“I’m beginning to realize that Steven is worse than we thought.”
Marcus snorted.“You and me both.”
26
Ineeded a vacation.Well, okay, I was being dramatic, and honestly, the hiking thing, the less than an hour of hiking, hadn’t been too bad.
The issue was Steven, turning up in my day like a maggot in a piece of cake I’d just taken a big bite out of.I was starting to regret ever giving him a second look.
I blinked into the light when we finally got back to the werewolf house, which was definitely what I was going to call it from now on.Linc was behind me, and Ell had been nice enough to let me lean on him for the dicier parts of the walk.
“Ah, finally,” I said.“I’m really looking forward to that tea.”
Dom looked at me over his shoulder, sneezed as if he really were a dog, and ran off.Huh.Odd timing for him to be embarrassed about changing in front of me.
Linc appeared on my right.“That’ll be Smith.He works for me.I asked him to change your lock—the lock in your apartment, I mean.Just in case.”
He was rubbing his neck and looked kind of flustered.
“Who are we talking about?”
Ell woofed.I had no idea if that was the correct term, let alone what it was supposed to tell me.
“Oh.”Linc huffed.“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.I smelled him.”He pointed back to where Dom was trotting back toward us, a blond man following him.“That’s Smith.”
Well, Smith certainly was a hunky hunk.His hair and beard were short, and he wore slacks with a windbreaker and a tie poking out.It made him look like a federal agent character from a movie.
I very nearly jumped into Linc’s arms when, on my other side, Ell turned back into a human.
“Holy hotpants, bark before you do that!”
Linc chuckled and put his arm around me.“Wolves don’t really bark, you know?”
Ell, now looking all person-shaped, gave me a sheepish look.“Sorry.Linc, hand me my clothes?”
Linc tossed them over, and I tried not to stare as Ellis quickly put his shirt and pants back on.He didn’t even bother with the shoes.
That Smith guy stopped about two bike lengths in front of us and raised a hand.“Hi there.Marcus Waite, right?So nice to meet you.Boss.”
They exchanged one of those slightly hot, slightly macho nods.
“You got here okay?”Linc asked.
Smith nodded.“Yup, checked into the Hiker’s Lodge.”He looked at me.“I broke into your place and changed the lock.Was a piece of cake.”
Dom shook himself, and then of course he turned too.He was closer to Smith and right in my line of sight, and he had that wide, mischievous grin on his face that told me he wasn’t going to get dressed.
He cocked a brow.“Oh, sorry.Woof.”
I crossed my arms.“Very funny.”
Linc tossed Dom his bundle of clothes.“Put those on.”
Dom shrugged and did as he was told while Smith looked around.“You all went for a swim?”
“Unfortunately not.”Linc nudged me forward.“Let’s talk inside.”
About twenty minutes later, we were having coffee and tea at the big dining table in the former conservatory, with Smith, the sometimes burglar with the locksmith skills, sitting as far away from me as he could.Unlike Vi, he didn’t try to take his clothes off in front of me once.
