“I will. Thank you.”
Watching her leave the room and close the door softly behind her, Jude tossed the key up and down in his hand. “My, my,” he murmured. “Maybe she will bring me good fortune.”
As he had little save for the clothes on his back, which were getting a little worn, and fragrant, Jude locked his room, then trotted down the stairs. Though he looked for Ms. Hardstone, he did not see her. A young man smiled at him from behind the counter as he passed it by.
Back on his bike, he headed along the highway toward town, Landson, to shop for extra clothes, bathing items, and to purchase several bottles of wine. He had grown to like the alcoholic drink, although his people brewed a liquor that was far stronger than that. To hold his things in, he also bought a canvas satchel.
Returning to the lodge, he walked through the front doors to find guests gathering at the tables, waitresses walking among them with smiles and taking orders. Again, he did not see Ms. Hardstone as he crossed the room and went up the stairs. Leaving his bag in his room, feeling hungry, he went back down.
Now he did see her. She, too, walked among the guests, chatting, smiling, her hand resting on the backs of chairs as she spoke. Jude sat down at a small table where he could see the entire room and watched her. For a human, she is very beautiful. A waitress stopped by his table to bring him a glass of ice water and a menu.
“The meals come with the lodging,” she said, her eyes informing him of how attractive she found him. “If you want alcohol, that’s extra. Can I start you out with a drink?”
“Wine, please. And will you ask Ms. Hardstone if she will join me?”
“I certainly will.”
As the waitress paused beside her employer, Jude saw Ms. Hardstone glance at him as the woman whispered in her ear. She completed her conversation with the guests at the table and came to his.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hello,” he replied, enjoying the sight of her fresh, clean beauty, her green eyes, the smile she seemed to have just for him. “I was hoping you might eat with me. Have some wine.”
Her grin widened. “I would like that very much, Mr. Onaka.”
“I’m Jude.”
Inclining her head graciously as though he had just given her a gift, she replied, “Then I’m Natalie.”
“That’s a very lovely name,” Jude told her as she sat down.
“Might I guess you were named for the saint?”
Jude blinked, not recalling anything in his education about humans regarding saints. “Uh, no, I don’t think so.”
Oh, it’s just as well,” she replied with a mischievous grin. “St. Jude was the patron saint of lost causes.”
That doesn’t sound like anything good. I must learn about these saints. “No, I fear I wasn’t named for anything or anyone,” he replied, glancing up as the waitress appeared with two glasses of wine. Feeling mildly foolish, he lowered his voice as the waitress left. “How did she know I asked you to my table for wine?”
Natalie laughed. “She didn’t. She knows that’s all I drink.”
“Ah.” Jude smiled as he sipped from his glass. “Then I suspect I am lucky in that we have the same tastes.”
“I’ve never been able to drink the harder stuff,” she admitted, toying with the stem of her wine glass. “Beer is okay once in a while, but wine is the nectar of the gods.”
“I believe I can agree with you. Where I am from, we brew a very strong liquor from certain plants.”
“Like vodka?” Natalie asked.
Not knowing what vodka was, Jude merely nodded. “Similar.”
“Someday, you should tell me about where you’re from.”
No, I don’t think that would be a good idea. “Sure.”
Natalie leaned her chin on her hand, gazing at him with a small smile. “Have you decided what to order?”
“No. Why don’t you order for both of us?”
“Rick cooks the best steak and shrimp,” she told him. “It’s my favorite.”
Jude had just given the order to the waitress when he caught sight of Natalie’s face. Where once she had smiled with pleasure and enjoyment, she now wore a tight expression of anger, and, unbelievable, fear. Jude followed the direction of her gaze and caught her watching a tall, dark-haired man who had just come through the door.
Chapter Three
“What the fuck is he doing here?”
Natalie stared with growing fear and horror, knowing that Lloyd Peterson had no doubt come to cause a scene in her dining room, upset her guests, and drive them away. Anger washed her fear from her heart and she stood up as Peterson saw her, waved as though they were old friends, then wended his way among the tables toward her.
“Natalie?”
She had almost forgotten Jude’s presence at the table with her. Offering him a distracted smile, she murmured, “Sorry, this shouldn’t take long.”
“Ah, Ms. Hardstone,” Peterson said grandly, offering his hand to shake as though they were indeed old buddies.
Gritting her teeth, Natalie shook it. “What do you want?” she demanded, her voice low, nearly a whisper. “I told you no, and I mean no.”
Peterson smiled blandly and reached into his sport coat. Withdrawing an envelope, he handed it to her. “I thought perhaps I might persuade you in a different fashion. Go on, take a look.”
Reluctantly, Natalie open the envelope and pulled out a banker’s draft. She caught her breath at the amount.
“With that kind of money,” Peterson said quietly, “you can do anything. You need not be tied to this place any longer. With it in your hand, does that not give you the incentive to sell to me?”
For the briefest of moments, Natalie was tempted. With this, I can retire to an island in the Pacific and drink wine all day. I’d never have to work again. Then the image of her family’s hard-won legacy filled her mind. If he is offering this much when it’s losing business, what would it be worth in a few years when it’s thriving? I could then sell it for ten times this amount.
Natalie handed the draft back to him. “No. Now please leave.”
Taking it with a look of pure venom lurking in his gray eyes, Peterson gritted, “You will regret this. I have the power to take it from you without even paying you for it. Don’t be stupid.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think you can do, Peterson,” she snapped. “You can’t take it from me.”
“Just you—”
“Get out.”
Surprised by the low, growling voice from behind her, Natalie half turned. Jude stood there, and the tightly menacing expression on his face had her nearly recoiling. Directing that terrifying gaze at Peterson, Jude stepped around the table as light on his feet as a dancer, and in an instant, Natalie knew he was far more dangerous than any terrorist.
Peterson visibly flinched under that penetrating stare from Jude’s icy blue eyes. “This is none of your business, mister,” he protested, withdrawing a step.
“I’m making it my business,” Jude growled, low in his throat.
Natalie shivered. “Get out of here, Peterson,” she tried to snap, but knew her voice failed her. “Don’t come back.”
Recovering his dignity by adjusting his tie, Lloyd Peterson glared at them both. “I will have this lodge, Natalie,” he stated. “Neither you nor your pet here will stop me.”
Spinning on his heel, he sauntered through the tables toward the door, yet to Natalie, it seemed as though he wanted to run. She glanced around the big room, half expecting her guests to be staring at her, having heard the entire conversation. Yet, none seemed to have noticed, not even the waitresses.
“Who was that guy?”
She turned back to Jude, who still glowered, his eyes snapping, and still scared her with the very dangerous expression on his face. Weary, she gestured for him to resume his seat. “He wants to buy the lodge from me,” she told him and took a drink of her wine before returning to her chair. “He is determined to have it.”
Jude calmed a bit,
and his smile seemed genuine and kind. “If you do not sell to him, then he’ll give up and go away.”
Rubbing her face with her hands, Natalie shook her head. “I wish it were that easy. He has a certain reputation for getting his hands dirty.”
“So have I.”
With a sharp glance, Natalie took in his calm and ruggedly handsome face, his half-smile that showed a faint gleam of teeth, almost like fangs. “You can’t get involved, Jude,” she said. “It’s not your fight.”
He casually sipped his wine. “Who is to say what is my fight and what isn’t?”
This is not what I need. “Look,” she told him, aiming for patience when her nerves had been rubbed raw. “You are a guest here, and illegal in this country. If you get involved, there could be real trouble. You could land in jail.”
“I am certainly not worried about it. Neither should you be.”
“You think you’re gonna be my protector?” she demanded, growing angry again. “You better think again. I can take care of myself.”
Expecting him to be pissed over her biting his head off, Natalie found his smile had only grown.
“You’re a tough one,” he commented. “I like that.”
Biting back a sharp retort, after all, he was a guest, Natalie drew in a deep breath. “I don’t know how tough I am,” she replied. “But Peterson will not intimidate me into selling this place. It’s my entire life.”
“Then you should not,” Jude said, still carrying that enigmatic smile on his countenance. “And should you have need of my help, I am here.”
Puzzled by not just him but his behavior, his attitude, Natalie watched him carefully. “Why? We just met. You don’t know me. Why would you put yourself out there for someone you hardly know?”
Jude took another drink of his wine and rolled it around on his tongue, savoring it, before swallowing. He answered, “Let’s just say fighting for a female, and a cause, appeals to my fighting blood.”
Natalie barked a harsh laugh. “I think you do have some of St. Jude in you. Saint of lost causes.”
Natalie could not stop thinking of Jude. His ice-blue eyes contrasted with his jet-black hair, his long aquiline nose like an eagle’s beak, and full, lush lips just ripe for kissing filled her vision. She even dreamed of him, bare-chested and as handsome as a living god, bending his face toward her.
Rising early, she worked on invoicing and orders, seeing by the bank’s balance how perilously close to the brink the lodge was. She did her best to remove the erotic vision of Jude’s half-naked body from her mind.
“Maybe if I screw the banker, he’ll grant me a loan,” she muttered.
“I would not recommend that.”
Startled, Natalie looked up and found Jude grinning like a fool and leaning his powerful shoulder against the jamb. “Why not?” she asked sourly. “If it gets me the money I need to keep this place afloat, I’ll do it.”
Jude stuck his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans, his open-necked shirt revealing an interesting amount of skin. “I think that would only lead to more trouble. Aren’t there other ways to raise the money you need?”
Natalie leaned back in her chair. “Business has been slow for the last year,” she admitted. “Tourists are bypassing my lodge for some unknown reason. If I had more customers coming in, then I could operate in the black again.”
“What would it take to get your customers in?” he asked.
“You truly want to know?”
“I asked, didn’t I?”
Natalie laughed. “Quite honestly, a billboard on the interstate just outside town would probably help. I haven’t had the resources for marketing, and people don’t know the lodge is here.”
“What would it take to get that billboard?”
“Money I haven’t got.”
Jude reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of bills. He selected some and then paced forward to place them on her desk. “Is that enough?”
Stunned, Natalie picked it up and counted it. “There’s more than ten thousand dollars here,” she said.
“Is it enough? I don’t know the cost of things.”
Setting the money back down, she said, “I can’t accept it.”
“Why not?” His brows drew down over his strong nose. “You’re willing to scew a banker for it.”
“At least a loan I pay back,” she replied, her tone gentle. “I can’t accept it unless I can pay you back.”
He laughed. “Is that all? Then consider it a loan. When the lodge is making better money, you pay it back.”
“With interest.”
Jude shrugged. “Whatever.”
Puzzled by his casual carrying of possibly tens of thousands of dollars in a wad in his pocket, yet he said he was looking for work, Natalie again worried about his potential connections to terrorists. “How can you be so free with this money?” she asked. “How did you get it?”
“It’s honest, if that is what you’re worried about.”
“Yes, I am worried about it. I need answers, Jude.”
Taking a chair in front of her desk, Jude sat down, an amused smile playing around his mouth. “All right, answers. My people, in the far north, have plenty of money. People, your people, don’t realize some of us live among you.”
“What do you mean?”
“For the good of the clan,” he went on, amused, “we need money just as you do. Years ago, some of us came south and started some of your larger corporations all over the world. The funds are funneled for our needs, and shared among everyone equally.”
Natalie eyed him. “So how is it no human explorer has found you, or your clans? When nearly every inch of this planet has been explored? Weird.”
“We don’t like invaders, so we have quite cleverly hidden our homes from your people.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
Jude grinned. “You should believe it. But I was banished from my people, given much of this cash to start anew in the south. I have enough to last me many years, but in the end, I will have to work for it.”
That certainly explains a lot. But not enough. Natalie eyed the money on her desk with hunger. “I can write a contract that spells out the terms of the loan and the interest,” she said slowly.
Jude shrugged again. “Your word is enough for me, Natalie. If I require it back, you’ll get it to me.”
“You are awfully trusting, Jude.”
“Not trusting.” He grinned. “I simply know an honorable person when I see one.”
With a laugh, she gathered the bills together. “I will aim to get this back to you within a year. If we can get the billboard up within a couple of weeks, we might just get enough customers to visit the lodge through the tourist season.”
“What is the tourist season?”
“Late April to October,” she answered, thinking of the advertising company that would make her a good deal on a sign. “It’s only mid-May now. I can also use some of this money to pay for a radio ad as well. That will also bring in the guests.”
“I have more should you need it.”
Feeling as though she were taking advantage of a child, Natalie smiled, looking down at her desk. “Thank you, but this should be plenty.”
“I like you, Natalie,” Jude said suddenly, making her glance at him. “I want to help. You are not taking advantage of me.”
“How did you—”
He laughed. “Your face is astonishingly easy to read.”
“I’ve never had a poker face,” she grumbled.
“Nor do you need one,” he said, still grinning. “It is my honor to help you.”
“Then I should get this into the bank.” Natalie closed the books and gathered the money to put into a zipped bank pouch. “With what you paid yesterday for your room, and the other guests’ receipts, I can see a tiny edge of black on my horizon.”
“May I go with you? If that Peterson fellow wishes you harm, he might think twice if I’m there.”
Natalie hesitated
, thinking of Rick’s words about Peterson not stopping at murder to achieve his goals. “All right. I’ll accept you as my temporary bodyguard.”
Grinning, Jude stood up. “Do you have a vehicle? We can go on my bike if you want.”
“Let’s take my truck,” Natalie told him, his grin contagious. “I have some things I need to pick up while we’re in town.”
Leading him out the back door to the employees parking lot, Natalie unlocked her Ford truck and climbed in behind the wheel as Jude got into the passenger seat. “I’ll admit I feel a little silly in needing a bodyguard,” she said, starting the engine. “Landson is such a small town. Nothing ever happens here.”
Backing the truck out of the slot reserved for her, she caught a glimpse of Jude watching her closely. “What?”
“Just because things don’t always happen,” he said, “doesn’t mean they can’t. I saw that man’s eyes. He has murdered before.”
Natalie shot him a sharp glance. “You can see that by looking at his eyes? Not sure about where you’re from, but here in the States, one has to be found guilty before being condemned.”
Unperturbed by her statement, Jude gazed out the window as she drove out of the parking lot to the main road into town. “I don’t have to find him guilty to listen to what my gut tells me. That fellow is dangerous.”
Natalie sighed. “I suppose I should take your word for it. He sets my nerves on edge.”
“That is your instincts sending you a warning.”
“Maybe. But that’s a far cry from shooting me in the street.”
“Aren’t there quieter ways to kill you?” he asked, turning in his seat to look at her. “If you died, what happens to your lodge?”
Her palms sweated on the steering wheel. “It would go to my cousin,” she replied, growing more uneasy. “He would most likely sell at the first offer.”
“Then you should consider your life in danger.”
“What a pleasant thought,” she muttered sourly.
“I’m sorry, Natalie,” Jude said, “but you seem to me to be a little innocent when it comes to wickedness.”
“Perhaps I am.”
Dragon Fever: Limited Edition Holiday Romance Boxset Page 2