Faye growled, but Chase ignored the female, grabbed Layla's hand, and pulled her toward a drawer. Even with three other people watching, she couldn't ignore how his skin against hers sent a rush of heat through her body.
His warm, slightly rough hands that she'd love to have caress every inch of her skin.
No. She couldn't let her thoughts go down that road.
When he finally released her hand, it took everything she had not to snatch it away quickly, as if she'd been burned.
Chase must've noticed something because he instantly raised an eyebrow in question.
She shook her head a fraction, hoping he'd take her hint about leaving well enough alone.
He opened the drawer and started handing her forks and knives. "We'll keep the knives on our side of the table until Faye absolutely needs one." Faye protested with a noise, but Chase continued before she could say a word. "I love you, sister, but whilst my brother, mum, and I are all used to the craziness of your family's dinners, this is probably the first dinner including a MacKenzie for Layla. I'd rather not have her first include some sort of injury from you trying to knock a roll off Grant's head with a knife like last time."
Layla blinked. "Pardon?"
Faye waved a hand in dismissal. "Grant bet me I couldn't do it, so I proved to him I could. My mate can stand as still as a stone, which most definitely helped."
"Aye, though it's not an experience I'd like to repeat anytime soon," Grant drawled.
As they began recounting the details of said knife-throwing event, Layla tried to follow along. She'd heard the rumors of the MacKenzie dinners, but never any concrete details. If Faye's knife throwing was the tip of the iceberg, maybe she should issue some sort of health warning. Or she could threaten not to treat anyone who was hurt at said dinners to encourage better behavior.
Her dragon laughed. As if that would work. Not to mention you couldn't let an injured person suffer.
I should try something, though, as an extra layer of precaution.
No, don't think about work right now. Just try to have fun for once. It won't make up for not giving me enough sex, but at least it'll be a good distraction.
Chase whispered softly into her ear, "Come. They may be at each other for a good hour, and I know for a fact you should eat more. Let's set the cutlery and grab the best bits for ourselves."
Before she could reply, Chase placed a hand on her lower back and guided her into the adjoining dining room.
Considering Layla was usually the one leading others around and offering strength, it was strange to be on the receiving end. Even if Chase wasn't doing it intentionally, his fingers massaged her lower back and released a wee bit of tension with each stroke.
When they were alone inside the small room—which was filled with a large dining table, chairs, and more shelves holding human-shaped knickknacks than Layla had seen anywhere else—Chase quickly shut the door and asked, "Why have you been avoiding me, lass?"
"I haven't," she stated automatically as she tried to step back.
Chase pressed his hand a wee bit firmer into her back, keeping her in place. "You're lying. Don't you want to find out the cause of your problem? The evidence you need may already be available, ready to be watched and noticed."
While she appreciated Chase keeping things vague about someone stealing supplies from the surgery, they only had seconds before someone else would enter. So she said, "I've been extremely busy."
"And?" he asked softly. "Is it related to your comment about how giving in might break you?"
She searched his gaze, surprised at how he remembered her words from the last time they'd been alone together.
Her dragon yawned. He's observant. Chase may not be a Protector, but he notices everything about us. Maybe even remembers it all, too.
For the first time, a strange niggling started at the back of Layla's mind.
All the visits, the coffee, the wee gifts from Chase, combined with his determination to win her over de
spite her attempts to push him away, could make sense. Aye, if she were his true mate, it'd all fit perfectly.
She'd never heard of an older female/younger male pair of true mates before, which was why she'd never considered it. However, it could be possible.
And if so, Chase's dragon should know if they were true mates.
She wanted—no, needed—to learn the truth.