Silence fell between him and Kat, but it was nowhere near as easy as it originally had been.
“You have to trust me,” she said eventually. “I really do know what I’m talking about.”
“I have no real reason to believe that.” Sure, her background checked out okay, but that didn’t mean she and her grandmother weren’t pulling some stunt.
And while his instincts said he could trust her, his instincts had been proven wrong before. Not often, but sometimes when it really counted.
“You don’t have a lot of faith in women, do you?”
Her comment surprised him, and he looked at her. There was hurt in her green eyes, and while he regretted that, he had to wonder why. They might be sexually attracted to each other, but they were still strangers, after all. He had no more reason to trust her than he did any possible witness to a crime. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
She crossed her arms. “Do you often sleep with women you don’t trust?”
“All the time.” Because he didn’t trust any woman. Not nowadays.
“So women really are just a form of release to you?”
“Yes.” He looked at her again. “But you knew that. You’ve known from the start that I was a werewolf.”
She pulled her gaze from his and stared ahead. He had a sudden feeling it was going to take an awful lot of chocolate to get back into her good graces.
They cruised on. The terrain passed by, interesting but endless, and the vibrations coming through the steering wheel gradually got worse. Obviously, more damage had been done to the vehicle than he’d originally thought.
“What do you want to eat?” he asked as they rattled into Bandon.
She shrugged. “Something hot and hearty. I need to rebuild some energy.”
He cruised around, and they eventually settled for a classy-looking restaurant that was close to the beach. He stopped the car and watched her climb out, enjoying the flash of her honey-colored thighs. “Get us a table. I’ll take the Caddie to the service station just down the road, and be back as soon I can.”
She nodded and slammed the door shut. He watched until she entered the building, then headed to the service station. Thankfully, it had a mechanic who seemed to know what he was talking about, and after a quick few minutes under the car, the mechanic came up with the news he’d feared.
“The accident has broken the rear axle. I usually have replacements, but I’ve just used up my last.”
“How long will it take to get the parts in?”
“I’ve got them on order already. It shouldn’t be more than a day or so.”
They couldn’t wait that long, so he plucked a business card from his wallet. “Fix it as quickly as you can. Is there a place nearby where I can rent another?”
The mechanic took a quick glance at the card, then shoved it into a greasy pocket. “There sure is. Just down the road. Tell Jim I sent you, and he’ll give you a good deal.”
“Thanks. Call me when the car’s fixed?”
“Sure thing.”
He collected their bags, the condoms, and his gun out of the car, but by the time he’d arranged a rental and got back to the restaurant, an hour had passed. He glanced at his watch. They still had a two-hour drive to Rogue River. Time was slipping away too fast. Kat wasn’t eating when he arrived, which surprised him. She just sat at a table, sipping wine and staring out the window.
He slid into the chair opposite her. Things could have happened a whole lot quicker if he’d sat beside her and let the aura of the werewolf do its stuff, but as much as he wanted her, he also wanted her truly willing—a need that was a little disturbing and certainly something he’d never worried about before when in the midst of moon heat.
She glanced at him. There were smudges under her eyes, and her skin looked a little pale. “All set?”
“I had to rent a car. The Caddie’s out of action for a couple of days.”
“The Circle will reimburse all your expenses.” Her voice still held a touch of coolness.
He waved the comment away. He’d spend his entire savings if that was what it took to bring Janie home and this killer to justice.
A waitress came over and handed them both menus. After some consideration, Kat ordered a steak, and he chose the salmon. The woman gave them a cheery nod and disappeared into the kitchen.