She grabbed some of her bags while Bjornolf hauled his and the rest of hers up the stone path to the front door. She spied mistletoe hanging atop the door frame—probably Nathan’s idea of a cute joke.
Bjornolf opened the door and walked in, turning to see what she was looking at. He glanced up at the mistletoe. “Since Nathan works at the Christmas tree farm, he probably got a sprig of it and placed it there in case a girl came over to the house to see him.”
“No way am I dealing with teen hormones gone amok,” Anna said, pushing the door shut with her hip.
Bjornolf was studying her, but she couldn’t read what he was thinking. He shrugged. “It’s tradition.” He didn’t say anything further but motioned for her to take her bags down the hallway. “Two bedrooms. Bunk beds in one. A king-sized bed in the master bedroom.”
“How do you know that?”
“Last mission when I was here, Meara put me up in this cottage. While you were trying on some clothes, Hunter told me your guns are in the right-hand dresser drawer. Mine are in the left. Nathan will stay here, and you and I will share the big bed.”
“You thought wrong.” She attempted to smile sweetly at him, but it was more of a wolf-got-the-prize kind of look.
His expression was a lot more wolfish—like he had every intention of changing her mind.
She glanced at the large terra-cotta and stone fireplace filling one wall, its warm golden-oak mantel begging for some kind of decoration. An ivory sofa, pale-blue-and-green plaid chairs, and an oak coffee table the same color as the mantel took center stage in front of a large-screen TV. Now why would anyone want to watch television when they had so much outdoor beauty to enjoy?
Floor-to-ceiling windows showcased the pine trees framing the ocean. She stared at it for a moment, lost in its beauty. Then she realized that Bjornolf was probably observing her, and she had a job to do. She wasn’t here for fun or relaxation.
She hurried down the hallway and entered the master bedroom. The huge, king-sized bed was covered with a pale blue quilted coverlet. A white armoire and dresser, a hand-hooked blue-and-white floral rug, and paintings of blue and white flowers on the walls finished the decor. She looked at the bed again and figured she’d get lost in it, then left her bags next to the closet. She turned. He was looming in the doorway, watching her.
“You and the other male wolf can share a room and bathroom,” she said matter-of-factly, as if she was in charge, ensuring he understood she was serious about this. She felt that Hunter and Bjornolf had decided all of this for her. So it was time for the she-wolf to show she had some say in the whole setup.
Looking down at her with a superior expression, he handed her the remainder of her bags and folded his arms. “How will anyone believe we are mated wolves if we sleep apart?”
Bags in hand, she motioned to the hallway. “Your side.” She waved at the bedroom. “My side. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to change before we go to the farm.” She paused, thinking she didn’t need to explain a prior situation to him, but just in case he’d gotten the wrong impression concerning the mission when she served as Paul’s wife, she wanted to set Bjornolf straight about the living arrangements. “For your information, when I pretended to be Paul’s wife, we slept on separate beds.”
Bjornolf grinned at her. “Good to know. That way when I see him again, I don’t have to kill him.”
Bjornolf thought that the more he saw of Anna, the less he’d be hooked on her. That he’d get tired of her, rub her the wrong way, and she would do the same to him. But it wasn’t happening. The more he saw of her, the more he wanted to see of her.
He was determined to help Nathan deal with his parents’ deaths over the holiday and look into the murders. Even though he knew that he and Anna would have plenty of trouble to deal with, he was damned glad she was here and hadn’t insisted on working alone or refused to do the mission.
He headed outside to the back patio, then climbed down the wooden steps to the beach below and called Nathan on his cell. “We’re here and it’s a go.”
“Hot damn!” Nathan said.
That’s how Bjornolf felt about Anna being here. “We’ll be by the tree farm shortly. She’s just changing clothes, but expect a reluctant aunt.”
Nathan said, “I’ll make her glad she agreed to the mission.”
Bjornolf had no idea what Nathan had in mind, but he was pleased the boy seemed in such high spirits. “We might need to work at it. Got to get back to her. See you in a bit.”
Before he left the beach to join Anna, he called a friend. “I need you to check into something for me. An Anna Johnson. I need you to dig deep and see what you can learn about any traumatic experience she might have had around Christmastime.”
“She’s a wolf?” Reid asked.
“Yeah.”
“How far back?”
“No clue.”
“You always give me the hard cases.”
“That’s because I know you’ll always come through for me.”
“Okay, I’ll look into it and see what I can find.”
“Thanks, I owe you several.” Bjornolf headed up the steps to the cottage, hoping his friend wouldn’t find something concerning Anna that would be better left buried.
Once Bjornolf and Anna were settled in the Land Rover and on their way to the tree farm, he cast another glance her way, loving the charcoal-gray pants she wore, along with sexy, heeled, dark gray boots, a white fleece jacket, and a pale gray turtleneck. She looked so soft and cuddly in the fleece that he wanted to wrap her in his arms. He reminded himself she was also packing a weapon somewhere beneath that jacket.
To get his mind off how huggable she looked, he asked, “Have you ever been to a Christmas tree farm?”
“No.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“Never?” He was unable to hide the surprise in his voice. What was it with her and Christmas?
“No.”
“Then you bought them in a parking lot?”
“No.” This time she sounded annoyed.
He sighed. “Artificial tree, then.” He was surprised. Most wolves he knew bought a real tree. It was the one time during the year when they could bring the outdoors inside.
“No. You?” she finally asked, as if she was tired of the conversation and didn’t want to speak of it any further.
He couldn’t believe she’d never had a tree. “Trees in the woods to begin with. Much later… tree farms. One year we bought one from a parking lot, but it wasn’t half as fun seeing the trees lying there, dying. That was the year before my parents… died.”
“I’m sorry about your parents,” she murmured.
“I’m sorry that yours are gone, too. That’s probably why neither of us has bothered with the holidays for some time. No family to share them with.”
She glanced at him. He gave her a small smile. He was attempting to dig for information. She gave him just as small a smile back. She wasn’t taking the bait.
“Hunter told Nathan he wanted him off the job. Immediately. Nathan insisted that he stay because it was the only way he’d consider staying with the pack. He wants to feel useful. I suspect the owner’s daughter has something to do with his wanting to work there as well,” Bjornolf said.
Anna shook her head. “She’s human. I can just imagine the mess he could get into with a human girl if he thought he was falling in love.”
“Right. Hunter didn’t mention it to you, but Nathan wanted you and me to protect him while we learned about the tree-farm deaths.”
“Why would Nathan want me to help? I understand him wanting you—but with me, he doesn’t even know me.”