“And then word will spread about the wonderful food and the charming setting, and we’ll be booked up months, maybe even years in advance.” She spread her arms wide. “We’ll be a smashing success.”
She seemed more relaxed, now, and he enjoyed watching her green eyes light up when she talked about this project. He’d gone from hating the idea yesterday to loving it today. But he needed to clarify a few things before lust short-circuited his brain. “I have some questions.”
“I should hope so.”
“Will you make any areas off limits to the guests?”
“Definitely. The staff’s quarters will be private, of course, and the kitchen.” She paused. “I’ve been sleeping in a bedroom across from Geraldine’s because she wanted me nearby, but I’ll move down to a spare room in the staff area to free up the space.”
“I suppose you’ll be needing my bedroom, too.” He didn’t want to give it up, but that room would be popular with its access to the tower above, and Whittier House was now an inn, not a family home.
“That’s up to y’all. We should designate a room that’s yours, though, for when you’re visiting.”
“No, you should use all available space. On the rare occasions I’m here, you can stick me anywhere.” Everything coming out of his mouth was perfectly logical, but his heart wasn’t buying a word of it.
She seemed to sense his ambivalence. “We can decide that for sure later on.”
“All right.” He left the subject with relief. “Are you planning to make Henry’s library available to guests?”
“No, I’m not. This room will be my office and guests won’t be allowed in here, but they should have books available. I was thinking Geraldine’s sitting room might make a nice library.”
“And it has a wet bar. I assume you’re planning to schedule happy hour every evening?”
“I think Geraldine would haunt me if I didn’t.”
That made him smile. “Aye, she would, at that.”
“Picture me registering guests and saying Drinks will be served at six in the library. It has a nice ring to it.”
“I agree.” Her sweet scent beckoned to him, and he realized he’d unconsciously moved closer. “You’re going to be a natural at this, Luna.” Guests, especially male guests, would be drawn to her, too. Sooner or later an eligible Were would express interest. Colin didn’t fancy that concept at all.
“I hope so. It feels right. Anyway, the sitting room already has bookshelves. It just needs more books. I could browse the used shops in Seattle, and pick up a few board games while I’m at it.”
“That sounds like fun.” He had a sudden, appealing image of strolling around musty old bookstores with Luna and stealing a kiss in a narrow and secluded aisle. “Maybe we could do that before I leave.”
“And when are you leaving? I don’t remember a time being set.”
He sighed. “I won’t be here long, I’m afraid. A week is all I’ve allowed myself. My father’s health isn’t great, and my brother Duncan is something of a loose cannon.”
“Then we need to prioritize.”
He knew what would rise to the top of his priority list, but he didn’t say that. Later.
She surveyed the shelves in Henry’s office. “These books all belong to y’all now. I suppose it would make sense to sell some of the more valuable ones instead of just letting them sit here.” She didn’t sound particularly enthusiastic about it.
“I’d rather not sell any.”
Her smile was warm with approval. “I’m glad. These books have become special to me. I look up from my desk and there they are, lined up in colorful rows, waiting for me to choose one. I’d hate to see any of them leave. And old books smell so good!”
“Yes, they do.” He’d never met anyone who’d mentioned that, but it was one of his favorite scents. From now on he’d also associate it with Luna. “I used to spend hours in here. Henry let me read anything, even if it was a first edition worth a great deal of money.”
“Geraldine said he was generous.” She laughed. “Well, obviously he was if he built her a castle.”
“But I’ve always wondered why he made it so big, with so many bedrooms.”
Luna cocked her head. “She never told you?”
“No, and I didn’t think to ask until now, when it’s too late.”
“Well, she told me, one night during happy hour down on the beach. I suppose I can say, now that she’s gone.”
Colin found himself feeling jealous of the closeness Luna had enjoyed with Geraldine, but he could have had that, too, if he’d made more of an effort. “You don’t have to if you’d rather not.”
“I don’t think she’d mind. But first of all I have to ask, were Henry and Geraldine considered truly mated?”
“I’m certain of it.” Colin had fond memories of watching them hold hands and steal an occasional kiss when they thought he wasn’t paying attention.
“Then I don’t understand, because they tried and tried to have children and couldn’t. Why not?”
“Being truly mated doesn’t guarantee pregnancy. It only means you can’t have a pregnancy unless that condition is met.” He thought about all the bedrooms in Whittier House. “I can’t believe they planned to have enough children to fill the place.”
“No, but they wanted a bunch. They added the extra space so that any who chose to stay on the island could do so, even after they mated. I think Henry and Geraldine secretly wanted to start their own pack.”
“So they wanted children, after all.” Colin had convinced himself that children hadn’t been important to Geraldine, but now he could see why his visits had meant so much to her. “I’ve been a sorry excuse for a nephew, that’s for bloody sure.”
Luna rested her hand lightly on his arm. “Don’t blame yourself. She wouldn’t want that.”
Her touch, even though it was muted by the sleeve of his dress shirt, jolted him out of his guilty reverie and tossed him right back into a hot cauldron of lust. He looked into her eyes, and he must have transmitted every bit of that surge of lust with one glance, because she jerked her hand away as if she’d laid it on a hot stove. Yet she held his gaze.
“Do I scare you?” he asked.
“Some.”
“I don’t mean to.”
“I know. It’s me. I hadn’t spent much time alone with a male Were until you arrived.”
“Are you ready to call it a night?” He fought the strong urge to reach out and stroke her cheek as he would a frightened child, except she was not a child, and once he started touching her, he wasn’t sure how easily he’d be able to stop. He clenched both hands into fists and wondered if he should make a move. Probably not.
She moistened her lips. “So y’all don’t want to go over my income projections?”
That Southern drawl of hers just might be his undoing. It slid over him like warm honey, and he longed to hear how sweet and seductive that voice would become once he’d introduced her to the wonders of mutual satisfaction. His groin tightened, warning him that there were limits to his self-control.
“Let’s do that tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Her eyes searched his, as if uncertain how the dance should go. “Then I’ll say goodnight.” She turned toward the door.
He didn’t want her to go, but he didn’t have any reason to ask her to stay that didn’t involve stripping naked. He didn’t think she was ready for that. Of course, he couldn’t be sure what she was ready for, because he hadn’t dealt with a virgin in years, and he was out of practice.
Then he had an inspiration. “I’m going to set up my telescope on the roof. Do you like stargazing?” After he said it, he groaned inwardly. What an obvious ploy to get a woman alone in the dark.
She turned back to him, her face alight. “I’ve never tried it, but sure. Geraldine told me how much you used to enjoy it.”
“Then let’s do that.” At first he was astonished that she didn’t laugh at his clumsy attempt to coax her into an area that contained a bed. Then
he realized that she wasn’t sophisticated enough to laugh at what would have been obvious to any other female Were but was not obvious to her.
“I’ll go change into jeans and a sweatshirt and come to your room. See you soon.” She hurried out of the library and headed toward the back stairs that were a shortcut to the corridor where she currently had a room.
Colin followed her out and walked toward the entry hall and the main staircase leading to his wing. As he climbed the stairs, he told himself not to expect the stargazing plan to pave the way for sex. It might, though, and if it did, he’d make sure the experience was all it should be.
After years of celibacy, Luna deserved excellence, and providing that was his responsibility. He felt the weight of it crushing some of his anticipation. Then again, as a virgin, she’d have no basis of comparison. She wouldn’t know if he was great, adequate, or dismal.
The weight lifted and his anticipation returned. He took the rest of the stairs two at a time.
Chapter Eight
Luna wasn’t sure what she wanted to happen tonight, but she was thrilled for an excuse to stay with Colin a little longer. Being with him created a buzz of excitement deep inside her body, and for the first time in her life she didn’t try to tamp down that delicious vibration.
She took off her ivory dress, one she’d carefully chosen for tonight’s dinner because she felt more sophisticated when she wore it. Geraldine had taken her to Seattle one memorable day many months ago, and had insisted on buying her clothes she never could have afforded on her own. After protesting that she couldn’t accept, Luna had relented when Geraldine admitted she’d always wanted a daughter to shop for.
The ivory dress had been Geraldine’s favorite. As Luna hung it in the closet, she had a strange thought. Could Geraldine have left Whittier House to Colin in hopes that he and Luna were destined to be mated? Surely not. Geraldine knew that Luna had found security on Le Floret, and Colin had obligations in Scotland.
So perhaps Geraldine hadn’t meant them to be bonded for life, but she might have thought Colin would be the perfect Were to teach Luna about sex. Although Luna had never spoken of such things with Geraldine, anyone with Geraldine’s powers of observation would have guessed that Luna was lacking in her knowledge of males.
But it was self-centered and ridiculous to think that Geraldine had willed her entire estate to Colin for Luna’s sake. Wishful thinking, too. She’d spent her life dreaming that someone, somewhere, would fill the void left by her mother. Geraldine had done that for a brief time, but imagining that Geraldine had organized her will to create a meeting between Colin and Luna was not realistic.
Pulling on her jeans and a dark green sweatshirt, Luna shoved her feet into a pair of loafers and left her room. Across the hall, the door to Geraldine’s old room was closed. Luna felt a pang as she imagined cleaning it out and making it ready for paying guests. But it was a wonderful room with a balcony and a view of the water, so leaving it as a shrine to Geraldine was not a sound business decision.
Luna was determined to make sound business decisions and justify Colin’s faith in her. But the rest of this particular night wasn’t about business. Whether Geraldine had envisioned a relationship between Colin and Luna or not, she’d set the wheels in motion for them to meet. Luna couldn’t shake the feeling that Geraldine would have wanted them to be friends, at the very least.
Luna hadn’t had many friends in her life. As she took the long walk from her bedroom to Colin’s, she went over the short list. First was Cecily, a girl she’d met as a child in New Orleans. Luna had abandoned any hope of staying friends with Cecily after the first shift happened. As a runaway teen, she’d had superficial connections with people and Weres, but nothing lasting.
Coming to Le Floret a year ago had changed her life. Geraldine had welcomed her with open arms, and that had been enough of an endorsement for Janet, Sybil, and Dulcie to draw her into their tight circle. Luna counted all of them as friends.
Hector was the only Were on the island who hadn’t totally accepted her. She would have to deal with that now that they were all staying on the island.
She didn’t have to think about Hector tonight, however. Tonight she would stargaze with Colin MacDowell, Laird of Glenbarra. His door was open, but she knocked on the doorframe, anyway, because she felt odd simply wandering into his room. She didn’t see him anywhere in the astronomy-themed room.
She’d been inside once, when Geraldine had taken her on a tour of Whittier House and had spent a great deal of time pointing out the details of this room. Luna had wondered why this paragon Geraldine obviously adored hadn’t come back to visit, but Geraldine had explained that he’d become responsible for the entire MacDowell pack and couldn’t get away. She’d seemed at peace with his absence, although a little wistful that she hadn’t seen him in fifteen years.
Hinges creaked, and Colin’s denim-covered legs emerged from the trap door at the top of the metal spiral staircase leading to the tower above.
“I’m here,” she called out.
“Good.” His accent made it sound like gud. “The scope is ready.” He started down the stairs, his gym shoes creating a dull chime as they hit each step. He’d obviously changed clothes, too, and had on his Space Needle hooded sweatshirt from the night before.
The first time she’d stepped into this room, she hadn’t paid much attention to the bed other than to notice that the bedspread and curtains matched. But with Colin actually present in the room, the décor became less important and the bed took on more significance.
Luna had seen enough movies and read enough books to know that sex could take place anywhere, but beds were the most common location for humans or those in human form. After years spent working in hotels, Luna easily identified this one as a queen size, which was plenty big enough for two.
“My aunt probably told you that she was responsible for my love of astronomy,” Colin said.
Luna’s attention, previously riveted to the bed, snapped abruptly back to him. “She did.” His chocolate and caramel hair had been tossed by the night breeze, and his blue eyes glowed with anticipation. Maybe the prospect of stargazing was responsible for that glow, but Luna thought she might have something to do with it, too.
Colin glanced around the room. “She told me to aim for the stars.”
“She said that to me, too.”
“And you’ve done that. You’re determined to take what you have, which is a foothold on this island, and turn it into something that will benefit you and many others.”
She’d come up with her plan for primarily selfish reasons, and his praise made her uncomfortable. “It’s a matter of survival,” she said quietly.
“I understand, but I think it’s more than that. You have vision, Luna. I’m not sure I can say the same.”
“But it’s easier for me. I have only myself to think about. From what Geraldine said, y’all have to consider the needs of your entire pack. That takes a different kind of vision.”
He smiled. “You are entirely too good for my ego. Shall we go up?”
The effect of that bright, genuine, and damned sexy smile was instantaneous and devastating. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think or even manage to make herself walk toward the spiral staircase. She stared at him while a voice inside her head shouted Take me! Take me, now!
“Luna?” He peered at her. “Are you all right?’
With a quick shake of her head, she cleared the lust from her brain. She’d been right to avoid sexual entanglement in the past if it turned her into a deaf mute with a one-track mind.
But now, with Colin, she’d let down her guard. “I’m fine.” She held her breath as she walked past him because his musky scent was liable to draw her into another catatonic state. She didn’t want him to think that she was so easily distracted or he might reconsider his decision to put her in charge of Whittier House.
Somehow she made it up the metal staircase without tripping or falling backward into his arms.
She considered that maneuver, because she desperately wanted him to wrap those strong arms around her and give her another kiss. The very thought of it created squiggles in her belly and a moistness between her legs.
So this was what arousal was all about. If she turned her passion loose, would it flatten her and everything in its path? She had no way of knowing.
But Colin radiated a strength and steadiness that she believed she could count on. He wasn’t that much older than she was in terms of years, but he was vastly more experienced in the way of the world, the way of Weres in sexual situations.
Plus Geraldine had loved him. That more than anything had convinced her that she could safely let herself go. Maybe rationalization came into play, because she wanted to surrender and didn’t care to consider potential drawbacks. But whether her trust was well-placed or not, she’d never know unless she took a chance.
Grabbing handholds on the roof outside the trap door, she pulled herself through the opening and crawled rather ungracefully onto the flat roof, which was surrounded by the gap-toothed parapet of the tower. Once out, she stood and took a deep breath of cool night air scented with the tang of salt.
The whisper of waves stroking soft sand drifted up from the beach, and a three-quarter moon cast a silver path across the dark water. Tipping back her head, she gazed at stars flung like powdered sugar over the night sky.
“Incredible, isn’t it?”
At the sound of his low voice with its soft Scottish burr coming from less than three feet away, she tingled all over. “Yes.”
“Ever been up here before?”
“No.” She lowered her gaze before she grew dizzy. “I have a touch of acrophobia.”
“You should’ve told me, lass. I wouldn’t have asked you to climb up here if I’d known that.”
“No problem.” She glanced over at him. “Having someone with me makes a difference. And now that I know the parapets are waist-high, that helps, too. Standing on the ground, it’s impossible to tell how high they are. If they’d only been a foot or two, I’d be hyperventilating right now.” As it was, she still felt slightly breathless, mostly because he appeared mysteriously sexy in the moonlight.
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