At my question, Thomas tossed the file he was holding onto the table in front of him, crossing his legs and leaning back toregard me with amusement. “I own this plane. I don’t see why it’s surprising to find me on it.”
Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because he hadn’t mentioned it when I’d spoken to him on the phone earlier in the day.
Caroline prodded me in the back. “Do you mind? You’re in the way.”
Feeling like I’d been sucker punched once again by my sire, but not knowing what else to do, I shuffled sideways to allow her fully into the cabin.
Caroline was all smiles as she dropped her carry-on at her feet and greeted Thomas with a friendly expression. “How lovely. I was hoping for a chance to thank you for loaning us your plane on such short notice.”
“Anything for my youngest,” Thomas drawled. “She so rarely makes requests of me. It would be churlish to deny her on the rare times she does.”
Caroline remained polite. “Does this mean you’re heading in the same direction as us?”
“You could say that.” At her questioning look, Thomas added, “It just so happens that I have business in Vegas.”
“That’s quite the coincidence,” Caroline managed, her gaze finding mine, a faint pleading there.
Thomas laced his hands around his knee, his smile broadening. “It is. One might even call it fate.”
Caroline’s look told me to do something.
Internally, I rolled my eyes. Fine—but only because there wasn’t any other choice
“You neglected to mention you were heading to Vegas. It’s almost as if this ‘business’ of yours is something you made up last minute,” I challenged.
An enigmatic smile played at the corners of Thomas’s lips. “My dear, I failed to mention my schedule simply because I thought it would be a fun surprise.”
Try an unwelcome one.
“And I don’t need to lie. All I would have needed to do was make my presence a condition of my assistance. You would not have been able to arrange entrance into the territory on your own.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Fine. He’d won.
“It occurs to me this can’t exactly be considered a favor since you were heading in this direction anyway.”
In that case, Friday night dinners were off the table.
“Nice try,” Thomas drawled. “But your presence means I had to leave part of my retinue behind.”
Damn. I thought I’d found a loophole.
Thomas looked past me as Sondra and the other two wolves filed into the plane. He quirked an eyebrow at Caroline. “I was under the impression your relationship with your maker was as fractious as Aileen’s is with me. I’m surprised to see you taking a trip together.”
My mind went blank. Caroline was no better.
Neither one of us had thought to come up with an excuse beforehand. Why would we? No one had realized Thomas would be here.
Sondra was quick to cover for us. “Your information is woefully out of date. It seems your information broker has fallen down on the job. You should find someone else before their ineptitude causes issues. Caroline and I reconciled months ago.”
Thomas propped his head on his hand. “I’ll take your recommendation under advisement. Though I do wonder about the presence of those two wolves behind you. As far as I know, Aileen has no connection with either of them and I doubt my paranoid yearling would invite wolves she didn’t know on her ‘Girl’s Trip’.”
Sondra flashed a toothy smile. “Brax’s rules. Whenever one of us travels out of our territory, we take an entourage.”
“Strange that he’d pick wolves considerably weaker than those they’re supposed to protect,” Thomas mused, trailing his gaze over the pair.
They froze under my sire’s regard. Their gazes locked on the air above Thomas’s head to avoid looking him in the eye.
“There aren’t many in the pack stronger than Caroline and me. Those who are were otherwise occupied.”
