Colin climbed into the helicopter. The picture Luna had made as she walked toward the helipad in that flowery dress and big dark glasses, her glossy hair shining in the sun, would join all the other images etched permanently in his memory. Her beauty made his heart ache with longing for the uncomplicated connection they’d had the night before.

He’d arranged for the helicopter in hopes he’d be able to coax her aboard. If she’d refused to come, he would have gone alone. He had more than books and hot tubs on his mind. He wanted to meet Luna’s grandparents. He wouldn’t give her away, but he wanted to assess whether they might be a support system for her.

Perhaps she would never confide in him again after the things he’d said this morning, but she carried a heavy burden knowing she was half Were. If her grandparents were compassionate and trustworthy, they might become the family she’d never had.

He’d already done some research online using the netbook he’d brought with him and a secure site dedicated to Weres. The site had been live for only a few months, so Luna might not know about it. But her grandparents obviously did.

Edwina and Jacques Reynaud used the site to promote their new venture, the Byron Reynaud Foundation, which benefitted orphaned or displaced Weres. Judging from the information Colin found, the Reynauds were kind and generous souls who’d decided to devote their golden years to doing good works. They didn’t seem like the sort to reject a granddaughter who provided the only connection to their beloved son.

Colin wasn’t sure how Luna would react when he told her how he’d spent his morning. But she needed to know what he’d been up to, and a trip to Seattle would give them plenty of time to discuss it. If all went well, they might chance a visit to the Reynauds, although Luna might choose not to identify herself as their granddaughter.

But first he’d needed to get Luna to Seattle. Barging into her office with the suggestion hadn’t seemed right, and then fortune had smiled on him. With less than an hour before takeoff, he’d met her on the stairway and coerced her into coming along. Having Dulcie there to support his plan had been a bonus.

Luna hadn’t wanted to go, which didn’t surprise him. But he was willing to manipulate the situation to get her into the chopper and on her way to Seattle. He’d insulted her background and caused her pain when he’d wanted to give her joy.

She was right to ignore him, now. But he fervently hoped that eventually she might connect with her grandparents. Having family again might make up for the fact that he’d unwittingly forced her to reveal her secret.

He passed out the lunch, sandwiches all around and those silly little juice boxes Americans were so fond of. The helicopter ride was as noisy this morning as it had been the last time he’d flown over Puget Sound. He sat back and tried not to be bothered by the easy interaction between Knox and Luna.

Knox took pains to give her a good show, pointing out sights and angling the chopper so she could see more easily. When they flew over a pod of orcas, Luna pressed her nose to the window until they were out of sight, and then gave Knox a dazzling smile and a thumbs-up.

Colin ground his teeth together, not happy with being odd man out even if he deserved it. She used to smile at him like that, but thanks to the phone call and what came afterward, she’d stopped smiling when she looked at him. God, how he missed her smile.

He tried to convince himself a friendship between Knox and Luna was a good thing. Now that Colin had removed Luna’s fear of sex, she was free to explore that side of her nature, and she should after being celibate for so long. He’d been lucky to be her first lover, but he didn’t expect to be her last.

Knox Trevelyan seemed like a considerate, intelligent sort, someone who would appreciate Luna’s finer qualities. Once the inn opened for business, Knox would fly guests over on a regular basis. He might even park the chopper on the helipad and stay the night.

Colin’s jaw tightened. Yes, it would be extremely noble of him to give his blessing to a sexual relationship between Knox and Luna. But he wasn’t that noble. Fortunately he’d be in Scotland and wouldn’t know what was going on. He’d suspect they would gravitate toward each other, though, and his imagination would torture him with images of Knox and Luna together.

By the time Knox landed the helicopter on the roof of the Trevelyan Enterprises building in downtown Seattle, Colin was in a mood. He had no bloody right to be in a mood, either. He had no claim on Luna and would never have one.

But no matter how many times he told himself that, whenever he looked at her, something primitive inside him howled mine. Well, too bad. He was a civilized Were, one who wasn’t ruled by his primitive instincts, thank God. If he were, he would have mated with Luna last night.

He went very still, mesmerized by that unacceptable thought. It had hovered, unacknowledged, in the back of his mind ever since he’d met her. He’d agreed that she could run the inn, but some part of him had known that he had other plans for her.

Those plans hadn’t risen to a conscious level because his pack would object to an American Were with no pack affiliation. He would have had to win them over gradually, but he could have done it. Now, however…now he was caught in a trap of his own making.

Taking Luna as his mate would contradict his belief that the races shouldn’t mix. He still held that belief, so mating with her was out of the question. Unfortunately, knowing that didn’t stop him from wanting her with a desperation that he’d never felt with another female Were.

“Colin?” Knox poked his head in through the passenger door of the chopper. “You coming out?”

That’s when he realized the rotors were quiet and both Luna and Knox stood outside the helicopter, waiting for him to climb down. He wondered how long he’d been sitting there looking totally daft.

“Sorry.” He extricated his sizable body from the small space. “I was thinking about something and lost track of where I was.”

“Obviously.” Knox laughed. “You were gone, man. Completely checked out. I admire that kind of concentration, though.” He held out his hand. “Have a great time in the city.”

“Thanks.” Colin shook Knox’s hand and resisted the urge to apply a little more pressure as a warning that he was a Were to be reckoned with. How juvenile was that?

“Still planning to head back around midnight?”

“Midnight?” Luna shoved her glasses to the top of her head and stared at him. “I can’t stay until midnight, Colin. I have several things to—”

“Humor me.” He smiled at her, knowing she wouldn’t smile back at him the way she had with that cheeky bastard Knox. “I haven’t had dinner at the top of the Space Needle since Geraldine brought me here as a teenager. I made reservations for nine, so we could watch the sunset and see the lights come on. It’s spectacular.”

Her eyes narrowed. Twelve hours ago she would have greeted that story with a soft gaze filled with understanding. Well, that wouldn’t be happening anymore. Clearly she suspected him of being devious, which was right on the mark.

“You’ll love the view from the Space Needle, Luna,” Knox said. “As long as you’re here, you should see it, and the real show doesn’t happen until after dark.”

She turned to Knox, and all the concern Colin used to enjoy was focused on the pilot. “Bless your heart for thinking of me, Knox. But then y’all will be up until the wee small hours of the morning. That seems very selfish of us.” She flicked a glance at Colin that plainly said it was selfish of him.

“Hey, Colin pays me well for it, and besides, I get a kick out of night flying. You go enjoy the Space Needle. And then I’ll show you some pretty night views on the way home.”

Colin wondered if it was too late to request a different pilot—a graying, paunchy pilot.

“All right, Knox.” Luna favored him with another warm smile. “You’ve convinced me. Take care.” She pulled her dark glasses over her eyes before turning to Colin. “Shall we go?”

“Yes.” Colin felt a stabbing pain in his right temple.

“That vein in your temple is standing out again,” Luna murmured conversationally as they walked toward the rooftop doorway leading down into the building.

Colin noticed that he no longer rated a bless your heart either. “I’m not surprised.”

Luna had never been wooed before, and she couldn’t imagine why it was happening now, except that Colin must have liked the sex and wanted more of it. He might think a romantic dinner at the top of the Space Needle would do the trick, but it would be a cold day in hell before she climbed back into bed with him. He could fly her to Paris for dinner, and she still wouldn’t get naked for him.

But she couldn’t afford to tick him off, either. He’d promised that their personal relationship would have nothing to do with their business relationship, and so far he’d kept his word. But Dulcie was right. Playing along, at least when it came to the business side of their relationship, was the best plan.

“I thought we’d visit a hot tub showroom first,” Colin said as they rode an elevator down to the lobby of the Trevelyan Enterprises building. He’d tucked his Wayfarers into an inner pocket of his designer sport coat. “We’ll need to drive a ways, because I checked and there aren’t any in the heart of the city.”

“I wondered about that.” She’d wondered a lot of things about this apparently impromptu trip. “Are you going to drive?” She was pretty sure Scottish people used the wrong side of the road, which could make for some tense moments if Colin planned to take the wheel.

He glanced at her. “Worried that I’ll get us both killed?”

“A little.”

“Well, you can relax. I’ve arranged for a driver.”

“When? I didn’t mention the hot tub until an hour before we left Whittier House.”

“I contacted George Trevelyan right after I talked to you. He gave me the name of a good dealer and offered the loan of a car.”

“Oh.” Luna had always suspected there were advantages to being well-connected in the Were world. She’d never had that going for her, not even with Geraldine, who’d been a maverick. Geraldine had never traded on her status as a MacDowell once she left Scotland and had seemed proud of the fact.

Luna thought of something else. “Was it difficult to get a reservation at the restaurant on short notice?”

“George took care of that, too. He made sure we had a table.”

“That George is a handy Were to have around.”

“Yes, he is.” Colin gazed at the numbers flashing by on the elevator and consulted his watch. “We’re right on time.”

Apparently it was an express elevator, because they were in the sparkling marble and gold lobby before Luna had a chance to ask any more questions.

Colin put a hand to the small of her back, a subtle gesture to guide her toward the revolving doors leading to the street. She moved out of reach and walked a little faster. His touch still had the power to affect her, damn it.

So did those electric blue eyes. When he’d mentioned wanting to eat at the top of the Space Needle for old time’s sake, he’d managed to tug at her heartstrings for a split second. She’d quickly squashed that reaction. This entire trip had ulterior motive written all over it.

Stepping quickly into one wedge of the revolving door, she made her way out to the sidewalk. A white stretch limo sat at the curb, engine idling. Surely Colin hadn’t hired a limo to take them hot-tub shopping.

He joined her on the sidewalk, and immediately the driver climbed out and opened the passenger door.

Luna glanced back at him. “Seriously?”

“It’s what George had available. All the town cars were in service.”

“I hope y’all realize that pulling up to a hot tub store in a limo will ruin any chance of getting a bargain.”

Colin smiled. “You’ve obviously forgotten that I’m a Scot. We always get a bargain.”

Now that was funny. She had to clamp her lips together to keep from laughing.

“It wouldn’t kill you to smile, Luna.”

Instead of answering, she ducked into the limo. Too bad she liked Colin so much. Well, she liked him a lot except when she didn’t like him at all. When he graced her with that amazing smile—the one that made her heart race and her body tremble—then she absolutely hated him.

She’d never ridden in a limo before, and when confronted with something that resembled a living room sectional, she couldn’t figure out where to sit. The back seemed safest, because at least she’d be facing forward like in a normal car. She eased down on the black leather and gave an inadvertent hum of pleasure.

How embarrassing. She didn’t want Colin to know that she liked the luxury ride that he was providing, or George Trevelyan was providing because he and Colin had some sort of alpha-male mutual back-scratching thing. But she had to admit this was the nicest upholstery her tush had ever enjoyed.

She held her straw purse on her lap, because clutching it gave her something to hold onto in this cavernous space that held a scent of oiled leather and a light perfume that might be an air freshener. The driver seemed miles away.

Colin sat right next to her, of course, bringing with him his maddeningly sexy scent. She could have predicted that he’d plop down right where she was, his thigh touching her thigh.

She wasn’t about to put up with that. The brush of his pants leg against her dress was far too erotic to go on for even one minute. She moved a few inches to the right, and he didn’t follow. His pride probably wouldn’t allow him to chase her around the black leather.

If things had remained the same as they once were between her and Colin, she would have joked with him that until now, she’d also been a limo virgin. But she wasn’t in a joking mood, so she didn’t say anything and pretended she’d been chauffeured like this dozens of times.

The limo pulled out so smoothly that it took her a second to realize they were in traffic. “Don’t you have to tell him where to go?”

“George told him. George also alerted the sales staff that we were coming, and told them to give us their best price.”

“That George. What a guy.”

Colin glanced at her. “He asked if we’d come up to his office after we finish with the hot tub shopping. You should probably meet him. He’d be a valuable contact to have.”

“I suppose he would.” Colin was right. Geraldine might have prided herself on being totally self-sufficient, but Luna couldn’t afford to operate that way if she expected to make a success of Whittier House. “Then we should go to his office, and thank him for the limo while we’re at it.”

“I’m sure he’d appreciate that.”

“It’s the polite thing to do.” She gazed out the window at the bustling city and was swamped with memories of having to survive in such an environment on her own. Le Floret suited her so much better, and she hoped never to have to go back to the life she’d had before moving to the island.

“There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

She turned back to him, all her senses on high alert. “What’s that?”

“Have you heard about a secure website called Lupe?”

She shook her head. “From the name I’m guessing it’s for Weres?”

“Yes. It was activated a few months ago. My brother, who keeps up with such things, told me about it.”

She relaxed her guard. So this was about business. “If it would be a good place to advertise the inn, then I’ll check into it. I hadn’t heard of it, so I appreciate the tip.”

“It would be a good place to advertise, but that’s not why I mentioned it. I found something on there this morning that I thought you’d want to know about. Have you heard of the Byron Reynaud Foundation?”

She drew in a sharp breath. Hearing her father’s name was always a shock to her system. “No, I haven’t. What…what is it?”

“An organization to benefit orphaned and misplaced Weres. It’s funded and supervised by your grandparents.”

“Oh.” She put a hand to her heart, as if she could soothe its frantic pounding. “That’s…that’s…good, I guess.” And what about her? She was an orphaned and misplaced Were, and their granddaughter. But she couldn’t go to them for support, because if she told them Sophie was her mother, they would know she was a half-breed.

After taking a steadying breath, she met his gaze. “Thank y’all for telling me. I appreciate knowing.” Even if it did her no good. Then she had another thought. “If this foundation becomes well-known, then so will the name Reynaud.”

“Perhaps.”

“I should be prepared with an answer if someone asks if I’m related, since I live in the area. I don’t want to stammer and look as if I’m lying.”

“True.”

As the implications became clear, she groaned. “My name will become more well-known as the manager of the Whittier House Inn, especially if it’s as successful as I plan for it to be, so it could work the other way, too. Weres could ask my grandparents if they’re related to me.”

“I suppose, but I was thinking that—”

“This is not good, Colin.” She kept her voice low so the chauffeur couldn’t hear. “The whole story could come out, which could be bad for business, not to mention embarrassing for you. I need to change my last name.”

“Or you could consider meeting your grandparents and getting everything out in the open, so it won’t have the power to sabotage you later.”

She stared at him in astonishment. “No, I could not. No telling how they’d react if they find out they’re related to a half-breed. After your rant this morning, I’m more determined than ever to protect my secret.”

He flinched. “Point taken. But Luna, you’re their granddaughter, the only link to their dead son. I know telling them is risky, but…your mother and father are gone. Wouldn’t it be comforting to have family again?”

His tone of voice was what clued her in. She stopped focusing on the problem and looked more closely at those beautiful eyes. Sure enough, they were filled with sympathy…and a certain amount of guilt.

She had a flash of insight. “I don’t think y’all stumbled upon the Byron Reynaud Foundation by accident.”

“No. I went looking for information about your grandparents.”

“Why?”

“I think you need them, Luna.”

Anger boiled beneath the surface, but she forced herself not to scream at him. They were in a limo, after all. “Whether I need them or don’t need them is none of your business, Colin. I’m grateful for the information, so I won’t be caught unaware. The best course of action would be to change my name, so this will never become a problem.”

“It’s not going to be a problem.”

“Of course it is. There’s the potential for Weres to learn I’m a half-breed and shun me. Whittier House could lose business because of it. I could become a liability instead of an asset.”

“Give Weres some credit, Luna. They won’t blame you for something that wasn’t your fault.”

“Don’t y’all?” She put all the hurt from this morning into that one question.

“No! That’s what I’ve been trying to say ever since this blew up. Your parents’ choices wouldn’t have been my choices, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re wonderful, no matter who your mother and father were. I didn’t tell you about your grandparents because I was afraid it might hurt business at some time in the future. I told you because I want the best for you.”

She gazed at him and tried to make sense of it all. He still wanted her to manage the inn, despite her heritage, and she was extremely grateful for that. He probably also wanted her back in his bed, despite her heritage. But it would be no more than a fling.

Considering the way he felt about human-Were unions, the Much Honored Colin MacDowell, Laird of Glenbarra, would certainly seek a full-blooded Were as his mate. That female Were probably would have to be born and bred in the Highlands, too, and hail from a respectable pack with a coat of arms and such other trappings as they had over in Scotland.

Luna had known from the beginning that Colin couldn’t be more than a passing lover in the night. Still, she had to admit that was more than she’d had before he’d arrived on the scene, relieved her of the burden of her virginity, and taught her that she wouldn’t shift or explode during an orgasm.

Colin definitely had some pluses on his side. If he had a strong prejudice against Weres mating with humans, that really had nothing to do with her, or their extremely temporary relationship. He was an outstanding lover, or so she supposed, having so little experience in the matter.

By denying him sex, she was also denying herself. Her mother would have said that was cutting off her nose to spite her face. She’d just discovered that orgasms were extremely pleasurable. Why not take advantage of what this virile Were had to offer, on her terms?

Colin cleared his throat. “So?”

She looked into those damnably attractive blue eyes. “I’ll think about the whole grandparent angle. No promises, but I’ll give it some thought.”

“Good.”

“And much as I’d love to have Knox point out the wonders of flying over the Sound at night, I’d rather not go back at midnight.”

Colin sighed. “All right. I’ll cancel the restaurant reservations and call Knox. What time would you like to leave?”

She had a hard time controlling her smile, but she wanted to shock him. He deserved to be shocked, and a smile might tip him off that something unexpected was coming. “How about late tomorrow morning?”

He looked as if she’d hit him with a two-by-four.