The night was cool enough that steam rose from the water’s surface. He adjusted the jets on her body, and sank down onto one of the lower seats so the jets could hit the back of his neck and shoulders. Catarina was right when she said he had to be sore too. He felt as if he’d wrestled his leopard and lost.

Catarina put her head back and closed her eyes. It gave him the opportunity to study her profile. She was beautiful any way he looked at her. Her long sweeping lashes and the curve of her cheek, the high cheekbones and softly rounded chin, all her gleaming, glossy hair she’d tied up in an intricate knot.

“You’re staring at me again.” She kept her eyes closed.

“I told you, I like looking at you, especially when you’re bare-ass naked two feet from me.”

“All this time I thought it was when I was making coffee.”

“Kitten.” He waited until her lashes fluttered and rose just enough that he could see her blue eyes. “I like looking at you all the time.”

She laughed softly and closed her eyes again.

16

“YOUR woman has a beautiful laugh,” Jake Bannaconni stated.

The sound of Catarina’s laughter felt a little like music. Eli tilted his chair back, sprawling his legs out in front of him, the bottle of beer in his fist. He could listen to her laughter all day long and never tire of it. She sounded carefree. Happy. He knew he had a hand in her happiness and that made it all the more sweet.

“You are gone, Eli. A total goner. That woman has you wrapped around her little finger, and you’re never going to get the upper hand.”

He grinned at Jake Bannaconni. His neighbor looked relaxed sprawled out next to him on the long, wide verandah outside the kitchen.

“Catarina doesn’t know she has the upper hand and I intend to take full advantage and savor every moment as long as I can before she realizes I’d do anything for her.”

Jake laughed and saluted him with the beer bottle.

“She was terrified to come over here, but Emma’s put her at ease. I can’t thank her enough for that. Catarina needs to know she can have friends. She thinks she’s going to get everyone around her killed,” Eli said softly.

“That’s not going to happen,” Jake said, and there was a hard edge in his voice. “This won’t be the first time we’ve faced this kind of thing, a rogue coming after one of our women. Emma will sort it all out with her.” He had absolute faith in his wife’s ability to ease Catarina’s mind.

“I’m counting on that,” Eli admitted. “Have you looked into Rafe Cordeau?”

Jake nodded. “He’s related to a family from the New Orleans area. Woman was killing using her leopard. He’s a cousin a couple of times removed. Leopards can be vicious, as you well know, and if you don’t keep them in line, they can take control of you. Cordeau is a very vicious killer. I’m surprised Catarina managed to escape him. From what I understand, he’s called in every favor ever owed to him trying to find her.”

“She’s smart, Jake. And I mean real smart. She kept a low profile in his house, learned to turn herself into a little mouse. He didn’t want her educated and she managed to get an education right under his nose. She cracked his safe. Used his computer when he had hers rigged so he knew what she was doing on it. And she got away from him. She’d still be under his radar if he hadn’t been tipped off where she was.” Eli didn’t bother to keep the admiration out of his voice.

“She’d have to be very intelligent to survive his household and come out intact. Do you know much about her lineage? I made inquiries after you told me Tracy Benoit wasn’t her birth mother. Drake knew of her mother’s line. She was from the Borneo rain forest, and he knows her family. Her father we’re still tracing, but he thinks he comes from a branch of shifters around Panama.”

Another wave of laughter came from the kitchen, catching both men’s attention. Catarina had argued with him about coming. She’d gone silent once she realized he was insisting, and his belly had been tied up in knots. He knew she expected the wife of a billionaire to be haughty and look down at her for her lack of education. She’d even murmured that at the beginning of the conversation, before she’d distracted him with fears of Cordeau finding out.

Her lack of self-confidence seemed to come back to that – no formal education. Her laughter eased something in him he hadn’t known was so tense. He couldn’t help but listen in on their conversation. He knew, sometime in the future, if it were still important to her, he would make certain she could go to school and get a more advanced education. Not that he thought she needed it, she’d certainly continued with acquiring knowledge, but he wanted her to have whatever was important to her.

“I love this stove,” Catarina said to Emma. “Love, love, love it. I saw it in a magazine once and then looked it up and read all about it. I have to admit I covet this stove, although I don’t need one quite this big. It’s always been my dream stove.”

“I do need the larger one,” Emma said. “Quite often the boys come up to the house to eat so I make certain there’s plenty of food. And I’m with you, this is the best stove ever.”

Eli glanced at Jake. He was listening too, and he had a faint smile on his face. When he caught Eli looking his smile widened to a grin. That grin said he was reading Eli’s mind and he knew Catarina would be getting a new stove very soon.