The Sea Wolf's Mate (Hideaway Cove 2)

Why, why, why hadn’t she put her bra back on when she got changed?

She climbed a step back up the stairs, but that only put her boobs level with his eyes.

Arlo’s eyes darted either side of her. “Excuse me,” he muttered in his gravelly voice, and dodged around the ladder.

“It’s small with us all down here, huh?” Jacqueline said, trying to ignore her blazing cheeks. “Cozy.”

“Uh-huh.” Kenna had scooted into the booth to get out of the way. “Um, you can have the bed, if you want. We’ve got fur coats, too, so we don’t need—”

Jacqueline fixed her with a mock glare. “How long have you been camping out in that ancient concrete block?” she demanded.

“Um, a few weeks, I guess…”

“Then it’s definitely your turn to sleep in a bed. I’ll be fine on the bench.”

“Here you go.” Arlo grabbed an armful of extra blankets from the cupboard at the end of the bed. He handed a few to Jacqueline, and spread the others on the mattress, making a sort of nest on top of it. “It’s a few hours down the coast to Hideaway. By lunchtime tomorrow, you’ll be in your new home.”

“Isn’t that a bit—” optimistic, Jacqueline had been about to say, but managed to stop herself at the last minute. “Quick? I mean, I don’t know how shifters do things, but they’re just kids. Won’t you have to wait until Eric is here to decide a place for them to live?”

Arlo shook his head. “This isn’t the first time the town’s taken in strays. There’ll be more than enough houses open to them until this Eric gets here. And anyway…”

He pressed his lips together, his eyes shadowing. Whatever he’d stopped himself from saying, it looked like an old hurt.

Dylan raised his head quizzically and Jacqueline decided to interrupt.

“And anyway, now that they’re here there’s no way you’re letting them get away, right? No more camp-outs in derelict buildings.”

“Exactly.” Arlo flashed her a relieved smile and her heart lifted. Maybe this all was going to be all right after all. It wasn’t the fling she’d been hoping for this weekend, but it was something. A tiny sliver of magic, and helping people, before she headed back to her own life.

Or whatever it was she was going to make of her life.

“No more baths in a sink,” Kenna muttered. She caught Jacqueline’s eye and blushed, her hand going to her tangled mop of hair.

“What’s your house like?” Dylan piped up.

Arlo frowned. “My house?”

“Yeah, where we’re going.”

Arlo straightened. “Well, it’s…” He ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes in a silent groan. Jacqueline thought she saw his lips moving as though he was saying something under his breath. “You know I’m not taking you to stay with me, right?”

Kenna folded her arms, her face settling into mutinous lines. “Then where are you taking us?”

“Well, maybe my parents—my foster parents. Dorothy and Alan Sweets. They’re all set up with the county to take in kids that need a home. They’ll look after you until Eric gets a place set up for you.”

“But—” Dylan began, and Kenna shushed him. He stared at her, bewildered, and then turned to Jacqueline. “But what about…”

Jacqueline was confused. “Me?”

Dylan nodded, his eyes huge. Kenna growled something and Dylan swatted t

he air as though he was trying to bat away an invisible fly.

“I live in Dunston, not Hideaway Cove. I doubt you want to live there after everything you’ve been through to get to Hideaway,” Jacqueline said, smiling, and Dylan’s face fell.

“You’re going back to Dunston? But I thought you and A—”

“Shut up, Dylan!” Kenna screamed, jumping to her feet. “Just shut up for once, will you?”