“Aye,” she finally said, her cheek snuggled against his chest again.

“What?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “That’s the way I feel about you—like I can’t get enough of you. Like I want to take this further. When I was with Baird, I always had a closed-in feeling, like he was in my space, smothering me. Pressuring me. Not giving me the freedom I needed.”

She sighed. “I never would have been able to work with him on a project like the one you and I are coordinating—together. I never was able to discuss my work with him. He wasn’t interested. He acted as though my job was a hobby. If he had some function to attend, he wanted me to go with him. He would become extremely annoyed if I had other plans.

“Oh, he tried to couch his irritation, which showed he did care for me to an extent. I worried that once we were mated and I was his pack mate, he might insist that we attend all social gatherings together—despite what I had planned and how important it was to me.”

Guthrie rubbed her back gently.

“Well,” Guthrie said, mulling it over, “if you really want to dance with someone else tonight, you are free to do so with my blessing,” he said.

She studied him for a moment and then smiled. “I don’t believe that. You’d be all growly and scare the potential dance partner away.”

He laughed.

“But thank you for saying so. I love how you’re trying to respect my boundaries, and I respect yours. We complement each other. So, as to that aspect, I think we’re more suited to each other than with anyone I’ve ever dated. That’s saying a lot. To me, a relationship isn’t based just on sexual compatibility. It has to be based on…well, just so much more.”

“I agree. And I want to share so much more with you.”

She smiled at him. “Oh?”

He smiled back.

“Hmm,” she said.

They ignored Baird and his men, though Guthrie assumed Baird would try to get a dance with Calla. He was a pack leader who had planned to come to this masquerade with Calla, and he seemed to have something to prove to his kin and to himself.

When he did come to ask Calla to dance, Guthrie said, “Nay, Baird. Leave the lass alone. She’s already said she wants nothing more to do with you, and she’s already found a replacement.”

She looked up at Guthrie, but he wasn’t taking his words back.

Baird smiled a little at Guthrie, then said to Calla, “You thought I was controlling. He won’t even allow you to decline a dance on your own behalf, if you wish it.”

“He said exactly what I would have told you if I’d gotten to it first. So no, I won’t dance with you.”

“You’re making a mistake,” Baird said.

Guthrie made a move toward Baird but stopped short before he threw the man out of the ballroom, while Calla tightened her hand on Guthrie’s arm. She smiled sweetly at Baird, then pulled Guthrie away.

Guthrie ground his teeth. “You know how much it bothers me that I can’t do anything about him. If we were not here, among all these people…”

Calla sighed. “Forget him. I’m with you and I’m not interested in dancing with anyone else tonight.” She held him tight against her soft body.

In that instant, he felt the anger seep out and realized just how good she was for him.

Calla was certain that if she had been dancing with Baird and Guthrie had tried to butt in, Baird would have been furious. But instead of doing something about it himself, he would have had one of his brothers take Guthrie to task. She’d been worried that Guthrie would continue to be angry about it, but when he acted as though all he cared about was her and dancing with her the rest of the night, she loved him for it.

At one point, she saw Ivy watching Baird and wondered why the woman hadn’t had him thrown out. Maybe she was afraid to make a scene in her home. Her parents might have said to leave the situation alone unless Baird and his kin caused trouble.

She noticed that Oran disappeared for a time, and then so did Guthrie’s brothers. When the party was winding down and Calla’s feet were hurting enough that she was ready to call it a night, they said their good-byes to their host and hostesses, and then headed out to the car.

Duncan was standing next to it, arms folded and looking fierce.

Her feet hurt so much that she was walking slower than normal. Guthrie glanced down at her. “Are you all right, lass?”

“If I could, I’d take off my heels and…”

He didn’t hesitate to scoop her up in his arms and carry her the rest of the way to the car. She chuckled. “I should have said something before this.”

“Aye, you should have.”

“I didn’t want you to say anything about how I made you dance with me all night long and how it was my fault that I didn’t stop when my feet began to hurt.”

He kissed her cheek. “Lass, any way that I can hold you close is welcome.”

“You know,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, “you keep talking like that and—”

He grinned at her.

She let out her breath. “I just think we should be cautious about committing to anything too quickly.”

“Aye,” he said and held her tighter.

She really didn’t believe he agreed with her, but she adored the way he carried her out to the car, kept her tucked in his arms, which warmed her in the cold breeze, and agreed so sweetly.

“Were you guarding the vehicle?” she asked Duncan as Guthrie pushed all her skirts into the car and then got in next to her.

“Aye, lass. We took turns.”

“Because of Baird?” she asked.

In the backseat, Guthrie put his arm around her and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder.

“Aye. We didn’t want to find that they had moved our car or slashed the tires or anything,” Duncan said. “Again.”

Calla was happily tired and glad to have been with Guthrie and his kin at the ball. They had so much to do tomorrow, and they’d been working such long hours, getting ready for the big weekend of festivities, that she fell asleep on the trip home. She woke the next morning, buried under the covers, sleeping in her underwear in the guest chambers with her beautiful gown spread out over a chair.

After she dressed in her long Stewart plaid skirt and sweater, she hurried to join the others who were preparing to open for the big day. Argent Castle was abuzz with excitement. The weather had warmed up to fifty degrees, and the weekend tour and gift-selling bazaar was open for business.