I dipped my toes in the water and closed my eyes. For a moment I pretended I was dreaming, but like every time I’d had that delusion in the past few days, I opened my eyes to find myself right back where I started. I pushed away those thoughts and focused instead on Ryan Carter.

I had no idea who he was, but I had trouble believing he was a doctor. I’d known it from the moment we first made eye contact. I also knew he had an effect on me I’d never experienced before in my life.

I pushed the second thought away. It couldn’t help me. I needed to find out if he was on their side or mine. Of course he was probably on their side, but then did why did I want to trust him? Was it just because his eyes seemed to see deep into my soul, or the way he looked in that blazer? No, there was something about him that made me wonder if he was hiding something from Justin. Anyone willing to hide something from Justin was a potential ally of mine right now.

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. The sun was still high in the sky, and the bright afternoon was nothing like the darkness when I closed my eyes. I never thought I’d prefer darkness to the brightness of a sunny day on the beach, but that was because I never expected to end up stranded on an island with a crazy man.

“Hey.”

I jumped at the sound of the voice behind me before composing myself and turning around. I knew exactly who’d I find, yet I was still surprised by Ryan’s friendly face. There was a hesitation there, as if he was nervous. What in the world did he have to be nervous about? “Hi. Get tired of Justin too?”

He smiled ever so slightly. It was there one moment and then disappeared the next. “Maybe.”

“Have you come to talk some sense into me? Huh? Remind me how my freedom is all in my hands?” I tried to ignore the way his eyes raked over me. Would he be doing that if he was really working for the Wellingtons? Maybe. I wouldn’t put anything past the people that associated with them.

“No.” He sat down on a boulder jutting out near the water. “I’m here to talk.”

“Talk?” I replied as evenly as possible. “About what?”

“I don’t know. What sorts of things do you like to talk about?”

I laughed despite not wanting to. “Oh boy. Let’s see. I like to talk about getting home.” It was what kept me sane, thinking about getting back to a normal life.

“I mean before you came here. What did you like to talk about?” His eyes seemed kind, and from what I could tell he actually meant the question. He wanted to know. The real question was why.

“Before or after meeting Mirabella?” It was depressing how my life could be segmented that way. There was the life before, living in the Atlanta suburbs with my parents and two little brothers. Then there was the after. The parties, the private jets, Clayton. I could barely imagine how different life would be without them. “It’s like everything about me changed once I met her.”

“Explain.” He swiveled his body so he was looking right at me.

“You could ask nicely.”

“You want to talk. You said it yourself earlier. This is your chance.” His eyes challenged me.

“Are you a shrink too?” Not that I actually believed the man held a medical degree.

“When I want to be.” He grinned.

Of course. He had to have an attitude. “All right then. I used to be into all sorts of things. Music, movies, books. But everything else kind of faded away after freshman year. Life became parties, business school, getting the right internships.”

“Mirabella was into these things too?” He held out his hand to me. “You could sit, you know. There’s plenty of room.”

“No thanks. I’m fine standing. And to answer your question, no. Well, she was definitely into the partying part. That was her favorite thing in the world.”

“Why’d you allow yourself to change?” He made no move to stand up. I’d expected him to. If he was trying to win me over he would have, which made me wonder what his end game was.

“You think it was a choice?” I put a hand to my chest.

“Maybe, maybe not. I’m just asking.”

“You are a shrink.” I stepped into the water, thankful that the cove we were in protected us from the worst of the waves.

“I already told you, I am when I want to be.”

“You don’t seem like Justin. But are you?” I studied him. He was handsome. That was for sure. And he was tall, muscular, but he was also something completely different than the guys I was used to. Wild almost.

“Meaning what exactly?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Meaning whatever you think I mean.” I threw it back at him. I wasn’t bringing up the shifting into a wild animal thing until he did. That might help me decide whether I was crazy or not.

“Are we talking about the wolf part?” He looked out at the water.

“He can turn into a wolf, can’t he?” It was hard to say it out loud. It was easier to pretend it was all my imagination.

“He can. So can I.” His voice dropped down in volume.

I jumped back.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” He stood up, which was the wrong thing to do. I remembered him being tall, but he seemed even taller now.

I backed away another few steps. I wasn’t going to make the mistake of trying to out swim one of them again. “You sound just like him.”

He glanced over his shoulder as if checking to make sure no one was around. “Except I mean it.”

My jaw dropped. I never knew what that felt like until that moment. His words were real. I felt them. How could one feel a word? I don’t know, but I did. I believed him whether that was a smart decision or not.

“Why don’t we end this conversation there.” He turned away.

“Wait.” Was he serious? He finally had my trust and he was going to walk away? “Please.”

He stepped toward me, and this time I didn’t consider moving away. He leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear. “You’re not as alone as you think, Hope.”

I nodded, stunned by the electric current flowing threw me from his lips.

“I almost forgot.” He pulled a white envelope out of his interior suit pocket. Then he took the coat off. It was as if he’d only still had it on for the envelope.

“What’s that?” My chest clenched slightly, fearing what the contents held. Not that anything could be much worse than my current situation, but somehow I felt it wasn’t going to be good.

“It’s from Clayton. He specifically told me to give it to you when Justin wasn’t around and to make sure you read it.”

I turned the envelope in my hands, searching for evidence that it was something other than what it appeared. “I’m not sure if I want to open it.” I didn’t want to know what Clayton had to say. I’d wasted years pining over a guy who turned out to be a psycho. If it was up to me, I’d never think about him again.

“You want me to?” He held out his hand.

“Yes.” I handed the envelope back to him. Normally I would have done it myself, but really all I wanted to do was throw it in the ocean; however, I knew that wasn’t a particularly good idea. I needed any information I could get no matter how much I didn’t like the sender.

“All right.” He carefully opened the envelope and pulled out one exceptionally thick piece of stationary. “I assume you want me to read it first?”

“Yes. I already feel like crap. I don’t need to read whatever he’s going to say.” Yet I needed to know exactly what was in it.

He nodded and met my eyes. “Ok.”

“What does it say?” Suddenly my nonchalant attitude was gone. I needed to know.

“I need to ask you something.”

“Ask away.” I tried to bite back my impatience. I was the one who asked him to read the letter first.

“Has Clayton told you he isn’t interested in you?” Ryan looked down, as if uncomfortable asking the question.

I was uncomfortable hearing it. The words hit me in the gut, but not in the same way I would have expected them to. This was more embarrassment than disappointment. “Told me as in with words?”

“Yeah… or in any way.”

“No. If anything he’s been nicer. Almost flirting. He did this thing with my shirt the other day.” I felt blood flow to my cheeks and knew I was blushing. I could scream about my lack of virginity without embarrassment, but somehow discussing Clayton alone with Ryan made it so much worse. And I knew why, because it showed my weakness. I’d fallen for a guy who was a complete and utter jerk.

“What did he do?”

“I had ink all over me, and he cleaned it, and it involved…” I shook my head. “Never mind.”

“OK. But he was more touchy than he needed to be?” Ryan asked.

“Not inappropriate.” Not like Justin. I shuddered.

“What does the letter say?”

“You really need to read it yourself.” He handed the paper to me.

I accepted it and made myself read it. Hope- I know what you are thinking. Stop. I already know you would never mate with Justin. I’m sure a few days in paradise won’t hurt you long term. Have no fear, I’m coming for you. All will work out exactly the way it was meant to.

Stay strong for me.

Clayton

What? I tried to understand the message. Was Clayton trying to say he was into me and this was part of some plan? Was he really that crazy? Ryan was watching me expectantly so I had to say something. But there was nothing to say that didn’t involve various profanities. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Is this what you wanted?” There was a note of disappointment in his voice.

“No.” I shook my head. “Maybe once, but not now. I want nothing to do with any of them.” Then I realized how that might be interpreted. I didn’t want Ryan to think I was anti-wolf. I wasn’t losing my only potential ally, especially not one who appealed to me as much as Ryan did. “With the Wellingtons.”

He nodded. “Any clue why Clayton would send you here if he wants you for himself?”

“Shouldn’t you be the one with that answer?” He had the letter in the first place.

He held up his hands as if in defense. “I’m just a doctor.” Then he froze and looked over his shoulder. He stuffed the letter and envelope back into his coat and put it on.

A moment later Justin came into view. Ryan had known way before I had.

Ryan mouthed, “Play along.”

As if I had any interest in doing anything different?

“Beautiful day isn’t it?” Justin joined us on the beach, and the light of the afternoon seemed to fade.

“Absolutely.” I would play nice. Letting Justin see any of my cards was out of the question.

“Don’t you want to find your housing, Doc?” Justin turned to Ryan.

“Absolutely. I’ll do that now.” Ryan sent me an apologetic look before heading up the beach.

“Have a nice chat with the new doctor?” Justin tilted his head to the side.

“I guess. It’s nice to have other people around.”

“I figured.” Justin didn’t hide his annoyance.

“It’s too quiet here.” I looked out at the water.

“What do you want, someone to throw a party?” He scratched his chin which was now covered in the start of a beard. Justin always shaved, so the look was foreign on him.

“We’d need more people for that.”

“I could fly in some entertainment.”

“So you can communicate with the outside world?” I suspected he could, but he’d been acting like he couldn’t. Plus Clayton hadn’t forewarned him he was sending in Ryan. Justin’s surprise had been real and genuine. After a few days alone with Justin I now knew his tells perfectly.

“Marginally.”

I couldn’t get Ryan out of my head. Was I being an idiot trusting him? If I hadn’t known for sure the letter was written in Clayton’s handwriting I would have doubted it’s veracity, but that was his writing. No question. Beyond that I knew Ryan wasn’t working with Clayton. Or Justin. Maybe it was desperation, but I happened to think it was something more. I’d been wrong about Mirabella, but I wasn’t wrong this time. I couldn’t be.

I wished I had the letter to look at it again, but then again I’d have to worry about hiding it from Justin. I needed to be right about Ryan. Otherwise what would he do with the letter? Justin was annoying, but he wasn’t hurting me—would seeing that letter change things? There was anger behind Justin’s eyes, and I didn’t doubt he could be violent when pushed. The only thing I could do now was dig for information. “Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything if it doesn’t involve going home.”

“This is something different.” Although I already knew it wasn’t going to be a conversation Justin liked.

“Then ask away.”

“Does Clayton joke a lot? Does he mess with people?”

“You had to pick the other topic I didn’t want to discuss.” He sat down in the sand.

“You said I could ask anything else.”

“Not really. He has no sense of humor.” He patted the sand. “Come join me.”

I didn’t particularly want to sit next to him, but I wanted him to talk. I reluctantly sat down in the sand, leaving plenty of space between us. “Okay.”

“Why did you ask?”

I shrugged.

“I’m not an idiot, Hope. You have a reason.”

And now I had to be careful. If he suspected the doctor, I’d lose the one ally I might have. I thought fast. “I didn’t think he did. But you have a great sense of humor. I was thinking about things I like better about you than him.”

He liked my answer. His grin was like nothing I ever saw before. “See, this time away is working.”

“Tell yourself whatever you want.” Playing along didn’t mean going as far as to pretend I was happy. That wouldn’t be believable.

“There are a few things I need to take care of tonight.” He looked up at me.

“Okay. Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I don’t want you to worry if I’m gone awhile.”

“Did you think I would worry?” I walked back down toward the water.

“You seemed to be warming up.” His voice was close by. He’d followed me.

“Saying there are things I like about you over Clayton does not mean I am warming up to you.”

“It’s something.” He smiled.

“What things do you have to do?”

“Work stuff.”

“We work at the same company. You can tell me.” I tried to keep the desperation out of my voice, but I was sure it was there.

“Not this kind of stuff. Maybe once we mate.”

“Good try. That’s not going to work.” I crossed my arms.

“Suit yourself.”

He looked deep into my eyes, and I knew what was coming. Kissing him was out of the question. “Another thing I like better about you is that you get me. Which is why you get I still need space.”

He rolled his eyes. “Really? You’re going there?”

“Yes.”

“Where did all of this stuff come from?”

“Talking to Dr. Ryan. He asked me some questions about how I felt, and it’s clearing things up.” I wanted to gag. All it did was confuse me and make me wonder exactly what else the Wellingtons were into.

“Oh. Well, then maybe we should invite him around again. I like seeing you like this.”

I shrugged. “It’s up to you.”

“Want to go for a swim?”

“A swim?”

“Yeah. You know in the ocean.”

“No thanks.”

“Why not? You only like the water when you’re fully clothed and fleeing me?”

“I don’t have a bathing suit.”

“You think I don’t have a dozen in your size waiting? I’d suggest skinny dipping, but I know that’s not going to fly yet.”

“Yet? You honestly think I’d skinny dip? And I thought you knew me.”

“You would. You have a thrill-seeking side under there. I know you do.” He grinned.

“This thrill seeker needs to get off this island.”

He groaned. “This again.”

I shrugged. “You can’t expect me to change completely.”

“No. I can’t.” He nodded before disappearing down the beach.