She shook her head. “Nope. Not even on my bad days. Or my good days.”
“I guess that says a lot.”
“Do you? Miss your pack, I mean, since you’ve been here?”
“It hasn’t been long enough for that, and I’m hereforthem. Can’t miss what’s always on your mind.”
“You two look way too serious right now!” Portia seemed to appear out of nowhere, holding a silver tray on which a few different kinds of drinks sat. “You need to lighten up! Don’t forget that this is a holiday! You should be giggling and flirting, having fun, and sneaking away someplace to make love.”
“Gross. I am not having sex on the beach. Done it, and I’m never doing it again. Sand gets everywhere.”
Portia winked at her niece. “Who do you think is running this operation? I’ve thought of that.” She pointed off in the distance, and there were piles of bright white cushions and blankets. “Feel free to take those and find a nice, secluded spot. Or do it right there in front of everyone. Whatever floats your boat.” She winked, handed them each a drink, and flittered away.
“Your aunt is a very interesting person,” Ethan ventured. He always felt a little destabilized whenever Portia walked away from dropping bombs. Sex on the beach? In front of everyone? Good thing Ruby was a bit more conservative than her aunt, or his deal to pretend to be her man would be a whole lot more complicated.
“If you think she is interesting, you would find Roja and my mother to be downright terrifying.”
“Remind me never to meet them.”
“You got it,” she promised.
But really, he would have loved to meet the women who had so often offended such a sweet woman.
* * *
Over the water,the sun was starting to set. Ethan knew he should probably be worried about the time. While he was out here, drinking and chatting with the most beautiful woman in the world, his pack was falling apart. He should be out in the real world, trying to find a solution to his witch problem, or at the very least, he should be trying to find leads here.
But as the sun was setting, casting all kinds of beautiful colors over the skyline and watery horizon, he had a hard time caring about any of that. He wanted to take some of those blankets and find a secluded spot to make out with Ruby, just like Portia had suggested.
Do it, his wolf coaxed.
But he wouldn’t. Where would such a tryst lead them, anyway? Nowhere good.
“I think we’re being summoned for dinner. Look.” Ruby nudged her chin to a tiny speck off in the distance. They had walked nearly across the whole island.
As it turns out, that tiny speck was actually the boat. All around it on the beach, tables had been organized and decorated. There were tapered candles and soft romantic music coming from somewhere, but he wasn’t too sure if it was magical or just very well-hidden speakers.
“It’s like your aunt’s goal this whole time was to get people together. Are we sure this hotel isn’t powered by love or sex or magic or whatever?”
Ruby threw her head back with a laugh. “Are you sure you’ve got no experience with other kinds of creatures? Because that is definitely something that the devil and his ilkwoulddo.”
He chuckled. “Now I feel smart.”
“You are,” she commented offhand.
He snorted. “I don’t feel very smart. I’m the alpha who let one of my members mess with a witch.”
Ruby pursed her lips. As they made their way to the tables, she was quiet. He thought he had killed any chance of a good conversation when she finally said, “What would have happened if you had forbidden Gus to see his witch before he asked her to marry him?”
“Shit, I don’t know. He might have left. He might have continued to see her behind my back. I’m not in his head. I don’t know what he would have done.”
“Right, but that’s my point. Or it’s the point I wanna make. You can’t hold yourself responsible for his actions. I get that it’s a shifter thing to be all in your pack’s business, but is that really the kind of leader you wanna be? One who dictates what his pack can and cannot do?”
“I guess not. Not in the way you mean. I just want my pack to be respected andrespectable. Breaking some poor woman’s heart and having the entire pack punished for it feels a little … careless.”
“You did what you could. Now, the next time a pack member falls for a witch, you’ll be able to handle it a little differently. How long have you been alpha, anyway?”
“Just over a year. I took over when my dad passed.”