As soon as they walked into the kitchen, Calla noted how quiet the place was. The light had been left on—probably for them. She was used to everything being quiet in her carriage house. But because many people lived or worked here, she heard conversation taking place in one room or another all the time, except for late at night.

The sound of footsteps headed for the kitchen instantly disquieted her. She wanted to tell Guthrie to hide his shirt behind his back, but she couldn’t. That would be like saying she was ashamed of what they’d done, and truly she was anything but. She would cherish that special time forever, keeping the toga party and the aftermath as one of her most treasured memories.

Julia entered the kitchen and smiled at Calla, who felt that her instantly heated body had flushed and given her away—par for the course for a redhead.

To Calla’s surprise, Julia said, “Can I have a word with you, Guthrie, in a moment?”

“Aye, of course.” He looked miserable.

“If you’ll meet me in the library, I’ll be there in just a few minutes. I wanted to get a cup of hot chocolate first.” She glanced at Calla. “Would you like some too?”

“Nay, thanks. I’m headed up to bed.” Calla looked again at Guthrie. She wanted to say something to Julia, worried that the female pack leader intended to tell Guthrie to watch his step with Calla. Then again, maybe Julia needed to speak with him about pack business.

Calla quickly excused herself, thinking maybe Guthrie would still walk her to her room, but he only said good night. Calla knew then that he felt he’d made a mistake with her. As Calla headed toward her chamber, she hardened her resolve to not attempt to get serious with anyone for a good long while. She wasn’t up to going through a repeat of what had happened between her and Baird.

Was Julia going to lecture Guthrie about it? That was bound to make things even worse.

Chapter 10

Guthrie sat in the library in one of the comfortable reading chairs, his shirt still crumpled in his fist. He should have dumped it with his dirty laundry before he met with Julia. Not that he could hide anything even if he’d wanted to. Julia could already smell that he and Calla had enjoyed some intimate time together.

He suspected he knew what Julia was going to say when she arrived with her cup of hot chocolate. He wondered when she’d taken to drinking that instead of the hot lavender tea she usually had at night.

He sighed. Julia walked in, shut the door, and joined him in the sitting area. Once she was seated, she said, “I know that both you and Calla are highly attracted to each other. It’s obvious to everyone.”

“Aye, and I’ve already decided I need to back off a wee bit with the lass,” he said, wanting to get this over with.

“Good. I worry about you.”

She looked so serious that his jaw dropped. “Me?” he asked incredulously. Calla, yes. What was there to be concerned about with him?

“Guthrie, I know you say the deal with your ex-girlfriend, Tenell, was over and done with when you broke up. But…well, the rest of us saw it differently. You’d invested so much time and energy in the relationship. We know you were seriously thinking she was the right one for you.”

Guthrie frowned. When Tenell had gone back to her old boyfriend, that had been the end. Guthrie had returned to working on the clan’s finances, and life went back to business as usual.

“I’m afraid…I’m afraid you might be feeling the effects of having a rebound relationship.”

Bloody hell. Where had Julia come up with that notion? Did everyone think the same?

“Me?” He couldn’t help sounding shocked. “Calla’s the one you should be concerned about.”

Julia nodded. “I am, of course. But it’s different for each of you. Calla is moving forward. Aye, though she’s been cautious of forming new long-term relationships, which is for the best. This business with you might well be the same thing for her as you’re feeling. A need to set aside the loneliness you’re experiencing now that Tenell is no longer in your life.”

“You can’t be serious. She left and I forgot about her.”

Julia let out her breath, a habit Ian had when he felt one of his brothers wasn’t listening to him. It appeared she was picking up her mate’s habits.

“All right, lass, how did I act that made you and others believe I am feeling melancholy about breaking up with Tenell?”

“You quit eating.”

“I wasn’t hungry.”

“You’re always hungry,” Julia said, frowning at him. “You withdrew from anything to do with activities involving couples.”

“I was busy with financial dealings.”

“Right, but you locked yourself away for days to conduct business. You don’t normally do that.” She arched a brow in challenge.

“I needed the quiet time. Sometimes distractions can make me lose my concentration when I’m trying to make important financial decisions for the pack.”

“Your door is always open, Guthrie. Admit it. Just like Ian’s is, no matter what.”

He ground his teeth and folded his arms. Did everyone think he’d been upset about the breakup?

“You’re in denial.”

He stubbornly refused to agree with her. He wasn’t in denial.

“You skipped sword practice a number of times, even though you love to do it. In fact, anything you enjoy doing, you stopped participating in—fishing, running as a wolf, boating, everything.”

“I…was…busy.”

“You slept later than you normally do. Missed days of breakfasts and skipped them entirely.”

“I had stayed up too late.”

“You had gone to bed early.”

He almost smiled at her tenacity. “Anything else?” As if that wasn’t enough.

“You missed engagements and you never do that. You are one of the most punctual and levelheaded of your brothers, but you were snapping at anyone who touched on the sensitive subject of the ex-girlfriend.”

“I did not.”

She let out her breath again. “You refuse to talk about it to anyone. If it was no big deal, you’d joke about it or something. But you’ve buried the whole situation instead.”

“This is about your writing, isn’t it?” he asked, since Julia was a romance author.

“Huh?”