Hell, he’d come over and help her sort everything out. He guessed she wasn’t ready to stay with him in his tent. She could just pack what she needed for herself, and he’d manage all the camping gear. He’d fought with himself not to call Lexi to see if maybe Kate had said something to her about being upset with him.

  He managed to get through Tuesday night without Kate—was that lame or what?

  It was Wednesday night now, and he let out his breath, went down to his exercise room, and began bicycling—again. Will joined him and began lifting weights while Cliff served on guard duty.

  “We thought you might be going out with Kate tonight,” Will said.

  “We went out Monday night.” Derek kept telling himself he would see her Friday night, but he was afraid she wouldn’t want to tell any of their friends they were dating at the campout either.

  “Yeah, but you were with her Friday, all weekend, and then Monday, and now?” Will raised a brow.

  “You know you can be replaced.”

  Will laughed. “Yeah, I know, but if there’s any chance things aren’t working out between the two of you—”

  “We’re camping on Friday,” Derek reminded him. “She has work to do before she can take off to camp all weekend, and she has to get ready for the trip.”

  “So it’s not you who is balking at taking her out.”

  “I asked, okay? But she was busy. I’m not going to keep bugging her if she needs some time to herself to do other things. I’ll see her on Friday when we go camping.”

  “We are trying to limit the number of vehicles we take to the park, but if you think it would work better if Cliff and I are in our own vehicle and you can ask Kate to ride with you, we could do that.”

  “No. We all agreed that we would keep the number of cars down to a minimum. There’s a limit on the number of vehicles allowed to park at each campsite.” Derek couldn’t believe how much his bodyguards and Maddie were invested in his dating Kate. With Maddie, she would love to have another woman around—a she-wolf, not a human. And she was hopeful Derek and Kate would mate and have kids. But with Cliff and Will? They both were interested in dating Kate. Maybe if Derek couldn’t settle down with her, they felt they had a chance to date her.

  Derek felt glum about it. What was he doing wrong?

  ***

  While washing her car, Kate had told herself she’d made a mistake in going out with Derek all weekend, making love to him, and then attending the charity dinner with him on Monday night. Not that she hadn’t had a great time. She had! But she’d felt like she was just falling into the same pattern he’d had with other women he’d dated. Lexi had told her Derek had dated she-wolves in the past and two had left him for other wolves, so he’d made a commitment to both and then neither of them stayed with him. She could understand the hurt. And truly, she didn’t want him to have all these expectations about her either if things shouldn’t work out.

  She wondered if he was the kind of wolf who had to have a mate and he wanted to see her every day, day in and day out, and even that wouldn’t be enough. She didn’t want to feel like her life was being overshadowed by a male wolf. She had her own life, and she enjoyed it very much. She could imagine needing to work on things for the company and Derek needing her to attend functions to fulfill his own agenda. She wasn’t going to give up on her own dreams to fulfill someone else’s.

  So she’d made the tough decision to stay away from him until the camping trip. Sure, they would run as wolves together during the campout. And they would eat together with the rest of the pack for meals. Otherwise, she was going to be there to enjoy just doing things she liked with a group of wolves. She didn’t want anyone to think of her and Derek as a couple. And yet?

  Damn if she couldn’t quit thinking of him. If she was being honest with herself, he was the kind of wolf she had always wanted in her life.

  Last night, she’d had dinner on her own, but tonight, Lexi had invited her over for a working dinner and a swim in the pool. That was what she loved about working with Lexi. They had a great time doing it. But she hoped the topic of Derek wouldn’t come up.

  She finished washing her car and drying it off and then parked it in the garage. She cleaned up and headed over to Lexi’s house on the brick path that connected the two homes.

  When she arrived at Lexi and Ryder’s home, Ryder and Mike were in the basement practicing martial arts moves.

  “Ryder and Mike made us veal scallopini and ate already so we would have our dinner/work time in private,” Lexi said. “Let’s eat and then we can work on some new concepts.” Once they sat down at the dining room table, she asked, “So how are things going between you and Derek?”

  Kate sighed. “He wanted to get together on Tuesday night. I was certain if I said yes, he would have wanted to date the rest of the nights this week, but I wanted to take time off to get ready to camp and just do some other things.”

  “So you’re not upset with him for some reason.”

  Kate smiled. “No. We’ve had a great time when we’ve been together, and you know we’ll all see him when we go camping. It’s not like you and Ryder and how the two of you had to stay together. He was helping protect you and then you both wanted more than that.”

  “You don’t feel really connected to Derek?”

  Kate sighed again. “Yeah, I mean, we’re both wolves. So sure, there’s that connection.” She felt a real draw to him. She couldn’t deny she wanted more with him, but she didn’t want him to do the pushing away at the end. “We made unconsummated love with each other on Sunday night.”

  Lexi nodded. “I mean, it’s inevitable if you really like each other. But I understand if you are feeling a little like pulling back. Derek will understand, and if it’s meant to be, it will be.” Lexi smiled at her, as if she knew things would work out between Kate and Derek. If they did, it would make for one neat little wolf pack since she and Derek were already both wolf friends with everyone else.

  Kate thought Lexi was right and hoped everything would work out the way they hoped it would.

  Then they ate their meal. While drinking sarsaparillas poolside, they talked over some business, comparing sales data for various product lines, phasing out a line of cosmetics and a few products in another line that weren’t selling well. Afterward, they swam in the pool. Kate heard the guys watching football on TV in the house and smiled. “Thanks for having me over. We got a lot done but we had a great time as usual.”

  “You bet.” Lexi gave her a hug. “Everything will work out between the two of you.”

  “I hope so.” And really, Kate did. Then she walked on the path to her home.

  She’d had a delightful time with Lexi, just liked they’d always had, and she was thinking about the issue with Derek. What if she did mate him? Then she wouldn’t live right here, having fun with Lexi on the spur of the moment. Though she would have a romping good time with Derek instead in a totally different way. She could see herself running along the beach as wolves at night, taking the dogs for walks as humans when the sun was setting, and even swimming in the ocean with each other again. Playing tag in his swimming pool? Yeah, she could envision how hot that would get.

  Before she reached the house, she saw Foxy, Derek’s Irish setter that she had walked on the beach, sitting on her front doorstep. “Ohmigod, what are you doing here?”

  Foxy’s long red fur was tangled, and she had twigs, pine needles, and bits of leaves that had caught in the strands. She was panting heavily and needed water. Foxy greeted her right away.

  Kate quickly took the dog inside the house and got her a bowl of water. Then she pulled out her phone and called Derek, but he wasn’t answering his phone. She called Will and Cliff, but neither of them was either. Then she figured they were out running as wolves, trying to find Foxy. Which meant they might very well end up here! She didn’t have Maddie’s number. She probably had gone home for the night anyway.

  Kate left a message on Derek’s phone then. “Hey, it’s me, Kate. Foxy is at my home, and she’s safe. I’m going to give her a bath after I pull all the twigs out of her fur.”

  Then she ended the call and began pulling out the debris tangled in Foxy’s fur. “How in the world did you find my place?”

  Sure, Kate had run as a wolf in the direction of Derek’s home before. But there was a big gap between his home and hers! Though they all had homes on the beach, Lexi’s beach was blocked by rocks, and the only way to get there was to run through the underbrush up above and through people’s yards or along the winding road—which was where Kate ran. She and Lexi had walked along that stretch of road too. Then again, Kate had her car’s top down when she went to see Derek at his place, since the weather had been so nice. Maybe that was the way Foxy had found Kate—smelling her scent all along the way.

  Kate couldn’t believe Foxy would have sought her out like this—as if she didn’t get enough loving at home! Kate finished pulling the stuff from Foxy’s fur and then called Lexi. “Hey, sorry to interrupt you, but can I use your dog grooming room to wash a dog?”

  “This sounds like a story and a half.”

  “Yeah, one of Derek’s Irish setters came to my house. She’s a mess. I tried getting a hold of Derek and his bodyguards, but I suspect they’re running as wolves, trying to track her down.”

  “Oh, so you’re going to have a bunch of naked men at your house too.” Lexi laughed.

  Kate chuckled. “Most likely. Can I use the bathhouse for Foxy?”

  “Yes. And Ryder said he would loan the guys some clothes.”

  “I’m sure they’ll need a ride home. They can just remain as wolves. I’m headed over to your house. I’ll leave a note on my door saying I’ve gone to your place to give Foxy a bath,” Kate said.

  Then she ended the call, scribbled a note to Derek, should he come to her house, taped it to her front door, and tied a short electric cord to Foxy’s collar. Kate figured when she returned Foxy to her home, she would borrow one of the leashes Lexi had for Spirit.

  Kate had barely reached the dog’s bathhouse when Spirit ran out of Lexi’s house to join her and Foxy and greeted both of them. They were making best friends when Kate saw Derek running as a wolf to greet her. She laughed.

  His wolf bodyguards weren’t far behind. Derek woofed at Foxy. She didn’t seem to think she’d done anything wrong and licked his face. Then Spirit greeted all of them, glad to have all the company, as if everyone was there just for her.

  “Hi, Derek. I’m giving her a bath and then Ryder or Mike can take you guys home. You can chill out by the pool.”

  But Derek went into the bathhouse with her, and she wondered what he thought he was going to do. Then he shifted—man, he was so hot, muscles and all! He grabbed one of the clean towels stacked on a table, wrapped it around his waist, and came over to give Kate a hug. “Thanks so much, Kate. I thought I’d lost her for good.”

  She hugged him back, knowing how much it meant to him to have nearly lost one of his dogs. Besides, she’d really missed Derek and was glad to see him. So much for her self-imposed banishment from seeing him. “Imagine my surprise to find her here. I was just coming home from Lexi’s place after working on some concepts for the business.” She coaxed Foxy into the big bathtub and pulled down the hose to soak her.

  “I’ve been missing you,” Derek said.

  Spirit sat next to the bathtub, wagging her tail like crazy. She loved baths, but washing one large dog at a time was enough work for the night.

  “Yeah, well, I’ve been missing you too.” Kate was constantly thinking of Derek, thinking of what it would be like if she had been with him instead of Lexi or home alone.

  He smiled then, and she thought she’d made his night.

  “I was just glad we found her here and she’s safe and unharmed. She was eager to visit with you,” Derek said.

  “I was surprised she made it all the way here.” Then they both began soaping her up.

  Spirit put her paws on the edge of the tub and woofed at Foxy.

  Mike came into the dog’s bathhouse and handed Derek a pair of board shorts. “The other guys aren’t bothering to shift. They’re just hanging out by the pool. If you guys need me for anything other than a ride home, you’ve got it.”

  “Thanks, Mike,” Derek said.

  “Is Spirit making a nuisance of herself in here?” Mike asked.

  “No, she’s fine. She loves the dog company,” Kate said.

  Then Mike smiled at them and left the bathhouse.

  “Sorry about this. I imagine you had other plans for tonight—like a movie or something, not washing a dog.” Derek dropped the wet towel and pulled on Mike’s spare board shorts.

  “I did, but this is okay. I’m glad she’s fine. How did she get free?”

  “Since walking on the beach with you and Foxy on Saturday, she has been watching for you to show up again. She sits by the door all the time, just waiting. When we put her out in the yard, she sits by the fence observing the driveway, hoping you’ll return.”

  Kate chuckled. “Aww, that’s so sweet.”

  “When I went to take the dogs for a walk tonight, Foxy saw her chance and bolted. I quickly alerted Cliff and Will and put the other dog back in the yard. Then we stripped and shifted to chase Foxy down as wolves. She still had a good head start on us. At first, I didn’t know where she was running to. But then it became evident. You had your car top down when you drove to my place, and I smelled your scent. I guessed then that she was going straight to your place!”

  “That’s really amazing.”

  “She might not want to leave,” he said.

  “I don’t have a fenced-in yard. Only Lexi does because of the swimming pool, and now she keeps her dog in there.”

  Kate had changed into her shorts and a shirt after swimming with Lexi, and now she figured she should have just stayed in her bathing suit as wet as she was getting. Washing Lexi and Ryder’s wolf dog was one thing she normally didn’t have to do. Ryder and Mike always washed her.

  Derek was getting just as soaked.

  “Do you often wash the dogs?” she asked.

  Derek probably had a full-time groomer for the job to keep their fur brushed out and clean when he had a lot of foster dogs.

  “We wash the dogs when we need to, but a red wolf takes care of all of them, especially when I have a lot more than just the two. Her son takes care of the dogs when we’re gone if Maddie can’t.” Derek eyed Foxy. “Don’t be surprised if Foxy tries to come to your house again.”

  “Hopefully, she won’t. That’s dangerous out there for her. She could get hit by a car or picked up by dogcatchers, though I’ve never seen any come around this area, or just taken in by a family.”

  After they rinsed her off, they towel-dried her and then used the hair dryer on her fur.

  Lexi came out to the bathhouse and smiled. “All cleaned up. Did you want to join us for beers or pink lemonade poolside? Ryder and Mike loaned Cliff and Will some board shorts so we can all have a drink before Mike takes you home.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Derek sounded eager to visit with them for a while after the long run to Lexi’s property as a wolf.

  Kate was glad Lexi was offering pink lemonade. It always appealed to her in the summertime. “That would be fun.” But she wasn’t finished with Foxy. She grabbed a brush at the same time that Derek grabbed for it with the same intention, their hands touching, lingering, and they paused to smile at each other. Then he picked up the dog comb.

  They all went to the pool, and she and Derek sat on chaise longues with Foxy sitting in the middle of them, Derek’s bottle of beer and Kate’s glass of pink lemonade sitting on the table between them as they began to brush and comb out Foxy. She was in seventh heaven. It appeared she was being loved on by her two favorite people in the world. Not only was Foxy sitting with them, so was Spirit, edging up to get some grooming time in as well.

  Kate laughed. “Spirit, you’re so silly.”

  Despite Kate’s plan to take a break from Derek, it seemed that Foxy had other plans. That made Kate smile.

  Chapter 16

  Derek had really wanted to give Kate the time she needed away from him, so he was worried she’d be annoyed with him once she saw him at her place despite the reason he was there. He couldn’t believe it when he saw her cheerfully taking Foxy to the bathhouse to wash her.

  He enjoyed washing Foxy with Kate. She was fun to be with. He couldn’t imagine being with another woman who would have been eager to help out either. She genuinely cared about dogs, and Foxy had seemed to win her over. He really hadn’t intended for her to help brush Foxy out either, but since they were going to be enjoying drinks with the others, he figured he might as well comb her out at the same time. He liked doing things, staying active. He got a kick out of Spirit wanting to join Foxy and get a bath too and then sitting there, waiting to get brushed.

  After he and Kate finished brushing Foxy, Kate began to brush out Spirit, and Derek helped comb Spirit out too.

  Everyone was talking about the camping trip coming up on Friday afternoon.

  “Be sure to bring your favorite fishing gear,” Ryder said. “It’s going to be perfect for it.”

  “Yeah, got it planned,” Derek said.

  “Me too,” Kate agreed. “Is Holly going to be all right going camping?”

  “Yeah, she says she is. At least if she has the babies at the campsite, Aidan is a doctor, and he can deliver them. Though since Holly is too, I can just imagine her giving Aidan guidance,” Lexi said.

  Everyone laughed.

  “She’s going to have them as a wolf, right?” Derek asked, thinking that as a wolf, it would be easier to transport them home if she did deliver during the campout. And easier for her to deliver them too.