Chapter Six
The moment Nina slid into place behind him, Boone’s inner wolf howled. A good howl — the way he used to do when the moon was high and life was simple and good. So good, he had to celebrate with a long, wolf cry of joy — like the one he’d forced himself to hold back last night when he’d peeked in and seen Nina in his bed.
Damn. When was the last time he’d wanted to howl for the sheer joy of it? Ages. A decade, maybe, way back when before he’d enlisted. Before he’d left the Southwest. Before Tammy had stomped all over his heart.
“Everything okay?” Nina asked in a soft, silky voice when he didn’t make a move to start the bike. He was too busy digesting that feeling and what it might mean.
“Great,” he murmured, kicking the engine to life. Then he settled back on the seat and took off, telling himself it was just like any other ride on any other day.
Sure, his wolf said. Right. Just a regular old ride with my mate. Happens every day.
He took a deep breath, which only tightened Nina’s hold around his waist. And man, did that feel nice. As nice as seeing her smile at him that morning had been.
It turned out to be a ride of many firsts, actually, starting with the fact that he didn’t get pulled over by Officer Meli, the female cop who always staked out this stretch of the Honoapi’ilani Highway and caught him for something every time. It was almost a game between the two of them, but he didn’t have time for games today. Not with Nina to keep out of the public eye. So he made damn sure to keep five miles under the speed limit and drive in a nice, straight line instead of slaloming in and out of the median. The funny thing was, driving according to the rules didn’t even feel like torture for a change. Maybe because Nina was there, giving him all the joy he needed.
He looked left at the second turn and, yep — there was Officer Meli, already easing her cruiser forward in anticipation. But then she hit the brakes with a look of surprise on her face. Boone grinned.
No ticket today. That was different, for sure. The ride was different, too. How was it that he’d never noticed the deep blue of the sea or the rich fragrance of the coffee plantation upslope of the road? It was the first time he paid attention to the potholes, too, because Nina had been through enough, and her grip around his waist was still a little unsure. The less he rattled her around, the better.
You’re right. She doesn’t like being rattled, his wolf agreed as if he already knew everything about Nina.
Boone scoffed, but his wolf insisted. We know the important things.
He had to give the wolf that much. He might not know a lot about Nina, but maybe he really did know the important things. She was genuine. She took care of others before taking care of herself, like she had at lunch. She wasn’t rich, but she wasn’t judgmental, either. And she certainly wasn’t the type to go for joyrides on the back of some guy’s bike.
He grimaced. Nina didn’t even know she was riding with a wolf shifter, and that was the one thing that marred his good mood. He felt like a liar, hiding the truth about who he was. But he could hardly come out and say, Nina, there’s something you need to know about me. Where would he start?
Not only am I a wolf shifter, but I’m a total wash-up who hasn’t been able to get his shit together in the past few years. Hunter says I’m avoiding coping with the past, and I have the sinking feeling he’s right.
“Wow,” Nina cried, pointing to the right.
He pulled over to let her ooh and ahh at a whale breeching in the distance. Nina deserved that little bit of joy and wonder after all she’d been through.
“There’s a baby, too!” she cried.
That set his wolf into fantasies of a whole new kind.
Pups. With Nina. Would be nice, huh?
Boone scuffed the earth with his shoe and counted to ten.
“Ready to go?” he asked once the whales had stopped the show.
Nina sighed — a deep, happy sigh, as if the whales had given her a reason to remember how good life could be. And there was another thing he knew about her — Nina believed in good. In the joy of life. He could see it in her smile and her hopeful gaze.
“Ready,” she said.
Boone drove on, trying to ignore the emotions roiling in his gut. He was supposed to help Nina find out who she was and what had happened, not to be thinking about forever with a woman like her.
A sign for the police station flashed by, but Boone didn’t slow down one bit. Silas wanted him to wash his hands of Nina’s case, but there was no way he would treat Nina like a lost dog you dropped off at the animal shelter, hoping the poor thing would do okay. His gut insisted no one could help her — and more importantly, protect her — as well as he could.
“You okay?” he shouted over his shoulder when her hands tightened hard enough to push the breath out of him.
“Um…yes,” she mumbled, though her whole body was stiff.
Had she just remembered something? Boone looked around for what might have set her off. A truck loaded with pineapples had just passed going the other way, leaving a sweet scent in its wake. They’d just driven by the gates to the exclusive Kapa’akea Resort on the ocean side of the road, but he doubted that had set her off. Nina wasn’t the ritzy, pretentious kind. So maybe it was the truck?
“Are you sure?”
She nodded against his back, so he didn’t push it.
Traffic slowed as they entered the town limits of Lahaina, and he could sense Nina swiveling her head from side to side, taking in the historic town. Despite the touristy feel, it was a pretty place, full of funky shops and century-old buildings painted in crisp white and brilliant blues or greens. He went at a snail’s pace, letting her enjoy it, knowing there would be harder things to face soon. Very soon.
Like when he pulled over and halted the bike at the edge of the marina. Nina had said she’d been cast into the sea from a boat, so…
“Do you recognize anything?” he asked, killing the engine but keeping his helmet on.
The Harley was perfectly still, but Nina clutched at his ribs. When she spoke, her voice was jittery.
“A boat like that.” She clamped down on his arm and looked at a sport fishing boat that was gliding out of the harbor. “Mostly white. But the name was written in gold on the back. Something with an A. Angel’s…Angel’s something.”
He patted her hand, wishing he could do something to make her feel at ease. “Good. You’re remembering.”
“I’m not sure I want to remember.”
Boone knew the feeling. Some experiences were so bad, you didn’t want to revisit them, not even in your mind. But if he didn’t track down who was after Nina and why, she wouldn’t be safe.
“Hey,” he said, turning to her. They were so close, their helmets bumped. So close, his body warmed with need. “One step at a time, right?”
Her eyes were as big and watery as a puppy’s, and his heart ached, seeing her like that.
“One thing at a time,” she echoed quietly.
He would have liked to walk the docks with Nina and check out one boat at a time, but he could hardly parade a near-murder victim around in public. Nina might see her attackers, but then again, they might spot her first.
“No problem.” He started the bike up again. “We’ll look up every boat registered on Maui with Angel in the name and take it from there.”
“You can do that?”
He patted his wallet. “Private investigator’s license doesn’t hurt.”
Like all the other guys at Koa Point, he had his P.I. license. They’d joked about it at first, calling each other Dragon, P.I. and Werewolf, P.I. like so many characters from a TV show. But the license had come in handy for some of the jobs he took on from time to time.
Nina gawked at him, and he couldn’t help but wonder what her line of work was. Something with people, for sure. Something that made good use of the smile that came so readily to her — when she wasn’t struggling to remember who’d tried to kill her, that was. Was she a teacher? A doctor? Maybe a physiotherapist? But why would anyone want to kill a person like her? Nina was so normal. So nice. So kind.
When he took off again, she pressed up against his back, setting off a dozen heated fantasies. If only things were different, he could be taking her on a joyride, and she might even sneak her hands lower, giving him a subtle signal of what she wanted. He’d rev the engine to coax a laugh out of her and eventually pull over at an overlook. They’d look out at the sea together, then turn and gaze into each other’s eyes. He dreamed of Nina pulling her helmet off and shaking that beautiful hair out again. Then, from one heartbeat to another, she’d go all serious, and her gaze would drop to his lips.
Kiss me, her body would sing, calling to his.
And dang, his body was already singing back, wishing it weren’t just a fantasy.
But maybe it wasn’t, because Nina’s hands really did dip a fraction lower, and her breasts pressed into his back. He could swear her heart started beating faster, and not just from the ride. Maybe he could take her to a secret waterfall where the two of them could—
A passing car tooted at another, pulling Boone’s mind back to reality.
Research. We’re doing research, he told himself. Nothing else.
His wolf grumbled. Right. Sure. Nothing else.
He cruised as far as Maalaea and even made a detour up into the West Maui mountains, hoping for Nina to point and cry out, That’s it! I remember everything now! Or better yet, for her to motion him to the side of the road and play out the scene he’d imagined all too clearly. But she remained perfectly still and quiet — until he headed back up the coast to Koa Point, when she squeezed his waist and sucked in a sharp breath.
He glanced over his shoulder at her, but she was looking back. “What?”
She tilted her head. “I’m not sure.”
Boone checked the side mirror and looped back over the same section of road, slowing down when her fingers squeezed his ribs.
“I know that place,” she said over the noise of the engine.
He slowed down, looking right. “You sure?”
It was hard to keep the skepticism out of his voice, because that was the Kapa’akea Resort, one of the most exclusive resorts on Maui. Maybe the most exclusive resort. A place where the rich and famous played golf, celebrated weddings, and threw extravagant parties. He’d been there once on a bodyguarding job, and hell, he’d never seen so many haughty people in his life. Totally not Nina’s scene, unless she’d worked for the catering crew.
A long row of swaying palms lined the driveway, and a curve at the end kept the buildings out of sight. All he could see were a couple of impeccably trimmed golf links and a red-roofed guard house.
“I know it,” Nina insisted, gripping his shoulders tightly. Her voice had more fear than anticipation in it.
He made another U-turn and slowly cruised down the driveway to the resort. A guy like him had a snowball’s chance in hell of making it past the security checkpoint, but heck. Maybe getting closer would help Nina remember something — or to come to the conclusion that she was wrong about the place.
A rotund security officer stepped out of the guard house, hitched up his pants, and put up a hand in a stop sign. He didn’t bother smiling, and Boone could read the disdain all over the guy’s face.
Should have taken the Ferrari, his wolf grumbled.
“Can I help you?” the guard demanded as a second man came out. A tall guy. Backup, Boone figured, ready to assist his partner if their unexpected guests so much as lifted a finger. What did they think he was going to do, bust right through the gate with his bike?
Nina leaned out and took off her helmet for a closer look at the place. When her silky hair cascaded over his shoulder, his mind went blank. Blissfully, blindly blank. Her vanilla-honeysuckle scent swept over him, and he just about sighed instead of composing a cover story to explain to the security guard why he and Nina were there.
An explanation they didn’t need, as it turned out, because the guard’s stern look faded the second he spotted Nina.
“Oh! It’s you, miss.”
Boone and Nina both did a double take.
“Good to see you again, miss,” the tall one stammered, stepping back.
The heavyset guy went from arrogant to sniveling in the blink of an eye. “So sorry, miss. We didn’t know it was you.”
Boone peeked over his shoulder at Nina, who looked about as shocked as he was. They knew Nina? How?
One guard stepped to the side while the other hurried to lift the barrier, and they both stood at attention, waiting for Boone to pass.
He wanted to gape at Nina and ask, Are you a princess or something? But this was his chance, and he took it, cruising down the drive before the guards had second thoughts.
“What was that about?” he called over his shoulder as he drove on.
“I have no idea,” Nina said, sounding more rattled than ever.
He took the curve slowly, trying to think. A dozen polo ponies thundered by the field beside the road, making the earth rumble as their riders brandished sticks, chasing the ball. Instinctively, Boone threw an arm around Nina, as if that were the danger, when in fact the danger was the unknown.
Then the resort came into view — a sprawling, six-story, hacienda style building. A valet stepped forward, wavering at the sight of the motorcycle. Boone cruised right past him and parked at the end of the lot.
“What do we do now?” Nina asked, blinking rapidly.
Funny, he wanted to ask her that.
“Do you really remember this place?”
She gulped and nodded. “I know it. Don’t ask me how, but I know it. That valet’s name is Toby, and the two guys at the gate were Mr. Pilger and Mr. Lee.”
She knew the staff’s names? Boone nodded slowly. Maybe Nina really did have a catering job. But that wouldn’t account for the guards treating her like a movie star, so he was still stumped.
“Okay,” he said, drawing the word out. “I guess we have two choices.”
Her brow folded into worried lines.
“One, we walk in there like we own the place and hope they don’t call our bluff.”
Nina’s eyes went wide in alarm. “Or?”
“Or we get the hell out of here and do some investigating from home.”
That was the chickenshit option, and Boone knew it, but highfalutin places like this didn’t agree with him one bit. The last time he’d been here, the fabulously wealthy thirtysomething widow of an oil tycoon had tried to coax him into her bed. When he refused, she’d made a face and pulled out a stack of hundred-dollar bills as if he were a stallion for hire who would put out simply because someone told him to.
No thanks.
Nina nodded — quickly, as if keeping her nerve up. “Let’s go in.”
She slid off the bike before he could say a word and ran her fingers through her long, shiny hair. Hair he longed to touch. To stroke. To turn in his fist and tug her in for a kiss.
Mate, his wolf hummed. She is my mate.
He gulped as Nina adjusted her windblown sarong. His heart thumped faster, saying the same thing.
Mate. My destined mate.
He cleared his throat and dismounted, trying to keep his mind on the business at hand. It was risky, letting Nina be seen, but she was right. They’d make more progress by tracking down whatever was familiar about this place than by avoiding it.
She hooked her helmet on the handlebar and took his hand. A moment later, she looked down as if just realizing what she’d done and murmured, “I hope you don’t mind.”
He wound his fingers through hers. A perfect fit.
“Nah. I don’t mind,” he said, trying to play it cool. Almost succeeding, until he slipped up and confessed, “It’s kind of nice.”
A monumental understatement, because every nerve in his body sang with joy at her touch.
She smiled, and his blood all rushed south. “It is nice.”
Hand in hand, they walked to the entrance as if they were a couple of happy honeymooners and not two people who’d just met. As much as Boone’s soul soared, though, his hopes sank. Would Nina take his hand and trust him if she knew about his wolf half?
“Hello, miss,” the valet said, flashing her a genuine smile.
“Hello, Toby,” Nina said when he held the door open for her. “Thank you.”
She was playing her part well, but her grip on Boone’s hand grew so tight, he winced.
The lobby was blindingly white with more mirrors than the Palace of Versailles, and a giant chandelier glittered overhead.
“Ah, miss. So good to see you again,” a uniformed attendant said the second they walked through the door. “I didn’t see you go out earlier.”
Boone scrutinized the man for some hint of wrongdoing — a Holy shit, you’re alive twitch of the eye or a Let me call the mafia boss right now clench of his fist. But, no — nothing, making Boone think the man was genuine.
“Oh, uh…” Nina mumbled. “I left early.”
The man gave Boone a side-eyed look of mistrust, which convinced Boone the man was all right. He wouldn’t trust a guy like himself with a girl like Nina, either. She deserved better. Richer. More ambitious.
She deserves a devoted mate. Forever, his wolf declared.
“I’ll get your key,” the man said, scurrying over to the desk.
Nina took it as if accepting a rat held out by the tail, and Boone didn’t blame her. This just got weirder and weirder. Nina was a guest here?
She fingered the key uncertainly — a real, old-fashioned key — as Boone guided her toward the elevator, studying the lobby in his peripheral vision. There were security cameras subtly tucked into every corner. A blessing or a curse? Cameras might have captured some information on Nina’s attackers, but they’d also capture Boone.
Nina looked at him with an alarmed, What now? look, but the elevator had an attendant, too. The man smiled and pointed up. “Penthouse suite. Here we go, miss.”
Nina’s step hitched at the penthouse suite part, and Boone had to tug her into the elevator, trying to exude We got this vibes.
They stood in awkward silence as the elevator rose, dinging through one floor after another.
“Here you go. Have a nice day,” the bellhop said when they reached the top floor.
The doors rolled open, and Boone gave Nina a nudge when she breathed, “Wow.”
Then he caught sight of what lay ahead, and he nearly froze, too. Wow was right.