Lure of the Fox

by Anna Lowe

  “It’s perfect. No one will associate you with the reception, and we can plant you there a couple of days ahead of time to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

  Kai wanted her to try to resist Jake for a couple of days? The past week had been torture, but pretending to be married would be hell.

  My kind of hell, her fox murmured, happily lashing her tail.

  “The trick is to stick as close to the truth as possible when you make up a story,” Kai went on. “So, you met overseas and fell madly in love…”

  Ella exchanged looks with Jake and gulped. No need for fabrications so far.

  “…You ran into each other a few months after being discharged and decided life was too short not to get married…” Kai continued.

  She frowned, but Jake nodded like that was exactly his plan.

  “…And here you are, on your honeymoon.” Kai finished.

  Ella put up her hands in a signal to stop. “Who’s going to believe we could afford that place?”

  Silas grinned. “Let’s just say you found a generous benefactor with a soft spot for war heroes.”

  Ella shifted from foot to foot, searching for an excuse to reject the whole crazy plan.

  Damn it, she ended up bellowing into her friends’ minds so everyone but Jake could hear. I can’t do that. Jake can’t do that. It’s too much.

  Come on, Ella, Boone said, tilting his head toward Jake. You know you like him. How hard can it be?

  I do not like him! What would give you such a stupid idea?

  The guys exchanged knowing looks, and Hunter gave an apologetic bear shrug. You talk in your sleep. I mean…now and then, what with shared barracks and all. Well, just a few times.

  Lots of times, Boone corrected. And it’s always about Jake.

  Her cheeks heated. Don’t you dare try to set us up.

  Kai grinned. Why not? You two would be good together.

  Right. A shifter and a human. I could kill him with the mating bite.

  Everyone froze, staring at her. Who said anything about mating? Kai asked.

  Ella froze. Jesus, what had she just said? She looked at Jake, whose eyes darted around, clearly wondering what was going on.

  “Listen,” Jake said, breaking into the awkward silence that had stretched on too long. “I’m happy to help, but maybe we can think of a better plan.”

  “Maybe we should,” Tessa said, coming to the rescue again.

  Ella ought to have been relieved, but all she felt was a sinking sense of defeat. Of a dream nearly coming true, only to slip away.

  Well, maybe… her fox started, not ready to give up.

  Maybe, what?

  Ella frowned as everyone waited for her. She’d come to Maui to help her friends, so it didn’t feel right to say no. The idea of extra eyes inside the resort did make a lot of sense, and who would suspect a couple of honeymooners? There was Jake to consider too. A man like him needed a challenge, a mission. A team to contribute to and a regular diet of impossible odds to overcome. He needed this assignment to find his footing again.

  Our mate needs us to help him, her fox said.

  So maybe if she said yes to this crazy gig…

  Yes! Yes! her fox cheered.

  …and found a way to let him down gently or make him see all her inner faults…

  No! No!

  …then she could help Jake get his head to where it needed to be to settle into civilian life again.

  She pursed her lips. Was that crazy, or could she possibly resist Jake long enough to help him?

  Worst case, she would explain about shifters. The idea of her turning into a fox with whiskers, four legs, and a tail would turn Jake off, for sure. If it didn’t — well, she’d have to figure something else out. Like the truth.

  She gulped, wondering how that might go.

  I want you, Jake, but mating could kill you, so you’re really better off with someone else.

  Ella took a deep breath, ordering herself to abort the mission before it started. But Silas was looking at her, tapping his foot. Jake’s eyes were fixed on her like a man awaiting judgment in a higher court.

  She rehearsed her response once or twice in her head. No. Absolutely not. I’m out of here.

  But all she managed to say was, “Not one of your better plans, Kai.”

  Jake let out a slow breath and leaned forward slightly.

  “Aw, come on. If anyone can pull it off, you can.” Kai grinned.

  Ella wished he would consider what was at stake. But Silas’s safety was at stake too, and Silas was part of her unit. A soldier didn’t turn her back on her unit, no matter what.

  She looked at Jake. “I’m not sure you know what you’re getting into.”

  He shrugged, and his lips curled into a slight smile, making her knees go weak. “I’m in if you’re in.”

  Every alarm in her brain was clanging desperately, though her inner fox just cooed and hummed.

  She wavered for another second, searching for the strength to say no. But all that came out was a weak, “All right, then. I guess we’re in.”

  Hopefully, those wouldn’t become famous last words.

  “Thank you so much,” Cassandra gushed, hugging her tightly. “I know it’s a lot to ask.”

  If only you knew, Ella nearly said.

  “So, our next steps…” Kai mused.

  Silas ticked off his fingers. “They’ll need a marriage certificate.”

  Ella’s head whipped around. “Whoa. How about forging one?”

  Silas shook his head. “We want this to be ironclad. You can get divorced afterward.”

  “Divorced?” Jake’s grin vanished.

  “You can get married in Oahu — there are fewer people who might recognize Ella there — and fly over to Maui for your honeymoon. All very spontaneous.”

  “Oh, it’s spontaneous, all right,” Ella muttered.

  Tessa looked skeptical. “I think it could work, but they’ll need a little coaching for anyone to believe they’re really honeymooners.”

  Boone laughed. “Ella will need a lot of coaching. Somehow, I can’t picture her in a white dress.”

  “Funny, I can picture you in one,” she shot back. But, damn. Boone was right. She hadn’t worn a dress since she was about ten.

  Boone put his hands on the sarong wrapped around his waist and winked. “Real men have no problems with skirts.”

  “Then maybe you should marry Jake,” she tried. The second she said it, her fox growled.

  No one’s getting Jake but me.

  Ella rolled her eyes. The beast was taking the whole absurd idea too literally.

  “He is cute,” Boone joked, putting an arm around Nina. “But sadly, I’m not the eligible bachelor I once was. So we’d better stick to you two as the happy couple.”

  And who knows, he added, waggling his eyebrows at her. You might even have some fun.

  “They definitely need coaching,” Nina said, letting her eyes flit between Ella and Jake. “You know, to warm up to each other a little.”

  Ella crossed her arms over her chest. She was steel-hard, cool, and collected, and she had to stay that way, because the only other gear she had around Jake was panting like a fox in heat.

  Kai flapped a hand. “So show us happy couple already.”

  Ella scowled and shuffled a step closer to Jake, who slid a stiff arm across her shoulders. She wiggled and frowned, pretending she hated every minute of it. But a warm, happy glow filled her veins, and she found herself pressing against his side. Damn, that felt good. Like light filling her soul, chasing the loneliness away. Like hope and goodness and—

  She caught herself there. Christ, she really had to watch out.

  Tessa looked skeptical. “They need a lot of coaching.”

  “Hey,” Ella protested.

  “Different clothes would help,” Cassandra said, tapping her lips.

  Ella looked down at herself. Okay, so she was wearing her usual fatigue pants and a green tank top. Wisps of
hair had escaped her ponytail, and her skin was layered with dust from a long day. In other words, business as usual. Nothing wrong with that. And Jake looked fine too…

  Really fine, her fox hummed.

  …in that olive T-shirt that stretched across his chest just so. His brown hair was an inch longer than he’d had it in the army, and that suited him. The bulge of his bicep rested comfortably over her shoulder, and his hip warmed her side.

  “You need some serious coaching.” Dawn sighed.

  “Hey,” Ella and Jake both protested at the same time.

  Kai waved their protest away. “We’ll figure it out. You two just play your parts.”

  Dawn broke into a smile. “Don’t worry. I know just the person you need. As a coach, I mean.”

  Ella bit her lip. Oh, she would worry, all right.

  Chapter Five

  The perfect person for the job, as Ella discovered, was Lily, a bubbly local and friend of Dawn’s.

  “Oh, isn’t this just wonderful?” Lily gushed early the next morning. Her mu’umu’u flapped wildly as they walked toward Kai’s helicopter in a crouch. “All so exciting.”

  Ella kept her lips sealed. Although she’d helicoptered or rappelled into dozens of missions in the past, this seemed like the most dangerous one of all.

  But, zoom — it all happened in what seemed like the blink of an eye. The flight to Oahu. The taxi ride to city hall. She nearly balked at the threshold, but Jake nudged her over with a grin she couldn’t read. Did he love the idea of a sham marriage? Hate it? Something in between?

  “Do you, Ella Louise Kitt, take Jacob Michael McBride…” the official said in a totally flat tone.

  Ella blinked a few times. How on earth had she ever agreed? To have and to hold was far, far too tempting a prospect when it came to the man with puppy dog eyes and full, all-too-kissable lips.

  But Jake’s hand was warm and comforting around hers, and when he kissed her, they both ended up hanging on a little too long.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife.”

  “Holy shit,” she blurted half an hour later, still reeling from it all. “I’m married.”

  Married to Jake. Her fox wagged its tail. Don’t worry. Everything will be all right.

  “Don’t worry,” Lily chirped, beaming.

  Ella made a face. Nothing made her stress more than Don’t worry.

  “I have it all planned out,” Lily said. “You and I will go shopping…”

  I hate shopping, Ella grunted at Kai, who just grinned.

  “…while Kai and Jake do their thing,” Lily finished.

  Ella had no idea what that thing was, but the men went off in one direction, while she and Lily went in another.

  “Oh, this is going to be so fun,” Lily squeaked, dragging her toward a store on Honolulu’s Kalakaua Avenue with Silas’s platinum card in her hand.

  Ella made a face. Fun in one of Oahu’s priciest boutiques? It might have been fun if she were one of those pretty-in-pink types, but that just wasn’t her. She liked practical clothes. Earth tones. Pockets to stow combat gear and other essentials, like her Swiss Army knife. Granola bars. Grenades.

  “Ladies, we need help,” Lily announced the second they entered the store.

  Three saleswomen descended on Ella like locusts, and the torture began.

  “No way. Never.” She waved away the saleswoman brandishing a glittery strapless thing.

  Lily waved the woman closer. “Oh, it’s you.”

  Ella grimaced. That dress was so not her, it wasn’t funny. The only thing worse was the matching underwear. She gaped at the price tag. “Why is it that the less fabric something is made of, the more it costs?”

  “That’s fashion,” Lily sighed. “Anyway, I think the long-sleeved dress is better. You know, to cover the tattoos.”

  Ella looked at the patterns etched into her upper arms. One swirling pattern was a subtle tribute to her mother and Brian, reminding her to never, ever forget. The other she’d picked up when her entire unit had theirs done on a short R&R in Bangkok. “What’s wrong with my tattoos?”

  Lily turned to the saleswomen as if she hadn’t heard. “Maybe something in green?”

  The women scattered. When they reappeared, one carried green shoes that might have suited Dorothy for a trip to Oz. Another held up a sleeveless number with a plunging neckline Ella could never pull off, and a third waved a tight silk dress with tiny knot buttons.

  “Cassandra could get away with wearing that, but not me,” Ella said, pointing at the dragon embroidered down one side of the fabric.

  “Don’t be silly. You have the perfect figure for that dress.”

  Ella had the perfect figure for charging across rocky landscapes or crawling under barbed wire, but definitely not for that dress. “I’d barely fill it out.”

  “Nonsense. Oh! Look at that.” Lily’s eyes widened at the next item — a pink chiffon jumper that almost made the green strapless number look acceptable. Then she checked her watch. “So many dresses, so little time. Ladies, we’ll take them all.”

  “What?” Ella yelped.

  Lily just waved a hand while the saleswomen rushed to pack what appeared to be half the store. “Add a few casual things too. Oh, and that adorable bikini.”

  “That adorable what?” Ella sputtered.

  Lily smiled her isn’t this all so wonderful? smile. “We’ll pick them up in about an hour.”

  Ella eyed the back door. Running from a challenge had never been her style, but hell. She was in over her head with this one.

  “Come, come,” Lily clucked, grabbing her hand. “We have to get moving. We have to meet the men at the airport soon…”

  Lily said men like they were some different, fascinating species, but Ella had spent her whole life in male-dominated domains. What was the big deal?

  “We’re nearly out of time, and we haven’t even gotten your hair done yet.”

  Ella jerked a hand to her head. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

  Lily gave her a distinct, Where do I begin? look, but all she said was, “Trust me.”

  Ella gritted her teeth. Trust me was second in line to Don’t worry.

  Two hours later, Ella and Lily crammed into a taxi with a sinful number of bags — a minivan taxi, because a normal one would be too small — and headed to the airport.

  “It would be so much easier for Kai to fly us back,” Ella grumbled. Not that the helicopter stood a chance of lifting off with the weight of the new his-and-hers luggage Lily had picked out along with everything else. “Or to call off this whole honeymoon.”

  Lily clapped with glee. “See? You’re internalizing it already. That’s great.”

  Not great, Ella wanted to bark.

  “Plus, it’s part of your cover story,” Lily added.

  Ella had to give her that one. To anyone on Maui who cared to note such things, she and Jake would look like just another pair of honeymooners stepping off a commercial flight. When they arrived at the Kapa’akea Resort, everything would appear legit.

  “Yoo-hoo! Kai,” Lily hollered across the airport.

  “Hi,” Kai said, helping the driver unload the bags. When he turned and noticed Ella, he did a double take.

  “Holy shit, Ella. Is that really you?”

  Ella scowled and grunted. “Not sure any more.”

  “Now, now. Is that the way to talk to the happy bride?” Lily chided.

  Kai stared, looking her up and down. “No. Yes. Sorry. I mean… Wow, Ella. You look so good.”

  She rolled her eyes. “And I punch really hard. Just remember that before you open your mouth again.”

  Kai turned slightly, keeping his groin out of kicking range. Her hānai brother knew her too well.

  “Now all we need is the dashing groom,” Lily said, looking around.

  Ella made a face. Lily had missed her calling in life. She could have hosted a reality show called Reluctant Brides or Spontaneous Wedding Bells.

  “He’s on the wa
y.” Kai poked Ella in the upper arm. “Wow. It really is you.”

  “Watch it, Beaver Brain,” she muttered, reverting to the nickname she and Hunter used to pester Kai with when they were kids.

  “Oh, there he is,” Lily chirped.

  Ella turned around with a sigh. Fine. Time to pretend she was—

  “Jake?” she squeaked. The moment she spotted him coming toward her, she froze, and every grouchy thought fled her mind.

  Yu-um, her fox whistled, thumping its tail.

  Maybe it wasn’t Jake. Maybe he had a twin brother who modeled for fancy colognes or Armani suits. But then she spotted the tiny scar on his upper lip. Wow. It really was him. Regular old Jake always looked good in an All-American, G.I.-Joe way. But this Jake was drop-dead gorgeous. His sideburns had been trimmed back and given a sharp line that echoed the angles of his cheeks. And, wow. Either Kai had managed to get a suit tailored in record time, or Jake was one of those perfectly proportioned men who could slip into any garment and make it look like a second skin.

  Perfect, her fox murmured.

  The cut of his jacket showed off his tapered body, and the slacks hinted at the slabs of muscle underneath. His sky-blue eyes looked brighter than ever against the navy cloth, and he’d traded his boots for leather shoes that shone in the light.

  Jake stopped and stared at her too. Ella wished for pockets to shove her hands into, but there weren’t any in the airy, copper-colored sundress Lily had made her change into at the last shop. The hairdresser had insisted on shampooing her hair twice, blow-drying it to bits, and keeping it loose, so it waved every time she moved her head. That drove her crazy, but Jake didn’t seem to mind.

  “Ella,” he murmured.

  She couldn’t move. She couldn’t speak, because the only section of her brain that still operated was the part that didn’t know about danger, limits, or regrets.

  Lily nudged her. “Come along, now. Play the part. Honeymoon, remember?”

  Ella’s blood rushed as her mind flooded with thoughts of how nice it would be to spend a happy lifetime with Jake. To stop denying herself and revel in the purest, deepest form of love. The kind destiny sprinkled on a lucky few and gifted with joyous, fulfilling lives. She saw things she’d never allowed herself to picture before, like long, sunset walks with Jake — not on Maui, but back in Arizona, where red-tinted rocks flamed in the last hour of daylight. Better yet, a sunset run in fox form or cozy midnight hours gazing at the stars with Jake warming her side. The subtle turn of seasons and the absence of any pressing rush that allowed every precious minute to stretch into an hour.