“It looks so good, I figure the next time we come here, I’ll get it if I really like it.”

  He moved his plate over so she could scoop up as much as she wanted.

  She took a spoonful and ate it. “Hmm, yeah, definitely worth a try. Do you want some of mine?”

  “Sure.” She offered her plate to him, and he spooned up a portion and then ate it. “Yeah, this is really good too.”

  Then Derek saw the reporter who had been at the lake near their picnic table coming into the restaurant. The guy didn’t seem to see him and Kate. The reporter disappeared somewhere in the back of the restaurant in the direction that Brenda had gone. Maybe he would give her a hard time. Derek could only hope.

  “That’s the same guy I saw at the lake,” Kate whispered to Derek.

  “Yeah.”

  “Hey, well, I’m done, if you’re ready to leave,” Kate said. “We could walk along the marina.”

  “Let’s do it.” He paid for their meals, and they left the restaurant. He noticed that Cliff and Will were also finished with their meals, and then the two bodyguards joined them outside. “We’re just going for a walk along the marina,” Derek said.

  “Did you see the reporter?” Will asked.

  “Yeah, he had to be after someone else,” Derek said.

  “Brenda. No telling what she’ll say,” Cliff said.

  “He writes for a tabloid. No telling what the reporter will say either,” Derek said.

  They were walking along the water, listening to the boats moving in their slips, the water slapping against them, the rigging on the masts clinking in the breeze. It was really lovely, doing this with Kate. Then he saw the reporter who had been in the restaurant, and he was headed their way.

  “Do you want me to head him off?” Cliff asked.

  “No. Thanks though.” Derek wanted to be with Kate tonight without anyone harassing them, but he did think this might be the perfect opportunity to get the word out that he and Kate were engaged and would be married as soon as they came up with a date.

  “We could tell him we’re getting married,” Kate said.

  “I was considering that too.” He was glad that she was thinking along the same lines as he was.

  She squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. “Let’s do it.”

  Cliff stepped back to allow the reporter to talk to them.

  When he approached them, he said, “Do you care to comment on Brenda Connors’s situation with her brother-in-law?”

  “That is an ongoing investigation, but I can tell you that Kate and I are engaged and shortly to be married,” Derek said.

  The reporter smiled. “Congratulations to the both of you. Do we have a wedding date?”

  “No, not yet, but thanks,” Kate said.

  “So is what Brenda claims—that you and Kate had been seeing each other while you were dating Brenda—true?”

  “Derek and I’ve known each other for a year,” Kate said, “but no, we never dated each other during that time. Then he asked me to the gala when Brenda gave him up, and we just hit it off. It might sound cliché, but it truly was love at first sight.”

  “I agree with Kate there,” Derek said, kissing her.

  The reporter snapped a couple of shots. “What do you think will happen when Brenda learns of this?”

  “I don’t even want to speculate,” Derek said. “But I hope she’s mature enough to realize that I’ve moved on and she needs to as well.”

  “Like Derek, I’m hoping she realizes it’s over between her and Derek now and she’ll peaceably get on with her life.” Kate smiled sweetly.

  Derek was glad Kate said what she did. Though he hoped it wouldn’t further antagonize Brenda.

  To their surprise, Brenda and her girlfriends headed their way. Cliff and Will were tense, ready to intercept them, though Derek couldn’t imagine Brenda would pull anything herself—not in front of so many onlookers and a reporter. If she hired her brother-in-law to cause trouble for Kate, that was a much sneakier way of dealing with her competition.

  “For the record, if I even cared about the two of you screwing each other, I would have said something to your face, not gone behind your back,” Brenda said, her girlfriends standing on either side of her, glowering just as much at Kate.

  “Like in your social media where you said I had been seeing Derek behind your back? It isn’t true, for the record,” Kate said. “You wanted him to marry you. He didn’t want to. Then we fell in love.”

  Brenda scoffed.

  “We’re engaged to be married. You’ll hear about it soon enough. It might as well be now,” Kate said.

  Brenda’s face reddened. She glanced at Derek as if she couldn’t believe Kate could be telling the truth.

  He shrugged. “Love at first sight, whirlwind romance. Kate’s right. Once we started dating, I knew she was the one and only one for me. I wasn’t letting a good thing go.”

  Brenda rushed forward and shoved him hard before anyone realized she would react so violently. Derek was shocked! He was close to the edge of the cement walk next to the water and thrown off-balance. Kate quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the edge before he fell into the water.

  Cliff and Will grabbed Brenda. Their mouths agape, her girlfriends looked horrified that Brenda would do that while the reporter was happily taking videos and snapping photos.

  “Oh, did you see what she did?” someone in a gathering crowd of onlookers asked.

  Derek hadn’t even realized they’d gathered a crowd and some of the people were taking videos, naturally. Two celebs fighting it out in public—the perfect storm.

  Then a police officer arrived. Derek normally wouldn’t have pressed charges over something so benign, but he was worried this would escalate with Brenda and she would attempt to hurt Kate. He and the others told the officer what had happened and about the business of Brenda and her brother-in-law. The officer took Brenda into custody. Her girlfriends looked on horrified.

  “Can we have your car keys?” one of her girlfriends asked Brenda before she was hauled away for questioning.

  The police waited to see if Brenda wanted to give them her keys. She cast them a look like they had to be kidding.

  The woman shook her head as if she couldn’t believe Brenda would strand them. Served them right for sticking with her through this whole sordid mess.

  Derek would get a restraining order against Brenda first thing. He could handle himself, but he didn’t want Kate harmed. Several more police officers arrived, and bystanders were sharing videos of the confrontation with the police.

  Derek thought of offering to have one of his bodyguards take the women to their places, but he figured they would be back to being friends with Brenda as soon as she returned home. He was certain being nice to her friends wouldn’t influence them to change their mind about her.

  The police had enough evidence to charge Brenda with battery, and if Kate hadn’t reacted so quickly and grabbed Derek, he would have fallen into the water and might have suffered some injuries. He tightened his arm around her shoulders, hugging her. She made a hell of a bodyguard, and she was all his.

  Then the police took Brenda away while her two friends were texting away. Spreading the story to other friends? Trying to get a ride? Derek took Kate’s hand and continued to walk through the marina. But then he took her to a security gate and unlocked it. He and she and Will and Cliff walked down to one of the slips where Rafe’s yacht was moored.

  “This is amazing,” Kate said.

  “You are amazing.” Derek pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. “Thanks for saving me back there.”

  “Hell, yeah, boss,” Cliff said. “I would never have reached you in time.”

  “Me either,” Will said. “She was as quick as a big cat. And her instincts were right on.”

  “I couldn’t believe anyone wouldn’t have seen that coming.” Kate smiled.

  They all chuckled.

  Derek loved her. Man, had he made the right decision to mate her. He just wished he hadn’t put her in the middle of all this drama. He should have known Brenda would be a pill about all this, given the way she had acted when she didn’t get her way before when they were dating. He realized just how spoiled she was and how Kate really wasn’t. She was happy to do anything with him and just as eager to foot the bill. Of course, now, his money was hers. He needed to get a will drawn up that stated that too.

  Then they headed back to their vehicles, and it was time to go home and make love to his she-wolf.

  “Well, I don’t know if Brenda finally got the message that it’s not in her best interests to mess with us any longer, but I sure hope she rethinks things,” Kate said.

  “I think this last fiasco will be the end of it.” At least he hoped it would.

  When they arrived home, she and Derek said good night to the guys, and then they retired to the bedroom. “Did you want to do anything else tonight first? Swim? Walk the dogs? It’s too early to run as wolves,” he said.

  She began unbuttoning his dress shirt. “This is all I want to do for now.”

  He smiled. That was just what he was hoping for. He slipped the smocked bodice of her summer dress down, revealing her creamy breasts. He leaned down and kissed them. Then he pulled her dress off the rest of the way. He liked this setup. She heeled off her sandals, and all she was wearing was a pair of white bikini panties.

  She quickly began working on his belt buckle. He ran his hands over her breasts. She felt heavenly to his touch. She unzipped his pants and slid her hand over his boxer briefs that melded to his full-blown erection, making it jump against her exquisite touch.

  “Hmm, someone’s ready for me,” she whispered.

  “Hell, yeah, always.” He nuzzled her cheek, slipped his hand between her legs, and smiled when he found the crotch of her panties was wet. “Someone’s ready for me.”

  “Always.”

  ***

  Kate felt Derek’s arousal jump against her hand and knew he was as ready for her as she was for him. She slid his trousers down his legs, and he hurried to push off his shoes so he could remove his pants the rest of the way. She slipped her hand down the waistband of his boxer briefs and touched his hot erection. He was such a wolf.

  He caressed her breasts with his hands, his warm flesh against hers feeling so divine. He leaned over and kissed her breasts.

  Then she was sliding his boxer briefs down his hips, and he kicked them aside. Before he removed her panties, he cupped her buttocks, pulled her close, and kissed her mouth again, his searing kiss sending a torrent of heat hurtling through her. Her bare breasts were pressed against his hard chest, and she felt heavenly. What a lovely way to end the beautiful day she’d spent with him.

  He slid his hands down her panties and held onto her buttocks in a possessive, endearing way, his hands warming her, and then he removed her panties, and they were both perfectly naked. They quickly moved this to the bed.

  He just held her close for a moment, their mouths kissing again. She was enjoying the nakedness of their bodies pressed together, the heat, the passion between them. Then he slid his hand down to begin stroking her feminine nub, and she was caught up in the moment, the way his fingers caressed her, the way he kissed her forehead, her mouth, her chin, her throat. She soaked in the heady feeling as he continued to stroke her. She caressed his arms, the muscles taut as he smiled down at her, his eyes lust-filled, the musky scent of their sex adding to the intimacy. Pheromones were busy at work, telling them to boldly take this all the way again.

  His questing fingers continued to stroke her nubbin, and his mouth sought the pleasure of kissing hers deeply, stirring the compulsion to take him into her fully. She thrust her pelvis at him, wanting him to stroke her harder, faster. He quickly obliged. She loved how he was always so eager to please. He sucked on her lower lip, and she felt the hurtle of climax coming. “Inside me now,” she urged him.

  She spread her legs farther, and he plunged his erection deep inside her, shattering her composure, and she cried out with joy and relief, the ripples of climax washing through her. Her inner muscles clenched around him as he continued to pound inside her. She loved how they had gone all the way, to consummate the love they had for each other as lupus garous. She had never felt this way about another wolf as he danced with her in the intimate throes of passion, connected to her in body and soul, maybe even making little wolf babies when they made love.

  He was gorgeous—a consummate lover, respectful of her needs as she was of his—and life couldn’t get any better now that he was her mate. He dipped his head to kiss her mouth again, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, welcoming him.

  ***

  Every time Derek made love to Kate, it was like the first time. A new experience and as hot and loving and passionate as the last. He loved her with all his heart and kissed her pliant mouth again, her lips parted to take him in, and he thrust his tongue into her mouth. She stroked his tongue with hers in seductive caresses. He loved how receptive she was, the way she tightened her sheath around his shaft, thrust her hips to connect with him, moved her legs to give him deeper penetration. She ran her hands over his biceps with silky caresses, her mouth on his again, kissing with reverence. She drew him deeper, and he couldn’t hold off any longer. Then he thrust and gave way to the elation of completion. He continued to plunge into her until he was spent, sinking against her, hugging her, kissing her chin, her throat, and then moving off her so he could pull her against him and snuggle with her until they were ready for this again. “I love you.”

  She smiled at him, her blue eyes soft with a dreamy quality, her arm and leg thrown over him in a way that said he was her conquest. “I’m so glad you didn’t hire me.”

  He chuckled. “Because you much prefer working for Lexi.”

  “And making love with you. I love you.”

  Chapter 29

  In the morning way before dawn, Derek and Kate snuggled in bed. He figured she was awake, but her eyes were still closed, and she didn’t appear to want to leave the bed. It reminded him of when they had camped out and she had ended up in his sleeping bag. This was really nice. It was still dark out, so they could go out and run as wolves, but she might be worried about a police officer patrolling the beaches again. Or maybe she just enjoyed cuddling with him longer. He fell asleep with her wrapped in his arms, and when he woke, a new day had dawned.

  “I guess we missed running as wolves this morning,” he said.

  “We’ll make up for it with a whole day spent at the botanical gardens. We can eat lunch at the tea gardens. They have soups and sandwiches and desserts,” Kate said.

  Will and Cliff followed them in the Land Rover to the gardens. When they arrived, she said, “Oh, the gardens are just beautiful, aren’t they?”

  “They sure are.” Derek had never been to the botanical gardens, and he realized just how much Kate was opening his world up to doing new things. He really was enjoying them, but she was what made them so special.

  They checked out some of the fountains and water sculptures. The exhibits here were of statues created from waterproof origami—one of birds flying, another of a horse standing among flowers, and another of a sailor’s folded hat sitting in a pond surrounded by koi. Inside the museum, there were more artistic origami creations, from unicorns to dragons to flowers.

  They went back outside and walked through the rose gardens to the area that had lily ponds and waterfalls. Brass statues of running horses, fish jumping out of the pond, and geese taking flight filled the space. Real geese enjoyed the shaded trees by a pond, and ducks and swans floated on the water. In one of the gardens, they even saw a wild turkey roaming about.

  The next garden, a Japanese garden, featured curved pathways covered with crushed stone similar to moonstone. Crape myrtle trees were filled with red, white, and pink blossoms. Pink granite stepping-stones made their way through the crushed stone, and a stone bridge crossed over waterways filled with koi. Boulders, bamboo, and stone lanterns made Derek feel he had been transported to Japan. It was so pretty, and he was thinking how beautiful it would be to create something like that in the entryway to his home.

  “Wouldn’t it be great to create a Japanese garden like this? The front yard just has a lawn, a couple of trees, and several shrubs, but it could be really spectacular,” Derek said.

  “Oh, like having the boulders and a little waterway? A trellis? Koi? And a bridge to cross it? A little waterfall? Oh, absolutely,” Kate said. “It would give the front of your home more privacy as well.”

  “It would be wonderful for parties too. Right now, no one even uses the front yard. We all end up in the back because of the swimming pool and the beach.”

  “Yeah, that would be great.”

  The botanical gardens stretched forever with little garden rooms with benches to sit awhile. He and Kate were getting quite a workout too on the hilly acreage.

  They finally went to the tearoom to have sandwiches and tea for lunch while Cliff and Will took seats at a nearby table and placed their orders.

  Kate and Derek ordered grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and potato chips—she went for sour cream, he went for the lime chips—and both of them had water.

  A shop filled with paintings of flowers and wildlife was situated near where they were seated by one of the windows. They could look out on the butterfly gardens and watch the myriad of butterflies flitting about the flowers here.

  “I really have enjoyed coming here,” Derek said.

  “Oh, me too. Between some of the things you suggested doing and some of the things I’ve come up with, our outings have been so much fun.”

  Their lunch was soon served, and they began to eat. Several people were stopping to see the butterflies on the flowers, some taking photos right outside the windows Derek and Kate were sitting at. Then Derek saw Randall Roberts—the guy Kate had dated before—making his way to their table. He wondered if Randall thought he could persuade Derek to use him as his investment advisor.