“Thank you, Archibald. This is very kind of you to cook on such short notice. I feel like we’ve been thrust upon you without warning.”
His eyes gleamed down at her when he barked a laugh. “Bah! If you only knew how often the thrust happens, milady. Please, don’t allow yourself to be troubled. There is no putting me out when it comes to a crisis. Everything is better when there are weenies in a blanket, wouldn’t you agree?”
She popped one in her mouth, the flavors exploding on her tongue in a riot of such bliss, all she could do was nod with an emphatic bob of her head.
Arch beamed down at her, the wrinkles melting into the corners of his eyes. “Surely later we’ll sit and chat. As for now, I must get to the kitchen and finish up the mini-quiches. It was all I could scrounge up at such a late hour.”
Grabbing a few more of the delicacies, she dropped them on a napkin, ran her hand down along Lenny’s back, and excused herself from Marty, heading straight for Cormac, who stood by the fireplace, his arm braced on the ornate mantle of Nina’s great room.
He looked completely out of place in the more formal setting of Nina and Greg’s castle and he still smelled dreadful. His faded jeans, torn at the knees, and black work boots had seen better days. The plaid red-and-black flannel shirt he wore beneath a black vest, fraying at the cuffs he’d rolled up to his elbows, was worn from use.
And still he was utterly breathtaking. His rugged good looks, his sinfully hot green eyes, his bulky body rippled with muscle, drew her like a moth to a flame.
Teddy approached with caution, luxuriating in the warmth of the fire.
“Weenie in a blanket for your thoughts?” she asked, keeping her voice light.
When his gaze met hers, Cormac asked a question in a tone that sounded like she owed him money. “Mustard or ketchup on your hot dogs?”
“Um, mustard. Spicy brown. You?”
“Same.”
Her stomach rippled with delight. Aw, how cute. You have something in common. Mustard on your trans-fatty acids.
Then there was more awkward silence.
She inhaled and smiled up at him, hoping to encourage conversation. “Vanilla or chocolate?”
“Neither.”
“You don’t like ice cream? Who doesn’t like ice cream?”
“Strawberry.”
“Oh, phew! I was ready to pitch you to the curb before we got in too deep, life mate.” Then she winced when she saw Cormac’s jaw harden at the words life mate.
“Favorite side of the bed?” he asked, surprising her.
Her cheeks warmed. “Middle. I know. I’m a hog. Anyone I’ve ever slept with says so…” Ugh. Probably not a good idea to bring up past lovers and their sleeping arrangements. She sucked at small talk. “Sorry. That was insensitive.”
He smiled for the first time—that smile that made her heart go pitter-pat. “It’s okay. You’re what, twenty-five? I can’t expect you to have been celibate.”
Now she blushed, sick with delight that he thought she was twenty-five. “Thirty, actually. How old are you?”
“Thirty-nine.”
“So who’s your sleuth?”
Cormac cocked his dark head, confusion in his glittering eyes. “My what?”
“Your sleuth. You know, your clan, your pack, your people?”
“Is that what they call a group of bears? I had no idea.”
Now that was odd. Everyone who was anyone knew what fellow bears called one other. “That’s what we’ve always called them. My sleuth, I mean.”
“Who’s we? Siblings?”
She grinned, thinking about her nitwit brothers. “Two. They’re twins. Vadim and Viktor. Older by five years.”
“Jackson?”
She stiffened, looking down at her napkin of weenies in a blanket. “Hmm?”
“Your last name is Jackson. Vadim and Viktor sound Russian. Are they?”
Oh damn. Why had she lied about her last name? “My mom was from Russia…”
Cormac nodded. “Ahhhh. Interesting. Ever been there?”
“Once when I was just a little kid. Really cool. Lots of ornate churches, borscht and everyone can do a triple axel.”
He chuckled—a deep, resonant sound. “I bet.”
“Your family?”
He paused, but only for a second. “One sister. Parents are gone now.”
“Mine, too. I miss them.”
“I get it. So you work at a wildlife refuge?”
He appeared to be warming to actually speaking to her, and though the sound of his voice made her utterly giddy, she was trying to keep that on the inside.
“Yeah. I love it. It’s tough work sometimes, but more than worth the gratification it brings. I love animals and I especially love working with them.” She slowed her roll for a moment, so as not to appear rambling. “So what do you do for a living?”
“Did. I was a coder for a big tech corporation in Jersey.”
Teddy cocked her head, sensing his distress the moment he thought he’d said too much. “Did?”
His gaze found hers, searing her to the very spot she stood upon. “I left three years ago.”