Page 32 of Alpha's Secret Baby Girl
Gwen caught his eye and immediately stiffened. She started searching the crowd, and Rafael knew she was looking for Lianne. He hurried to her side and took her hand as he pointed out where Lianne was.
“She found a friend who found a bug,” he explained.
Gwen’s shoulders relaxed. “Ah. Bugs. Lianne loves bugs. One time, when we were dealing with a lot of fruit flies, she cried when I put out a trap and drowned a bunch of them. I had to put it away during the day and put it out at night and be extra careful with the fruit and garbage.”
Rafael chuckled. “Reminds me of Michael. He went through a phase where he wouldn’t even step on ants. But don’t tell him I told you, he’ll tell you something far more embarrassing about me in revenge.”
Her eyes twinkled. “Ah! So you’re saying I have to tell him, then?”
He laughed.
Gwen’s smile faltered. He could almost see the shutters slide closed behind her eyes. Ducking her head, she excused herself abruptly. Rafael didn’t protest, though his wolf urged him to follow her. He kept his distance, moving closer to Lianne again so Gwen wouldn’t have to worry about her. Gwen, Kira, and Chelsey stayed in a loose group for a couple of hours before Chelsey became overwhelmed by the crowd. By then, Lianne had run out of bugs and was happy to return home with Chelsey.
After that, Rafael wasn’t sure what to do. He had greeted the people he was obligated to greet and had made sure to be social with people who were otherwise still somewhat on the outside of their pack’s society. He was like Michael and Lianne in this respect. Parties weren’t for him, though he readily understood their benefits.
So he contented himself with watching Gwen. She moved through the party with confidence, pulling Kira with her. The confidence that shone through her made his blood burn. He wanted to go over to her, pull her into his arms, and tell her just how sexy she was.
He was just considering doing that when one of the special ops, a dark-haired man named Daniel, stepped up to her. Rafael tensed as he watched them. Daniel’s gaze roved over her quickly, and one of his hands reached out, resting on her hip. Rafael’s wolf growled. What the hell did that man think he was doing?
Chapter 13 - Gwen
The man who approached her wasn’t anyone she recognized. He was tall with dark hair, light eyes, and a charming smile. His hands rested on her hips as they started to sway on the spot, awkwardly dancing. Gwen smiled at him, pleased with the attention. She was aware of Kira’s disapproving glance, but it was a common thing for the Alpha’s wife to dance with other people, so maybe there was a different reason.
“You said your name was Daniel?” Gwen prompted, making sure she remembered correctly.
Daniel’s grin widened. “Yes. I’m one of the special ops your Alpha called in to help deal with the problems you’ve been having. If you want, we can go back to my place and I can tell you more.”
As far as pickup lines went, that was very obvious. But it did trigger understanding in Gwen’s mind. Daniel didn’t ask her to dance because he wanted to build connections with Rafael—he didn’t realize who he was dancing with. Should she tell him? It had been a while since she’d had true male attention, at least from someone who hadn’t ripped out her heart seven years ago.
Part of her didn’t want to say anything. If she could start a relationship with someone else, it would give Rafael a reason to let her get an early divorce. They didn’t have any sort of infidelity clause in their prenup, which meant that it shouldn’t affect the custody agreement. But the truth of the matter was, starting a relationship to get her freedom from this marriage wasn’t the real reason. No, it was because her feelings were getting far too strong for Rafael, and she wanted something to put distance between them.
Cheating on him, regardless of whether this was a legitimate marriage in her mind or not, was out of the question.
“I said something wrong, didn’t I?” Daniel asked, squinting at her.
Gwen sighed. “I’m actually married. To the Alpha.”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“We, uh, married seven years ago,” she continued, sticking to the lie. “And we haven’t actually talked in those seven years. It’s complicated. But I’m not interested in going home with anyone. I thought when you asked me to dance, it was a pack politics dance.”
She tried to phrase it as diplomatically as possible. Daniel’s eyes flicked to the side, and he nodded once.
“I understand. I apologize for the misunderstanding.” His hands lifted slightly, not sitting quite so low on her hips.
Gwen searched his face. He didn’t seem to be offended at all. Her tense shoulders relaxed, and she smiled. So he wasn’t the sort of guy who would blame her for leading him on. She was about to tell him it was fine when, all of a sudden, Rafael appeared. He clapped a heavy hand on Daniel’s shoulder. There was a smile on his face, but his eyes were dark and glittering.
“I’m going to have to cut in. I’ve been waiting all night to dance with my lovely wife,” he said, his voice bordering on dangerous.
Daniel stepped back. “Of course, Alpha.”
Rafael’s hands replaced Daniel’s on Gwen’s hips, then moved lower, cupping around her ass in a way that was entirely inappropriate for a public setting. His gaze locked onto her as they started swaying. Gwen suddenly found she didn’t know what to do with her hands. Put them on his arms? Hisshoulders? Or, as her fingers itched to do, twine them into the little hairs at the back of his neck and scrape her nails along his scalp to make him shudder against her?
“You looked like you were having fun,” Rafael said, his voice laced with jealousy.
Gwen huffed in annoyance. And she was annoyed, no matter what her body was trying to tell her. “I was until you ruined it.”
Rafael’s grip tightened. “Gwen—”
