Page 32 of Another Man’s Treasure

“This is my first Sweetheart Dance,” Wilder says with a sexy little smile. “Wanna tell me all about it? Although I guess it’s your first one too.”

I snuggle up against him as we walk the edge of the beach. “Yeah, but Lemon and Bluebell did a little bitty coup to take over the organizing committee from the gals who own the Gulch Gossip. They’re nice enough, but damn they’re nosy, and they take forever to make decisions. So now it’s the three of us, and we’ve been planning for a month. Plus, the Gulch Gossip has been doing articles on what to expect. Taking a few weeks off from spreading rumors, I guess.”

He rolls his eyes. “Gods, I hadn’t even noticed there’s a gossip column.”

“We’ll be in it soon enough, I imagine,” I mutter. Waving around, I look back up at him, wrapping my tail around my thigh to resist wrapping it around him. “So, this part of the gulch is wide enough to form a small pond. It freezes all winter, and the local mustang herd retreats to other parts because they obviously need access to running water. Hence the decorations. For the next couple hours, we eat, drink, and ice skate. The auction begins at eight fifteen, and then we can choose to do the date right away or schedule it for another time.”

He points to my hot cocoa. “Let’s get another of those and some food. Do you want to ice skate? Or hang out with Bluebell and Lemon?”

I shake my head as I drag him toward the beverage cart. It’s a darling little thing made out of reclaimed wood with a red-and-white awning over the top. A tall minotaur female works the stand, crafting hot cocoas, spiked ciders and more. Vintage light bulbs frame a wooden menu with all the options.

Wilder nips at his lower lip as his green eyes scan the menu. After a quiet minute, he smiles over at the female. “Spiked cider, please.” He winks at me. “Probably not as good as mine, but I’d better check.”

“Coming right up!” She disappears behind the cart, and he smiles down at me.

“When you’re done with that, I wanna ice skate.” I take a sip of my hot cocoa, fairly certain he’ll deny me. I’m surprised when he nods, taking the spiked cider from the minotaur when she offers it.

“I remember that from the vision board.” He takes a sip of the cider and lets out a happy little groan that immediately reminds me of the noises he made in the tent. My mind flashes to his hungry mouth all over my neck and shoulder, and my cock hardens and throbs against my thigh. Gods, if he’d kept going…

“You okay?” Wilder scans my face with a frown. “You look unhappy all of a sudden.”

I shake my head. “Not at all. Let’s go find Bluebell and Hadrian; you’ll like him. He’s actually really, really cool.”

Wilder follows me to where Bluebell and Hadrian are seated on a giant fallen log, slipping into ice skates. When we join them, they smile up at us. Bluebell jerks her thumb behind her.

“Skates are back there if you want to find a good size, although I’d recommend finishing those drinks first. Not that you’d be the first monsters to ever spill on the pond, but…that gets a little tricksy.” She smiles up at Wilder. “Can’t imagine you’ve done this before, what with Louisiana being so hot.”

“First time for everything,” he says with a chuckle.

“You’ve met Bluebell, of course,” I chirp, laying a hand on his broad, warm chest. I resist the urge to curl my fingers into that skin, so much hotter than mine. “But this is her mate. Hadrian.”

“I’ve watched the Punishers play,” Wilder says with a brilliant smile as he reaches for Hadrian’s hand. They shake, and for a moment, I feel like I’m actually introducing my boyfriend to my best friends. It feels really nice.

Just as quickly, I remind myself this is not real.

Even if a teensy part of me kinda wishes it were.

“We watched you ride until you got injured,” Hadrian says with a broad smile. “I hear you’re taking over the Sandovals’ line of bulls, is that right?”

Wilder lights up. “Yeah, assuming the deal goes off without a hitch. It’s been a long time comin’.”

Hadrian grins. “You know, I’ve got a couple books in my library on the Sandovals’ breeding program. Part of a book lot I bought at the Auction House when they cleaned out a room to make an office. Want to come by and check them out sometime?”

“That’d be stellar!” Wilder gushes with a huge smile. It lights up his face, and I just stare and stare. He’s in his element talking about the bulls, I can tell.

It’s nice to see him so excited about something, even if a small part of me wishes he was that lit up about me.

Wilder

I’ve never ice skated. In fact, normally I wouldn’t be caught dead near a Sweetheart Ball. Although, near as I can tell, this is less of a ball and more like a tailgate on top of a frozen pond. The wind howls through the gulch, making it a pretty chilly time. But it’s easy to forget that when Oz smiles at me as we grab ice skates from the pile Bluebell directed us to.

Ahead of us, Hadrian’s already flying to the middle of the lake with Bluebell in his arms. When he sets her down, she immediately flails, and he grabs her, hauling her against his much larger figure.

My insides ache with longing. I don’t know how long they’ve been together, but the way they look so comfortable, it’s amazing.

“Twenty years,” Oz says with a light laugh, pointing to Bluebell and Hadrian.

I turn to him, confused. “What?”