"Nothing."
That brought him around. "She doesn't know why you walked out on her?"
"She was getting ready." He propped a shoulder on the wall. "Giving her privacy is what any gentleman would do."
"And you're always a gentleman with her?"
His brows bunched down over the way Trace asked that. "That's why you're here? Is that some sort of inquisition on my intentions?"
The slightest of smiles belied any menace. "I doubt you know your intentions at this point."
That infuriated Spencer. "I know exactly what I'm doing."
The smile turned into a grin. "Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better."
"What the hell does that mean?" Damn it, he'd left Arizona's room in a good mood-which Trace had quickly shot to hell.
Trace shook off his humor. "She didn't ask you where you were going or who had called?"
"She hesitates to pry too much." Then, recalling her interrogation about sex, Spencer rethought that. "Or maybe it's just that she's selective in how and when she pries."
Trace accepted that with a nod.
With growing suspicion and tension, Spencer asked, "You want to tell me why you're here?" Trace surely had a better reason for seeking him out than idle curiosity.
"She ran out on you today."
The hell she had! He didn't appreciate the way Trace worded that. "She had some shopping to do, that's all."
"She left without telling you first."
"She's independent. You know that." Spencer worked his jaw. "I told you I had it under control."
"You should understand something, Spencer."
Oh, he understood all right. This was a warning. "I'm listening."
"Jackson has accepted Arizona as family, with Alani's blessing. Priss and Molly like her and empathize with her situation, as do Dare and I." His gaze never wavered from Spencer's. "She's one of us now."
One of us? It was the tone more than the message that had Spencer's temper on edge. "Meaning?"
"Meaning with or without you, we'll protect her."
That sounded far too close to a threat, and Spencer straightened from the wall. His shoulders bunched, and his jaw clenched. "You think I can't? Or won't?"
"I think men in lust sometimes let the wrong head make the decisions."
Jackson joined them to say, "Amen to that." He pointed to Spencer's crotch. "No thinking with the gonads."
Finding the warnings insulting-even if a little true-Spencer scowled. "Is this a case of do as I say, not as I do?"
Trace said, "No."
Jackson said, "Mmm … maybe."
On a grievous sigh, Trace shook his head. "Ignore Jackson. He's known to embrace gluttony."
Leaning in, Jackson whispered loud enough for Trace to hear, "He means in bed, but since I'm marrying his sister, he doesn't want to go into details."
And just like that, the mood lightened. Spencer rested against the wall to watch the ensuing exchange between the two men.
Trace glared. "You did get her pregnant."
"Yeah." Jackson sighed theatrically. "And knowing she's carrying my baby just makes her sexier."
Trace rudely stepped in front of Jackson, crowding him out, to address Spencer again. "For now, I'm willing to let you handle things with Arizona."
"Gee, thanks." He didn't bother telling Trace that he had no intention of butting out, regardless of what any of them said about it.
"Hey," Jackson said, his humor dwindling. "Don't I get a vote on this?"
"You've done enough," Trace told him.
Jackson opened his mouth-then grinned and closed it.
Back to Spencer, Trace added, "You can keep her safe by keeping her close. That works for me."
"It works for me, too," Jackson told him. "Close is good."
Trace spoke over Jackson. "But if Arizona decides she doesn't like that setup, then you're out."
He'd almost gotten distracted with the byplay between Trace and Jackson. Now he snapped back to attention. "I'll decide when I'm done, not you."
"Wrong." Jackson aligned himself with Trace. "Arizona makes that decision. And we'll be backing her up."
"Stay on her good side," Trace warned. "Or stay away from her."
"Won't be easy." Jackson shook his head in sympathy. "She can be pretty … trying. But you better not lose your patience with her. If you think you might, best to cut out now."
Spencer went rigid. Screw their ability and far-reaching influence. He made his own decisions, and he would be the one to decide when and if to walk away from Arizona. "You don't dictate to me."
"So you are planning to sleep with her?" Trace asked.
That pulled him up short. "None of your damn business."
Jackson folded his arms. "Course he is." He glanced toward Trace. "He's a guy. And Arizona is … well-"
"Not easy to resist," Spencer said through his teeth. "Believe me, I know. But I'm a thirty-two-year-old man, and she's not only been through hell, she's barely an adult."
Trace leveled a look on him. "So you have only altruistic motives in this? You're shadowing her out of concern for another human being, nothing more?"
He said again, "None of your goddamned business."
Neither of them was fazed by his growing temper.
Jackson tilted his head to study Spencer. "You took it upon yourself to partner up with her."
Of all the … "She came to me," he reminded them. "You already know that."
"So if she hadn't," Jackson said, "you wouldn't have seen her again?"
Damn it, he would not be cornered by either of them. "We've crossed paths a few times."
"Because of Arizona. It's not like you went after her, did you?"
He hadn't needed to, not when every time he saw one of the guys, Arizona somehow happened to be there. But he'd be damned before he continued to explain himself to them. He set his jaw and stepped forward-
"Break it up, girls. You're drawing attention." Arizona elbowed her way in past Jackson and Trace to stand directly in front of Spencer, facing him with a scowl. "You're going to give yourself wrinkles."
At his first glimpse of her, Spencer's brain went blank. "Oh, my God."
Hands on her hips, she turned a circle and eyed them all in turn. "You guys picked a heck of a public locale to compare dick sizes, don't you think?"
Ignoring the crude words, Trace tracked his gaze over her, and then slowly closed his eyes.
"Damn, girl." Jackson stripped off his jacket and tried to stuff Arizona into it. It left his gun exposed, but that wasn't as bad as Arizona drawing so much attention.
And given her outfit, her hair and makeup, she could do nothing else.
Gone were the jeans in favor of a short-really short-faded denim miniskirt. A low-plunging black tank made a bra impossible and emphasized the round firmness of her substantial breasts. Little strappy sandals and big hoop earrings completed the outfit. But she hadn't stopped there. Her pale blue eyes were a dominant feature on her, and now, with her lush lashes layered in black mascara and her lips a glossy pink, she looked … like a walking wet dream.
Spencer scanned the area around them and saw that they had, in fact, drawn attention. "We need to move. Now."
Trace growled a complaint as Arizona fought Jackson's efforts to conceal her. "This is going to be a cluster-fuck of the first order."
Arizona stopped struggling to say, "If I can't cuss, you can't, either."
And Spencer finally pulled himself together. "Did you leave anything in the room?"
She lifted the duffel, laptop case and her purse. "I didn't see any reason to come back here after we eat, so I've got it all here and in the trunk of my car."
That meant she didn't have much. He frowned as he took the case from her, but knew he'd have to figure out the lack of personal possessions later. "We'll head to dinner now." After wresting the duffel away from her, too, he turned to Trace. "Could you-"
"Check her out, yeah. Don't worry about it. Get her well away from here before you stop to eat, though."
"Better still," Jackson said, looking everywhere as if expecting hordes of men to descend on her, "take her through a drive-thru and eat in your car."
Clustered around her, shielding her from sight as much as they could, the men led her out of the motel and toward Spencer's truck.
"Stop shoving!" Arizona complained and pushed back against Jackson.
Spencer inserted himself between them. He didn't like Jackson cozying up so close to her. Besides, Arizona was usually more reasonable with him.