“Not in the slightest,” she said.
“Cool. So about lunch—”
Aaron took a single step toward Corbin, and the growl rose one notch in volume. “Myguest, pup.”
Corbin went very still for a second, as if by reflex. Then he lifted his hands. “So it’s like that? Okay, got it.” He sent Ember another smile, and this one wasn’t the least hint flirtatious. Well, maybe still a hint. Their small talk wrapped up quickly but warmly, and then he rejoined the group.
Aaron gave a final grunt in his direction before his shoulders relaxed.
Ember arched her eyebrows at him. “Did I miss something?”
“Cocky pup,” Aaron muttered.
“A little maybe, but that charm is sincere. I wasn’t offended.”
Aaron didn’t reply. Maybe he was offended, except that made little sense.Hisguest… Was he saying the wolf pack perceived them as together? If so, she should correct that, not enjoy it. Yet for some reason she preferred to enjoy.
Aaron went still, stared at her, his lips parted with surprise. Did he know what she was thinking? Did he want her thinking it? Yeah. He did. The momentary pleased pop of his dimple gave him away.
But then he shifted his posture toward another darts player who had pivoted from the game to watch Ember. The man’s scrutiny was intense, the kind of look most people glanced away from. Ember held his eyes.
“That would be Rhett,” Aaron said.
Rhett gave her a lazy salute while she studied him in return. He was tawny with nut-brown hair in short spikes, a few inches shorter than the average lupine present but no less muscular. His eyes were the gray-blue of an approaching cold front. Challenge lived there, and he clearly didn’t care who saw it.
Before Ember could move forward to meet him, another younger man approached without caution.
“Nathan, meet Ember,” Aaron said. “Ember, Nathan’s folks are Patrick and Nicole Corrigan; you met them already.”
Nathan’s appearance stood out among the pack. Equally tall and muscled, he had bright red hair, freckles, and eyes like green glass. Like Corbin, he had to be under twenty-one.
“Hey, welcome.” He offered Ember his hand, and his grip was firm when she took it.
“Thank you.”
“Quinn’s great. Glad he has you looking out for him.”
“Oh? You don’t think I should mind my own business and go back to vanilla world?”
Nathan choked on a laugh. “Glad we don’t scare you any.”
“So far so good.” Which was the truth, unless he meantweto include the alpha.
Nathan was still smiling when, after a few minutes of small talk, he loped off to join the volleyball game.
“Is this everybody?” Ember said.
“Just about,” Aaron said, leading her to a few camping chairs clustered beneath a maple tree.
“If I weren’t here, would you be playing darts?”
Aaron shrugged. “Or volleyball, or whatever.”
“Well, just because I showed up… Don’t let me keep you from socializing.”
His mouth twitched up. “I can play darts every Saturday for the rest of my life.”
He seemed truly content to sit under the tree and talk to her. Mostly they chatted about inconsequential things, and his voice, his rumbling chuckle, his opinions were all enjoyable. She tried to bump into the topic of their perceived togetherness here, but Aaron skirted it. Easily explained: Aaron had no interest in pursuing the attraction (because by all means the attraction was mutual; Ember wasn’t stupid). Her pride stung, and something deeper than pride was disappointed. But whatever. She was here for Quinn and no one else.
