Page 33 of Curse of the Wolf
I tried to decide if he was flirting with me and if I needed to mention that I was seeing someone else and wasn’t available. He hadn’t ogled me when I was naked, but that could mean that he had manners, not that he lacked interest.
Deciding it didn’t matter one way or another at this time, I stood still while he pressed the gauze to my wound and wrapped the bandage under my armpit and around my shoulder.
“May I have your number?” he asked when he was done.
Oh, hell. Hewasinterested.
“I’m seeing someone,” I blurted.
“I meant so I can text you the photos from the parking lot.” Ivan held up his phone, showing a grainy picture of two men getting onto motorcycles parked away from the influence of the streetlamps.
“Oh. Uhm, yes. Sorry.”
We exchanged numbers, and Ivan texted the photos. I didn’t look closely at them other than to note that one of the brutes was large and muscular enough to be one of Radomir’s potion-swilling thugs. And the other… Had I seen him in the parking lot of Sylvan Serenity wielding a makeshift cudgel as he rode around on his motorcycle?
“Iwouldbe available for coffee sometime if you’re interested.” Ivan stepped back, leading me out of the closet. “Or hot steamy sex with no strings attached.”
I opened my mouth but didn’t know what to say.
“I’m jesting of course. Unless that strikes your fancy. In which case it’s a genuine offer. I’m divorced and available for anything up to and equaling vacations to tropical locales and torrid late-night hotel trysts.” His smirk suggested he didn’t expect me to take him up on that.
“Fifteen minutes ago, you were suspicious of me, and I, uhm, beat up your sister.”
“That’s less of a deterrent than you might think. We’ve always had an edgy relationship. She was Dad’s favorite, after all.”
Ivan opened the bedroom door, not keeping me longer. The people who’d been drawn by the fight noises had scattered, but Jasmine and Bolin stood nearby and looked toward us.
“And as I said before,” Ivan said quietly, “I’ll offer a monetary reward if you’re able to find those men and retrieve my bracelet. And if the Sylvans sell that property and you need a job, let me know. I’mpositiveI can find someone who can use a person with your skills.”
“My property-management skills? Or my security skills?”
“Both.”
With the baggie of hair strands in my hand, I headed for the exit, hoping Jasmine wouldn’t mind leaving early. I glimpsed Izzy, her wild locks now combed, though she still lookeddisheveled as she glared at me from the fireplace, the two older men who’d witnessed my change standing nearby. Izzy gripped a cocktail—definitely not amocktail—like she wanted to throw it at me. One of the men was holding what looked like a scotch on the rocks and lifted it toward me in a salute.
I shook my head. Whether I’d seen the last of Izzy or not, I didn’t know, but I’d had enough of this party.
Jasmine waved a goodbye to Bolin, then jogged to catch up with me. “That was amazing. I had no idea that you were a master at this stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“Networking.” Jasmine glanced back. “OMG, Ivan MacGregor is checking out your ass. And he’s not the only one.”
I rubbed my face as a doorman appeared, opening the way to the hallway. “Is that the kind of networking you want to do?”
“Well, I’d prefer to get a job offer on merit and without having to put out, but you’ve got a bunch of rich old men who aren’t going to forget your face—or any of your other attributes.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
11
As Jasmine droveme back to Sylvan Serenity, I spotted Duncan’s Roadtrek by the pond behind the convenience store. Had more trouble found the place?
“Uh-oh. Let me out here, will you?” I didn’t see any motorcycle thugs in the parking lot, just a few teenagers loitering around a car, probably waiting for an older friend to come out with alcohol. That didn’t mean Duncan hadn’t sussed out something about to go down.
“You’re having an urge for a slushie?” Jasmine signaled to turn into the store’s parking lot, but I pointed her toward the handful of spaces by the pond’s small dock. “Oh, you’re having an urge for a Duncan.”
“To see what he’s up to, anyway.”
