“Ah, Trick,” Jason said, a trace of laughter in his voice. “It’s obvious you don’t know your wife. She always eats dessert first.”
Colin nodded. “And she’s taught Amy her unfortunate habit.”
“Cake!” baby Jewel crowed gleefully, banging her spoon on the table.
“Second word she learned,” Colin informed them dryly. “Right after Mama and before Papa.”
“We’ve other nasty habits, I’m afraid,” Ford added with a snort. “Perhaps you moved too quickly in aligning yourself with the Chases, my friend.”
Beneath his tousled hair, Trick’s eyes narrowed. “Imoved too quickly?”
His hand was still on Kendra’s, and she stiffened at his words. He seemed to be taking this seriously. Could it be he wasn’t in on the joke? Or…
Could it be this was no joke?
Suddenly unsure, she looked around the table at her brothers’ faces. Their expressions told her nothing.
When she saw Colin with Amy and Jewel, and Jason together with Cait, she couldn’t help but wish for a family of her own like those her brothers were creating. A whole family, like the one she’d been cheated of growing up parentless during the Civil War and Commonwealth years. But a romantic marriage with any of the suitors her brothers had presented would be as likely as Zeus descending from the sky.
This was herlifethey were toying with. She bit the inside of her cheek. Caithren caught her gaze and returned it with heart-wrenching sympathy.
When Trick moved to pull back the knife, she held steady. He laughed suddenly, then shot her a broad, rakish smile. Noticing the tiny chip on his front tooth, she licked her lips, wishing her tongue were tasting that beautiful mouth instead. And she stopped breathing, shocked at her thoughts.
She’d never put her tongue in a man’s mouth—never even thought of such a thing. Wherever hadthatidea come from? Besides, he’d probably bite it off. If this was no joke, he was due a pound of Chase flesh, and she knew it.
But instead of turning the knife on her, he slipped her a wink. “Come, we’ll cut it together.”
The man was an enigma, to be sure. Kendra drew a calming breath as they sliced the cake, his hand warm over hers. She placed a piece on Amy’s plate, then one on her own.
All the while, Trick remained standing beside her. She could feel his gaze, feel him shifting, but before she had time to react, he’d reached and plucked the veil from her head.
“What!” She turned and snatched it from his hands.
“I wanted to see your…hair,” he finished lamely, blinking at her in seeming bemusement. “What the hell did you do to it?”
“Do to it?”
“The…” He waved a finger, drawing spirals in the air. “The…”
“Curls?” Kendra supplied helpfully. She couldn’t help but grin at his expression. “Jane worked on it for an hour. Do you like it?”
“No,” he said flatly. “I liked it before.” He leaned close, whispering to her alone. “Wild, streaming down your back.”
“Oh.” She felt a blush heat her face. “After this, I’ll take it down.”
“After this,I’lltake it down.”
The wispy lace fluttered from her fingers to the soft blue Oriental carpet. Feeling more confused by the moment, she plopped back onto her chair.
“Mmm…porcupine,” Trick said, reseating himself with a satisfied smile. “At least I’ve married into a family that appreciates good food.”
The “porcupine” was actually a stuffed breast of veal, larded all over and studded with small strips of ham, bacon, and pickled cucumber. Trick smacked his lips and added a healthy portion to his already-loaded plate.
“Leave room—we’ve surprise as well,” Colin warned. Spearing a bite of cake, Kendra looked up as a servant set the dish called surprise on the table. A stuffed calf’s head served up in its original shape, it had bunches of myrtle stuck into its eyes and looked very surprised indeed.
The steam rose off it in tantalizing swirls…and it bellowed.
Kendra screamed. A piece of cake went flying off Amy’s fork, splattering on one of the diamond-paned leaded windows. Ford jumped up, his lattice-backed chair clunking to the floor behind him. Trick and Jason froze.
