A SEAL in Wolf’s Clothing Read Free Page A

pack for help.
    But she backed right into someone solid who hadn’t been there seconds earlier. She screeched and jumped several feet away, whipping around in terror to see one hunk of a male specimen. He was definitely a wolf type, a virile, dark-haired man with almost-amber eyes tinged with green. From the way his casual clothes hugged his chest and biceps, he had a body worth taking a second and third look at. His hair was cut military short, and because of his rugged appearance and the way he had moved so stealthily, he reminded Meara of Hunter’s SEAL team members.
    But he wasn’t anyone she knew. And he didn’t have the same scent as the other male wolf she’d smelled.
    The stranger’s lips curved up slightly, capturing her attention.
    “Hey,” he said in a deeply persuasive voice, putting his hands up to show he was unarmed. His wolfish gaze raked over her in an admiring manner that told her he was already interested in her. “Didn’t mean to startle you, but the sign outside said this was the office, and I’ve got a cabin reserved for a week. Unless I’ve got the wrong place. I’m Joe Matheson.” He lowered his hands slowly, as if to prove he wasn’t going to harm her, and stretched his right hand out to shake hers.
    Even though she’d heard him say the words she’d wanted to hear and the notion was finally sinking in that he was supposed to be here and was the first of the male guests scheduled to arrive, she couldn’t shake the sudden chill she felt in her bones. Because?
    She glanced back in the direction of her bedroom down the hall. She’d thought she heard footfalls in her bedroom. But now she imagined that had just been the sound of the ocean and the wind in the trees. After moving here from the redwoods in California, she didn’t think she’d ever get used to how the Oregon coast sounded.
    Except…
    She lifted her nose and smelled. The faint scent of another male wolf still lingered in the air. She didn’t think Finn Emerson would come here while Hunter was away and then stay , but she wondered: had he, and if so, why?

Chapter 2
    Meara couldn’t help feeling annoyed whenever Finn showed up, knowing he meant to convince Hunter to go on another dangerous mission with him. She wasn’t convinced that he was the wolf who had entered her home without permission earlier, but that didn’t matter. Any thought of Finn instantly made her hackles rise.
    She looked down at Joe Matheson’s outstretched hand and then, not entirely free of her concern about the presence of another wolf, she offered her own. “Meara Greymere” she said, smiling. “I was expecting you. I was going to fix a drink and something to eat. Would you care to join me, Mr. Matheson? And then I can show you to your cabin.”
    She wanted to ask her guest to accompany her down the hall to see who the intruder was, if he was still here and hadn’t climbed out her window, but she had to do it covertly without alerting him.
    “Call me Joe, if you don’t mind. I’m on vacation. I don’t want to be a bother, but I flew in from North Carolina, and you know how they don’t feed you on many flights these days. Pretzels, if you’re lucky. And they don’t sustain a body for long.”
    He gave her a sexy grin, and she thought about just how little the pretzels would do for a body like his.
    “I’ll need to find a place to pick up some groceries for the rest of the week so, yeah, a meal would be nice. Thanks.”
    She motioned to a seat at the bar but glanced around for a piece of paper and a pen to scribble a warning note about the possible intruder. “Any preference?”
    “Anything you want to fix is fine with me.”
    She pulled out a can of tuna to make a salad so that whoever might be hiding in her home would think she didn’t realize it. But as she stared at the can, she thought better of fixing a salad. Her brother hated them. This guy probably wouldn’t want to eat rabbit food, either.
    “Steak? Chicken? Fish?” she