Page 7 of Save Me (The Wolf Hotel Mermaid Beach #2)

T his is either my smartest idea or one of the dumbest things I’ll ever do. Only time will tell.

The plan began to percolate in my brain somewhere between the moment I laid eyes on Sloane and when she sank into my arms, her body taut with stress, but it didn’t truly formulate until I pulled away and admitted to myself that I’ll do anything to keep this woman in my life.

Anything means sabotaging Henry’s big plans for Mermaid Beach.

I can’t sit back and watch as he blows up her entire life, and if there’s any hope in hell of convincing him not to, it’s going to be through Abbi.

There’s no one else on this planet Henry cares about pleasing but her.

If I can get Abbi in my corner, I might have sway, and the only way to get Abbi in my corner is for Sloane and her to become friends.

So, tomorrow night it is. I’ll throw Sloane over my shoulder and carry her out if I have to .

As long as King Kong isn’t standing in the driveway, on guard.

“Hey, Frank.” I stroll past him toward my car, pretending the sharp points of the gravel aren’t cutting into my bare feet.

He grunts in answer, his heavy brow furrowed at my dripping clothes. Getting into that shower fully dressed also probably wasn’t a smart idea, but with Sloane in that bikini, it was the only way things wouldn’t go too far, too fast.

On the plus side, the sight of him has killed my erection.

Skye and the other coffee shop girl with the short dark hair loiter behind him, their eyebrows crawling halfway up their forehead.

“Hello, ladies.”

“Hello,” they echo, synchronized, giant smiles splashing across their face.

A guy sits on the porch of the blue trailer, cigarette in hand, watching quietly. One of her staffers I haven’t met. I wonder if he was one of the guys I axed from Wolf’s hire list.

I wait until my back is to them before I allow a wince. Why didn’t I at least slide on my shoes? This is going to be the most uncomfortable drive home ever.

And I’ll be doing it with a sizeable pile of rooster shit on my hood.

Again.

Connor’s bare ass is the first thing I see when I step into the kitchen. “Come on, at least put some briefs on. Your sister is here.” Not that Ryan hasn’t had the misfortune of seeing her half brother’s junk once or twice.

He finishes chugging orange juice from the carton and then wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “She’s not getting up for another hour or two.” He eyeballs my golf shirt and dress pants. “Why are you ready for work?”

I grab a coffee pod and travel mug and set the machine to brew.

I wish I had time to stop at Sea Witch for a real coffee and a chance to see Sloane.

Better yet, I’d rather just wake up next to her.

“Golf pro session starts in twenty minutes.” Archie wasn’t kidding when he said he’d drag the guy out of bed if he had to.

The sun just crested a few minutes ago. Official tee-off times aren’t until 7:00 a.m.

Connor’s grin is iconic. “Wow, you really want to impress Wolf, huh?”

“More like I’m trying to not embarrass myself.

” I survey the kitchen. “Did the cleaners come?” A perk that comes with the house that we only discovered one morning when we rolled out of our beds to find strangers inside.

They come once a week but never this early.

When I crashed last night, there were dishes in the sink and tequila spilled on the counter.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Right, I forgot.” Ryan’s eyelids are incapable of shutting until the kitchen is spotless. “You coming in later?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He bends his injured knee. “The icing helped. ”

So did a day having his dick polished by Katie and Rachel, I’ll bet. “Dorian will be pleased. He was seconds from weeping yesterday.”

“Are you surprised I’m his favorite?”

“Nope.” And I don’t know how Connor does it because he is always the most annoying person in the room.

But there’s something more important we need to discuss. “Look, Britt and her friend are staying here this weekend, so don’t be inviting anyone else, okay?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Connor slams the fridge door and turns around to give me a full-frontal view. “I’m going to meet Little Lyle?”

“Not like that , you aren’t.” I jut my chin at his flaccid penis. “And she’s off-limits, so don’t even think about it.”

“ Dude .” His laughter is way too raucous for this time of day. “You, of all people, don’t get to lecture me about staying away from sisters?—”

“You didn’t even know Ryan until a few years ago.

” It’s a weak excuse, I know, but I’ll use everything in my arsenal where Britt’s concerned.

“I swear, you lay so much as a hairy little pinkie toe on her and our friendship is fucking over.” I deliver that with my index finger in the air and the hardest look I can muster at this hour.

“She’s my baby sister, and unless you can commit to never looking at, talking to, or so much as breathing in any other woman’s direction for the rest of your goddamn life?—”

“Okay, okay, I got it.” Connor’s hands are in the air in surrender. “Is her friend hot?”

“Yeah, and also off-limits.” Dani’s been Britt’s best friend since they were five years old.

I taught that kid how to ride a bike and picked her sobbing little body up when she fell off said bike.

She’s as close to a sister to me as anyone can be without being Britt.

The last thing I want is for either of them to end up with a guy like Connor. Or one like me, for that matter.

Connor’s face twists with displeasure. “Fuck, man, you’re killing the weekend party vibe, and it’s only Tuesday.”

“There is no vibe here this weekend. No parties, no strip Marco Polo, and no walking around naked.” Shit, I almost forgot. “Tash might be staying here too.”

That earns a raised eyebrow. “The ex is coming to Mermaid Beach?”

“Yeah.” I give the thirty-second rundown about the Golden tickets and Belinda’s instructions.

By the time I’m done, Connor is shaking his head and laughing. “And she rides at dawn, you sucker.”

“Not happening. Not on me, anyway. I’ll barely be here. My schedule is jam-packed. I don’t have time to think, let alone anything else.” I fell asleep reading about the Axis Core CEO’s rare mineral collection.

“Really …” A pensive frown touches Connor’s face, so contrary to the comical cowlick sticking straight up in the air. “So you don’t mind if I show her around.”

“Around town or your dick?”

He shrugs noncommittally.

I think on that for a solid five seconds.

Does the idea of Connor and Tasha hooking up elicit any sort of reaction—a tight chest, a burn of jealousy, the urge to punch him in the face, like I felt yesterday when Sloane was asking questions about our sordid past and I thought she might be interested in hooking up with us both?

No, it doesn’t.

Not even a little bit.

That reality makes me smile. “Have fun playing tour guide.” I head for the stairs.

“Olivia McEowan,” Archie prompts, his short legs working double time to keep up with the pace of my long ones down the hall.

“McEowan,” I echo, digging through my memory to find relevant facts.

“CEO of Black Titan, a multinational oil and gas company with operations in Texas and Alberta, Canada. Olivia took over for her father ten years ago, after he died in a skydiving accident that investigators deemed suspicious but could never prove foul play. News flash: someone definitely fucked with his parachute,” I ad-lib.

“Olivia owns a horse ranch and likes to bathe in her billions after Sunday church.” That last part is also in interpretation but likely accurate.

Archie snorts.

“Her close friends call her Ollie, but she doesn’t allow anyone else to. Husband left her for the nanny. Three children, all girls, all compete in equestrian sports. The youngest shows Olympic promise in …” I struggle for the specific one.

“Show jumping?—”

“Show jumping. Honestly, man, equestrian sports and competitive duck herding? This is what I have to work with?” I toss an annoyed glance his way. “What is the point of meeting with these people anyway?”

“To get them to book their events here.” He says it like I should know this. “You’ve got a meeting with Belinda about it this afternoon. It’s in your calendar. She wants to go over special events targets for the next two years.”

“ Two years ?”

“Oh yeah! These companies book years out, and the contracts are huge. We’re talking millions.”

I whistle. This is the first I’m hearing of this.

“And corporate has big prizes for the people who bring in the biggest contracts.”

“What kind of prizes are we talking about?”

“Oh boy, I don’t know. Cars, vacations, that sort of thing.”

We round the corner and push through the doors of Opal Reef. Chester is waiting for us.

“What’s the verdict?” I ask by way of greeting.

His hollowed cheeks blow out with a deep exhale. “So, the good news is I got someone in late last night to assess the system.”

“And?”

“And it’s what Ray thought it might be—a faulty part that is about to kick it.”

I curse. “Do they have the part?”

“In Switzerland, so I made him sit in that chair—” He points to one of the dining tables in the corner. “—until after midnight when he could call his head office in Zurich. They put the part on a FedEx plane. It should be here by 4:00 p.m., and then he’ll come and install it …”

Chester’s words drift as a form appears in my line of sight, her long, fiery red hair gleaming in the midmorning sun.

Abbi approaches, her pastel pink dress hugging her round belly. It’s only been a few weeks, and yet she’s grown noticeably. She’s still all baby, though. Baby and tits. There’s a radiant glow about her. I’ve always heard that about pregnant women, but I’ve never actually seen it until now.

God, she is so happy to be carrying Henry’s child.

And I’m genuinely happy for her, even if he is a prick.

“Ronan?”

“Huh?” Chester’s gruff voice breaks into my reverie.