Page 87 of Tiger's Voyage

I’d never seen Nilima so upset. I was glad, though, that I wasn’t the only one who disliked Randi. I’d been concerned that I was responding with jealousy, which might have been true at first, but now the situation seemed kind of funny to me. I actually felt a little bad for Ren.

The next morning, Kishan burst into my room. I sat up and rubbed my eyes sleepily. “What’s wrong?”

He was wet and had a towel wrapped around his waist. “She’s gone too far.”

“What is it?” I tried to keep my eyes locked on his face and ignore the very nice bronze torso barely hidden under the skimpy white towel.

“Randi came unbidden into my room and interrupted my shower!”

I frowned. “Why would she do that?”

“She claimed that she was desperate to find Ren.”

I shrugged. “There might have been some truth to that. She probably kept him up for most of the night, and he still has to be a tiger for twelve hours a day. I’m sure he’s just hiding out somewhere.”

“Even so, she had no right to barge in on my shower! I’m going to finish in yours. You keep an eye out.”

I giggled. “Okay, I’ll watch out for any dangerous women. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from their crafty wiles. You can go shower in peace.”

He ducked his head through the door and grinned. “Just so you know,youare welcome to barge in on my showeranytime.”

I laughed. “Good to know.”

After Kishan was safely ensconced behind his suite door, locked against intruders, I headed off to breakfast. On my way, Randi accosted me and demanded my help in locating Ren.

“He’s really being a terrible host. In fact, I thinkyoushould help me find him,andyou convince him that he’s in love with me.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Andwhywould I do that?”

She smiled. “Because if you don’t, I’ll just move on to the next rich eligible man, his brother, and I don’t think you’ll be too happy about that.”

“Kishan wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole, and honestly I never would have suspected Ren would either. Besides, it’s time for you to go. There’s no time for more of your games.”

“You’d be surprised at the things I can get men to do in no time at all.” She adjusted her skimpy tank top to show off her cleavage. “I don’t mind switching to Kishan. He’s handsome, and the brothers are obviously wealthy and well connected. Daddy would be pleased either way. I’m sure I could win over Kishan just as quickly.”

I put my hands on my hips and stared her down. “I don’t love them because they’re rich. I love them because they’re sweet, good, and honest men. And neither of them deserves to be saddled with a witch like you.”

Randi tittered mockingly. “Oh, you are naive, aren’t you?” She patted my cheek condescendingly. “You need to learn there’s no such thing as a good man, honey. Men are stupid and only think of one thing.”

She swished her hips and was out the door before I could think of a response so I just shook my head and sighed. Obviously she didn’t really care about Ren at all.Someone should tell him so he can deal with her andget her out of all of our lives.

Ren’s new room was empty. The bed was made and the clothes were all put away. His dog-eared book of Shakespeare quotes was lying open. I flipped it over and found a line highlighted: “But O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes.”

Turning the book over, I set it down gently where it rested before and reached into my pocket for my phone. Flipping it open, I located Ren on the GPS tracker and found him hiding out in the back of a storage room in the garage. I didn’t see him at first. Boxes were stacked everywhere, as well as cleaning buckets, mops, brooms, and shelves full of parts and supplies. In the very back, on a mat, lay my white tiger.

I squatted down next to him. He kept his head on his paws. His chest rumbled softly.

“Your new girlfriend is making trouble for everyone, you know.” I couldn’t help myself; I reached over and petted his head. “I don’t know what you were thinking. She doesn’t even like cats.” I grinned lopsidedly, then sighed. “Kishan and I will try to keep her occupied for a couple of hours so you can be a tiger. But you owe us a big favor. She’s trouble. The ‘double, double toil and trouble’ kind.”

Ren started purring when I scratched behind his ear. Then the sound cut off abruptly, and he shifted away from my hand.

I stood up. “Well … see you later,” I said, as I headed off to breakfast.

When I found Kishan, he was so happy to see me I laughed.

“Ren needs to be a tiger a while longer, and I promised him we’d keep her busy,” I whispered.

“Becauseyouasked,” he kissed my forehead, “I will help you entertain her and try to tolerate her ceaseless talking and flirtation.”