“The first part of that story appears to be true.”
He hoped she was making a wild guess and his obsession with Emma hadn’t turned into a flashing neon sign above his head. “It’s not.”
“Okay. You would know.”
Aidan grabbed the first change of topic he could think of. “How’s your brother?”
“Obnoxious as always. But he has a pretty big knot on the back of his head. I don’t buy the hammer story, but what happened?”
Emma came out of her bedroom wearing black slacks and a soft white turtleneck.
“I bonked him with the hotel hair dryer, which stil works, amazingly enough. I wish I could say I’m sorry I smacked him, but I’m not. He was trying to hamstring Aidan.”
Nadia glanced from Aidan to Emma. “You were defending him, even when you knew he was a werewolf?”
“What difference does that make? He was stil Aidan under al that fur, and he’d come to my rescue when Theo shifted. I wasn’t about to stand by and watch him get hurt.”
Nadia’s eyebrows lifted, and her gaze swung to Aidan as if to say, See? Madly in love, both of you. Then she turned her attention back to Emma. “Aidan says you’re curious about our lifestyle.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” Emma walked over and sat on the sofa opposite Nadia. “I could get so many ideas for my books! You’re a creative person, so I’m sure you can understand how exploring the actual world of Weres would provide unlimited inspiration for my work.”
Nadia leaned forward, and her voice was warm with empathy. “I do understand, but ... having you know so much is a danger to us, Emma.”
A chil slid down Aidan’s spine. “She won’t be. I’ve promised everyone that.”
“And I’l promise, too!” Emma looked so earnest, so eager. “I can be trusted with this information. And I could help with your PR image. Not to brag or anything, but my books sel pretty Well. Aidan said he was happy to find a writer who portrayed Weres in such a positive light.”
“I’m sure he was, but whether a writer presents a good picture or a bad one doesn’t real y matter if we remain a secret society. And we’re committed to that, or I should say most of us are.”
“Theo isn’t,” Emma said.
Nadia sighed. “No, he isn’t. He’d like to have us al uncloak ourselves and stage a massive takeover. I’m sure he thought you’d help him because your books are so sympathetic to Weres.”
“Dear God.” Emma recoiled in horror. “By writing my books, I caused the Wal aces to put me under surveil ance and Theo to crank up his takeover scheme.
Al I wanted was to create an entertaining fantasy that would earn me enough to live on.”
Her plaintive tone caused Aidan to round the sofa and sit next to her. “Theo was headed off the deep end before you came along,” he said. He longed to take her in his arms and reassure her, but he wasn’t going to do that in front of Nadia.
“Yes, he was,” Nadia agreed. “But I’m afraid he’s changed your life forever, Emma.”
Aidan winced. He’d been trying to avoid saying it so baldly.
“I know.” Emma sounded brave and resolute. “But no matter how my life has changed, I need to have two things stay the same. I want to continue my publishing career, and I want to be able to see my mother. Those two things are nonnegotiable.”
Nadia exchanged a glance with Aidan. They both knew Emma was in no position to dictate terms.
Yet Aidan also knew at that moment that he would stake his reputation—no, that wasn’t right. He would stake his life on seeing that Emma got what she wanted. He couldn’t al ow Theo, or himself, for that matter, to be responsible for ending her career or her relationship with her mother.
“And as long as I’m making pronouncements,” Emma said, “I might as Wellget this off my chest, Nadia. I think this marriage pact you and Aidan have going on is ridiculous.”
Aidan groaned. “Emma, let’s not get into—”
“Yes, let’s do,” Nadia said. “Because Emma’s right. Until this weekend I had assumed that both of us were so committed to uniting the two packs that we couldn’t al ow ourselves to feel deeply for someone else. I thought we were programmed that way from the day our parents decided to give us names that were mirror images of each other.”
“I am committed to that,” Aidan said quietly. “I have been ever since I was old enough to understand.”
Nadia met his gaze. “Then you have a greater talent for self-sacrifice than I do.”
She stood. “That’s mostly why I came up here, to see for myself what I sensed was a growing bond between you two. Now that I’m convinced how strong it is, I’m renouncing you as a potential mate, Aidan. You’re free.”
Although a huge weight lifted from his heart at her words, Aidan couldn’t let it go at that. He came to his feet. “You can’t just go against the wishes of the packs and throw away the proposed merger of our families.”
“Yes, I can. It was never a great idea to begin with.”
Emma stood and raised both fists in the air. “Hal elujah, a woman with common sense! Excuse my terminology. I should probably say a werewolf-slash-woman with common sense.”
Nadia laughed. “I think it’s the woman part that’s making this stand. My werewolf side always wants to go the traditional route, but at the moment my twenty-first-century emancipated female is in charge, and she wants to kick this outdated custom to the curb.”
“Good.” Emma folded her arms and smiled in obvious satisfaction.
“There will be hel to pay,” Aidan said. “Your father—”
“My father and your father will have to deal with this and realize they’re asking the impossible. Besides, I plan to blame the whole thing on Theo and his shenanigans, and I would advise you to do the same. The threat of Theo forced you into proximity with Emma, which ignited your mutual attraction.”
Aidan sighed. “The fal out will be significant, but in reality they can’t do much about it, I guess.”
“Nope. They can rant and rave, but it’s our decision.” She paused. “Stil , I need to warn you that, although I’l try to hang this on Theo, everyone will probably blame you and Emma, and mostly Emma, because she’s not a Were, which makes her an easy target.”
Aidan moved closer to Emma, as if he might have to start defending her at any moment. “But that’s so unfair. She didn’t ask for any of—”
“It’s okay.” Emma laid a hand on his arm. “I don’t mind taking the fal if it means you’re free to marry for love.”
“In a perfect world,” Nadia said gently, “he’d be free to marry you. But al things considered ...”
“I know that, too.” Emma lifted her chin. “I’m a human, and the pack will despise me for leading their crown prince astray. As I said before, al I want is my career and the freedom to see my mother.”
“And you’l get that,” Aidan said. “No matter what I have to do, I promise you’l get that.”
Chapter 23
No sooner had Nadia left than Roarke cal ed Aidan, and Emma watched in awe as the Wal ace team went into action. Howard Wal ace contacted his old pal Roger Claymore, and before Emma could turn around, her book tour had been rearranged. The Internet and Skype would al ow her to appear at each bookstore on a computer monitor, and fans would be able to talk to her as if she were there in person.
Emma fielded a cal from Jenny and gave her publicist the phony tropical getaway story Aidan had concocted. Emma tried not to feel like a lying piece of crap for misleading yet another trusting person in her life.
But the truth would put Jenny at risk, just as it would her mother. Emma had never aspired to a cloak-and-dagger life, but she’d been thrust into one anyway. She preferred her conflicts on the page, but she couldn’t figure out how to dial back the drama.
The Wal aces in action provided drama to burn. Once the runways were cleared, the Wal ace corporate Learjet was dispatched from New York to col ect Emma and Aidan. By midafternoon they were in Barry’s town car, flying the Wal ace flag on the way to the airport. Emma smiled grimly to herself when she thought about that flag.
No wonder it had wolves on it.
Natural y, the town car took them straight out onto the tarmac, where the jet waited, stairs lowered. A broad-shouldered man in a topcoat stood beside the steps, his blond hair tossed by the winter wind. Emma recognized Roarke, who’d probably been sent to make sure Emma got on the plane.
Aidan kept tel ing her she was a guest, not a prisoner, but Roarke’s forbidding expression indicated otherwise. She kept up her courage by thinking of this as more research. She tried to imagine what it would be like to live this way al the time, whisked around in town cars and private jets before being transported to a secret multimil ion-dol ar mansion.
The werewolves in her books were loyal, decent creatures loaded with sex appeal, but it hadn’t occurred to her to give them piles of money. She had to admit that a wealthy werewolf added a whole other dimension to the fantasy.
Thinking about that, she glanced at Aidan before Barry helped her out of the town car. “Got your watch?”
He held up his wrist to display it in al its glory.
She nodded. “Just checking that you didn’t leave it on the dresser. I figure we’re in enough trouble without adding a lost watch that cost more than an Ivy League education.”
Aidan reached over and squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“If that’s true, then what’s with Roarke? I’ve seen friendlier-looking guys on America’s Most Wanted.”
“That’s his game face. He thinks it makes him look older and scarier.”
“Well, he’s right. It does.” Emma climbed out of the car and tightened the belt on her trench coat. The wind was biting cold. If she’d been traveling commercial, she’d walk through a cozy Jetway that would protect her from the wind on the way to the plane.
But before she took her first step, Aidan was beside her.
“Damn, it’s cold.” He put a sheltering arm around her shoulders. “Stay close.”
Okay, so maybe a Jetway wasn’t so great, after al . Being tucked in beside a warm hunk like Aidan had definite advantages.
When they reached the steps, Roarke’s gaze remained chil y. He inclined his head. “Aidan. Emma.”
Whoa. Emma wondered whether this would be her reception from everyone in the werewolf community. If so, she could be in for a tough few days.
But instead of responding in kind, Aidan laughed. “You’re enjoying the hel out of this, aren’t you, bro?”
Roarke’s mouth was set in a grim line as he stared at Aidan. “Yep.” Then his expression began to shift, until a wide grin transformed his handsome face. “It’s not every day I get to say, I told you so, to the big brother who always thinks he knows best.”
“Don’t get too comfortable in that smug suit you’re wearing, Roarke. I intend to pul this one out of the fire.”
“That I have to see, considering you’re in some serious shit. Now if we’re finished with verbal sparring, could we go inside? I’ve been out here doing the disapproval stance long enough to freeze my privates.”
The tension in Emma’s stomach eased a little. Yes, she was about to visit a pack of werewolves, but in the final analysis, they were a family, with the normal dynamics of any family. As the oldest, Aidan was expected to do the right thing.
When he screwed up, his brother grabbed the chance to gloat. If Aidan’s mother and father could be typical parents, Emma might not feel so out of place, after al .
Then again, she wasn’t sure how typical the family could be when they al had the ability to shift into wolf form and race around in the woods.
As she climbed the steps, she shivered.
“You’l be warm in a minute,” Aidan said as he climbed the steps behind her.
“I know.” But her shivers had less to do with the cold wind and more to do with anticipation of what she’d find at the Wal ace estate. And whether they intended to ever let her leave.
Aidan could sense Emma’s nervousness despite her attempts to appear calm and in control. She took great interest in the plane’s white leather seats, which swiveled, reclined, and even folded flat for sleeping.
Or ... they could be folded flat for other, more interesting activities. Aidan shocked himself by having X-rated thoughts about Emma nak*d at thirty thousand feet. He’d helped her off with her coat once they’d boarded, and for the first time today, he had the leisure to admire the fit of her soft white sweater and black slacks.
He liked the way she looked in them, but he’d love the way she looked out of them.
It wouldn’t be happening, even though they had a certain amount of privacy.
Normal y a flight attendant traveled with the jet, but apparently Roarke hadn’t thought it necessary for this trip.
Roarke himself had immediately headed for the cockpit, obviously hoping to take the controls on the way home. Theoretical y, Aidan and Emma were alone in the cabin, but that didn’t mean they could strip and have at it. In fact, sex with Emma might be a luxury he would never enjoy again, and he had to come to grips with that.
In the next day or two, he needed to convince his parents that Emma could be placed on something resembling parole, where she’d be al owed the freedom to do her work and see her mother as she’d requested. Aidan had to assure his mother and father that Emma could be trusted not to compromise the pack. If his parents thought lust was clouding his judgment, they’d never go along with his recommendations.
“I can see why you like flying this way.” Emma chose a seat and strapped herself in. “Even if you do have to duck your head when you move around in here.”