Chapter 5
Mark reached into the pocket of his jacket and withdrew a folded piece of thick paper. He unfolded it, taking it to the empty dining room table a few feet away and laying it down flat. It was a map of some sort. She moved closer to get a better look.
“It’s an island?” she asked, trying to read the complex topographical map for reference points she might recognize.
He smiled at her, but his expression was tight, as if merely thinking about the scope of the project made him tense. He looked at the map, though she could tell from the worn condition of the paper that he must have looked at it many times before.
“I purchased the island some time ago, and I’ve been waiting…for something.” He looked up at her, pinning her with his intense gaze. “I believe now, I was waiting for you.”
Of course, there was no way he could have known that he would meet her—an architect of all things—last night, but then again, stranger things had happened.
And if the chance meeting had landed her a giant job that would be a pleasure to oversee, then her plan to attend last night’s dinner to trawl for clients had worked out for the best.
“What sort of structures did you envision?” Her mind was jumping with ideas. The topography of the island would lend itself to several different schemes. She could see it already in her mind.
“I want a central gathering place. A Clan hall where we can all get together. That would include a communal dining room, kitchen facilities, some kind of ballroom or great hall that could be used for multiple purposes. I’d also want guest quarters attached to the Clan hall itself so that any Clan member who didn’t have a permanent dwelling on the island would have a place to stay.
A small clinic area to treat anyone who might get injured.
We heal fast, but occasionally, we do get hurt bad enough to have to sit it out a few days under someone else’s care.
” He smiled ruefully at that, but she could see he’d put a great deal of thought into this.
He went on to outline more specifics about everything he wanted in that central structure.
She was getting a very clear picture of what he envisioned, and ideas were beginning to percolate in her mind.
She itched to set pencil to paper to begin sketching out some of her ideas, but that would have to wait until she knew a little more about the scope of the project.
She had a feeling he had only just begun.
“I want to take advantage of the wildness of the terrain as much as possible,” he went on to say.
“We don’t want to tear up the jungle. We want to live in it peacefully.
Part of it. Like our wilder halves. Which reminds me, you’ll have to take our special abilities into consideration in your designs.
We’re fairly flexible and dexterous, but round door knobs are a no-no. ” He grinned, and she had to chuckle.
“Let me guess, you prefer the handle or push-bar style,” she ventured, earning an amused nod in response.
“Come to the island with me tomorrow and find out,” he invited, smiling along with her, though she could tell his invitation was completely serious.
“Uh…” She didn’t know him well enough to just go jetting off with him to some private island after only two encounters. Did she?
“We can be there in a few hours. Take off early tomorrow morning. Breakfast on my plane and lunch by the ocean. Sound good?”
“Um…” She shouldn’t agree to go anywhere with this man. Not so soon. Especially not when she knew he could turn into a wild beast at a moment’s notice. What if she got to this island of his only to find out she was the main course on the menu for his sharp-toothed Clan?
“Come on,” he cajoled. “I guarantee your safety. Scout’s honor. And you can have your own guest room for the night. We’ll fly back day after tomorrow…unless I can convince you to stay longer?”
She eyed him skeptically. “You were never a scout,” she accused gently. “And I thought you said there were no buildings on your island yet.”
“I didn’t quite say that.” He shook his head.
“I said I want you to design new buildings. There was a mansion of sorts on one side of the island when I bought it. We’ve been using the existing facilities, including the air strip and the docks, but the area I’m really interested in was considered too rugged by the human billionaire I bought the island from.
He stuck to the sandy side where his mistresses could sun themselves on the beach.
I’m more interested in the jungle part of the island—which is the majority of the acreage. ”
“Just how big is this island if it can support its own airport?” She was beginning to realize that Mark Pepard might just be even wealthier than she thought.
“It’s not a full-fledged airport. Just a private air strip where we can land any craft in our fleet,” he said off-handedly.
“Fleet?” She gulped her wine, not quite used to the kind of society circles Mark ran in.
Oh, she’d been born to wealth, but her father had spent most of their money, and what little remained was tightly guarded.
She’d made her own way, her family name gaining her entrée into society circles, but not the highest of the high—which was where people like Mark fit.
Her dad had been rich. Mark was mega-rich. A whole different ball game.
Dad had a plane. Mark had a fleet. Dad had a mansion in a good part of town. Mark had his own island with its own air strip and docks. Both rich to most people, but definitely playing in different leagues.
“Many of my people fly. They all have planes. It’s not my fleet, per se. It’s the Clan’s,” he tried to explain.
But if he was the grand pooh-bah of his Clan, then the fleet was under his direct control, wasn’t it?
She thought maybe he was playing a semantics game, but she wasn’t going to be any ruder than she’d already been.
She let it go. There were more important things to think about. His invitation being the main one.
“I’m not sure I should just drop everything to take a vacation in the sun.” She tried to wriggle out of it politely, but Mark wasn’t giving up.
“It’s not a vacation. You’ll be working.
I’ll be putting you through your paces, showing you the rugged side of the island and where I want the Clan hall to be.
I can get you most of the way in a four-wheel drive vehicle, but we’ll have to do a bit of trekking, as well.
I hope you have a good pair of hiking boots.
And you’ll need whatever supplies and equipment you usually use when doing a site visit.
I’ll want you to take thorough notes so you’ll be prepared to dazzle us with a plan for the Clan hall when you get back. ”
He was quite the salesman, was Mark. She was already thinking through the motifs and styles she might employ in the kind of project he’d outlined. It sounded like a challenging job, which was her favorite kind. Her fingers were literally itching to grab a pencil and start sketching out rough ideas.
Hmm. She realized she was already doomed.
Mark had dangled just the right bait in front of her.
Her work was her life, and she enjoyed it.
The chance to design something so unique was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of commission.
She’d be crazy to turn it down. And she knew already she’d regret it for the rest of her life if she said no.
Despite her fears, she wanted to know more about Mark and his people.
The feel of his fur under her fingers was a memory she kept going back to.
The remembered tactile sensation went a long way toward convincing her that it was all real when doubt began to creep in.
She hadn’t been dreaming. That memory was so real she could feel her fingers tingle in memory.
The very idea that he’d been hiding this side of himself from the public all these years amazed her.
He was often in the public eye, and his least activity was reported in the gossip columns and on the front pages of the society section.
His business triumphs—of which there were many—were routinely celebrated on the business television channels, magazines and newspapers.
How had he managed to keep such a big secret when he was under such close scrutiny? There was so much more to his operation—and his people—than met the eye. There had to be. No way could he keep a secret like that without the support of many others.
She couldn’t help herself. She wanted to know more about them.
She wanted to know more about him and how he fit into their secret society.
She knew she didn’t fully grasp what the term Alpha meant.
She sensed it was something very important—almost sacred, perhaps.
Whatever the case, she wanted to know more.
She wanted to understand where he came from and what he meant to his people.
She wanted to see him shift into that amazing big cat again. She wanted to stroke his fur and hear him purr. She wanted…
“So, you’ll come?”
The rather loaded question broke into her innermost thoughts.
She already knew what her answer would be.
She couldn’t not go. She couldn’t give up this opportunity to learn more about him and his people and see them in their natural habitat.
Or at least, the place they were actively making their own.
She nodded, still feeling a bit shaky about the decision but willing to commit herself—at least to a visit to the island.
“I’ll go, but just overnight. I just need to take some measurements and see the lay of the land in person before I can begin rough sketches.” That’s all she was going to do there, right?
Yes, she promised herself. That was all. Work. Measure, take notes, observe. That’s all. No seducing the sexy boss. No sleeping with him. Not so soon, at least.