The Sea Wolf's Mate (Hideaway Cove 2)

Jacqueline’s eyes slid towards his and her cheeks went slightly pink. “I just want to be clear, what happened before, it’s nothing to do with—well, what you can do. The wolf thing. Or the kids, of course.”

Her cheeks went even more pink and she looked down at her hands.

“This is the first time you’ve ever met shifters.” Arlo said. “You’re taking it well.”

“Have I ever met people who can turn into animals before? I think I’d remember that.” Jacqueline shook her head. “But it’s… I don’t know. I feel like I should be more surprised than I am, but I’m not, and anyway the important thing here is making sure the kids are safe. So I’m not complaining. In fact…”

Her cheeks darkened again and she made a small strangled sound. Arlo jerked towards her, and just stopped himself from placing his hand over hers. “What?”

Jacqueline was still shaking her head. “I just figured out why I’m so fine with it all,” she explained, laughing ruefully. “It’s because you’re all from Hideaway Cove.”

Arlo sat back. “Hang on.” He couldn’t help the alarm bells going off in his head. “How so?”

“Don’t worry.” Jacqueline raised her hands. “No one in Dunston has a clue about shifters. Your secret’s safe.” She pushed a stray curl off her forehead and leaned against the railing again. “Hideaway Cove is our closest neighbor but no one really knows anyone from there. Which makes sense, since you’re trying to keep yourselves secret. But it also means you’re sort of like the creepy empty house at the end of the street that everyone says is haunted.”

Arlo laughed. “Ghost stories?” I’ll have to tell Harrison. He’ll be thrilled.

Jacqueline grimaced. “More like you’re the boogeyman to blame for everything that goes wrong. Silly stuff, like—oh, you know. The mail’s late, must be Hideaway’s fault! The wind’s coming from Hideaway way, watch out for electrics playing up!”

“Wait.” If he’d just heard what he thought—that was even better than ghost stories. “Electrics?” Arlo asked carefully.

“Oh, like… after this last storm. It came up the coast from Hideaway, and ever since then phone lines have been getting crossed, the mayor’s electric car keeps doing wheelies down main street by itself…” Jacqueline trailed off. “What? You look like the cat who got the cream. I’m missing something. And—” Her expression changed, back to that almost-panicked wariness when she’d said she didn’t belong here. With him. Arlo’s chest tightened. “It’s okay if it’s a shifter thing, you don’t have to tell me.”

The more secrets you keep, the longer she’ll feel like you’re pushing her away. Arlo’s stomach twisted. Is this what Harrison had felt, when he met Lainie?

“It is,” he said out loud, “but mostly it’s a work thing.”

“Now I’m even more confused.”

“I’ve been having a long argument with a friend of mine about… certain things. I’d like to be there when you tell him that story about the electric car doing wheelies.”

Jacqueline raised her eyebrows. “He’s going to lose a bet?”

“I’m going to win the I-told-you-so of the century.” Arlo grinned.

“And…” Jacqueline licked her lips and Arlo’s eyes tracked the movement. He met her gaze again to see it bright with curiosity and… excitement? Anticipation?

Damn it, he wasn’t good enough at this. Telling people’s feelings just from what they looked like. It was easy with the kids, but Jacqueline? She was a closed book.

He took a deep breath, but Jacqueline got in first.

“You’re going to introduce me to this friend of yours?”

She still had that look in her eye. Arlo cleared his throat.

Please let this be the right answer. “Yes? There won’t be any avoiding it, sorry. Hideaway Cove’s pretty small. As soon as we dock, it’ll be all questions.”

Jacqueline was quiet for a moment. Her eyes searched his. Whatever she found there seemed to reassure her.

“Then maybe I’m meant to be here, after all,” she said quietly.

Arlo’s hand was less than six inches away from Jacqueline’s. A shiver of wolfish anticipation went through him and he tightened his grip on the railing. Like he’d told her only a few minutes before, his wolf didn’t understand human worries.

“I think you’re exactly where you need to be,” he murmured, his voice as gentle as he could manage. He wanted

to say more, but his wolf was too bristling-high inside him, every nerve on edge, for him to make human words.

He stared pleadingly at Jacqueline and slowly, like the sun rising over still waters, her face lit up. Her smile was tentative, only half-believing, and God, he needed to say something, anything, to push that smile from a half-believing sunrise to full midday heat.