is he?’
‘Who?’ Ava gripped Baden’s hand and swung him so that Baden had his back to Wolfe.
‘The cowboy leaning against the wall who hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night.’
Ava glanced over Baden’s shoulder as if she was searching for whoever he was talking about. ‘I don’t see anyone special, but then Father has every single man on the planet in attendance tonight. How are you enjoying the evening?’
Baden scoffed. ‘It’s a little soon after Freddie’s death, but…You’re trying to change the subject, dear cousin. There’s a story here you don’t want me to know about. Come on.’ He tickled her ribs as he’d used to do when they were children. ‘Tell Cousin Baden.’
‘Arrête, Baden. This is hardly the place.’ Ava hadn’t meant to snap, but Baden wasn’t the most socially savvy individual at the best of times. ‘You’re letting that wild imagination of yours run away with you again.’
‘I don’t like him.’
‘I don’t either,’ she grumbled, knowing that it wasn’t dislike she felt for James Wolfe, but something else entirely.
If only he wasn’t so arrogant. So self-assured. So lethally male. Ava sighed. Who was she trying to kid? She loved those aspects of Wolfe’s nature. Colyn had never been so overcome with passion that he had dragged her from a dance floor and kissed her senseless the way Wolfe had.
‘You slept with him, didn’t you?’ Baden mused. ‘I can see it in your eyes.’
Pressing her fingers to her forehead, Ava wondered if it was possible for a headache to materialise out of thin air. ‘Please, Baden…’ There was no way she was going to confirm anything to her blabber-mouth cousin. ‘Keep your voice down.’
‘You don’t want your papa to find out?’
‘He’s…’ Ava struggled to come up with some plausible reason as to why Baden might see Wolfe around the palace over the next little while without informing him as to why he was really here. ‘He’s trying out for a staffing position, I believe.’
‘You slept with the hired help. You naughty girl.’ Baden laughed. ‘Not that I can’t see the attraction. All that hard muscle!’
Ava cringed as she realised that Wolfe had moved to within hearing distance. ‘Would you please keep your voice down?’ she pleaded.
‘What position is he going for?’
‘I don’t know and I don’t care. Ask Father.’ Ava knew that he wouldn’t, because he had never had an easy relationship with her father.
Baden sipped his wine. ‘How is the old tyrant bearing up?’
Relieved to be talking about anything other than Wolfe, Ava latched on to the change in topic. ‘You never know with Father. But honestly I think he’s in denial. Hence the party tonight.’ She swept the lavish ballroom with a rueful glance.
‘And you? How do you feel about being Anders’ first Queen?’
Baden knew her life at the palace had never been easy. It had always been something that had bonded them together since he had lost his own father, her father’s twin brother, when he was five. Then his mother had deserted him, taking his baby sister with her, and he hadn’t seen either of them since.
‘Oh, I’m definitely in denial.’ She gave a dismissive shrug, not wanting to dwell on the future when she still had no answers about how to handle it. ‘Can you excuse me? I need the powder room. Why don’t you ask the lovely Countess over there to dance?’
Baden followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow. ‘Because she’s ugly.’
‘Baden!’ Ava rebuked him again. ‘That’s a terrible thing to say.’
‘If you don’t like the truth, don’t get in the way of it.’
Ava gave him a look that told him exactly what she thought of his tasteless comment, and then kept her gaze down as she wound her way purposefully through the throng of guests. She didn’t have a specific destination in mind but somewhere quiet and—
‘I told you not to go outside.’
The sound of Wolfe’s deep voice directly behind her shimmered down her spine.
Ava looked up and realised she had been so preoccupied with Baden’s horrible comment that she had walked outside the glass doors leading to her mother’s rose garden. A golden moon hung like an enormous balloon on the horizon, and fairy lights twinkled strategically from various trees and bushes, giving the summer evening an ambient glow.
‘I needed some air.’
‘Is it any wonder?’
She stopped walking and looked back at him. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means I’m surprised you’re still standing after all the dancing you’ve done. Husband-hunting looks like difficult work.’
Ava glared at him. Really, she wasn’t in the mood for the uncivilised version of Wolfe tonight. ‘Why are you even here still?’ she asked, her English skewed by her testiness. ‘I thought you were the best, but so far you haven’t come up with anything, and it has been a week already.’
A long week, in which she had once again locked herself in her room in a petulant sulk. Partly she still wasn’t ready to embrace the duties her father wanted her to take on, and partly she had been hoping that Wolfe would get so bored he would quit.
‘Unfortunately the invitation I put out over the internet for the bastards responsible to come forward hasn’t seemed to work. Maybe I’m losing my touch.’
‘Maybe you never had it.’ As soon as the words were out she regretted her provocative tone because his golden eyes sparkled with amusement. ‘Now, that’s just plain nasty, Princess. Fortunately my ego is strong enough to withstand that kind of a slur.’
She snorted. ‘Your ego is like a cockroach. It could withstand a nuclear holocaust.’
Completely unprepared for Wolfe to throw his head back and laugh, Ava struggled to prevent a smile from forming on her lips. ‘Stop that.’ She absolutely loved his deep chuckle. ‘People are looking.’
Not waiting for him to follow her instructions, she continued down the stone steps past small clusters of guests enjoying the fragrant garden.
‘So, any contenders you need me to vet for you?’
Wolfe’s lazy drawl sounded too close, and Ava stopped and swung around to face him.
It took a minute for her to ascertain his meaning and when she did she gasped. ‘You’re vetting my future husband?’
‘It’s part of the package.’
Ava bit back the first retort that came to mind, knowing it wouldn’t lead anywhere good. ‘Well, it’s a useless part,’ she informed him shortly. ‘Just because my father says something should
