Aiden's smile widens, not intimidated in the slightest. "I'll do that. Maybe you can give me the local's tour of Virginia Dale. I've been away so long, I could use a refresher."
"I'm sure your brother can handle that," Rowan counters smoothly. "I run a business, not a welcome committee."
"Ouch," I murmur to Sadie. "She's not pulling any punches."
"She never does," Sadie whispers back, but there's something speculative in her expression as she watches them.
Aiden doesn't miss a beat. "Fair enough. Though I've always found business and pleasure can sometimes overlap… in the right circumstances."
The tension between them crackles like static electricity. It's not anger, it's something else entirely, something that makes me suddenly very aware I'm watching the start of something I'm not sure I want to witness.
Rowan's eyes narrow slightly. "Not in my experience."
"Then you've been doing business with the wrong people," Aiden replies, his voice dropping to that quiet, confident tone I've seen women respond to my entire life.
But Rowan isn't most women. She sets her glass down with a decisive clink.
"If you'll excuse me," she says, "I promised Poppy we'd look at that pony your aunt bought her."
She turns to us, completely dismissing Aiden. "Mind if I steal her for a minute?"
"Go ahead," Sadie says, transferring Poppy to her sister's arms.
Rowan walks away without a backward glance, her spine straight, her stride purposeful. But there's a tension in her shoulders I've never seen before, like she's deliberately forcing herself not to look back.
Aiden doesn't move, just watches her go, that half smile still playing at his lips. When he finally turns back to us, there's something in his eyes that makes my stomach drop.
"Your sister," he says to Sadie, "is fascinating."
"She's also off-limits," I warn, recognizing that look all too well. It's the same one he wore before climbing El Capitan, the expression of a man who's just found a challenge worth pursuing.
"I don't recall asking for your permission, little brother," Aiden replies, his eyes still tracking Rowan across the room.
"She'll eat you alive," I tell him, only half joking.
His smile turns wolfish. "I'm counting on it."
Sadie looks between us, amusement warring with concern on her face. "Should I be worried?"
"Absolutely," I confirm, watching as Aiden excuses himself to get another drink, his path deliberately taking him past where Rowan is showing Poppy the stuffed pony.
"I've seen that look before. He's not going to back down."
"Neither will Rowan," Sadie says with certainty.
I slip my arm around her waist, pulling her close as we watch Aiden make a casual comment to Rowan, who responds without looking up. Even from across the room, I can see the way hershoulders tense, the deliberate distance she maintains between them.
"This could get messy," I murmur against Sadie's hair.
She leans into me, a soft laugh escaping her. "Or interesting."
I press a kiss to her temple, watching as Aiden says something that actually makes Rowan look up, surprise briefly crossing her face before she schools her expression back to careful neutrality.
"Ten bucks says she shuts him down at least three more times today," I offer.
Sadie's smile turns knowing. "Twenty says he asks her out before the party's over."
"You're on."
