When Stella came out of the office, she was smiling. Nate relaxed internally at the sight.
Unlike Stella, he’d been sure that the meeting would go well. No one could see Stella’s raw talent and not think she could make something of it. But he’d still wondered how Stella would feel about whatever Mavis said—whether she’d be afraid, intimidated, worried.
Instead, she looked...triumphant.
Nate tugged her close and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Hey. Did it go well?”
She nodded, grinning. “Yes. I think—no. I know. I’m going to do this. I’m going to be an artist.”
“You are an artist,” Mavis said from behind her. “You’re going to be a professional artist.” She was smiling as well. “I was about to go meet Wilson at Oliver’s for lunch,” she said. “Would you all like to join us?”
So they went together to Oliver’s. Nate was getting more and more used to the comfortable diner, the surprisingly good food, the small-town ambiance. There weren’t any places like this in Chicago, and he was realizing how much he liked it.
Stella was newly excited about career possibilities, and she expounded on all the ideas Mavis had had for her through the meal. Mavis chimed in occasionally, smiling warmly, but Stella did most of the talking. Nate was captivated. He’d only seen little flashes of this energetic, happy, youthful Stella so far, and every time, he felt the same—he wanted her to be this joyful all the time.
He was smiling like an idiot, he knew, but that was fine. Occasionally he transferred a bit of that smile to Mavis, to make sure she understood how grateful he was to her for bringing this out in his mate. Her knowing return smile suggested that she did.
Carlos, seated nearest the door, kept a watchful eye on the place throughout the meal. Nate was grateful for his presence—he couldn’t imagine maintaining sufficient awareness of potential threats right now, not with the laughing vision that was Stella taking up every ounce of his attention.
Eventually, they collected themselves—Nate tried to steal the check, but Colonel Hanes got there first—and moved toward the exit. Stella caught Nate’s hand as they walked, and he twined their fingers together. He couldn’t wait to get her alone back home and—
“Wait.”
Carlos’ voice stopped them in the doorway. Carlos glanced at Nate, then nodded toward a figure waiting by a beat-up old truck in the parking lot. “That him?”
“That’s him,” Nate said grimly.
The weaselly little bastard took a step back when he saw the size of the group Stella was with. But then he seemed to gather himself, coming forward. “Stella!” he called.
Carlos stepped up to put himself between them. Nate was grateful once again, because it meant that he didn’t have to choose between focusing on Todd and focusing on his mate. He put his arm around Stella and tugged her close, relishing the way she pressed up against his side. Stella wasn’t going to have to face this guy alone ever again.
“She’s not interested in talking to you, buddy,” Carlos was saying.
“Who the hell are you?” Todd asked.
“A concerned third party,” Carlos shot back.
Todd’s eyes flicked from Carlos, to Nate, to Colonel Hanes, who was a silently intimidating presence behind them. “Where did all these goddamn men come from, Stella?” he demanded. “I didn’t realize you were such a slu—”
“That’s enough.”
The steely voice cut through Todd’s words and Nate’s growing, red-tinged rage alike. For a second, he wasn’t even sure where it had come from. Then Mavis stepped forward.
“I don’t know what sort of insecurity is driving you,” she said. Her voice was quiet, but it seemed to penetrate the silence more thoroughly than if she’d shouted. “I don’t know why you’re harassing an unwilling woman like this. I don’t know whether your feelings are real and you just can’t deal with them like a man, or whether you’re simply taking some kind of malicious revenge.”
Her voice hardened. “And I don?
??t care. Stella won’t stand for this, and neither will I. Take your nasty, unwanted presence away. Or there will be consequences.”
Nate was more than prepared to be those consequences, and from the way Todd’s eyes flicked nervously to him, the man knew it. Then he looked over at Carlos, and back at the Colonel, and his shoulders hunched.
“Stella...” he tried once more. Nate’s arm tightened around Stella’s shoulders.
Mavis took another step forward, until she was shoulder-to-shoulder with Carlos. “Get out.”
Todd stumbled back involuntarily. His face twisted into an ugly expression, but at last he turned and fled back to his truck.
“That,” Colonel Hanes said after a moment, “is my mate, gentlemen.” He sounded smug.