The Patient Is a Shark [Shape-Shifter Clinic 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Cara Adams Page A

whole story. She wasn’t a slut or a harlot. She wasn’t the kind of person to jump into bed with the first available deliciously yummy man. So why was she doing it? And why would she do it again tonight?
    Second, there was the whole worrying situation about the clinic and whether or not she’d be safe there if George really was determined to close it down. She felt so helpless not knowing what she could do to ensure they arrived safely, that she had the surgery, that she’d be healed, and that the clinic would be safe to continue healing other shape-shifters.
    And finally, what would the future bring? Would she be able to work to pay off her debt of honor to these people? Should she come back to the coast she knew or make a new home in Ohio? And if she did stay there, how would she swim in winter? Didn’t the lakes ice over up there? How could she deal with that?
     
    * * * *
     
    After they’d stopped for gas the second time, Rainer had driven for a while so Quinn could rest. He’d napped for an hour or so, but mostly he’d thought about Wynter and his determination to get them into a proper bedroom scene tonight. He couldn’t understand why he wanted her so much. She was beautiful in face, figure, character, and determination, but he’d met other women like that. None had called to him they way she did. He was beginning to think about how he could take her back to his farm to recuperate after her operation.
    She swam happily in four feet of water in the swimming pool last night, although she’d said she preferred to be deeper. His little lake was around four feet deep except at the end with the pump. There it was more like six, seven if it was completely full. He’d already hired a Bobcat digger to make it deeper for his horses and one of his dogs, a Great Dane. But he could hire it again and easily excavate it another couple feet for his shark to swim in.
    Quinn grinned to himself. Yes, she’d known he hadn’t answered her question about shape-shifters, but the story wasn’t his to tell. Maybe if she stayed at his farm, Toby would—Nope, he wasn’t going there at all.
    “See that dirty white pickup two vehicles back?” asked Rainer very softly.
    Quinn glanced in the side mirror and nodded then looked back over his shoulder. Wynter’s eyes were closed. He hoped she was asleep. “Uh-huh.”
    “It’s been sitting there for twenty minutes now. The car between it and us has changed a few times and each time it drops back so it’s not immediately behind us.”
    “Well, likely they’re the same as us, content to sit on the speed limit rather than ignoring it like so many other travelers.”
    Rainer shot him a look that clearly said, “In your dreams.”
    “How much gas have we got?”
    “A little less than half a tank.”
    “The next service area might be a good place to fill the tank, don’t you think?”
    “Yes, that’s exactly what I thought. Also we’ll get a look at the license plate if the pickup pulls in as well.”
    Quinn nodded. “More than that. You go with Wynter to the ladies room and guard her. See if you can get the license plate and even a picture of the pickup but only if they can’t see you do it. I’ll fill the tank as usual. If they continue to follow us, we’ll phone the wolves and let them know.”
    Inside Quinn felt a bubble of dismay. He’d never actually believed there’d be any trouble other than Wynter’s health to worry about. He hadn’t really believed the wolves’ warning. Even now this might be nothing, just a driver who didn’t want to travel any faster than the legal limit. The only reason they were traveling at the speed limit was because they had such a long journey they couldn’t afford to be collecting speeding fines all the way across America. The driver of the pickup might just be a law-abiding person who always traveled at the regulation speed. Just because most people were passing them didn’t mean there was an evil reason this person