“Aunt Dot it is then,” he said, sounding pleased. “Ellis is right. Tonight is a surprise. I didn’t want to spook her by tipping my hand.” His gaze, when it raked over me, raised chill bumps. “Besides, she’s beautiful. She doesn’t need to dress up for me to see that.”

I squirmed, pinned to the spot by his compliment and the hungry glint in his eyes. Had Dell not told me how he spent his afternoon, I might have been taken in by the pretty package as easily as Aunt Dot appeared to be. But I hesitated, afraid that stepping close to him would bring a possessive tendril of Imogen’s perfume tickling my nose.

“I don’t understand you kids.” She shook her head. “Why not call each other Camille and Cord? It’s so catchy.”

I could have told her first names implied an intimacy lacking between us, a privilege granted to friends or lovers when I wasn’t sure we were or would ever be either, but I played the game I had committed to and smiled. “It keeps the relationship fresh.”

“All right.” She tapped her cheek, and I dutifully bent to kiss it. “I’ll get this laundry put up for you, okay?” She shuffled back to the basket that had brought her visiting. “This is the first time I’ve ever had to wash wolf fur out of your sheets.”

The sting in my neck intensified to noonday-sun proportions. “I can put them up when I get home.”

“Nah. I have time.” She lifted a pair of sheer black panties in a scandalous cut in front of her and began folding them into a tiny square before our eyes. “My shows don’t start for another hour.”

My jaw dropped open in tandem with Graeson’s. His throat worked over a hard lump, and he wiped a hand over his mouth. All I could do was goggle at her while she hummed, pretending not to notice our stares.

Gods help us.

Those weren’t even mine.

Where had they come from? Surely they weren’t…? No. I didn’t want to know. As they say, ignorance is bliss.

“I won’t be long.” I shoved Graeson out into the cool night. “I’ll call when I get home.”

“Take your time,” she called after me. “There’s no need to rush back on my account.”

I scooted down the steps, shut the door behind me and slumped against the trailer with my eyes shut. “I’ve never seen her like this.”

“It’s cute,” came a voice much too close to my ear.

My eyes popped wide open, and I flattened myself against the siding. “You need to step back.”