“Didn’t that snake in the Jungle Book movie say that?” she asked suspiciously, but with a smile.

He leaned toward her. “I’m much more dangerous than any snake,” he whispered. He grinned. “But just for tonight, I’ll make an exception and behave myself.”

She grinned back. “Okay!” She fingered the cold silver of the necklace. “Thank you. For this. You shouldn’t have.”

He shrugged it off. “I like having something I gave you lying against your skin,” he said, his voice deep and soft as velvet.

She flushed. No man had ever talked to her that way.

Their drinks came. She was surprised at the size of them. She looked at Cort worriedly.

“It’s mostly pineapple juice and coconut milk. A little rum,” he added with a smile. “Nothing to be concerned about. They don’t put a lot of rum in them.”

“Well…okay.”

She sipped it and made a face. The tang of the liquor was uncomfortable, and she wondered if it was just that she wasn’t used to liquor. It seemed very strong. But she took another sip, and another, and soon it didn’t bother her at all.

Cort moved them to a table and they ordered shrimp cocktail and steaks and salad. While they waited for the order, Cort made slow circles around the back of one of her hands while he stared into her eyes.

“Why wolves?” he asked abruptly.

“My grandfather had Shoshone blood,” she said. “He taught me about totem animals. He said that mine was a wolf. That I’d always be protected by them if I ever chanced upon one.”

“And you did?”

She nodded. “It was just before my mother and her boyfriend went driving and died in the wreck. Henry had made another really serious pass at me and I’d run into the woods to hide from him. I always seemed to be hiding,” she added wearily, aware of the anger in his taut face. “I didn’t mean to go so deep. There are rattlesnakes and bears and other predators, but I was heartsick and so afraid.” She swallowed. “I walked into a clearing and there was this huge, and I mean huge, silver wolf. He was bigger than a Saint Bernard. I know he was well over a hundred pounds, maybe a hundred and fifty. I’d never seen such a large wolf. He didn’t make a move toward me. He just stood there, looking at me.”

“What did you do?” he prodded.

“I was afraid to run. If you show fear to most predators, they tend to attack. And a wolf can sprint to about thirty-five miles an hour. There was no way I could have outrun him. So I stood my ground, waiting to die.”

She paused to take a sip of the drink. “He came right up to me, very slowly, as if he knew how frightened I was. Goodness, he was huge! His eyes were almost on a level with mine. He looked right into my eyes, as if he could see into my very soul. I waited with my heart beating me to death, to see if he was going to eat me. And then…” She swallowed hard, and looked around to make sure nobody was close enough to hear her. She leaned toward him. “Then he vanished. Like fog. Like smoke. He was there, and as real as you are. And then he was just…gone.” She drew in a breath. “It shook me up. I had no idea what I’d seen, if I’d been hallucinating, if it was real. Or if I was losing my mind,” she added on a faint laugh.