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“Well, save me a seat at lunch, then. I’m going to be there to start training Conan.”

“Yeah, sure.” He was so thrilled she would be there.

“Well, I’ve to go. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Maisie said.

“I look forward to it.” Then Robert and she said goodbye. Despite the wild turn of events they’d already shared, he was delighted to be having lunch with Maisie tomorrow. Maybe fishing had brought him real luck—not in catching a fish, but something much more important. Only time would tell.

Chapter 4

Maisie was so glad that Robert had a new phone and that he’d invited her and her sister to his open house. When she got off the phone with Robert, she turned to Anne. “Hey, we have a party to go to.”

“Oh?” Anne was helping Maisie clean up the kitchen.

Maisie and Anne lived at the inn in their own three-bedroom private quarters; the wing of six bedrooms, complete with en suite bathrooms, was for guests. The inn had two separate living rooms, one private and the other for guests, and the main dining room was off the guests’ living area and had views of both the ocean and the gardens. The other living room was in Anne and Maisie’s private living quarters, and they had their own smaller dining room with an oak table and chairs that sat eight. The kitchen served both their meals in their private dining room and the breakfasts for their guests in the main dining hall.

Each guest bedroom had a double bed, and a couple of the rooms had pullout couches for additional guests, mostly used by families. Guests could also use the laundry room, which had two washing machines and two dryers. The maindining area had enough seating for thirty. Maisie and Anne picked flowers daily from their garden to put in vases on the tables, along with the white tablecloths that adorned them all. They had also decorated each of the guest rooms and the main inn with Maisie’s photos of the castles, lochs, and wildflowers of Scotland.

The inn was always booked. Everyone loved their breakfasts, accommodations, and the location, as it was easy to explore the surrounding area from there.

“Aye. Robert’s having a party at his new home and his vet clinic—an open house—to show them off.”

“Wow, how neat. Surely he doesn’t want me to come.” Anne wiped off the kitchen counters.

“No, he said he wanted the both of us to come. Lots of wolves should be there—bachelor males—and we haven’t had time to meet any of them much really. Not to mention it would be nice to meet other she-wolves too.”

Anne was stuck on the topic of Robert though. “What if he likes me more than you?”

Maisie smiled at her. If Robert found Anne more appealing, it would all have to do with their wolf genetics and finding the one who would be the right forever mate. She wouldn’t begrudge them their happiness. Maisie could very well find a mate among the other bachelor males if Robert wasn’t the one for her. At least that’s what she was telling herself, but then she teased her sister. “I’ll be sure to wear a shirt where he can see my bandaged arm.”

Anne glanced at it. “You already removed the bandage.”

“I could put another one on.”

Her sister laughed. “You’re too funny. But I look forward to it. Where is his house located?”

“Right next door to the MacQuarrie castle. It’s on the same property that Edeen Campbell’s manor house is located. Edeen is Lachlan MacQuarrie’s mate.”

“Oh, how cool. That’s not that far from us, and it would be so much fun to live right next to the MacQuarries’ wolf pack. So I guess Robert Campbell now belongs to the MacQuarrie pack?”

“Aye. So tomorrow I’m doing transitional training with Conan. I guess he is doing so well, I can start it now. Then I’ll swap with you, and you can train with him next week, so we’ll be on track with Conan minding both of us.”

“I’m sure he will if we learn the commands.”

“I can’t imagine him behaving. I can’t wait to see him during training. I snuck a peek at him at the kennel. He was sound asleep.”

Anne laughed. “Great. They’re giving him a good workout, then.”

“I agree.” Between Conan jumping on them and biting their hands in greeting and barking at everyone, Maisie and Anne had to do something.

“So what do you think of Robert?”

Ohmigod, he was hot, hot, hot. Maisie had been surprised when he’d gotten up from the bed and he was completely naked. It wasn’t a total shock, aslupus garousstripped off their clothes and shifted into their wolves, so she was used to it. She just hadn’t expected it in that moment.

“He’s, um, sweet,” Maisie said.

Anne studied her and chuckled. “You are blushing to high heaven. Did you kiss him?”

“Of course not.” Not yet anyway. Maisie wondered if that was a mistake, if maybe she should have kissed him so he would know she was interested. That she was even having these thoughts was a surprise to her. She did want to mate and have kids one of these years, but it had been ages since she’d dated a wolf or had even thought of it.