical that Charles Grantham had specifically requested a tree house. A penthouse tree house, not that it came anywhere near that yet, still being under construction. It made Wade wonder if the famous recluse meant to make a visit at some point.
From his spot, he could see portions of the other three peninsulas that made up the resorts—or petals, as Shelby had called them. The imagery had stuck in his mind. Being one of the taller areas of the island, not counting the center, it provided a wonderful outpost.
He put down the binoculars and rubbed the bridge of his nose. How had he managed to do it again? The look on her face. Wade groaned.
Four years ago, when she’d dumped the tidbit about who her father was, Wade had felt like someone had jerked him into an oldTwilight Zoneepisode. The reality he thought he knew—Shelby raised poor with a mentally disturbed mother—had been ripped out from under him and replaced by an alternate universe where she had a billionaire father. A father who owned businesses that ruined the lives of their employees. Poverty kid. Billionaire father. They didn’t match, so they couldn’t both be true.
He didn’t know if whatever nonsense he’d said that day had been better than what he’d said today.A liar. He knew what calling Shelby that meant to her. Would there ever come a time when the right words came out of his mouth?
Finally, Wade lifted the binoculars again and turned toward the beach at Avalon, where Shelby stood on the shore facing the ocean. He paid attention to the size of the waves, bigger than he’d ever seen them. The incoming storm must be doing it. Watching her with the binoculars didn’t make him a creeper.
She seemed to be staring at something out at sea. He shifted his focus and found a pod of dolphins. How he wished to be standing beside her, sharing that experience. He looked a little closer. The dolphins seemed to be swimming right up onto the beach.
Wade blinked, squinted, and focused the binoculars again. The lowering sun made it hard to see. She’d gone into the water, her dress wet at her knees. His heart rate sped up. She’d mentioned once that she didn’t swim very well. A quick scan of the surrounding area showed no bodyguards. Martinez must be getting dinner for them.
Without another thought, he hurried down the tree house ladder. He’d brought one of the few gas-powered jeeps to La Playa. Leaping over the door, he only knew he had to get to Shelby. He fired it up and sped along the gravel road toward the Avalon beach front.
With a screech of the tires, he slid to a stop where the sand met the parking lot. He stood on the jeep seat, searching the water, his heart racing so hard, it felt like it might explode. Had she gone under all those wiggling, flapping fins?
“Shelby!” he cried and leapt from the vehicle. “Shel!”
She shot up out of the water where she must have been trying to pull a dolphin out to safety. “Wade, call for more people to help. There are too many of them.”
He breathed again and searched his pockets. “I left my phone in Rockford.” He pulled the binoculars over his head. “Do you have yours in your office?” A kind of communal energy flowed through him as he kicked off his shoes and waded into the water beside her. Finally, something worthwhile he could help her with. “I don’t have a key. Let me see what I can do here while you go.”
“Thank you.” Shelby did a funny run/prance move through an incoming wave. Once clear, she dashed toward the office, her hair flying behind her. Not bad for running in sand.
Wade stood for a few seconds, watching her. She was so beautiful. When she’d looked at him, it’d been like the old Shelby met his gaze. For a few seconds, she hadn’t hated him.
He turned to consider the twenty or so creatures. The poor beasts had gotten themselves good and stuck. Wade did a quick evaluation of the situation. Rolling them out to sea wouldn’t work because of the dorsal fin. Once, he’d seen a movie or something where beached dolphins had been towed back out to sea by their tails.
Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the tail of the nearest dolphin. He’d expected it to feel slimy, but it didn’t. More like rubber. Once he had a firm grasp of the thing and had dragged it a few feet, the dolphin seemed to understand his intention and stopped fighting. The beast was heavy.
“Ava and Shang are coming,” Shelby called a few minutes later. He’d only gotten one dolphin free. She ran toward him carrying a vase that had held flowers in her office an hour ago.
“What’s that for?” Wade continued to tow another dolphin, a smaller one this time, and tried not to stare at her as she approached. That wet dress— Heat filled his body. He looked down and fixed his hold again. This one seemed determined to get away from him.
“We need to keep them wet.” Shelby filled the vase and hurried over to the dolphin that had managed to get the farthest up the shore. Once she’d emptied the water and smoothed it over the thing’s skin, she ran back to the water for a refill.
That was his Shelby, fighting for a cause she believed in. She was absolutely wasted working for a corporate monster like Grantham.
Wade had managed to get the second dolphin free by the time she joined him. Without a word, she simply appeared at his side. He moved his hands farther up the tail so her smaller hands could get a better grasp.
“Ugh,” she said after the first tug. “These things are heavy.”
This one was larger than the other two and took longer to understand what they intended. The dolphin gave one arch that sent them both flying back in the water. Sitting up to her neck and sputtering against the waves, Shelby burst out laughing. Wade got to his feet more easily and pulled her upright.
She splashed back to the dolphin and grabbed it again. Her head might only come to his shoulder, but it was obvious by the way her wet dress clung to her delineated muscles that she still worked out. Wade exhaled and hurried over to help her. He focused on the dolphin.
By the time they got the next dolphin swimming out to sea again, a woman’s voice called from shore.
“What have you been up to, Shelby?” Martinez grinned, already pulling off her shoes.
“Oh, shut up.” Shelby grinned back.
Another golf cart drove up. Shang took his time climbing out of it. Wade wondered if the guy ever looked anything but disapproving. Three other vehicles pulled up, filled with workers.
