Cry Wolf (28 page)

Andrea lifted her eyes. Sean and Reed stood behind where the creature now lay in an unmoving heap. Flames leaped closer to her, the heat burning her face. Part of the barn collapsed nearby. “Sean?”

He lowered the rifle, took off his jacket and began hitting at the flames with it. “Hold on!”

She tried to push herself to her feet, but then Sean was there, sweeping her into his arms. “Hold on, Sunshine.”

She gripped his shoulders as he carefully maneuvered his way through the flames and out of the barn. They turned just in time to see the entire building, engulfed in flames, collapse on itself.

“Man, can you believe this?
Newsweek
just called,
again
,” Reed said, replacing the phone and leaning back in his chair. “I never knew they read tabs.”

Sean kept studying the magazine he held in his hand. Today was Halloween, and the latest issue of the
Naked Truth
had hit stands yesterday. The final article in Andi’s blog series was the cover story, and so far, the phones had been ringing off the hook with reporters calling for comments from him and Reed.

Sean propped himself on the edge of his desk and scanned Andi’s article again before folding the magazine.

It had been two and a half weeks since the night of the fire. Andi had to get stitches in her leg, and she’d recovered at his house from her injury for a full two days before telling Sean it was time for her to leave. She was determined that while she might no longer be the first national reporter to break the story on what had really happened, she would be the most accurate. There were too many witnesses to what had happened to keep the story contained to just the
Dispatch
and the
Truth
.

No one knew what the animal really was or where it had come from, but there had been no more sightings since that night. Jared Novotny had released a statement to share his belief that the animal was relative of a species of wolf that had been previously thought extinct. A dire wolf. Sean still wasn’t clear on what that meant—could there still be other wolves out there? Once the barn had cooled long enough, firefighters had investigated, but there had been no trace of the animal. No fur, no bones, nothing. The fire had been too intense. All they had for evidence was the videotape Novotny had recorded along with the small sample of fur he’d kept for initial testing. It wasn’t enough to convince skeptics that the mystery creature had existed.

“Elaborate hoax?” declared one headline on a popular TV news network.

Already, Andi and Jared Novotny and everyone else who’d come forward about what they’d seen had come under attack by reporters looking for their own angle on the piece.

Sean wondered how Andi was holding up.

It was as if Reed read his thoughts. “Have you talked to Andrea today?”

“No, not today.” He’d talked to her last night. Right before he’d talked to Meg about possibly leaving Woodbine and going back to the city. It had been a hard two weeks without the woman he loved, and he’d come to the conclusion he couldn’t live without her. He was still torn between staying here and going after her, but he hoped if he showed Andi he was willing to compromise, so would she.

Hell, even the cat seemed to miss her.

Reed moved out of his seat, grinning. The kid cleared his throat and fingered a piece of paper. “Remember that friend I told you about that needed a job? You promised to look at their resume? Well, here it is. I thought maybe you could interview ’em today if you had time.”

Sean took the piece of paper and absentmindedly glanced at it. He did a double take when he saw the name at the top.
Andrea Lockhart.

“What—” Sean began, only to tense when he felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around his shoulders from behind.

“Surprise,” Andi said in his ear.

Sean turned to look at her. He could hardly believe she was here. He glared at Reed. “You knew she was coming here today, and you didn’t tell me?”

Reed grabbed his backpack and inched toward the door. “Hey, man, blame her, not me. I’m just a sidekick.”

“Traitor,” Sean accused good-naturedly, reaching around to slide an arm around Andi as the door to his office closed behind Reed. “When did you decide—”

She stopped him with a kiss. “I’m still waiting for a proper greeting—not to mention that job interview.”

“You mean you actually want a job here?”

With a sexy arch of her eyebrows, she pulled away and pretended to consider the idea. She glanced around the office and ran one fingertip along the edge of his desk as she circled it. She then dropped into his chair and tested it out. “Maybe.” She leaned back and put her heels up on the desk as if she owned the place. “I’m thinking of something part-time, something to keep me in cash while I work on this book I’ve suddenly got a mind to write.”

Afraid to hope that she meant what he thought she meant, Sean shifted around to face her, lifted her feet, and draped them across his lap. “Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into? I can be a very demanding boss.”

She made a sound of appreciation, then dropped her feet and rolled the chair closer. “Yes, and I can be a
very
demanding employee. What have you got to offer me?”

“I could always use a jack-of-all-trades.” It was his turn to pretend. “I imagine you’d need a place to live, so I can offer a cute little house on the lake. I’ve got an extra bedroom you could use—if you needed to turn it into an office or something. Hell, I’ve even got a cat you can have. It still needs a name, though.”

“Lucky,” she told him. “We’re naming the cat Lucky.” She smiled as she placed her hands on his thighs and squeezed. “Keep going.”

“I can offer you plenty of hours if you want them.” He reached down, lifted her so that she was pressed against him and stood between his spread thighs. “Mostly you’d have to work at night. With me. Well,
under
me, actually.”

She tilted her head back as he pressed gentle kisses along her collarbone. “Go on.”

“If you’re looking for more of a partnership, I can offer that too.” He slid his hands beneath the hem of her shirt and skimmed his fingertips along bare skin. He felt her stomach muscles tremble beneath his touch. “Lady, I’m talking lifelong partnership, with plenty of benefits.”

“Oh yeah?”

Sean grew serious. He leaned back to meet her eyes. “It doesn’t have to be here, Andi. We can live in Miami if you want. As long as I’m with you, I’ll survive.”

Her eyes were suddenly bright with emotion. “Sean, I love you.” She leaned down to kiss him tenderly. “This town isn’t so bad. Besides, if I’m going to be writing a book about the Woodbine Werewolf, I should probably immerse myself into the Woodbine culture a little more, don’t you think?”

“A book?”

Her book proposal had been already accepted by a major publishing house, she explained. Sean blinked in surprise when she told him she’d included his name as co-author on the proposal and that she’d given up her job at the
Truth
. She was strictly freelance now.

“The truth is, I can write from anywhere.” She took a deep breath. “But I love you too much to ask you to leave Meg and the kids. I wouldn’t mind getting to know them a little better myself.”

Sean didn’t even hesitate. He sandwiched her hands between his.

“Marry me, Sunshine.”

A slow smile spread across her face. “Let me get this straight. You’re proposing to me on
Halloween
?”

“I reckon I am.” The realization brought a smile to his face.

She looked as if she were considering the idea. With a wry tilt of her head, she nodded. “Yeah. Seems about right, all things considered.”

“Is that a yes?”

With a sigh, Andi let him pull her closer. “Sean, I don’t know if I’m ready for marriage. I love you, but everything has happened so fast.”

“We can have a long engagement. Say yes.”

Her lips curled into a smile. “Yes. With one condition.”

“What’s that?”

Her smile turned wicked as she leaned into him. “I’m not moving into any house in this town until we have it blessed by a priest first. Can’t be too careful here, you know?”

He chuckled, even as he squeezed her tight. “Oh, it’ll be blessed, all right, Sunshine. Our home will be very blessed.”

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