Shannon tugged on Arden's sleeve and pulled her a little farther from the men. The women circled round her. "Nick's over there glaring daggers at Travis," Shannon said, in a hushed voice.
Arden didn't look. "I should go back to him. He's got it in his head that he should be jealous of Travis."
Alice snorted. "Gee, I wonder where he got that idea. Hey, Travis!"
Arden stiffened. Travis turned, his brows raised. "Yes, beautiful?" he answered Alice.
She blushed, which caused Arden's jaw to drop in disbelief. How did he make someone as shameless as Alice blush?
"Is she lying? Or did nothing really happen between you and our young Arden, here?" Alice asked, a mischievous grin on her lips.
Travis stepped toward them, looking dead serious. He grabbed Arden's left hand, which bore her sparkling engagement ring, and held it up in front of Alice's face. "See this? Our young Arden is engaged. She's a paragon of fidelity. Nothing happened."
He dropped her hand and Alice laughed. "Well then, I'm sorry for you."
"Oh, me too," Travis said. "Very, very, very sorry." He turned to Arden. "Where is Prince Charming, anyway?"
"I'm right here," Nick said from behind him. Nick walked around him and stood at Arden's side. He slipped his arm around her waist. Arden gave Travis a smug look. Travis's eyes narrowed. "I'm glad you're here, Travis," Nick said. "I wanted to thank you for taking care of Arden. I hate to think how she would have fared without your assistance."
Travis, amiable as ever, said, "It was my pleasure."
"I'm sure it was," Nick said, pulling Arden tighter against him. "You're not planning on trying to steal her away from me, now, are you?"
Arden couldn't believe Nick would bring his fears into the open like this. She examined her nails and pretended to be bored, hoping no one would notice her surprise and discomfort.
Travis laughed. "I'll tell ya, if I had it to do over again, I'd have already stolen her." He glanced back at Vince and Russell who had tensed up like a couple of beta wolves sensing danger. They relaxed after Travis gave them an almost imperceptible nod. Arden wondered whether the behavior was conscious or if it just happened from somewhere deep in the primitive places inside their minds. Either way, it was fascinating.
Nick smiled, but it was a bitter, hate-filled thing. "Fortunately for me you've got nothing to offer her."
Travis's smile vanished. "We can't all get rich preying on little old ladies retirement funds."
Nick stepped forward and Travis didn't back down.
"Okay," Arden said, pulling at Nick's arm. "I think that's enough social interaction for us today. It was good seeing you all," she said to the group. She breathed a sigh of relief as Nick allowed himself to be led away.
"I could have had you if I really wanted, Princess," Travis said.
She stopped and turned around, her expression registering disbelief and amusement. He was wearing that cocky half-grin. "How do you figure?" she asked, not sure why she was letting herself be drawn in like this.
He shrugged. "I've never been told no. Not when I really turn on the charm."
"You hit on me within minutes of getting stranded. You tried to convince me to sleep with you at least a dozen times." She'd taken a few steps toward him and he'd closed the distance even more so that she had to lean her head back to look at him.
"Not because I was trying. That's just what I do when I'm around women. If I'd really wanted to, you'd be wearing my ring right now."
"Your ring?"
"That's right."
"And my finger would be green, too, wouldn't it."
He laughed. "Yeah. But you wouldn't care."
"I think I probably would," she said, holding her hand up so the diamond caught the sunlight.
He grabbed her hand and shoved it down to her side, keeping ahold of it for longer than he should have. He lowered his voice, leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Give me one night and I'll make you forget there ever was a Nick Wheeler."
She felt herself turn red, but she boldly met his eyes. "I'm not impressed, Travis."
He assessed her for a few moments and then stepped back. "You're wasting your time and mine with that prick," he said, nodding at Nick who stood only five paces back, seething with hatred.
Arden glanced over her shoulder at Nick. She'd never seen the veins in his neck stick out like that before. She looked back at Travis. "I like the ring I have just fine. Have a good life, Travis." She turned and walked away, taking Nick with her. She didn't look back and was very proud of herself for it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dustin had started going to church three years ago. Mainly he'd done it to support Travis who had all of a sudden decided he needed God in his life. So he'd gone with him and kept going. But then the preacher's daughter came home from college one day looking nothing like the gangly teenager he remembered and a lot more like the kind of woman he'd like to take to dinner. So his motives for going had changed, which was why even though Travis had slept in, he was still attending this morning.