“Call me Gabriel, and I wasn’t insulting it. I was making an observation. I want to make this my home, remember? That’s why I’m here.”

“Sounded like an insult to me,” she muttered, hightailing it away from the clumps of Seelie nobles doing exactly what he’d just accused them of. She had to fight to keep up with the strides of his longer legs.

“I apologize.”

“How does the Shadow King feel about your defection from the Black? He can’t be very happy.”

Gabriel gave a low laugh. “He’s not. I’m taking a huge gamble. If the Summer Queen rejects me and I lose the protection of the Seelie Court, I may lose my head, too.”

“You don’t seem all that nervous about it.”

“Life is too short to spend in fear. Anyway, I’ve lived so long that I’m a thrill seeker. Anything to break up the monotony. Anything for change, Aislinn.”

The way he pronounced her name sent a shiver down her spine. He rolled it on his tongue like a French kiss, smooth and sweet as melting candy.

It made her miss a step and deepened her annoyance.

She picked up her pace and matched his strides once more. “Listen, I don’t know why the queen selected me for this job, but the last thing I want to do right now is babysit you.”

Ouch. That had been harsh.

She winced as the words echoed through her head. He hadn’t done anything to her, and she wasn’t sure why she was feeling so hostile. It had to be because of her recent breakup with Kendal. Gabriel reminded her of him.

Every man reminded her of him.

She still felt so raw and vulnerable. She needed time alone to lick her wounds and heal. The last thing she wanted was to be forced into spending time with an obvious womanizer who could wield sex as a weapon. Literally. Perhaps she was using this man as a scapegoat for her wounded pride and broken heart. If so, that was wrong . . . yet she couldn’t seem to help herself.

“Whoa. Look, Aislinn, if you feel so strongly about it, I’m sure I can find someone else to babysit me.”

She winced again. She was being a bitch and needed to rein it in. Maybe she’d misjudged him, and he was a great guy. After all, he bore nothing but a passing resemblance to Kendal. That wasn’t his fault. Regret pinched her, and she opened her mouth to apologize.

“It’s too bad you don’t want to spend time with me, though, since I have news of Bella and Ronan. They’ve been anxious to get back into contact with you.”