The Wolf Prince by Karen Kelley

incredible pull he felt toward her. It was almost as though there was some kind of connection between them. He had a feeling Darcy might be part of the reason why he was here.

C HAPTER 5
    A drenaline rushed through Darcy as she stepped outside. She needed to figure out what her first step would be to discover who Surlock was, and why he’d been running around the woods naked.
    Deep in thought, she wandered aimlessly down the path that wound through the garden at the side of the house. Still, she couldn’t stop the flutter of excitement that swept through her. Her skills would be put to the test. Someone had offered her a job.
    She chewed her bottom lip. Of course, she had been the one who caused Surlock’s amnesia, so it was only right that she should be the one who helped restore it. And she would. She would discover Surlock’s identity, solve the mystery and soothe her guilty conscience.
    Darcy truly did love her mother, but having a real job was like a dream come true. Maybe this was fate. She was achieving her goal, grabbing the brass ring as it went by. She hugged her middle, barely able to keep a shout of joy from escaping past her lips. She could do this. She only had to piece everything together. Like one big puzzle.
    Doubt suddenly reared its ugly head, and her excitement plummeted. But what if she couldn’t do this? All this time she’dtold herself she wanted to be a P.I., but what if finding out who Surlock was or where he came from proved to be too difficult? What if she was only fooling herself, using her mother as an excuse so that Darcy wouldn’t have to face the fact she might be a failure.
    “You look deep in thought,” Surlock said as he came up beside her. He glanced around. “It’s nice out here.” He leaned forward and brought one of the delicate pink flowers to his nose. “It smells nice. What is it?”
    “I’m not sure about that particular flower. Ralph takes care of the garden, so you would have to ask him. I know some of the names, but mostly I just enjoy their smell and how pretty they are.” She tilted her head and looked up at him. “Most men would never admit they liked flowers.”
    “Why?” he asked.
    Again with the whys. She shrugged. “Too feminine, I guess.”
    “But you enjoy this place.” He waved his arm in front of him.
    “I find solace out here.” She strolled farther down the pea gravel path. He walked beside her. “Dad had the fountain put in because Mother loves the water. They have a beach house on the coast, too.” She was rambling, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. How could she tell Surlock that she might not discover anything about him?
    “Your father must earn a lot of money.”
    Startled, she looked at him, but didn’t see the usual calculating gleam. That was another thing about her boyfriends: Most of them liked the idea that her parents were wealthy. Did Surlock fit into that category?
    She continued to study him for a moment, then dismissed that idea. Surlock had stated it more as a fact, rather than anything else. She breathed a sigh of relief, then wondered why she should care. Okay, so maybe she was attracted to him just a little—or a lot.
    “Dad has his own business,” she told him. “That, and myparents inherited from their parents. They’ve also made wise investments over the years.”
    “But you’re not happy?”
    She stopped at a bench and sat on the flowered cushion. Surlock chose a chair angled slightly toward the bench. Wisteria grew thick over the arbor, creating a shady canopy. In the spring, large, grapelike clusters of flowers would hang from the branches.
    “I have everything I could ever want,” she finally told him. And she did. Her parents had always given her anything she desired.
    “That’s not what I asked. Sometimes material possessions can only give short-term gratification.”
    She studied him. “Maybe you’re a monk.”
    “A monk?”
    “Yes, a priest. They don’t put much stock in worldly goods,