Alastair motioned to the table. "Would you like to join us for some wine or dessert to celebrate?"
"That's very kind." Shanna smiled at him. "But I already ate with my family."
At the secret school? Elsa wondered. She refrained from mentioning Tino. "We're very excited about renovating your house. And we'll be very mindful about protecting your privacy."
"Thank you. My husband is still concerned about that, but I convinced him that you'll respect our privacy." Shanna grinned. "I'm so excited about this!"
What pointy teeth she had. Elsa glanced at Howard. What other secrets were these people hiding? Or was she just becoming paranoid? After Tino's teleportation stunt, she might be looking for weird stuff where none existed.
Alastair removed the contract from the envelope. "It will take about ten minutes to go through this. And then, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you some questions regarding the house. How open do you want the floor plan? Should we put in more bathrooms and closet space? Things of that nature. It will be our goal to match our work to your expectations."
"I understand." Shanna turned to Howard. "There's no need for you to sit through all this. Why don't you take Elsa for - "
"I disagree," he interrupted. "If I'm going to represent you, I need to know what you want."
"I'll send you a memo." She gave him a pointed look. "You should take Elsa for a walk around town. The park is lovely." She smiled at Elsa. "There's a creek running through it and some falls. You'll love it."
"Shanna," Howard muttered, giving her an annoyed look.
"I'm just trying to be friendly," she whispered, her eyes wide and innocent.
He shifted his weight and dragged a hand through his thick hair.
Hesitant Howard. Elsa smiled to herself. Helpless Howard. The huge guy could annihilate a half dozen feral pigs, but he couldn't handle one matchmaking woman. It was too cute. "I'd be happy to take a walk with you."
He blinked. "You would?"
"Sure. Why not?" She hitched her handbag over her shoulder.
"Wonderful!" Shanna beamed at them both. "Off you go."
Elsa glanced at him as he moved toward her, and her heart stilled. The hesitant look on his face was gone, replaced by an intense, determined glint in his blue eyes.
She swallowed hard. Howard wasn't helpless. He was . . . hungry. Hungry for her.
"Let's go." He touched her elbow.
Her chest filled with warmth, but instead of rushing to her face like it usually did, it slipped into her belly, intensifying into a ball of fire that sizzled between her legs.
She dragged in a shaky breath. Oh God, she shouldn't have agreed to be alone with him. Howard was so much more than handsome and hunky and huge.
Howard was hot.
Chapter Eleven
Howard was struggling with his new strategy. To keep from frightening Elsa, he had decided to act calm and aloof. And to gain her trust, he'd decided to be honest and sincere. He'd managed fairly well in the restaurant, even though it had been difficult every time he'd caught her looking at him. The bear inside him interpreted all her glances as an invitation to mate.
Real subtle, he thought wryly, but what could he expect from a beast? That was the problem with this new strategy. He could only be honest and sincere about his human half. The bear would frighten any sensible woman away. But was it fair to hide the beast from a woman he was interested in?
He glanced at Elsa, who walked beside him on the sidewalk. She was the first woman since Carly who tempted him to reveal his secret. And that could only mean one thing: she was the one he wanted. Not for a short term, but for the long haul.
The bear inside him growled in anticipation. He took a deep breath to calm himself, but her scent filled his nostrils. Holy crap. He wanted to drag her into the woods, rip her clothes off, and make wild, passionate -
"Tell me the truth." She leaned close to him. "Shanna teleported, didn't she?"
He blinked. Damn, he was ravishing her in his mind, and she wasn't even thinking about him. "We shouldn't discuss that in public." He glanced around to see if anyone might have overheard.
"We could go into the woods."
His inner bear growled, but then he realized she was motioning to the park. It appeared empty, but still, it was right on the edge of town and not nearly private enough for wild, passionate -
"Come on, tell me." She nudged him as they reached the opening in the white picket fence.
A lone lamppost cast a pool of light onto the park entrance and illuminated Elsa's pretty face as she looked up at him. Damn, but he wanted to kiss her.
"Shanna teleported, right?" she asked again.
"Yes."
"I knew it!" She punched the air with her fist.
He lifted his brows. "That makes you happy?"
With a shrug, she smiled. "I like solving puzzles. I could feel it last night, that there was a puzzle." Her smile faded. "Unfortunately, the answers are turning out to be really strange."
He led her into the park. "You . . . you haven't called the police or the FBI, have you?"
"You mean the X-Files?" She gave him a wry look. "No, I promised Tino I wouldn't say anything."
"Good. Thank you."
She stopped suddenly. "There's nothing evil or nefarious going on at the school, is there?" She made a face. "Of course, you wouldn't tell me if there was."
"Relax." He touched her arm. "It's a real school with real teachers. It just has a few students like Tino who wouldn't fit into a normal school. They wouldn't be free to be themselves, and they'd always have to worry about their secrets being discovered. We're trying to give them a normal, happy life."
She studied him, as if trying to decide whether or not to believe him.
"If you like, I could give you a tour and let you meet some of the students."
She bit her lip. "I'll think about it. How many students are there?"
"About twenty-two."
"Are they all special?"
He smiled. "Some have gifts, some don't, but they're all special."
She returned his smile. "You like children, don't you? I guess you can't be too bad after all."
"Gee, thanks."
She turned to walk farther into the park. "So it's your job to keep the kids safe?"
"Yes." He strolled beside her. The narrow path of hardened earth was flanked on each side with full-grown maple trees. Moonlight filtered through the green canopy of leaves, dappling the ground with little dots of light.
She slowed to a stop. "It's pretty here."
"Yes." He turned to face her. "Very pretty."
She blushed.
He tilted his head, studying her. "You seem to be okay with the teleportation issue. It would freak most people out."
"I suppose so." She gazed up at the tree branches. "But I'm not a stranger to weirdness. I spent the first seven years of my life with my great-aunt Ula on an island in Sweden, and she talked to seals and whales every day."
His chest tightened. Her aunt talked to the creatures of the sea? He ran a hand through his hair. It sounded too much like his grandfather's tale about the guardians. But it had to be an odd coincidence.
Elsa slanted him an apologetic look. "Now you're probably thinking my aunt is crazy. But she's really sweet. She took care of me when my mother was . . . indisposed. And then when my mom died, she was there for me."
"I'm sorry." Howard touched her arm. "How old were you when you lost your mother?"
"Three."
He nodded. "I was four when my father died."
She inhaled sharply. "I'm sorry."
"It's all right." He slid his hand up her arm to the short sleeve of her T-shirt. "My mother and grandfather raised me."
"Where?"
His hand reached her shoulder. "The Bear Claw Islands off the Alaskan peninsula. I grew up on the big one, called The Paw - "
She gasped and jumped back.
"What's wrong? Did I make your birthmark burn again?"
"No." She touched her shoulder. "I-it's all right. It's nothing." She strode down the path.
He watched her, frowning. Something had given her a shock, but what?
With another gasp, she halted at the edge of the grove of trees.
"What's wrong?" He moved forward so he could see the clearing ahead. It was full of deer, rabbits, raccoons, and squirrels.
"What the - " She shoved back a tendril of hair that had escaped the plastic claw on the back of her head. "What is the deal with all these animals?"
Howard stayed behind her to mask his scent. "Is this what happened earlier when you were on the road with Tino?"
"Yes." She glanced back at him. "It's . . . kinda weird, isn't it?"
"A bit. The different species don't usually gather together unless they all want to drink from a common watering hole." And they didn't usually approach a human and stare at him. "Do you recall anything like this happening to you before?"
"Not that I can remember, but I've never spent much time in the country. We usually work in cities, and I grew up in the suburbs. Uncle Peder kept his hunting dogs in the backyard, so - " She halted, her face going pale.
"What?"
"I went hunting once with Uncle Peder and his cousin, Tom. Every fall, they would go to his cabin in the woods, and I felt left out, so I asked to go with them. The deer would come right up to the cabin, and then the guys would shoot them. I was so . . . appalled, I never wanted to go back."
"You think the deer were drawn to you?"
"I didn't think so at the time, but now I have to wonder. Uncle Peder called me his good luck charm." She shuddered. "Those poor deer."
He squeezed her shoulders. "It's not your fault. Let me see if I can chase these away." He strode into the clearing and waved an arm. "Shoo!"
The animals caught the scent of were-bear and scattered.
"That was fast." She ventured into the clearing.
"I guess I'm big and scary."
She shook her head and whispered, "Huge and handsome."
That was good news. He smiled and held out a hand to her. "How about we find the falls Shanna talked about?"
She hesitated a moment, then placed her hand in his. "All right."
He led her to the left. "I can hear the water over there."
"With your super hearing?"
He glanced at her. "You don't hear it?"
"No. And I can barely see."
"The clouds are covering the moon right now. But don't worry. I won't let you fall." He pointed to her left. "Big rock there."
She eased closer to him.
After they had walked for a little while, the moon broke free from the clouds and shone down brightly. The grass around them glittered silver with dew. Ahead of them, the creek sparkled.
"It's so pretty," she whispered.
"Yes." It was a beautiful spot, a perfect spot for their first kiss. He inched closer.
"But where is the waterfall?" She released his hand and strode upstream.
Damn. He followed her around the bend. The sound of the falls grew louder. "Be careful."
"Look!" She pointed and glanced back at him, grinning. "I found it."
He smiled back. As far as waterfalls went, it was on the puny side, only about four feet high. But if she liked this, she'd love Alaska.
"There's a bench." She sat and gazed at the falls. "What a lovely spot."
"Yes." This would be even better for their first kiss. He sat on the bench beside her.
"The sound of the water is so relaxing, don't you think?" She tilted her head back. "And look at all the stars. You never see them like this in the city."
"No." He slipped an arm along the back of the bench. "You should see the northern lights in Alaska. Though I guess you might have seen them when you lived in Sweden."
"I don't remember. It's been twenty years since I lived there."
And he'd been banished for twenty years. It was an odd thing to have in common. "You never wanted to go back?"
She sighed. "For years I begged to go back. Unfortunately, my aunts didn't think it was safe for me there."
"Why?"
She shrugged. "If I tell you, it'll just sound bizarre."
"More bizarre than teleportation?"
"That was major bizarro, but it was real. The stuff my aunts believe is nonsense." She rubbed her shoulder, frowning. "Or I thought it was nonsense until . . ."
"Until I made your birthmark burn?"
She gave him a frustrated look. "Why you? What is it about you that's different?"
He winced inwardly.
"One of your secrets, huh?" She crossed her arms and gazed at the sky.
His mind raced as he tried to come up with something he could tell her, something that would reassure her and not frighten her, but he came up with nothing.
"Look! A falling star." She closed her eyes briefly, then glanced at him. "Did you make a wish?"
"I missed it." I was too busy watching your beautiful face. "You made a wish?"
She nodded, then gave him a sly smile. "But I won't tell you. I can have secrets, too."
"If you tell me, I could help you make it come true."