Shadowed Instincts by Wendi Wilson Page A

happened. Melanie kicked Jeremy’s leg
under the table and he grimaced, nearly choking on his eggs.
    Melanie rolled her eyes and struck up a conversation with
Willow and Chad. She tried not to make eye contact with Declan, but he was
sitting directly across the table from her, so it was difficult. The few times
she did catch his eye, he would quickly look back down at his plate.
    When she finished eating, she looked at Jeremy and he
nodded. They both stood and said their goodbyes, promising to be back no later
than six for whatever surprise her parents were planning. Jeremy took her hand
and led her from the room.
    “So where are we going?” she asked as he led her out to the
SUV and opened the passenger door for her.
    “No questions,” he said, shutting the door after she climbed
in.
    They drove out of the compound in silence. Melanie glanced
over at him and noticed his knuckles were white where he gripped the steering
wheel. She looked up at his face. His eyebrows were drawn down and a muscle
ticked in his jaw.
    “Hey,” she said softly, placing her hand on his thigh. “You
okay?”
    His features relaxed and he reached down to grasp her hand
and twine his fingers through hers. “Yeah, I’m good. Just a little nervous, I
guess.”
    “Nervous about what?”
    He shook his head without turning to look at her. “No
questions.”
    “Ugh, you suck.”
    He laughed and squeezed her hand. “You’ll find out soon
enough.”
    They drove for about twenty five minutes and a large lake
came into view. Melanie started seeing signs that read “Herrington Lake” and
Jeremy pulled into the marina. She opened her mouth to ask what they were
doing, but snapped it shut when Jeremy arched one eyebrow at her.
    He pulled into a parking spot and jumped out, racing around
the car to open her door. Taking her hand, he grabbed a duffel bag out of the
back and led her to the marina office. She stood quietly beside him as he
signed some paperwork and was handed a set of keys. When he was done, he took
her hand and led her to the ladies restroom. He pulled a plastic grocery sack
from his bag and handed it to her.
    “Go change,” he said, giving her a little nudge toward the
bathroom door.
    Pushing the door open with her hip, she peeked inside the
bag and saw her new swimsuit and a pair of knit shorts. She smiled to herself
as she went into a stall and changed. Rolling up her clothes and shoving them
into the bag, she walked out of the stall and stopped when she saw herself in
the mirror.
    Jeremy hadn’t packed a shirt to wear over her bikini, just
the shorts. She slowly pulled the black clip from her hair and removed her hoop
earrings, examining her body as she did. She was slightly thinner than she was
the day before. She turned to the left, then the right, checking out her
profile. She wasn’t sure if her body was still transforming in preparation for
her first shift, or if she was just bloated yesterday, but she could definitely
see a difference.
    She pulled her blouse from the bag to put it back on when
there was a loud knock on the door. “Let’s go, Mel! The day’s wasting away!”
    Throwing back her shoulders and sucking in her gut, Melanie shoved
it back it into the bag and walked to the door. She pulled it open and walked
through with her head held high, feigning confidence she didn’t really feel.
    “Wow,” Jeremy whispered as she stopped next to him.
“Just…wow.”
    Melanie smiled in gratitude and let her eyes roam down his
body. He had changed into a pair of royal blue swim trunks. Her pupils dilated
slightly as she took in his naked torso that tapered down to the low slung shorts.
    Jeremy cleared his throat and her eyes shot back to his.
With one raised eyebrow, he asked, “Are you done?”
    With a nervous laugh, she put her hand on his shoulder and
gave him a slight shove. Changing the subject, she asked, “Are you ever going
to tell me what we’re doing here?”
    “Nope,” he said. “Let’s go. I’ll