He looked down at my hand on his arm as if he were as surprised at what happened as I was. “I like the idea of your owing me.” He winked. Then he said, “She seems to be a woman who likes options.”
“That she does,” I agreed. “She exhausts every possibility so that she knows what she’s decided is the absolute best. It can be a bit tiring for the rest of us.”
“Like I said, I don’t mind. Besides, I never get to spend any time with you,
friend.
” He gave me a wicked grin, and my insides melted.
“So what do you think of this pink table?” My voice was high and squeaky.
“Pretty, but girly. As a guy I wouldn’t be comfortable. But the flowers are nice.” He took the room in. “I hate when I go to something social and I can’t see someone on the other side of the table because of a flower arrangement. This one is nice and low.”
It was a simple arrangement of antique roses in a china bowl. He was right; it was beautiful.
It didn’t take long for us to go across the room, and it surprised me that Jake and I shared the same opinion on many things.
When we finally sat down to eat, it was at a table we’d all marked at the top of our list. Irish lace had been placed on top of a silvery tablecloth. The china was white with a small silver fleur-de-lis pattern on the edges. The arrangement in the center was white roses, gardenias, and jasmine, mixed in with crystal votives. It was simple, elegant, and the exact opposite of what I thought Aspen would pick. In the past, her taste had been slightly over-the-top with an edge.
The first course was a choice of six hors d’oeuvres, everything from a crab ravioli to an ahi tuna nacho. I marked my preference for the feta-and-crab-stuffed mushrooms and the dim sum. I snuck a peek and saw that Jake chose the cocktail shrimp and mushrooms.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I finally settled on a dress . . . well, a couple of dresses. One for the wedding and the other for the reception.” As the first course plates were taken away, Aspen pulled out a folder from her large Hermès bag. “Huffy, don’t peek,” she warned him.
He winked at her and stuffed a ravioli in his mouth before the waitstaff took his plate.
I opened the folder and was again surprised by her choices. The first was a bridal ball gown fit for a princess. The designer had taken Aspen’s picture in the dress, and she was positively glowing in the strapless candlelight satin and crystal beauty. The skirt was full, but she could carry it off. “Wow.” I stared up at her. “It’s the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen.” I meant it.
Jake let out a low whistle. “Pretty hot.”
Aspen blushed at that. “You’re just saying that.”
“No. Alex is right, it’s a beautiful dress, and it looks like it was made for you.”
“That’s exactly how I felt when I put it on. They only have to make a few alterations. It’s as if it the designer had me in mind when she made it.” She flapped her hand. “Look at the evening dress.”
This one was a tight Italian lace sheath that molded to her body perfectly. Silver threads and crystals were sewn into every inch.
Jake was the one who said “Wow!” this time. “Huff, my man, you may want to keep a close eye on her when she’s wearing this. Jaws are gonna drop. Drool will happen.”
Huff laughed. “Now I really want to see it.” Aspen slapped his hand as he reached for the folder. “No, it’s bad luck.”
“That’s if I see you in it in person. No one ever said anything about seeing a picture of the bride in her dress, or dresses, as the case may be.” Huff tried to change her mind, but she was having none of it.
“Oh, here come the entrées.” She clapped her hands like a giddy schoolgirl. “This is so much fun.”
As they served the plates of lobster and steak medallions with asparagus and arugula and Parmesan mashed potatoes, I had to agree with her. Life had been beyond intense the past few weeks, especially the past few days. It was nice to do something a little silly, and Aspen and Huff turned out to be perfectly lovely. It was the first time since I met Aspen that I hadn’t been looking at my watch wondering when I could sneak away.
Huff had changed her in a good way. I’m not sure how, but she was a different person than she was a few days ago.
We’d moved on to the cakes, and my choice was a raspberry and buttercream confection that was at least five pounds on the hips per bite. I’d have to work out three hours a day for two weeks to burn off the slice I ate, but I didn’t care.
Jake fell head over heels for a chocolate ganache number with rum filling. It was a close second on my list. Turned out he was a big sucker when it came to chocolate. My kind of guy.
The coffee had just been poured when Gerald came to the door. “Ms. Caruthers, Jake, I’m sorry to bother you, but we have a situation that needs your attention.”
“Oh, but we were having so much fun.” It was the first time that afternoon Aspen’s trademark whine pierced the air.
Huff took her hand. “Aspen, luv, they spent the afternoon with us. Let’s be grateful for their company.” He stood and reached out a hand to shake Jake’s. “I know we just met, but I hope you can come to the wedding. We would love to have you.”
“Of course, he’s coming. He’ll be Alex’s date,” Aspen chimed in and winked at me like she was doing me a favor.
“I, uh . . . thank you.” Jake shook his hand and then turned to me. “I’ll go ahead. You say your good-byes. It was nice to meet you both.”
They watched him leave, and then Aspen turned to me. “He’s a dream, Alex. I can’t believe you two have been working together all this time and never noticed those sparks between you. I thought you two were going to burn up our table scape with some of those looks you gave each other.”
I had no idea what to say. “Crazy how these things happen.” We must have been faking it pretty good.
Go ahead, lie to yourself a little longer.
I wasn’t sure about the looks the man had been giving me, but I’d fallen big for him during the dinner. He was the perfect date, and I found myself more drawn to him than ever.
“Um. This is beyond rude, but before I go, I have to—” I wasn’t sure how to ask.
Aspen stared at me, perplexed. “What? Do you want us to save you some cake?”
“No. It’s . . . Aspen, you admitted that you’d changed, and well, you are a different person.” I looked up at Huff. “But so are you. What happened? You aren’t the same guy I met years ago.”
He looked chagrined for a moment. “It’s a long story, and I promise to tell you the whole thing someday. But let’s just say a trip to Africa these days can change a person’s life, and I’m not talking about safaris. I came back from there determined to change my life and the lives of everyone I’d met there.”
I’d been there, too. I knew exactly what he was talking about. It was a life-changing place. “I couldn’t agree more.”
I glanced toward the door where Jake had gone. “I hate to go, but Gerald wouldn’t have interrupted if it weren’t a real emergency.”
Aspen started to say something but stopped herself when Huff gently squeezed her arm. “Thank you, Alex. I feel so much better about everything. We accomplished a lot in two hours. Huff and I will get out of your way. I’ll call you to set up a time when you can see the castle. The renovations are complete, and it’s the most amazing place. You go find that honey of yours that causes those big sparks of hot electricity between you two.” She giggled. “Who knows, you might be the next one down the aisle.”
That made me laugh out loud. “Never gonna happen, my friend. I’ll see you two later.”
As I walked down the hallway to the elevators, I thought about what she said.
Sparks?
What the hell was she talking about? We’d had fun and joked about our passion for all things culinary. There was that moment when he used his thumb to get a crumb off of my lips and then licked it off his thumb.
Huh.
I pushed the button to take me to the second-floor control room. I had wanted to lean over and kiss him right then. In fact, I had to make myself not do it. And she was right; he definitely gave me a look: sexy, warm, intriguing.
I gave myself a mental slap.
He’d been playing the part of my boyfriend—so well, in fact, that at times during the afternoon it felt real. Maybe more surreal, because it seemed right.
No. You will not fall for this guy. He’s doing you a big favor. This isn’t one of your marriage of convenience romance novels.
Those had always been my favorite, especially old-school ones where the wealthy CEO had to marry his incredibly competent but slightly dowdy secretary and then discovered her true beauty. Or the one where the rancher had to marry his enemy’s beautiful daughter in order to save the family business and discovered that she was his true love. The corn ier the better.
This was no romance novel. Jake was a hardworking, well-respected guy, and he’d become indispensable to Caruthers Corporation. That was why I had to check myself. Jake wasn’t someone to play with and discard like I had so many before.
I remembered the love in his voice when he talked about his wife. I wasn’t sure he was even over her. No, he was definitely a for-real kind of guy.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to the control room.
Ginjin had Jake by the neck.
CHAPTER 17
“What the hell are you doing?” At the sound of my voice, Ginjin’s head snapped up. That’s when Jake popped him a good one in the larynx with his elbow, brought his knee to some rather delicate parts, and twisted out of the dragon warrior’s grip.
Before I crossed the room, Jake had Ginjin on his knees, arms behind his back.
Ginjin roared, and I knew he was about to go scaly.
“Stop it!” I screamed at Ginjin. “You attacked him. If you calm down, he’ll let go.”
Ginjin’s jaw tightened. “I will not harm the human.”
Funny, since the human had him trapped. Jake let go and moved toward me.
“What happened?” I asked Jake.
“He didn’t want to wait for you. Insisted on going into the house. I didn’t think you’d want to have to explain him to your friends.”
He had that right. “Ginjin, Jake was doing his job.”
“I do not take orders from humans. I told them the matter was urgent. I’ve been waiting for several minutes.”
Jake nodded. “At least seven,” he said sarcastically.
I narrowed my eyes at him in warning. While he had every right to be angry with Ginjin, he wasn’t helping the situation.
“You said the matter was urgent. I don’t see any dragon heads in your hands, which is the only thing I care about. Did you find the ones responsible for the attack on my people?”
There was a long silence. “I have learned that it isn’t just dragons involved in the attacks. The Manteros were working with them.”
Oh, God.
That complicated things. The Manteros were the ones who kidnapped Bailey and almost killed Gilly a few weeks ago. They were also behind some of the black magic connected to the portals that allowed us to travel between worlds. Bad news all the way around.
“How do you know?”
“I killed one of them. The humans you thought were kidnapped from here and taken to my world, were not. They were Manteros. They used black magic to hide themselves.”
“Okay. So is your girlfriend involved?”
“I have no proof that she is, but some from her clan are.” Before he looked down to the floor, I saw the pain in his eyes. “She is not evil. If she’s involved—and I don’t believe that she is—she may not realize what is really going on.”
Ginjin was a proud warrior, and I knew it shamed him to tell me this. He loved Jene, and he was worried that she had betrayed him.
“The Kevans are working with the Manteros, aren’t they?”
“Some you saw in the circle that day, yes, but not all of them. I’ve sent my best warriors to capture the guilty ones. Some of them have already moved on to other worlds, but we will track them.”
“Look, you have to be aware that she may be controlled by evil.”
Ginjin’s eyes narrowed on me, and I felt Jake move to my side.
“Yes.”
“If she is, I don’t think you’re the most objective person where she’s concerned. I know you care about her.”
His fists clenched. “Say what you mean,
Guardian
.” The last word was spat out as if it were a swear word.
“I want to know if it was Jene who attacked those women last night, and I don’t think you’re going to tell me the truth if it was. I saw your face when we first arrived on the scene. You smelled something right away.”
In fact, there was a good chance the only thing that would have caused that look was Jene.
Bastard.
“I could have tracked her, but you made me trust you.” This time it was my jaw that tightened, and my right hand involuntarily made a fist. “I’m going to the council with this. You protected someone who broke our treaty.”
The dragon warrior didn’t seem bothered by my threats. “Watch yourself before you make claims you cannot prove.” He stepped toward me, and Jake’s hand tightened on my arm. “Magic had been used to cover the scent, so there was no way to tell. The best I could determine was that it was definitely a Kevan. I did not wish to share my suspicions until I could confirm exactly who. Unlike you, I choose not to charge in, killing with abandon, before finding out the truth.”
I slammed a hand down on the steel table. “I’m still going to the council. They have to know about the Manteros working with your people.”
“The council has already been fully informed.” Ginjin smirked. His silver eyes flashed red for a moment, and I could tell he was holding down his temper. I didn’t care. I wanted to kill a dragon, and he was the closest target.
Jake put a hand on my shoulder, as if he sensed my intent. “This is not the time,” he whispered. “Keep your temper, and focus on what’s most important.”
I didn’t appreciate his interference, but I’d deal with him later.
“So what is your plan?”
“I am needed on my world, but I have warriors tracking those who fled. I will also search for Jene. I can assure you that if I find she has committed high treason, she will be punished.”
“Why do you have to search for her? She’s your mate. Don’t you know where she is?”