That wasn’t the sort of person that he was. Although she did wish that he’d back off a bit.
“You want to tell me why you’re leaning over Arabella like that and upsetting her?” a deep voice asked.
“Shit,” she muttered.
This was the last thing this situation needed. She looked down at her cake. She’d just concentrate on eating it.
Cake had never let her down. It had never hurt her feelings or made her feel small or scared her.
Cake was her friend.
Sometimes, it had been her only friend.
“What do you mean?” Cole asked. “I’m not intimidating her.”
The cake looked moist. Not too dry or heavy. Blueberry flavor.
Bringing it to her nose, she sniffed it. Yeah. It smelled good.
Oh shoot. She’d forgotten the list of ingredients. She glanced up and saw everyone staring at her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Um, did you just sniff the cake?” Keira asked curiously.
“Well, yeah. Don’t you?” she replied.
“Urgh, no. I’ve never seen anyone do that, either,” Keira told her, sounding almost shy. Cole straightened and put his arm around her as he glared at Eli and Kellan who were standing on the other side of her table.
Hmm. She was starting to feel claustrophobic. There were too many people standing while she was sitting. Horse seemed to feel the same way. He was growling quietly.
She put her hand on Horse’s head and patted him.
“Yeah, you are intimidating her,” Eli replied. “She’s uncomfortable and you need to back off. You’ve got no reason to loom over her like that.”
“She doesn’t look uncomfortable,” Cole protested.
“Her fingers are white where she’s holding her fork from stress. She’s sitting very stiffly. And her breathing has increased. Not to mention that her dog is picking up on her nervous feelings and that’s why he’s growling.”
Cole stared down at her in surprise. Then he stepped back and ran his hand over his face. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Arabella.”
Eli was still glaring at Cole, but Kellan was staring down at her. “Did you see us and run in the other direction?”
Holy crap.
How did Kellan read her so easily? It was really annoying.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied calmly as she stuffed a piece of cake into her mouth to hide her reaction.
There was no way he would know she was lying, right?
Something strange hit her tastebuds. What had Iona put in her cake? It was weird. She took another bite, curious. It wasn’t bad, just different.
“Are you sure you’re not lying?” Kellan asked, leaning in.
She just gave him an innocent look in reply.
He couldn’t know.
