The other males glanced at him in surprise.
“It’s all right, Gweneth,” Lynx said after a fraught silence.“Please tell us why you are interrupting our meeting.”
“And why you decided to attend,” Ellard added.A thought occurred and his eyes narrowed on her.“Were you responsible for the perfume saga?”
Her pink lips pressed together, and she averted her gaze, suddenly fascinated by the number of bare chests in the council room.
“Gweneth,” he prompted.
“I wanted to know what you discussed at these meetings.You hold them often, yet don’t seem to get much done.”
“And you needed the perfume to confuse our feline senses, so we wouldn’t detect your presence,” Ry said.
Gweneth gave an audible gulp.
Ry folded his arms across his chest.“I’ll take that as an affirmative.”
“I have an idea,” she burst out, glancing in Ellard’s direction.Excitement made her eyes glow like jewels, and she’d done something with the stuff the woman called cosmetics.The black edges around her eyes made them more prominent, more enticing.
Ellard groaned inwardly.He had to get his thoughts off Gweneth.He had to persuade his feline that Gweneth was bad, bad, bad for them.They’d end up hurt again.No, better to stay far away.“You’d better go and let us get back to our meeting.”
“But my idea—”
Lynx held up a hand.“Let her talk.Tell us about your idea.”
“All right.”Gweneth plonked her pert bottom, encased in the blue trews that Camryn and the rest of theIndycrew called jeans, on Ellard’s seat.
A snicker sounded to Ellard’s right, and he turned to scowl at Jarlath.He bared his teeth and hissed a feline warning.
“Stop that.”Gweneth’s tone neared snippy.“I’m trying to talk here.”
To Jarlath’s credit, he ceased his laughter, but his lips continued to twitch.
“The floor is yours, Gweneth.”Lynx, too, was trying not to laugh.
She took an audible breath and puffed it free.Ellard wanted to tell her to spit it out, so she could leave and his feline would cease his agitation.It was getting so bad, it felt as if his skin might split.He leaned against the wall, pretending a calmness he lacked, and glared at her pretty face.
His sexy green stare held feline frustration.Gweneth bit her lip, wanting to laugh as Jarlath had laughed.Not safe.She didn’t want him to throttle her, but she did want him to look at her as an eligible mate.
While it was true there were more handsome men, some of whom had shown interest in her, something about the large, hulking presence of Ellard pushed her to explore what might be.She drew in a breath, pushed it out and began to expound on her idea.
“I think we should organize a festival.We can use it to showcase the food and drinks native to Viros, but we should also invite all the neighboring planets to have a stall to display and sell their goods and produce.The festival could run for maybe seven cycles with concerts and shows.Maybe organize city tours and show off everything Viros has to offer.”Whew!That perfume stunk with the sharp piquancy of a well-fed hell-horse.No wonder Kaya had donated it to the cause.
Ry tapped his chin in a thoughtful manner.“Not a bad idea.”
“Why should we invite our neighbors when we’re doing all the work?”the councilor with the painted nails demanded.
“Because if we work together, we’ll have more to offer tourists.”Gweneth started speaking faster with enthusiasm.“It will foster closer relations between you all, and if you invite them to take part, spreading the word will become easier.With more planets involved, it will give us a bigger reach.Also, if we host the festival, it will mean the visitors will spend currency, stay in our hotels, and use our spaceport.If it works, we could make this festival an annual fixture.In time, it will grow and extend our reach.You should get businesses to do proposals as to what services they can offer.Craftsmen and women can have stalls selling their wares.Charge the locals a smaller fee to have a stall.Put the currency raised back into rebuilding the city and for public facilities.If you get everyone involved, the enthusiasm generated will go a long way toward building bridges for past problems.”
The king and his mate exchanged a glance, but Gweneth never relaxed until she saw them start to grin.
“That is an excellent idea, Gweneth,” Shiloh said.
Lynx nodded.“Yes, I think that will work well and make us popular with our neighbors.”
Pleased, Gweneth inhaled again to settle the nerves that buzzed around the pit of her stomach.She’d done it.Now to set the next bit of her plan in motion.She took another breath and sneezed.Ugh, perhaps they’d overdone the perfume.“I believe your best weather—the most settled times—occur soon.We should be ready.I believe the House of Cawdor have a big gambling tournament then.We need to organize our festival to coincide with that to increase our chances of more visitors.”
“But that won’t give us enough time,” Jarlath said.
