Dutch signaled to his vice president, who looked at a woman standing in front of a door that presumably led to the kitchen.The woman opened the door, and two other women entered the room bearing trays loaded with filled plates.
Elias studied the plate one woman had set in front of him. Salad. Really? He’d never seen a green leaf except what grew in his yard during his chaotic childhood, and good old Dutch had enough class to serve a three-course meal? He would have bet anything that Dutch hated salad. Elias frowned. Was he guessing based on his own childhood or had he really met Dutch in his past?
He studied Dutch’s face. Definitely not one that he would forget, so why did his gut say he knew the MC leader?
The server set a pair of ceramic creamers in front of his plate. Elias stared. He’d never seen ceramic creamers used for salad dressing. Pretty ingenious use for them in his opinion. Although he never saw the need for creamers, this use of the ceramic pieces made Iona and her team happy. A good thing about having Artemis along? They took semi-formal dinners in stride.
Elias and his teammates waited until their women served themselves from the ceramic creamers before following suit.
Dutch tried his best to keep the conversation going. His wife’s refusal to talk hampered his efforts. She just glowered at each woman on Artemis, especially Iona.
Despite her rudeness, Elias felt sorry for her. Trish was pretty enough. However, she couldn’t compete with Artemis. Each member was beautiful. He might be biased, but Elias believed Iona could have been a model.
His lady had class, though. She noticed Dutch’s struggle and used a hand signal to communicate with the rest of her team. From that time on, they carried on the conversation at the dinner table, introducing neutral topics and engaging everyone in the discussion except Trish. As soon as Artemis took over the conversation, the stilted awkwardness disappeared.
Iona talked about her favorite movies as dessert was served. “What’s your favorite movie, Dutch?”
He glanced at his wife to find her glaring at him. He cleared his throat and mumbled, “I watch little television.”
She smiled. “I understand. I’d rather read a book than watch television. I do like cooking shows, though. Are you a DIY guy, Dutch?”
His shoulders straightened. “I take care of my bike and help the others with theirs.”
“Oh, nice. That’s so handy. I’ll bet Trish finds you a tremendous help.” She studied him for a moment. “I can see you as someone who remodels his own house and who loves to rebuild vehicles, two wheels and four. Am I right?”
He chuckled. “You sure are.”
She shifted the questions to other members of the Blackthorn Riders seated at the table and those in the room acting as bodyguards. By the time they’d finished dessert, Artemis had successfully navigated the shark-infested waters of MC dinner conversation.
Dutch getting to his feet was the signal for everyone else to stand. Trish not only stood, she walked out of the room. The stiffness in everyone else’s shoulders fell away.
Teagan smiled at Dutch. “Thank you so much for hosting a dinner for us. We’re honored to spend time with you and your Old Lady.”
“We enjoyed getting to know you,” Iona said.
“My pleasure.” Dutch extended his hand to Teagan first and kissed the back of her fingers. He did the same thing to Iona.
While Elias appreciated old-world courtesy as much as the next guy, he didn’t like Dutch kissing any part of Iona.
“We should go.” Seth wrapped his arm around Teagan’s shoulders and tucked her against his side. When Dutch held outhis hand to Seth, Echo’s leader shook it, then guided Teagan toward the door.
The rest of Echo unit paid their respects to Blackthorn’s leader and left with their wives.
Elias was the last man to approach Dutch with his lady.
Iona took a step forward and stopped. “May I approach?”
It took everything Elias had not to roll his eyes. Dutch, however, ate up that act of respect.
He smiled and held out his hand. “Of course.” Dutch drew Iona closer.
“Thank you,” she said simply. “For a marvelous dinner and entertaining company. More importantly, thank you for offering protection for Elias. We’ll never forget your kindness.”
Dutch shrugged. “In our world, we take care of each other.”
“We do in ours as well. I know Elias appreciates what you’re doing, but I wanted you to know that I’m well aware of the risk you’re taking in offering sanctuary to my man.” Iona hugged him briefly, then stepped back. “We’ll go now so you can take care of your lady. Please convey our appreciation for the meal to Trish.”
Blackthorn’s leader looked stunned. “Of course. I’ll tell her.”
