Aislyn heard booted footsteps entering through the front door, along with more than one deep voice. She wasn’t expecting Gavin to return home with his brothers, dashing her hopes of spending the evening alone with him.
“What smells so good?” she heard Cody ask as the front door shut.
Grabbing a towel, she walked out to greet them, wiping her hands. Looking at Gavin, she pasted on a bright smile. “Hi. I hope you don’t mind but I put together a Mexican casserole for dinner. There’s plenty for everyone.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Cody came forward and surprised her by squeezing her shoulder. “If it tastes as good as it smells, don’t plan on leftovers.”
“I’m starving,” was all Drake said as he followed Cody into the kitchen, leaving her alone in the hall with Gavin.
Stepping forward, he cupped her chin, holding her face still for his inspection. Gazing at the look of concern in his eyes, Aislyn’s heart melted, annihilating her hopes of getting over him once and for all after she left here.
“You were still sleeping soundly when I left this morning, so I assumed you didn’t have any issues with last night’s repercussions.”
“No.” A rueful smile tilted her lips. “Not unless you count my frustration.”
He cocked his head, his gaze turning speculative before he frowned. “Aislyn, didn’t you seek a new Dom after I left?”
Her face flooded with warm embarrassment before irritation swept in and she pulled out of his hold. “No,” she answered honestly. “I must have been more invested in our relationship than you. That’s my fault for being a naïve newbie, reading more into you telling me you cared than you meant. Dinner’s getting cold and your brothers are waiting.”
“Stop,” he commanded as she spun around.
Turning her head, Aislyn snapped, “You gave up the right to give me orders.” She heard him curse as she walked away, but by the time he joined them at the kitchen table, he appeared under control. She envied him the ability to check his emotions so fast.
Cody was the chatty one during dinner, regaling her with their stunts growing up on the ranch, Gavin adding a thing or two while Drake nodded or grunted in agreement.
“Then there was the time we were grounded for skipping school and big brother talked us into crawling out our windows to go crawdad hunting at midnight.” Cody sent Gavin an innocent grin as he shoveled in another bite.
Gavin turned to Aislyn. “I was ten, and in my defense, I didn’t know about the security cameras Dad installed the week before.”
Drake grunted as he swallowed. “Got our asses whooped good for that stunt.”
Aislyn giggled, feeling brave enough to tease Gavin. “That must have been a painful lesson.”
“I suppose you were the perfect child growing up. Straight A’s, never getting into trouble?” he drawled.
She smirked. “Of course.”
Gavin’s eyes heated and his voice dropped to a deep rumble as he said, “I would have liked to have known you twenty years ago.”
Growing warm, she squirmed in her seat as Cody and Drake’s gazes turned keener. “I doubt you would have noticed an eight-year-old kid who would rather stay home and play with her new puppy than hang out with her friends. I was a boring homebody even then.”
“Not boring,” Drake said, surprising her with his support. “Growing up with a dog is a good bonding experience.”
The devastating pain of losing her parents and going to a foster home that didn’t allow dogs must have shown on her face because three pairs of eyes sharpened with scrutiny.
Gavin shackled her wrist as she pushed back from the table, uncomfortable with being the object of their sympathy. “What happened to your dog, Aislyn?”
“I’m not sure. My parents were friends with a couple who fostered kids and made arrangements for them to take me in if something ever happened to them. Their son was allergic to dogs and they told me she was found a new home.” Picking up the empty serving dish, she mumbled, “Excuse me.”
To her relief, the guys dropped the subject and pitched in to clear the table, thanking her for the meal.
Cody bent and kissed her cheek as she shut the loaded dishwasher. “I have my work cut out for me tomorrow night. That was the best enchilada I’ve eaten. Thank you.”
“It was my mom’s recipe, handed down from her mother, and one of my favorite. Thank you.” From the little Gavin had said about Cody’s chef abilities, that was high praise.
Drake squeezed her shoulder on his way out and she was left alone with Gavin,
wondering if he’d pick up where they had left off in the hall. But after adding his appreciation for dinner with a casual, tingling glide of his fingers down her arm, he walked away and she didn’t see him again until she was drawn to her window right before turning in hours later. Curiosity mixed with a thread of anger as she watched him take off into the woods again.
This time she waited inside for his return. When he appeared two hours later in the same disheveled, tired state, her anger slipped into concern as she caught a glimpse of the despondency etched on his face. As if sensing her, he swung his gaze toward her window, their eyes clinging for a brief moment the way they used to every time he entered the club and sought her out. He shattered the poignant moment when his whole body went rigid and he stormed inside with a slam of the door.
****
Gavin waited for Aislyn in the kitchen the next morning, determined to keep his wolf’s growing agitation to claim her under control. The image of her as a grief-stricken child haunted his dreams last night. And then there was the look on
