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“You think it’s that serious?”
She glanced at the two. “Definitely.”
“Huh.”
“You don’t?”
“Well, I just thought they were fighting earlier.”
“I’m afraid I might have been the cause of that.”
“Did you insult their auras, too?” he said with a smirk as he took a bite of salad.
She set her fork down and turned to look at him straight on.
“I’m so sorry about that. I never meant to insult you.”
He squeezed her thigh subtly. “I’m not insulted. I’m just teasing you. Relax. Don’t get your chakras in a bunch.”
She chuckled at his attempt at a joke.
“Careful, Dr. Matthews. Someone might overhear and accuse you of having a sense of humor.”
He glanced at the group standing at the island talking and laughing while they made their lunches.
“Nah, they all know I’m a salty old bastard.”
The laugh lines around his eyes suggested otherwise.
“Why do I get the feeling your bark is worse than your bite?”
One of his eyebrows went up. “You want me to bite you so you can find out?”
“Hmm, the idea has its merits.”
That was obviously not the response he was expecting because he started to cough.
“Are you okay?” she asked with her hand on his back.
“Fine,” he sputtered out with watery eyes.
“Do you need the Heimlich?” James quipped as he pulled out a chair opposite them at the table but didn’t sit down as he eyed his friend.
“No.” Aiden took a drink of his beer, then set it back down while he swallowed hard. “I’m okay. It just went down the wrong pipe.”
That appeased his friend who then took a seat.
“That was cool of you guys to prep lunch. Thanks.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Hope said as she and Yvette took two more chairs around the table. “We’ll clean up.”
Dakota was about to say that wasn’t necessary, but Aiden subtly put his hand on her thigh and squeezed at the same time he told Hope, “That’d be great, thanks.”
The friends started talking about the fish market, and Aiden leaned closer, so his lips touched the shell of her ear. “Accept the help.”
“That’s hard for me.”
“I kind of had a feeling.”
