His brothers had grumbled. Not because they didn’t want to meet the women, but because Ryder had threatened them with death if they did anything ungentlemanly and upset the friends of his mate. They had agreed to be docile, but he knew that still meant no promises. They were bears. Alphas at that. The top of the shifter food chain and world famous to boot—Riley for his acting, Ryan for his snowboarding.
Kylie asked the most questions about Ryan. Ryder couldn’t answer a lot of them, mainly because Ryan was a fairly aloof, distant person, preferring to spend his time with the mountains and the outdoors. He’d taken to hanging out with the ski and snowboard instructor crew and had been testing the new park and complaining about the height of the rollers.
Ryder had tried to point out that most tourists weren’t trying to pull off inverted rotations, but Ryan hadn’t been swayed.
Ryan probably would end up building more on the park for his own purpose. Hopefully, no one would end up getting killed on it.
Riley and Ryan were waiting for them inside the room. The table was a little odd. It was sunken into the ground, a large, square hole surrounding it, and everyone was expected to sit on cushions on the edge that surrounded the table, their legs in front of them between the bench edge and the table. But it made for an intimate feeling between guests.
Riley was wearing a purple button-up that set off his lightly tanned skin and blondish-brown hair perfectly. He flashed his movie-star smile at the women, and Kylie froze. Leslie, however, walked right in. Riley’s hazel eyes widened slightly when Leslie sat directly across from him, but his easy smile came right back and Ryder doubted anyone but he or Ryan would have caught Riley’s momentary lack of ease.
Kylie surprised him by walking over and sitting next to Ryan, who was sitting in a tee shirt with one of his sponsor’s logos on it. Ryan never seemed to feel cold. The restaurant was properly heated, but at the same time, this wasn’t California.
Ryan’s toned arms extended out of his shirt, and he leaned back with a look of consternation as the little blonde plopped herself down right next to him. His panicked eyes flew to Ryder, and Ryder just shrugged. He wasn’t any better with women than Ryan was.
Ryan let Kylie introduce herself but kept his distance, eyeing her like he thought he might break her.
They were all big boys, at 6’7” or so, but they didn’t usually notice it when they were all together. But throw women into the equation, even tall ones like Leslie and Janna, and suddenly they felt like giants trying not to trample everything in their paths.
Throw in a little thing like Kylie, and it was enough to make any bear nervous.
But Janna was smooth and quick to make introductions. She sat next to him, thigh pressing against his and making his groin tighten painfully. Damn, the softness of that skin. Nothing was like that in the world.
Riley was on his other side, grinning knowingly. But Ryder doubted he knew his thoughts. His brothers knew him as a stiff, unrelenting person who always got his own way. They’d never know he was holding himself back, trying to win this woman even if it meant letting her take the reins.
On the other side of the table, Leslie was across from Riley, Kylie was next to her, and Ryan was on the other side, across from Janna. And checking her out.
Ryder stifled a low growl and gave his brother a hearty, quiet kick under the table. Ryan grunted and shifted his gaze, giving Ryder a nod of apology. It wasn’t his fault Janna was so beautiful, but Ryder meant to see that no one disrespected her while he was around.
And okay, a lot of it was jealousy too. He already saw her as his. He didn’t like anyone else looking. He tilted his head sideways to look at her and caught a full view of cleavage as she looked over her menu. How he wanted to caress the dark velvet of her skin. Taste her where he hadn’t yet gotten a chance to. Run his fingers over the tops of her plump breasts.
Then he realized someone had asked him a question. Damn!
“I said, do you do much skiing?” Leslie asked, resting her chin on her hand smugly, probably for having caught him staring at Janna like a man out of control.
“Not really,” he said. “I mean, for conferences or meet-ups sometimes, yes. In my free time, I prefer more…” He glanced at Janna. “Relaxing endeavors.”
Leslie’s grin widened and Janna blushed and discussed the menu with Kylie.
He wanted to keep Janna on her toes. Remind her he was here, even if they were in a room full of people. For him, there was only her. And he was a little jealous she could pay so much attention to the others. He knew it was a little childish, but then he was used to getting his way. And bears were known for being selfish creatures.