Chase adopted an expression of exaggerated innocence. “I only wanted to ask them what they thought made the perfect woman.”
Rose stared at him. So did everyone else.
“Indulge him,” Griff said, coming up behind Chase and—suspiciously—boxing Rose in so that there was no chance of escape. “Obviously we all have our own mates—with the exception of Ash—but pretend for a moment that you don’t. What would you look for in an ideal partner?”
Dai exchanged a glance with Virginia, who raised her eyebrows at him in a let’s just roll with it sort of way.
“All right,” the dragon shifter said, shrugging. “Well, clearly the answer is a stunning, brilliant, Anglo-Saxon archaeologist.”
“I think that’s a little specific,” Virginia murmured.
Dai grinned across at his mate, his bright green eyes crinkling. “True, though. But if we’re talking general traits…I’d say intelligence is important.”
“Courage,” John Doe rumbled, taking Neridia’s hand.
“Tenacity,” Hugh said, his voice losing all trace of its usual sarcasm. Ivy met his eyes, her own going bright and soft.
Griff smiled down at Hayley, who was still tucked under his arm. “Compassion.”
“You’re all wrong,” Chase announced. “Because clearly the correct answer is great pragmatism, even greater patience, and the ability to fly a plane upside-down at three hundred miles per hour.”
Connie, who’d just come up to his other side, elbowed him.
“Also, extremely sharp elbows,” Chase added. “To keep you on track.”
“Chase, you are so far off track, I’m not even sure you ever had a destination,” Hugh said. “Is there a point to this?”
“Patience, Hughnicorn,” Chase said, ignoring the death glare that the unicorn shifter shot at him. “Not all of us are as pointy as you. And we haven’t heard from everyone yet.”
Rose’s stomach lurched. She had a sudden horrible certainty as to where Chase was steering this conversation.
“Ash,” Chase swung round to face his Commander, forcing Rose to turn as well. “What do you think is the most desirable quality in a woman?”
She was going to skin the pegasus shifter.
“There is only one.” Ash looked directly at her. “That she is your mate.”
The bottom dropped out of her stomach. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe, hurt beyond words.
“But if, for argument’s sake, you were an ordinary human—,” Chase began.
“I am not,” Ash said, in a tone that killed the conversation stone-dead.
A rather awkward silence fell. Rose’s face burned with humiliation.
“Well, I don’t agree,” Hayley said. She turned to Rose, jaw setting. “Don’t listen to him. Regular people fall in love every day, and it’s no less real just because they aren’t shifters.”
“What’s brought all this on?” Dai said curiously.
“Some jerk rejected Rose last week,” Connie told him. She was very obviously not looking at Ash.
“What an idiot,” Dai said, without any hint of guile. “Well, in that case, I fully agree with Hayley, Rose. Even though your mate’s gone, there’s no reason why you can’t find happiness elsewhere.”
“Hear, hear,” Hugh said, lifting his glass in her direction. “You just need to find someone who appreciates everything you have to offer. Which, if we consider the checklist we’ve just heard, is considerable. Don’t let one stupid bastard get you down.”
From the genuine sympathy radiating from them, Rose was certain that Chase and Griff hadn’t tipped them off telepathically as to precisely who had rejected her. Nonetheless, her face flamed. She didn’t dare glance at Ash.
“There’s no need to be making all this fuss,” she said. She turned away, busying herself tidying up empty glasses from the next table. “I’m fine. Really.”