“Did you stand there and listen?” Ric had to ask.

“Of course not!” She reached down, fussed with the heel of her very sexy shoes. “But I did have to pee,” she admitted.

“Hey, Blayne,” Gwen murmured from the comfort of Lock’s lap. “Two o’clock.”

Before Ric could stop her, Blayne turned in his lap and rose up on her knees. She raised her arm in the air and began to wave while screaming, “Dee-Ann! Dee! Ann! Over here! Sit here!”

Ric winced, knowing he’d hear about this later. If there was one thing Dee-Ann Smith couldn’t stand, it was being the center of attention.

Glaring at Ric across the packed new club, the She-wolf walked over to the couch.

“Hey, y’all,” she said in that enticing Southern accent.

“Dee!” Then Blayne was up, her arms around Dee. Blayne hugged Dee like they were long-lost friends. Although based on the way Dee was currently scowling, Ric doubted that would ever happen.

“Get her off me,” Dee mouthed at him. “Now!”

“I didn’t know you were coming tonight,” Blayne went on, oblivious as always. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

When Ric saw Dee’s hand reach around to her back, where he knew she had some illegal weapon stashed, he quickly grabbed Blayne around the waist and pulled her onto his lap while snapping under his breath at Dee, “Don’t even!”

Dee snarled, her empty hand dropping at her side as he sat Blayne down, both of his arms around her waist.

“Why don’t you join us, Dee?” he asked.

“Nah.”

“Oh, come on, Dee!” Blayne cheered happily. “Have a drink. Or let’s dance!” Blayne tried to stand up again, but Ric held her in place. “How about I introduce you around!” She tried to stand again, but Ric yanked the overeager wolfdog right back to his lap.

With an annoyed growl and a flash of fang, Dee walked off, disappearing into the crowd.

“Don’t go, Dee!” Blayne yelled after her. “Dee! Deeeeee!” she bellowed one last time before settling back down against Ric’s chest. Blayne gave a little pout. “She never hangs out with us anymore. I wonder why.”

Ric caught Lock’s gaze, but they both quickly looked away, both males afraid of being the ones to say something to make sweet, innocent, completely clueless Blayne Thorpe cry.

Blayne caught Gwen’s gaze, but they quickly looked away from each other, both females afraid of laughing so hard they might piss themselves.

Did Dee-Ann Smith really think Blayne was that stupid? Okay. Blayne had her moments. She’d admit it. But she knew when some heifer was following her. Hard not to be close to the O’Neill Pride and not pick up certain skills. Because of the O’Neills, Blayne knew when she wasbeing shadowed. Of course, she also knew how to hot-wire a car, launder money, and get guns into Northern Ireland. Not that she’d ever do any of those things. She wouldn’t. But that didn’t mean she lacked the skill or brains to do them.

Yet for whatever reason, Dee-Ann Smith was following her. Constantly.

Blayne had the feeling Ric must have hired her. He worried about Blayne. She knew that hybrids had been taken, their bodies found weeks or months later with their throats or other major arteries torn out and their corpses covered in scars. Although full-blood shifters like bears and lions were often used for hunting by men with more money than sense, hybrids had always been the ignored. Until now. Until someone had decided it was a good idea to turn them into pit bulls.

So, did Blayne mind the protection? Not at all. A little protection from some Southern She-wolf was a hell of a lot better than ending up on the wrong side of a pit fight. But what Blayne didn’t understand, and what made her toy with Dee-Ann and Ric so much, was why they wouldn’t just tell her the truth?

Maybe Ric was worried Blayne wouldn’t feel comfortable basically taking money from him. And normally, she wouldn’t. But again, taking a little charity from a friend or ending up in the middle of a pit fight? The answer was a no-brainer for Blayne Thorpe. Yet she didn’t like the tricky way they were going about it. She especially didn’t like that Ric, someone she considered one of her best friends, wasn’t being honest with her.

Was it cruel to mess with them? Maybe.

Would Blayne stop? Doubtful.

At least not until they told her the truth. Besides, it took so little to get on the She-wolf’s nerves. All Blayne had to do was be herself, but with a dose of proverbial amphetamine added to really amp it up. She did love amping it up. She’d been amping it up since she’d realized it embarrassed the hell out of her father.

Honestly, the military types were so damn easy.

A shadow fell over them and she sat up, grinning, thinking Dee had returned. But when the shadow kept growing, she knew it wasn’t Dee. It was Novikov.

“Hey!” she cheered, glad to see that he’d made the effort to come. “You’re here!”

“Hey,” Novikov said while staring intently at Blayne. She’d have to work on him with that staring thing. A lot of females would be put off by it, and if he wanted to date a She-wolf, he was risking his eyes. She-wolves loathed the staring game.

Yet once Blayne got past his intense stare, she noticed that he had a beer gripped in his hand and a female hanging around his neck.

Okay. She’d admit that she didn’t expect him to bring a date. But she didn’t mind. Nope. Not at all. She wanted to help the guy get out and have fun . . . even if that meant dating an obvious porn star.