forced cheer and slight breathlessness in Darcy’s voice made him wonder if maybe he should have checked the backyard action before walking out. His imagination, helpful as always, offered up some vivid pictures of the reunions he and Cady might have interrupted.
Oh, yeah. As if that was gonna help.
“Here you go.” He could do make-believe happy as well as the next person. “She’s fed and as clean as she ever will be.”
“Did you have a good lunch, lovey? Oh, but you must have painted your clothes with it, right? That’s not what you were wearing a few minutes ago.”
He risked a glance in Darcy’s direction. She didn’t seem any more rumpled than she had when he’d left. “Nope. Can’t blame this one on sloppy eating.”
“Uh-oh. Did you get stuck with a blowout?”
He checked on Xander, who was hovering behind Darcy and staring at Cady as if he wasn’t sure she was real. That diaper would have grounded him pretty fast. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Sorry.” Darcy squatted and held out her arms. “Come here, Bug. We, um, I need to introduce you to someone.”
For one wild minute he considered grabbing Darcy, calling Lulu and hauling everyone into the house before locking the door—with Xander on the other side. Then Cady released his fingers and lurched into Darcy’s embrace.
He was the outsider here. He was the one who wasn’t part of the family.
He was the one who needed to make himself scarce.
“Well.” He stepped aside, patting his leg to call Lulu, who had parked herself between Darcy and Xander. At his signal her ears perked up but she didn’t move. It hit him that she was giving Xander the kind of you should run now look that he wished he could hand out.
That did it. Next lifetime he was coming back as a dog.
“Okay.” He made himself meet Darcy’s gaze, forced a hearty grin. “Well. If you’re all set I’ll get out of your—”
Darcy’s eyes widened and her lips clamped tight. Her sideways glance toward Xander was fast but unmistakable.
Holy crap. Unless he missed his guess, this wasn’t an entirely joyous reunion. In fact, if he had to pick one word to describe the vibes he was getting, that word would be panic.
He didn’t know what had changed in the past half hour, but something sure had shifted. Which meant his intentions of firing up the forge and going all Neanderthal on a piece of hot metal were going to have to wait until he was sure Darcy wanted him to leave.
“Come on, Lulu. Let’s play.”
With that he grabbed a tennis ball from the bucket at the edge of the concrete patio and wandered toward the garden—far enough to give the illusion of respecting their privacy while staying within earshot. Darcy didn’t scare easily. Nor did she willingly ask for help. If she was acting skittish, there was a reason.
Not that he thought Xander posed a physical threat. The man had grown into a con artist with delusions of invincibility, but Ian had never known him to be the violent type. He got queasy playing “Grand Theft Auto.” And when it came to women, well, given the number of nights Ian had spent sexiled to the futon in their dorm’s common room, he was well aware that Xander had something that appealed. No, whatever had happened between Xander and Darcy, Ian was pretty certain it had been consensual.
But something had her spooked. So until she indicated otherwise, he wasn’t going anywhere.
He tossed the ball. It bounced into the garden, disappearing in the twisted vines of Darcy’s snap peas. Crap. Lulu and the garden were a scary mix.
Except Lulu wasn’t there.
He swiveled in time to see Lulu bare her teeth and let loose with a deep growl as Xander’s outstretched hand hovered in midair a few inches from Cady.
“Lulu?” Darcy’s voice echoed his surprise. “It’s okay, girl. Xander is... It’s okay.”
Lulu’s response was to snarl louder. Her message couldn’t have been clearer. Stay away. Mine.
Xander’s head twisted from the dog to Darcy to Ian, then back at Lulu. “Hey, Ian? Could you give us a hand here?”
Well, well, well.
Ian crossed his arms and took in the scene before him. It probably wasn’t smart to feel smug over the turn of events, but at this point he would take what he could get.
“What’s the matter, Xander? Your dog doesn’t remember you?”
The flush in Xander’s cheeks didn’t do anything for his appearance, but it sure made Ian grin.
“Cute. Call her off.”
“Sure, sure.” He took his time ambling forward and stooped to run a hand down Lulu’s back. “Easy, girl. Everything’s fine.”
She continued to glare at Xander. A fraction of the rigidness eased from her stance, but she didn’t move. No doubt she was waiting for some sort of signal. In that case Xander was screwed, because Ian was pretty sure that the only messages Lulu might pick up from him were ones of frustrated protectiveness.
Unless...
Unless maybe he gave Lulu a reason to think that she could stand down because he was stepping up.
He straightened slowly and caught Darcy’s attention—not difficult, as she seemed transfixed by the dog. Certain he couldn’t be seen by Xander behind him, Ian tapped his chest.
Trust me, he mouthed.
She didn’t nod or move, but like Lulu, some of the tension seeped from her shoulders. Message received.
He petted Lulu again, gave her a “good girl” and then—slowly, deliberately—pushed runaway cinnamon curls behind Darcy’s ear.
Behind him, he was pretty sure he heard Xander choke.
Darcy’s eyes flickered to meet his gaze, her expression changing from confusion to acceptance in the literal blink of an eye.
Lulu dropped to her haunches.
Encouraged, Ian shifted to face Xander while taking a step back and sliding his arm around Darcy’s waist. She barely hesitated before snuggling against his side, soft and warm and a whole lot more pliant than was good for his long-deprived body.
Damn. This might not have been such a smart idea after all.
But Lulu had stopped glaring, and Xander’s jaw seemed about ready to hit the pavement, so Ian counted this as a win.
“Wait a minute.” Xander’s laugh brimmed with disbelief. “Are you telling me that the two of you...?”
“I don’t know why you seem so surprised.” Ian placed a possessive hand on Cady’s arm.
“But you said...”
