“It’s fate,” he said. “We’re meant to be together.”
She guessed it made sense. No one should be that good in bed. That hard of a worker. That sweet and kind. Every man she picked out had to have a fatal flaw. The last one had been lazy and expected her to do everything.
This one thought he was a dragon.
“I want you to go, Liam. I want you off my property. I need to hire another contractor.”
“Why?” he asked, sounding frustrated. “How does that fix anything?”
How was he sounding so nonchalant about thinking he was a lizard?
“I’ll go,” he said. “But this isn’t over. I need a chance to explain. I’ll be back.”
And then he turned and walked off the porch, and she let out a sigh of relief.
And heartbreak.
Because even with her heart pounding, she wanted to call him back. Wanted to say it was okay to pretend to be a dragon and just go back to how things were when they’d been eating dinner and slowly building something together.
He’d said weird things before. She should have picked up on it. She felt bad for sending him away now, but he’d scared her with his words about mates and the reason he’d been on her property.
She had a right to step back, take some space, and heal over this.
She had a mind to call Rent-A-Dragon and give them a piece of her mind, tell them their delusional employees were starting to think they were actual dragons.
But then again, were all of them in on it? She put a hand over her face and silently fumed as she sank down against the door. Thank heavens it was her day off.
10
Liam parked a little way down the street after driving around the block so she would think he was gone.
He was parked in a place where he was pretty sure she couldn’t see him, even if she walked out and looked around, but with his superior dragon sight and hearing, he would be able to keep watch.
That’s right, superior. Being a dragon offered benefits, not negatives, so he wasn’t sure why she was so upset about it.
He cranked the driver’s seat into a reclining position and sighed, putting his hands behind his head. Luckily, it was a cool day, and it wouldn’t be so bad to stay out here the rest of the day. He just couldn’t leave his mate. Not with things like this.
I’m sorry, he heard Magnus’s voice say in his mind. Unlike the gemstone dragons, he and his crew could speak to each other’s thoughts across long distances. You two have been spending so much time together; I assumed she knew.
Aegis told me not to, Liam replied. It was one of those rules. I know why now.
Oh, right, I got thrown out before that. Magnus sounded amused. Then contrite. Look, I’m sorry if it messed things up.
It’s fine, Liam said back to him.
How are you hanging in there, brother? That was Titus.
I’m doing okay. Liam lied. And you two? What are you doing? Has Aegis found jobs for you?
He says it’s enough trouble to have one dragon out on a job to watch out for.
As if, Liam retorted. He didn’t even answer my text the other night. If he had, none of this would have happened.
But wouldn’t that be a bad thing? You two were mated, Magnus replied.
We had sex. We did not mate.
Right, how would that work again? Magnus asked.
Ask Aegis.
Fine. Magnus sounded petulant, but Liam didn’t care at the moment.
Things had been hard from the moment that storm had unexpectedly sank their ship, just when all their dreams had been within reach, when everything was supposed to come to fruition.
Liam had thought with this second chance, being awakened, things would be easier. Surely fate had a plan for him. And he’d thought when he found his mate, things would just fall into place, like perfect puzzle pieces brought together.
Instead, everything was totally messed up.
Anyway, are you coming back now? Titus asked.
No, I’m staying here until we work things out.
You can’t be meaning to stay there all night. Magnus scoffed. In a truck.
I have to fix things with my mate. And I don’t want to leave her. She’s mine. I want to stay here and protect her.
From what? Bogeymen? Your scent is all over her land. No shifter would dare trespass, Titus said.
I’m staying, Liam said stubbornly. That is that.
Fine, Titus said. Be stubborn about it. But I think you’re putting too much worry into it. You should just go back there, grab her, bring her to the castle, and show her everything. Then claim her in one of the back rooms or something.
Liam sighed. Titus was going to need a lot of watching when he was let out of the castle. No. Anyway, I’ll see the two of you later.
Okay, Magnus said, sounding resigned. But in the meantime, let us know if there is anything we can do.
He’d done enough already, Liam realized with exasperation. But it wasn’t really his crew’s fault he was in this position. He was a dragon from another world, and she was a human. He should never have been stupid enough to think it would be simple.
He’d thought fate would make things easier, but actually, it made it more difficult because he knew she was his and he had to make it work somehow, no matter what fate threw at him.
He tapped his steering wheel nervously. Okay. Thanks, guys. I’ll see you.
Goodbye.
See you.
And then he was alone with his thoughts and the light breeze coming through the windows he’d rolled partially down. Wind brushing his lips reminded him of the warmth of her lips on his, the way she’d felt in his arms, how happy he’d made her in their time together.
He just needed to let her calm down and wait for the right moment. Listen to his heart and try to decide when she was ready. Or just run back there groveling and pound on her door until she was able to listen.
He’d waited a thousand years for a woman like this. He wasn’t going to let her go over such a small misunderstanding. Once she understood he really was a dragon and they really did exist and he wasn’t crazy, she would hopefully jump in his arms once again.
And let him live with her and build her things and give her dragon pups.
The thought was so nice that he was able to relax as he lay back in the driver's seat, keeping one ear tuned to the sounds outside him. It wouldn’t be too bad to take a short nap so he was as rested as possible when he went back to make his case.
He’d have been nervous about it if he wasn’t such a big, bad dragon. But since he was, he was sure he’d be able to come up with a way to make it better.
Somehow.
Fate had decided it.
It wasn’t until several hours later that Kate’s thinking was interrupted by the sound of her doorbell ringing. By now, it was already dusk, and warm, orange light was spilling through the windows of her living room where she’d been ruminating.