“I’m allergic to all that nutritious stuff,” Kane said soberly. “Absolutely allergic.
Remember the brewer’s yeast, Mack? Didn’t she almost kill me with brewer’s yeast?”
“She killed the popcorn,” Mack remembered.
“You were smothering the popcorn in butter,” Jaimie was indignant. “Someone had to save you. Hardening of the arteries. You two are getting on in years, you know.” She smirked at them rather smugly and at the same time took a quick glance around her.
They weren’t alone. She saw Brian and Jacob having breakfast in a booth facing them just to her left. At the table nearest the door, Marc drank coffee across from Ethan, who seemed engrossed in a newspaper. She had caught a brief glimpse of Javier, looking like a teenager with his boyish good looks, and Lucas, looking like a model in a business suit, moving through the crowded street as they’d entered the restaurant.
Both Mack and Kane scowled across the table at her fiercely, hoping to intimidate her. “Getting on in what years?” Kane demanded ominously.
Jaimie broke off a small piece of blueberry muffin, unconcerned with their threatening posture—after all, she had all the boys surrounding her and presumably they were there for her protection. “It’s a fact of life. Everyone has to come to terms with aging. One should take a few precautions.”
“A few precautions sounds like an excellent idea,” Kane grumbled. “Pitching you into the ocean might be a good start.”
“I thought we might take a walk over the Golden Gate this afternoon,” Mack suggested helpfully, in complete agreement.
“You two have a disturbing penchant for violence,” she chided. “Perhaps you should see a shrink. I noticed it way back in high school. All those contact sports, football, boxing, fencing, karate.” She shook her head mournfully. “Violent.”
“We had a little vamp to protect,” Kane defended. “We had to be prepared.”
“I beg your pardon?” Icicles dripped from her voice. There was a distinctly regal look about her.
“She was never a vamp,” Mack disagreed. “But you were a beautiful innocent and every wolf for a hundred miles was stalking you.” There was a caressing note in the deep timbre of his voice. “We had to keep a close watch.”
Jaimie burst out laughing, the sound turning heads. “You’re crazy. The two of you obviously have a far different memory of our past than I do.”
The two men exchanged easy grins. “You never did see things you didn’t want to.” Kane was pleased with himself; it wasn’t easy diverting Jaimie when she was off on one of her tangents on nutrition. There was no way she hadn’t noticed the rest of the team infiltrating the restaurant to protect her. He knew she loved them all; she’d grown up with them, so she was happy to see them, but she didn’t like what they represented—violence, a way of life, the very thing she’d worked so hard to get out of. He wanted her happy, teasing, that carefree laugh and bright eyes to remain for as long as possible.
“Eat your steak, Kane,” Jaimie advised.
“Notice how she changes the subject when it gets a little hot?” Mack asked, his black gaze suggesting all sorts of wicked, sinful things.
Her stomach did that slow, familiar roll that Mack had been causing in her for far too long. She didn’t see how she was going to be able to let him live in the same house with her, seeing him every day. It wasn’t just that she found him sexy as hell;
she liked him. She liked his humor and the way he could laugh at life.
“I’m eating, Mack,” she said trying to sound prim instead of desperate.
He had a gift of being able to focus just on her and no one or nothing else. He was doing it now, looking at her as if she were the only person in the world. Before, she had believed she was special and he saw no one but her. Now she knew better. She knew that focused stare was an amazing illusion. He saw everything in the restaurant, knew where every single person was seated and what they were wearing. He probably knew what they were eating.
She glanced down at her plate, suddenly not hungry again. She ached for him.
Ached for their lost relationship.
He reached across the table and took her hand, his thumb sliding over the sensitive part of her wrist. “I don’t think that’s called eating.”
“Well, stop looking at me that way. There is nothing sexy about eating, and you’re looking at me like . . .” She made the mistake of looking up at him, of meeting his eyes, and just trailed off.
He smiled like a Cheshire cat. “Sure there is, the way you eat.”
He leaned toward her and brought her hand to his mouth, closing his lips around the tips of her fingers, his teeth gently nipping and scraping. Heat seared through her like a flash. All at once, the booth was far too small, the room too warm.
She jerked her hand away, uncaring that he knew just how he affected her. “You have sex on the brain, Mack. Get your runaway hormones under control.” Jaimie said it looking as schoolmarmish as possible.
Kane choked on a mouthful of orange juice, turned slightly red, and looked surreptitiously around. “Jaimie!” He sounded shocked and lowered his voice, nearly whispering. “I can’t believe you said ‘sex’ or ‘hormones’ in public.”
She rolled her eyes. “You didn’t blast him for trying to eat my hand in front of everyone.” Her gaze swept the restaurant. Several of the men were snickering between bites of food. “Why didn’t you just invite them all to sit with us? Maybe we could walk down the street like a solid wall of testosterone.”
Kane choked again, spewing food into his napkin. “If I don’t want you to say S-EX, I certainly don’t think you should be saying that. Sheesh, woman. You’ve lost all sense of decorum since you’ve been on your own.”
Jaimie laughed. “You’re such a prude, Kane. I can say ‘prude,’ can’t I?”
“I’m not a prude,” he objected. “It’s just that there some things you don’t go talking about in public.”
Mack burst out laughing. “I tried to tell you she was out of control. We’re going to have to take her in hand.” He shamelessly leered at her.
“Tell Mack there are things you don’t go doing in public,” she replied hotly.
“I didn’t see a thing,” Kane defended piously.
Jaimie shrugged her slender shoulders nonchalantly. “Just for that, you two can fight over the check. Come on, I’m finished.” She tossed her napkin on the table and stood up.