“Of course I know him. He’s at all the functions that you attend.” Kate hadn’t meant to sound so annoyed at the mention of his name.

  “Oh, well, I hope it’s all right that I made a date for you and him for the ball tomorrow night,” Lexi said.

  Her jaw slightly dropping, Kate couldn’t hide her surprise.

  “I mean, as in that his girlfriend, Brenda Connors—”

  “Can’t go with him for some reason or another.” Kate sat back in her chair and folded her arms.

  “She dumped him. Now he doesn’t have a date for the gala,” Lexi said, back to working on the website, and Kate leaned over to check it out to see what else they could do to make it look even better.

  Kate smiled. Not because Brenda’s ditching Derek meant that Kate’s going with him would mean she had a chance at mating him—and she wasn’t going down that road anyway—but she was just amused that a human female had ditched Mr. Hotshot Moneymaker. “Did she give him an ultimatum? Either marry her or else?”

  “That was about the gist of it. Of course all of us put our heads together to come up with someone else Derek could take to the ball, and the natural choice was you.” Lexi made some minor tweaks on the web page.

  “All of us?” Kate raised her brows.

  “Jade and Holly and me.”

  “You left me out of the discussion.” Even though Kate wasn’t mated to a billionaire wolf or one herself like Lexi was, they usually included her in their social outings. Lexi said they needed her as their bodyguard, but it wasn’t just that. She was one of the four she-wolves whom they included in about everything. She was more than just an employee. She was a friend. Why hadn’t they asked her first? Actually, why hadn’t Derek asked her to accompany him instead of going through Lexi? “You know he isn’t interested in dating me for real, don’t you? I’m just filling in for the one event, and then he’ll start dating some other ‘safe’ woman.”

  “Until he finds a she-wolf he can’t live without.” Lexi began adding descriptive details to her new product pages.

  “Okay, just so you ladies know it won’t be me.” That was all Kate needed was for her friends to all try to convince Derek she was the one for him. She could envision more “dates” set up with him until he finally said enough was enough—or she did. “What about me serving as one of your bodyguards at the event?”

  “Mike will be there, and so will my mate. I don’t need you to guard me. I need you to have fun. Since I mated Ryder, I haven’t wanted you to have to work as a bodyguard at the social functions. You do enough as my personal assistant.”

  Kate sighed. “All right. I guess I don’t have an alternative.”

  Lexi laughed. “Sure you do. If you really don’t want to go with him, you can just call him up and tell him so.”

  Why should Kate have to cancel on him? Everyone else had set this up behind her back. Still, the curmudgeon part of her wanted to do just that. Tell him she couldn’t. Which of course was a big lie.

  “We have another problem,” Kate said.

  Lexi arched a brow.

  “My gown.”

  “It’s beautiful on you. You look astonishing in it.”

  “Right, and that’s the problem. I mean, if I’m supposed to be complimenting you and your gown, suddenly I’m not, and instead I’m Derek’s date. The gown is way too—”

  “Sexy?”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t want anyone at the event to get the idea that I’m the new girlfriend. His new girlfriend. He was afraid of that happening when I applied for his vacant bodyguard position. At a gala, you know how the paparazzi are.”

  “Yeah, do I. You don’t have anything to worry about. It will be a one-time occurrence. You’ll do what you always do, except you’ll arrive with him instead of Ryder, Mike, and me. You’re great as my one-woman promotional team. You always like talking to prospective and current customers at these events, and everyone’s eager to ask you about the products. You do just what you enjoy doing as usual. Derek already said he just expects you to walk with him into the function, and if you don’t mind, you could dance once with him. Of course you’ll leave with him after the ball is over. Beyond that, it’s your night to have fun.”

  “He has his own bodyguards, right? You wanted me to wear this dress because I wouldn’t have to actually protect you, but if I have to protect him, then I’ll need to wear something more functional.” Actually, she could strap a gun on her thigh and reach for it through the split of her skirt if she had to. She might as well take it, just in case Lexi needed protection and Mike and Ryder weren’t there for her. Not that she thought anything bad would happen—but just to be safe.

  “He has his own bodyguards,” Lexi assured her. “They’re always with him. This is strictly a platonic date. Don’t worry!”

  Kate did worry. She didn’t want to be in the tabloids! She figured she would be once they realized she was with him and then not with him. Envisioning getting hit up for interviews, Kate sure hoped she was wrong about all of it. At least if Brenda was going with him, Kate wouldn’t have that issue to deal with.

  “What do you think of this layout, Kate?” Lexi asked before they called it a night.

  They didn’t usually work this late, but they’d paid someone else to do the layout, and it had looked like a disaster, so they were redoing it.

  Kate concentrated on the website, thinking the following night could be a disaster too.

  Chapter 2

  The night of the charity ball, Derek couldn’t believe how nervous he was. He supposed it was because he hadn’t taken a she-wolf on a date since he’d given up on she-wolves. Though this wasn’t exactly what he would call a date, since he had arranged it through Lexi and not with Kate and he didn’t plan for it to go anywhere beyond this one event.

  Lexi had told him to pick Kate up at her home instead of Kate’s. When he arrived, he hadn’t expected Ryder Gallagher to answer the door and ask him in, as if Ryder was the alpha pack leader and Kate was his ward. “You’ll have her back by—”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, ‘Dad,’” Kate said to Ryder in a teasing way as she walked into the room. “We’ll be fine. This is just a pretend date, no kissing, just a one-time occurrence. Mr. Spencer realizes I know all kinds of martial arts—since he has already seen my résumé—so he will be on his best behavior.” Her black hair in a long bob, she glanced her blue eyes at Derek and headed past him for the door. She had no smile for him either, no word of greeting, even for a fellow wolf.

  Derek knew this was a bad idea, but he watched the beautiful she-wolf headed for the door anyway, her long, sky-blue satin gown reaching the floor, the off-the-shoulder cut showing off her creamy shoulders and the slit in the gown revealing a shapely leg for brief glimpses. Tonight she was all Derek’s—except for the kissing part and all the rest. He looked back at Ryder to see his take on the situation.

  Ryder cast him an evil smile. “Have a great time, you two.”

  Derek would have to make sure Kate didn’t call him Mr. Spencer for the rest of the night! He had expected to walk her outside to the car and get the door for her at least. Maybe one of his bodyguards would, since she tore out of Lexi’s home so fast and they were following in the Land Rover.

  Lexi came out of a back room looking like a million bucks too, dressed in a darker-blue gown that complimented Kate’s. She smiled. “Have her back by midnight.”

  Their wolf dog, Spirit, bounded out to greet Derek. All dogs loved him. Especially when Spirit could smell his Irish setters on him. Once Derek returned home, his dogs would be able to smell Spirit on him too.

  “Or she’ll turn into Cinderella?” Derek asked Lexi, petting Spirit. He didn’t expect Kate to act this way at all. He was hoping she wouldn’t have minded being his date for the night. Well, not a date. Instead, she seemed miffed at him. Because he hadn’t asked her directly? He guessed he should have. Maybe because it was a secondhand invitation. Probably because he hadn’t hired her for the bodyguard position.

  “She might turn into a wolf,” Lexi said teasingly.

  Not that Kate would. She was a royal like him and could shift at will. The moon phases didn’t cause any problems for her. That was one thing she made sure he knew when she applied for the bodyguard job.

  Derek smiled and saluted them. “See you at the ball.”

  Then Derek exited Lexi and Ryder’s home and found Kate sitting in his Maserati already, his bodyguards watching him from the Land Rover, smiling. He sure hoped one of them had been gallant enough to get the car door for her since he’d missed the opportunity.

  When Derek climbed into the car, he said to Kate, “You look lovely.”

  Good enough to eat, he thought. He had seen her in summer dresses on occasion when the women all got together and he and the guys did something with each other; a bathing suit a time or two, which he had tried not to notice; shorts and a tank top, which had reminded him of how shapely she was; a gown at charity functions a couple of times. He didn’t remember her wearing anything this spectacular at a black-tie event before. She was absolutely stunning.

  “Thank you. So the men in the Land Rover are your bodyguards?” She ran her hand over her lap. His gaze shifted to the silky creation draping over her legs, but he quickly refocused his attention on the road.

  “Uh, yeah, Will is. Allister is on loan from Rafe.” Derek didn’t mention their last names, figuring she wouldn’t care to know them. He suspected that neither of his men had gotten the car door for her then. He would talk to them about it later. “Thanks for agreeing to do this with me on such short notice.”

  “No problem. I was already going. As long as you escort me in, I go about my business, and you take me home, it won’t be a total waste of my time.”

  He smiled at her choice of words. “But one dance as well. You agreed to that, right?”

  She hesitated to answer him. He always danced with his, well, date, and he and Kate were supposed to be keeping up appearances. It would seem odd that he wouldn’t dance several times with Kate, as much as he enjoyed dancing at these affairs, so he had to at least take her to the floor one time. Then again, maybe she didn’t know how to dance or didn’t like the activity.

  “Right. After that, you’re free to tango or waltz with whomever you please. It’s really the perfect situation for you. No attachments. A thoroughly platonic relationship,” she said.

  Hell, he always ended up with his human partner in bed when the night was through. Not that he would with Kate. But Derek wasn’t into platonic relationships. Though Kate was right about the no-attachments business, he wouldn’t take out different women for dinners and movies and have sexual encounters with them only once like some wolves did, knowing they couldn’t mate the human.

  Because he was in the public eye, how would that look? Like a billionaire playboy who had one-night stands with whomever would have them with him? He was too much of a wolf at heart who truly did want a family someday.

  Even if that meant opening himself up to a world of hurt all over again.

  He wasn’t into all the pomp and ceremony that went along with the social functions or business dinners he went to. He just felt it was his duty to give back to the community where he had made so much money. He’d rather spend time in the great outdoors, being one with nature. That had a lot to do with his wolf temperament.

  When he thought of platonic relationships between a woman and a man, he thought of a sister and a brother, and he couldn’t see Kate in those terms at all. The slit up her long gown had parted, and he glanced down to see her bare leg and her feet in strappy sandals. They were the kind of shoes not meant to be worn in a combative situation, and he was glad Rafe had loaned him one of his extra bodyguards in case he needed one so Kate didn’t have to take on the role.

  “Are you still miffed at me for not hiring you for the bodyguard opening I had last year?” Derek asked quietly, not wanting to stir up a whole lot of trouble before they arrived at the clubhouse, but maybe if they cleared the air, she would feel better about it. Maybe he would too.

  She smiled sweetly at him, but it was more of an attempt at sweet. “I wasn’t annoyed with you for not hiring me. You had any number of hotshot male bodyguards you were interviewing, and I figured I didn’t stand a chance. I was irritated with you because of the reason you didn’t hire me.”

  “That I thought things might spiral out of control between us and—”

  “You would lose a bodyguard.”

  “I was afraid I would have to—”

  “Fire me?”

  “Let you go.” He sighed with exasperation. No matter how he tried to make it sound like he’d been reasonable and had both their best interests in mind, he felt he was falling far short of his goal.

  “Okay, well, let me ease your mind if you feel the least bit guilty over not hiring me, since I am highly trained and could have done the job right for you. I couldn’t be happier working for Lexi instead. She’s a dream to work for. I will be forever grateful I didn’t get the job to work for you.”

  Was she implying Derek wouldn’t have been a dream to work for? Then again, had she been his bodyguard, he could see how he’d be ultraprofessional with her—not joking with her like he did his men, afraid it would appear he was interested in having more of a relationship with her. It just seemed like things would have been too strained between them. He just couldn’t see her as one of the guys, and that was all on him.

  He did wonder about Lexi’s other bodyguard, Mike Stallings, and if Kate had any romantic interest in him since he was a bachelor wolf and Kate was in close proximity with him all the time.

  “So how are you and Mike getting along?” Derek figured he might as well have some polite conversation with Kate on the way to the clubhouse.

  “Famously.”

  So much for polite conversation. Derek changed the subject. “Uh, there might be a reporter or two outside the clubhouse. They try to capture photos of who is with whom and—”

  “Share it with the tabloids. I know. Lexi gets a lot of that.” Kate folded her arms.

  “But you’re not usually the focus of the photo shoots.” He wanted to prepare Kate for the onslaught if she hadn’t thought of it.

  Kate waved her hand, dismissing the notion. “I know. Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone our dirty little secret.”

  “That I didn’t hire you? That you’re a bodyguard?”

  “No, I’m sure everyone knows that I work for Lexi since I’m with her so much of the time at these social gatherings. I meant that I’m a fill-in date because Brenda dumped you.”

  He chuckled. For some reason, Kate’s words just amused him. “It was mutual. She was looking for more than I could give her.”

  “Marriage.”

  “Right.”

  “But you were up-front with her about the fact that you hadn’t planned to marry her, right?” Kate asked.

  “Absolutely.”

  Before long, he pulled his Maserati into the circular driveway of the clubhouse, and before he or a valet could get Kate’s door, she was getting out of the vehicle. She did a great job of it too; it couldn’t have been easy in that slinky dress, and she still managed to look sexy and not clumsy in the least. Once she was standing under the patio cover, he was hoping she wouldn’t just go inside without him! That would be difficult to explain, and several people would make it their business to say something about it. People at these functions were used to seeing him with Brenda and might have gotten word that he and she had broken up, so they would most likely be intrigued that he was with Kate now.

  Photographers hurried over to get photographs of him and Kate, but she took his hand and pulled him out of the limelight just as he had moved around the car and was in a position for a photograph. He smiled. Her actions would make the reporters even more curious about him and Kate. And truly, he didn’t mind that she didn’t want to be photographed with him. Especially if this was a one-time deal, but damn if the she-wolf didn’t intrigue the hell out of him!

  He finally slowed her down, wondering how she could walk that fast in the killer heels she was wearing. Even his bodyguards were having a difficult time keeping up with them. The bodyguards took their places at a couple of strategic locations at the edge of the ballroom where other bodyguards were hanging out.

  So many eyes were on Kate and Derek, he realized taking Kate as his date was causing more undue attention than he’d thought possible—even more than going alone. Then he saw Brenda. Ah, hell. He really hadn’t expected to see her, and he hoped she didn’t cause trouble for him and Kate. Especially for Kate’s sake. Brenda was with another guy, a much older billionaire, and she was dressed to the nines. Financially, he was worth even more than Derek was. So much for getting thrown over for a younger model, which Derek thought Brenda would do to spite him.

  “I see Brenda’s here. Her date must have also had a last-minute cancellation. Maybe he told his girlfriend he wouldn’t marry her either,” Kate joked.

  Derek smiled at her.

  Then to Derek’s astonishment, Kate slid her arms seductively around his neck, tilted her chin up, and looked like she was ready for a kiss. He lowered his head and kissed her, sweetly, but she didn’t release him right away, and what the hell? He might as well play the game too. He wanted to. Desperately. He pressured her lips for more, but she wasn’t going for a deep kiss. This was damn nice anyway. Soon, she was pulling away but giving him another brief kiss as if to say they would resume this later—or at least he hoped so.

  She smiled at him, pulled completely away, gave him a little wave, and then left him standing there, wondering what had just happened between them while she sauntered off to make her rounds to their cosmetics customers. He just stared after her, lost from the kiss, and wondered if she’d been as affected by it as he had. He figured she was playing her role, and well too, before she did what she’d told him she would do.