Daring In a Blue Dress by Katie MacAlister

Author:Katie MacAlister
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-05-18T12:51:18+00:00

Chapter 10

Our pleasant interlude seemed like it lasted days, but at long last we realized that it was still early evening, and we were hungry.

“We could go out for dinner,” I told Alden after we got dressed again. “Go to that pub you mentioned yesterday.”

“We could, but I’d feel bad about leaving Lisa at the mercy of Vandal.”

“Oh, I meant that we’d take her, too,” I lied, feeling immediately guilty that I hadn’t even thought about what Lisa was going to do for dinner. Here I’d been selfishly thinking of having Alden to myself, and he was being a considerate and thoughtful host.

He rubbed his face, his whiskers rasping in a way that sent a shiver down my arms. “We could do that if you like.”

“Sure.” I slapped a cheerful smile on my face. “Do you think we should invite Fenice and Vandal, too?”

“Why?” he asked, narrowing his eyes on me. “You don’t . . . er . . . you’re not . . .” He made an oddly abrupt gesture.

“You pick the weirdest times to get tongue-tied,” I told him, leaning in to kiss him. “Here you’ve been chatting away without so much as a twinge, even while doing the most intimate things two people can do, and whammo! One mention of Vandal and you’re Mr. Hesitant. Do I need to ask you if you’re jealous?”

“No,” he said quickly, straightening his shoulders. “Of course not.”

“OK, then,” I said, and opened the door of his bedroom. “We’ll ask Fenice and Vandal to come with us.”

“Fine,” he said, following me as I headed downstairs. Silence accompanied us until we were just outside the kitchen, from which voices could be heard. I put my hand on Alden’s arm and stopped him. “Alden, I feel kind of odd.”

“Odd how?” His brow wrinkled. “Sick? Or sore from . . .” He waggled his eyebrows, but stopped when a thought obviously struck him. “I wasn’t too rough on you, was I? I know I got a bit carried away at the end, but I assumed you’d tell me if I did something you didn’t like, or that hurt you—”

“No, nothing like that,” I said with a reassuring smile, and a little bite on his chin. “That was fabulous. Especially you being enthusiastic. I meant that I feel like I’m using you, somehow. It’s like you have this magic button, and I press it, and hey nonny-nonny, you can talk. Do you . . . does it irritate you when I do that?”

“Press my magic button?” His lips twitched. “Far from it.”

I smacked his arm. “You know what I mean. When I kiss you to distract you from feeling weird. Is that abusing you? Should I stop? It’s almost like I’m taking the choice away from you, and I don’t want you thinking that’s what I’m doing.”

He looked thoughtful for a few minutes. “I don’t feel used. And I don’t think you’re taking my choice from me—if I didn’t want to talk to you, I wouldn’t, no matter what you did.

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