Darla let Liam turn her, and returned to arm’s length. “Do you think you will ever find your own mate?” she asked. Then, thoughtfully, “Would you want one?”
Liam looked down at her a little wistfully. “I’m asexual, but I can’t say I don’t wish I had someone who understands me the way Breck understands you. It’s just that the chances of meeting someone with the same expectations are passingly slim.”
“What are the chances that mates ever meet each other?” Darla challenged. “I wish this for you, Liam. With all my heart I wish it for you.”
Liam pulled her into a warm, grateful embrace as the music ended. “You deserve your happy ever after, Darla. I am so glad you got it.”
Darl
a kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for all you did for me. This could never have happened without you.”
“I’ve already punched one person today, do I have to do it again?” Breck’s eyes were dancing jealously as he reached for Darla’s hands, but the look he exchanged with Liam was all amusement.
Liam politely handed Darla back to him. “I wouldn’t want to put you to the effort,” he said archly. “Nor harm Darla’s knuckles again.”
“That really did hurt,” Darla laughed. “Please don’t punch people if you don’t have to.”
“That was just the excuse I was looking for,” Breck said merrily. “I’ll have to clear my busy schedule of punching people, now.”
For a long glorious song, she circled the room in her new husband’s arms, marveling at the idea that he was her husband, that she wasn’t settling, that it wasn’t temporary, or something that had to be kept secret.
The resort staff certainly seemed to accept her with open arms, and if they had been friendly before, they were like family now that she was one of them instead of merely the meek daughter of a high-maintenance client. When the song ended, Tex trotted her around for another song and gave her all the sage advice that three months of marriage had taught him. She congratulated him on the imminent enlargement of their family and he looked dazzled and turned pink with pleasure.
Next, Travis took her hand for a high energy salsa that left no opening for conversation and before she could look around for Breck afterwards, Chef had claimed her hand for something more staid.
“Thank you so much for everything,” she told him sincerely. “I thought I’d try helping in the kitchen if you approve. Breck taught me how to wash dishes, and I’d like to know more about cooking.”
“You’d be very welcome in my kitchen,” Chef told her kindly, and it didn’t feel like the kind of polite society lie that Darla was so used to. “Can you carry a tune?”
Darla looked at him in surprise. “I had three years of private singing tutors,” she confessed. “They said that I’m not hopeless, but that I’d never have a career of it. Not that my mother would have approved of a career.”
They compared favorite songs eagerly, and at the end of the song, Chef enfolded her in an affectionate, fatherly hug and walked away humming the introduction to a French opera they both knew.
Graham, the grouchy-looking landscaper, took her on one grim, silent trip around the room, and deposited her back at the bar without a single word.
Chapter 44
Breck jealously watched as the rest of the staff thwarted his attempts to steal Darla back for himself, and found himself on the side of the floor next to Liam, who was clearly feeling uncomfortable about the looks being cast at him by a gaggle of giggling housekeepers. They seemed to think that being a jilted groom called for certain comforts.
“Want to dance?” the leopard shifter asked Liam, as Travis stole his wife from a beaming Tex.
“Will it give the wrong impression?” Liam asked cautiously.
“What’s the right impression?” Breck countered.
“Good point,” Liam agreed, and they stepped out gracefully. The dragon shifter was happy to take the lead he was accustomed to, and Breck cheerfully let him.
“Do you think you’ll ever find your own mate?” Breck asked, head swiveling to watch Travis turn Darla.
“Funny, Darla asked me that just now, too,” Liam said, his mouth curling up in amusement.
“What did you tell her?”
“That I like the idea of it, and how happy it’s clearly made her, but I’m not holding my breath,” Liam said matter-of-factly. “Mates seem to have a pretty driving central need… and that’s not something in my repertoire. Maybe it’s not possible.” There was a hint of regret in his voice.
“Do you think that would change, if you met the right person?” Breck had to ask curiously.
“Did meeting Darla make you straight?” Liam pointed out.