Feral (Wolf Ranch 3)

“You live in both places?” I scrunched my forehead, trying to figure out how that worked.

“Just for now. We’re newly married—still getting settled.” Her hand drifted to her lower belly. The detective in me didn’t miss the gesture.

“Oh, congratulations.” I let my gaze drop to her belly, too.

“Oh!” She blushed. “Yes, I am expecting. It’s not public yet. How did you guess?”

I liked Audrey already. She seemed open and friendly. No hidden agendas. A down-to-earth type. “You rested your hand there.” I pointed. “Always a tell-tale sign.”

“You have kids?” She looked around as if some were hiding behind the furniture.

“Me? No. Single.”

“Your neighbor’s interested in you,” she replied with a grin, then took a sip of her drink.

I shrugged. “We had dinner. Nothing else.”

She frowned, cocked her head to the side. She had sleek dark hair and wore glasses, but the way she studied me was more from keenness than confusion.

“He moves fast. I’m impressed.”

I did, since I’d gone over and introduced myself, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

“Markle’s a nice guy and all, but I don’t see it getting all hot and heavy. I mean, he’s got this… fake cowboy vibe about him. You know what I mean?”

“Jett Markle?” she asked.

I took a drink. “Yeah. Who did you think?”

“Rob.”

I had butterflies in my stomach like a high school girl from just his name. “Rob?” I repeated.

“He’s interested in you. And he won’t be interested in knowing you went out with that jackass Markle.” She pushed her glasses up her nose and set her drink on the laminate counter.

I already found that much out. What I needed to know was if Rob had anything concrete on Jett besides shooting his dog. “What’s wrong with Jett?” I fished.

She pursed her lips as if she’d tasted something sour. “He’s just a jerk. He’s got a hard-on for your land.”

“Did you just say hard-on?” I couldn’t help but laugh, and she joined me.

“He does. I have no idea why, since you told him even before you got here you weren’t interested in selling.”

I shrugged. “I’m not. I am curious why he’s so eager though. I mean… is there oil or something?”

“Who knows. But I was talking about Rob.”

“Yes. Well, I’ve only spoken with Rob briefly.” First in just a towel—with a vibrator in my pussy. And then in a robe—with his cock against my belly. So yeah. Just briefly.

“The Wolf boys know what they want when they see it, and Rob wants you.”

I didn’t doubt her since I’d seen the proof. All… nine inches of it inside his jeans.

“That’s a little crazy.” It was. The way he’d looked at me when he found me in the bedroom, the way he’d ensured the other person he was with didn’t see me. The way he’d guaranteed me pleasure…

It was crazy, but that made me crazy, too, because I was still thinking about the possibility now. A fling would take the edge off, but I was supposed to be interested in Markle, not Rob Wolf. I’d be messing with my investigation.

No, my investigation was messing with my sexy times with a hot, bossy cowboy.

Her cell chimed, and she pulled it from her pocket. “Sorry.” She read the screen. “Shoot. I’ve got to go. I’m on call, and a patient’s water just broke.”

“No problem.”

“We should do a girl’s night soon. Marina’s just back in town, and I know she’d love to meet you.”

“Sounds great.” I led her back to the front door. It did, and it didn’t.

I’d love to hang out with her, maybe get more information on Jett, but the more people I met and befriended under false pretenses, the more would feel betrayed when my real identity was revealed, and the real Natalie showed up. I wasn’t here to make friends and have a good time. I wasn’t here to fix up this old house although that was what I’d been doing all morning, and I still needed to get up on the roof.

“I’ll be here working on the house.”

She glanced around. “It’s a nice place. Good bones. You could make it a bed and breakfast or something.”

I shrugged. Even if it was up to me, I’d have no clue how to run a business like that. I didn’t do hospitality. “Today I have to get up on the roof. There’s a leak, and it’s got to get fixed.”

She went down the steps, then turned back, tilted her chin up to look at the front of the house. “Be careful up there. I don’t want to see you in the ER.”

8

ROB

I stayed away overnight, my wolf keeping me awake. He was restless and riled after that kiss. After the pseudo-intervention in the kitchen. I’d just kissed my mate but was being pushed toward another woman. A she-wolf. Claiming and biting a female who wasn’t your mate might or might not end the moon madness—the subject was up for debate. There were not scientific studies on wolf shifter physiology.