Will handed Kate her T-shirt and she pulled it on, and then they walked the dogs again. Both Foxy and Red were excited to walk some more. They would be worn out afterward.

  “This has been great. Lexi doesn’t have a long beach to walk on like this, so this is nice,” Kate said.

  The nicest walk she’d ever taken on the beach with a male wolf.

  Chapter 9

  “About the paparazzi,” Kate said as Derek and she continued to walk along the beach with the dogs, not ready to have her life under the microscope when it came to dating men. “I tried not to get you into too much hot water with the human women you’re bound to hook up with now that Brenda is history.”

  “I’m not ‘hooking up’ with any of them right now.”

  “What about your dinner coming up?” She suspected he’d have to ask someone else to go to it if she didn’t change her mind and go with him.

  “I’m not deciding about that for a while. I might even just go alone.”

  “But you’ve bought two tickets for the event, right?” She figured he would have, just an automatic thing for him because he had been going with Brenda.

  “Yeah. But it’s another charity event, so the money goes to a good cause no matter what.”

  “Oh, true. That’s good.” Kate was watching two teens on the beach, both walking behind people sitting on chairs or chaise longues reading books or tanning. The teens were looking down at the bags by people’s chairs, and she knew just what they intended to do—grab a bag and run. “Did you know I was a former lifeguard?”

  Derek glanced down at her. “No, it wasn’t on your résumé.”

  “Would you have hired me if it had been?”

  “Maybe. I like to swim. You could have guarded me in the water then.”

  “And your board shorts.” She handed him Foxy’s leash. “Hold on to her for me, will you? I need to run.” Then she dashed off, and she could hear Derek, Will, and the dogs running to keep up with her.

  She wasn’t very far from the one teen as the other asked the man sitting under a blue-and-white-striped beach umbrella what the time was while pointing at his own wrist, but Kate was watching the teen behind the beachgoer, and when he grabbed the man’s beach bag, she tackled the teen to the sand.

  Will and Derek reached her right after that, and Will took the other teen into custody when he tried to flee.

  “This is your bag, isn’t it, sir?” Kate asked the man who was now standing up and looking shocked that they’d caught the would-be thief stealing his bag.

  “Yeah, it sure is.”

  “Do you want to press charges against these teens?” she asked.

  “Hell, yeah. It’s the only way to deter thieves.”

  Derek had Will call the police to come and arrest the teens.

  “Thanks,” the man said to them.

  “You’re welcome. I hate to see thieves ruining a good day for beachgoers.” Kate brushed the sand off her knees.

  Once the police were there and taking the teens into custody, Kate took Foxy’s leash and continued to walk with her as if nothing had even happened. She was just driven to right a wrong, even though she supposed she shouldn’t have done it while she was walking with Derek and his bodyguard on a pseudo date. What would they think? That she was trying to show off?

  She supposed she was a little.

  “She has eagle eyes,” Will said. “Here I was watching for threats to the two of you. And she nabs would-be thieves.”

  “You got the one or he would have hightailed it out of there.” Kate always gave credit where credit was due.

  Finally, Derek said to her, “You did that as a lifeguard?”

  She smiled up at him. “When days were slow. I had the martial arts training already. I could see them stealing from people, and then I would have to deal with the fallout. One time, five college girls from Australia on a school break were at the beach, four of them swimming, while the fifth girlfriend was supposed to watch their bags. She fell asleep, so naturally, you can imagine what happened. It was awful. Traveler’s checks, credit cards, IDs, passports—all gone. It was probably the trip of a lifetime for them, and they were so far from home. No family or friends to call. They had to go to the embassy to get help. I felt so sorry for them.

  “I had wished I had seen the thieves who had stolen all their things, but I hadn’t. The four women were furious with the one who fell asleep. But the thieves were the ones at fault. It’s a shame when you can’t go to the beach without worrying about thieves stealing your stuff. But that’s when I started monitoring what was going on at the beach too. I learned from one guy I caught that he made anywhere from three to six thousand dollars a day!”

  Derek shook his head. “I’m in the wrong business.”

  “Yeah. The police got used to me calling them, once I had ensured that the victim was going to press charges.”

  Frowning at her, Derek asked, “Did you ever get hurt?”

  “Bruises, sometimes. But you know with our faster-healing genetics, any small injuries would be gone in a day or so. The police wanted to hire me to work a beach patrol.”

  Derek smiled at her. “When thieves saw you on the beach, you would think they would learn to clear out.”

  “Yeah, they started to look for me, and when I wasn’t there, they would have a field day.” Kate was still looking for more would-be thieves on the beach, but she didn’t see anyone who looked suspicious now.

  “I hadn’t known that about you.”

  “Yeah, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

  “Why did you become a bodyguard?” Derek asked.

  “I saw a man threatening another man with a gun, and I stopped the gunman with a martial arts maneuver, kicked his gun from his hand, and took him down. I wasn’t trained as a bodyguard back then. But I got so much good publicity that I had several job offers, so I got the training. My interview with you was my first time applying for a bodyguard position.”

  “Right, and working for Lexi was your first job serving as a bodyguard, and you did a great job.”

  “Thanks. At least she hasn’t had any trouble recently.”

  “I agree. What do you think about having an early lunch at my place after we get back to the house?” Derek asked Kate.

  “Oh, sure. I was going to just eat some leftovers at home, but that would be great. Thanks.” She always had an open invitation to eat at Lexi’s home, but she tried not to eat over there most of the time when she was free on the weekends, now that she had a place of her own and could make her own meals. Lexi and Ryder needed their special time. She still couldn’t believe Lexi was pregnant with twins.

  “Are you watching for more thieves on the beach?” Derek asked.

  She smiled. “Are you?”

  “Hell, yeah, I don’t want you to get the drop on them before I do. You’re just supposed to be here enjoying your time with me, not taking risks on beach patrol.”

  “I don’t see anyone. We’re good.” She smiled at him. “I’ve had a great time with you today.”

  “Especially when I lost my board shorts, I bet.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, that was definitely the highlight of my day.”

  Then they turned around and headed to the house, jogging the rest of the way back. They finally reached the stairs to Derek’s home, unlocked the gate, and went up to the pool patio. Will hosed off the dogs and took them to their yard, and Kate pulled off her T-shirt. She showered outdoors first, and then she jumped into the pool. Derek showered after that while Kate swam a lap. Cliff and Will went inside the house to give them some privacy.

  Derek brought the basketball hoop out, put it in the water, and then joined Kate in the pool. He tossed the ball to her, and she caught it and laughed. Then they played hoops.

  “This is fun,” Kate said, throwing the ball again.

  “Yeah, it always livens things up in the pool.”

  “Thanks for inviting me over today.”

  “I’ve had a great time too.”

  Kate had enjoyed the day so much with Derek that she was thinking that if she could do more things like this with him—and with no paparazzi reporting their every move—she could continue to have fun with him. But she didn’t want to be in the limelight. She hadn’t realized how much that bothered her. When Lexi was, Kate was just her sidekick, and it had all been about Lexi. Kate liked her privacy when she was not at social functions, but beyond that, she really didn’t want her love life on view for everyone. She’d never thought that would ever happen if she started seeing someone. Of course, that would have been par for the course if she’d continued to go to social functions with Derek since he was the one in the spotlight, which put her smack-dab in the middle of it too. But now she would be the center of attention just for being a partner in Lexi’s business.

  ***

  Derek saw the crease between Kate’s brows and wondered if she was worried about something.

  “As long as the paparazzi don’t become an issue, I’m fine with doing things like this,” Kate said.

  He took that to mean she didn’t want to go with him to his charity events or other activities where a lot of reporters were hanging around.

  “I mean, you have such a reputation…” she began.

  He smiled.

  They got out of the water, rinsed off under the outdoor shower, and then dried off.

  “Well, since you go out with different women and never commit to any of them, I just don’t want to be put in the same category with the rest of them.”

  So she was worried about her reputation. He could understand that.

  “You know it wouldn’t be like that with us. You’re a wolf. They were human.”

  “Okay, you have never settled down with anyone.” Kate raised a brow.

  “Neither have you.”

  She smiled. “I’ve never met anyone I’ve wanted to settle down with.”

  Well, he couldn’t say he hadn’t wanted to. He had. Twice. And neither of the situations had worked out. So yeah, he was a little gun-shy when it came to having another go at dating a wolf regularly. Even with Kate, he certainly wasn’t sure. He was having a great time with her. But if she was looking for a commitment this early in the game, he couldn’t give her one.

  But if her issue was being seen with him, they could try to work around that. He never thought any woman he dated would not want to be seen with him. That was a novel situation. Most wanted others to know that he was theirs—for a while anyway.

  “Well, the good news is the paparazzi know I don’t go anywhere with a date unless it’s a special function that’s getting lots of publicity. They don’t follow me around like they do Rafe. I’m boring. I run with the dogs on the beach, take a dip in the ocean every once in a while, get together with Aidan and Rafe and Ryder every so often. Nothing newsworthy in that. So if we do things like this, we should be good, if you’re afraid to be seen with me.”

  She smiled. “Perfect.”

  It bothered him a bit that she felt that way, but he understood her reasoning to a degree. He also wondered if it meant she might be interested in dating other wolves because of her newfound status as a partner in Lexi’s successful business. That bothered him even more. He did have the concern that unsavory wolves—or humans—might try to get to know her, those who were solely interested in her money. But of course the humans wouldn’t stand a chance, no matter if they were the most successful con artists in the world because she wouldn’t be taken in by them—not when she was a wolf.

  “Okay, good. We’ll have to come up with some more paparazzi-free activities we would both like to explore then,” he said.

  “That sounds like a great idea.”

  He still couldn’t believe that she didn’t want to be seen with him. So what would he do about his other social engagements? He suspected Kate wouldn’t like it if he was seeing another woman just for his social functions though. He would just have to see how it went. He liked taking a woman to the events. Going alone didn’t appeal at all. Maybe he could go by himself a couple of times and then still convince her at some point to start going with him to them. Nothing was static in life. That was what he would do.

  She got a text on her phone where she’d left it next to her shorts on the chaise longue. She checked it out. “Well, another guy I went out with a long time ago asked me on a date.”

  “A wolf?” That was all that concerned Derek. Not that he wanted her to date humans on a regular basis either.

  “Yeah.”

  She got another text and smiled. “Well, and this one is a human. I guess the word is just getting out that I’m a partner in a billion-dollar business.” She got one more text and chuckled. Then she turned off her phone.

  He was glad she hadn’t just started texting them back. He hoped she wouldn’t take any of them up on dates, but especially the wolf. Here he thought he would begin to get a bunch of calls from human women interested in getting to know him better now that he was no longer seeing Brenda. But maybe they thought he was now seeing Kate and they didn’t stand a chance.

  “Who’s the wolf? Anyone I know?” he asked.

  “The last one was a wolf you know. I have never dated him, just for your information. I don’t know if you know the other guy.”

  “Who is the guy I know?”

  “Will? Your new bodyguard. I haven’t ever dated him before,” Kate said again, sounding highly amused.

  “Hell, does he want to get fired?” Derek hadn’t meant to say that aloud.

  She laughed. “I don’t know if I could keep up with all the dates I might now get. I could imagine having to get my own personal assistant to keep me straight on it.”

  He wanted to groan out loud. He noticed the clouds had swiftly moved in and were now filling the sky.

  “Are you about ready to eat?” Derek asked.

  “I sure am.”

  Then it poured rain! First, it was a light shower, and then the raindrops grew bigger and slammed into them, the pool, and the patio. They hurriedly grabbed shorts and phones and shoes and headed inside.

  “That was perfect timing,” she said.

  “I’ll say.”

  They went inside to change out of their bathing suits and into street clothes.

  She joined Derek in the living room, and he escorted her to the dining room to have lunch. He’d had such a great time with her, he really didn’t want it to end. It just felt right. It was so nice to be with a she-wolf again who liked to do the same things he did.

  Will smiled broadly at Derek, just trying to get his goat by texting Kate for a date while Derek was on one with her! Then Will joined Cliff at the breakfast table that had seating for six.

  Usually, Derek ate lunch with his bodyguards and Maddie ate by herself in the kitchen. But today, the guys were eating with Maddie in the breakfast nook so that Derek and Kate could have a meal alone. He hadn’t even suggested it. He sure appreciated them for thinking of it.

  Maddie had made lobster salads for everyone, though Derek had heard her say sometime before Kate had arrived that she was making everyone hamburgers. Maddie must have changed her mind and wanted to impress Kate instead. Which was fine with Derek. He loved lobster any way that Maddie made it.

  As to Cliff and Will? Derek suspected they would have preferred hamburgers. But they could grill some for tonight. On summer nights, Derek normally grilled dinner poolside and gave Maddie the night off. Though she was always welcome to eat with them. Sometimes she would.

  “This is really great,” Kate said. “I would love to have the recipe.”

  “You should have Maddie’s lobster mac and cheese. It’s out of this world. Three kinds of cheese and lots of lobster.”

  “Hmm, that sounds delicious. I’ll need that recipe too.” Kate took another bite of her salad and then sipped from her red nonalcoholic cocktail, an orange slice garnishing the chilled glass. She buttered another fresh-baked roll. “These are so good too.”

  “Maddie makes the best baked goods. Now that’s something I never got into. I love to grill though. I was going to make hamburgers on the grill tonight, if you want to have dinner with us. That is, if you don’t have anything planned.”

  “Thanks, but I’m going to chill at home.”

  “We could go for a run on the beach as wolves after we watch the sun set.”

  She smiled.

  He thought he might have won her over on that note.

  “Um, okay, because I love to run as a wolf, but it’s a lot more fun to do it with someone. On the beach? I never get to do that. Is it safe?”

  “Yeah, sure. No one’s on the beach after dark. We’ll just run along after that and have a great time.”

  “Okay, I would love that. I’ll go home for a while to get some chores done and come back at…?”

  “Seven. We can swim in the pool after dinner, have some champagne, and watch the sun set. Then we can go for a wolf run on the beach.”

  “That sounds like fun.” Kate finished her drink. “This drink is so refreshing. What’s in it? I can taste the cranberry juice, but also…grapefruit?”

  “Maddie calls it her Ocean Breeze Summer Cocktail. It’s made with unsweetened cranberry juice, maple syrup, and grapefruit juice. She can give you her recipe if you would like.”

  “I would. It would be nice to have some when Lexi and I are working and need something refreshing to drink on a hot summer day.”

  “Maddie is always trying new recipes out on us. The Ocean Breeze is one of my favorites.”

  “I can see why.”

  “I figured we would have champagne to celebrate your partnership with Lexi.”

  He was getting pretty good with winging date plans with Kate, he thought. If he’d proposed something like that to Brenda—well, minus the wolf run on the beach—without giving her at least a week’s notice, she wouldn’t have taken him up on it. He realized Kate was really flexible about making plans, and he liked that. Now, when she got really into the partnership business, she might not be as free, but he was glad to have her company again for tonight.