Tropical Lynx's Lover (Shifting Sands Resort 4)

“I’m not really caught up on my sleep,” Travis fibbed. “I’m just going to grab a quiet dinner out of the staff fridge and go to bed early.”

He didn’t really expect to sleep, given the grip Lynx had on his nerves, but remembering the contents of the fridge made him realize how hungry he was.

He followed Lydia and Bastian carefully out of the laundry, and was relieved to see that the bar was deserted. The sun was already setting, sinking down into the ocean horizon, and Travis was happy to slink away along the path to the staff house by the cliffs.

Breck’s cake sounded even sounded pretty good.

Lynx helpfully provided the picture of feeding it, bite by fluffy bite, to his mate. White frosting contrasted against her dark rose lips, and her tongue…

I’m going to give you a cold bath, you filthy tomcat, Travis threatened in return. That is Tex’s mate. Not ours.

But Lynx’s delicious image lingered, despite Travis’ best attempts to squelch it.

Chapter 6

Jenny stared at the computer screen. It was black, and for a long, confused moment, she had no idea how to go about turning it on.

Before she could confess to the unexpected gap in her knowledge, Scarlet grew impatient and reached over to press the space bar and bring the screen back from sleep.

“I very much appreciated your work with the World Mr. Shifter contract,” the red-haired owner said. “Beehag’s lawyer is making noises about trying to sell the property out from underneath us again, and I want a better understanding about our lease terms to fight him with.”

“Of course,” Jenny said faintly.

Scarlet opened the document in question with quick efficient motions on the touchpad while Jenny was still trying to remember what a touchpad was.

After a moment of stillness while Jenny fought down panic, Scarlet added, “I am, of course, happy to pay you your company rates for your time.”

Jenny looked blankly at her, then realized that she wasn’t going to be able to bluff her way through competence with this. “I’m sorry,” she said shrilly. “I… I… can’t read it.”

The words on the screen might as well have been in a foreign language, Jenny could make no sense of any of it. The letters simply refused to order themselves into any kind of recognizable pattern.

It was a terrifying, helpless feeling, and Jenny was deeply ashamed to admit it.

Scarlet frowned at her, and Jenny told herself it wasn’t probably wasn’t meant to be a judgmental frown.

“Curious,” the resort owner said blandly, giving a little shrug of dismissal. “We can try at another time when you feel up to it.”

Jenny got to her feet, trying not to wring her webbed fingers nervously. “I’m so sorry,” she said meekly.

Scarlet’s expression softened. “I’m sure it will pass,” she said kindly. “Your sister is at the bar if you’d like to go see her.”

Jenny nodded, and let her feet lead her out of Scarlet’s resort-top office and down the white gravel path to the bar. It had just stopped raining, and the sunlight was burning the raindrops off of all the jungle foliage; it smelled clean and delicious.

Laura had a swift hug for her in greeting when Jenny arrived at the bar.

“I’m about to go make up a few of the cottages with fresh laundry,” her twin said. “We may or may not be millionaires, but sitting on my ass doesn’t suit me, and who knows when we’ll actually see any of that.”

“Can I help you with it?” Jenny asked.

Laura looked skeptical, but covered it quickly with a smile. “Sure!” she said. “It will go faster with a second set of hands.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t. Jenny’s claws snagged on the sheets and she was hopelessly clumsy about everything Laura tried to have her help with. Finally, she kept herself to merely sweeping, careful to keep the bristles on the floor so she didn’t endanger any of the artwork or vases.

Laura took the time to catch her up. “I talked to Scarlet’s contact in a government agency that deals with shifter affairs. His name was Tony, and he was able to get things expedited with getting the charges brought against Fred for killing our parents and withholding our life insurance settlement. I even talked to him about bringing charges against one of the big players in the cartel, Blacksmith - they were already trying to build a case and planning a sting, I guess, and they think my testimony will be enough to make things stick. He said the best thing to do was lie low here until it comes to trial. You’d have a better idea of how that will work than I do.”

“I’m - I was - a civil lawyer, not a criminal lawyer,” Jenny told her, marveling at how competent and self-sufficient Laura had become as she swirled through making beds. “And how did you get mixed up in the mob, anyway?”

“Cartel,” Laura corrected. “You know me - I have terrible taste in men and worse judgement when it comes to work.” She tucked a sheet in and pulled it smooth. Clearly, she had done this before, many times; she moved through the housekeeping tasks confidently. “I didn’t ask questions I should have until it was too late. Blacksmith paid well in cash and didn’t make me fill out a W2.”