“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 naked 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.”
“See you later, Miss M.”
The front door closed and Rachel approached the kitchen. “I’m sure you heard all that with your super-duper ears.”
Jake walked out to meet her. “I did. You handled it well.”
“I left your clothes just inside the front door. They definitely need washing. Assuming the coast is clear, would you like me to bring in the duffel bag?”
“Yes, please. And as much as I feel like ravishing you, I’m really, really hungry. And the food’s ready.”
“Then let me get your duffel so you can get dressed and we can have dinner.” Her silver eyes held the promise of what was to come. “No rush. We have all night.”
The way she said it almost made him reconsider having dinner first. But he hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and he’d expended a lot of energy since them. While Rachel went out to her truck to grab the duffel bag, he went back into the kitchen for the bowl of salad he’d tossed earlier.