Page 43 of Wild Wolf
For now, she had to face the consequences of her actions. Nolan gestured to the house. “Dinnertime. And after dinner, you’re on cleanupdetail.”
Her face fell. “I scrubbed the bathrooms at the winery. You can eat off those floors and they were gnarly. And now I’m to do more manuallabor?”
Nolan tapped her nose. “Consequences of breaking the rules, Jordan. That’s the price youpay.”
Sullen, she didn’t look at him but she did take his hand as they walked up to the lodge. “Are you going to spank me aswell?”
“Maybe later in our bedroom. Could befun.”
He gave her a gentle swat on the rear and she tried to glare athim.
Nolan caught the sassy twinkle in her eyes and knew it wasn’t a trick of the settingsun.
He’d made some headway and felt more confident she had learned her lesson not to leave the grounds without anescort.
Trouble was, he wasn’t sure if she wouldn’t break the rules again if pushed too hard. Or worse, run away for good nexttime.
9
At breakfast the next day,Jordan saw Sam. Digging into a big pile of scrambled eggs, he saw her, laughed, and stood, sweeping her up in a giant bearhug.
“Hey put me down,” she said, laughing, hugging himback.
Sam set her on her feet. “Didn’t recognize you yesterday, sprite. You’ve grownup.”
“And you’re still the same.” She inhaled his scent, woodsy and smoke, like outdoors. Not as enticing as Nolan’s spices and cedar, but stillintriguing.
She sat next to him, watching Nolan talk with a few others across theroom.
Sam resumed his seat, kept eating. “Surprised to see you back. I thought after you left, you’d be gone for good. And now you’re mated to Nolan? Biggest surprise ofall.”
Jordan reached for the pitcher of orange juice, poured herself a glass. “I heard you’ve been on the road aswell.”
“Not as long as you have.” Sam focused on his food like a man, or a wolf, with a mission. “Always aimed to return. You? After you rejected Nolan like that, didn’t think I’d ever see youagain.”
The delicious juice soured on her tongue as she swallowed. “Broke his heart? I doubtit.”
Sam finally looked at her, his gaze hard. “I understand you wanted to leave, but did you have to be so nasty? Nolan’s my best friend. You hurt him, you hurt me. You hurt thepack.”
She winced. “I wanted to burn mybridges.”
“You blew them up.” Sam shook his head, drained his juice. “Can’t believe Nolan agreed to marry you. If I were here, I’d have advised againstit.”
Guilt filled her, as well as anger. “And here I thought you were happy to seeme.”
“I am, if you’re here with Nolan for the right reasons.” He gave her a long, thoughtful look. “What’s done is done. All that matters now is making Nolan happy, making thiswork.”
“Why did you leave, Jordan? You loved it here.” A shadow draped his face. “Thought you loved my best friend,too.”
“I had my reasons.” Reasons too private to tell Sam. How could she, when she couldn’t even share them withNolan?
Sam frowned. “Doesn’t matter to me. It’s the past. Long as you toe the line here with Nolan, that’s all I careabout.”
A smart answer was on the tip of her tongue when the Lupine in question came over to her. Nolan nodded at Sam, but his gaze centered on her. “Forget breakfast, Jordan. I’ve got a surprise for you. We’re leaving in thirtyminutes.”
She wondered what he plannednow.
Half an hour later,she found out. A picnic in the park? She’d hoped for as much, but he packed no basket, not even a bottle of water as they headed east in his truck toward the nationalpark.
