“I don’t want to talk about it,” Liam said. “I want to talk about why you are insisting on going to work when it might not be safe and when you deserve a break because you rarely, if ever, get time off. I mean, is it usual for humans to get only one day off a week?”
She shook her head. “No, but I’m salaried, and it’s the end of the quarter for sales and things are just really frantic. When they calm down—”
“Do they ever calm down, really?” He stood and came behind her, putting his arms around her as she buttoned up her dress shirt. He kissed her shoulder, and she gave a little shudder. Then she turned to place a kiss on his lips.
He could just imagine domestic bliss like this. As soon as he got rid of her awful job.
“Liam,” she said, pulling back and touching his cheek. “I’m not living in the world of the dragons. At least not yet. I don’t have a trove of treasure, and life has taught me I have to work for what I have. If I stop working, I lose it.”
He nodded reluctantly as he realized he wasn’t going to win this one. Frankly, she should be safe enough with people around—and if he asked Titus to follow her and keep an eye on things. He had sort of a unique ability.
As she got ready and grabbed a quick breakfast, he followed her, slightly concerned.
She pointed at him with the bagel she was holding. “And don’t think you can slack off on the yard work just because we are dating. I still need it done.”
He sighed. Of course she would still be stressing about that, even if he had no intention of slacking off. He’d work on the yard all right, but that was because he cared about her, not because he needed work to feel worthwhile somehow.
He wondered how to get across to her that it wasn’t the most important thing in her life. That she wasn’t really living while she was working so much and putting everything else aside for it.
Or was he just jealous because she would pick work over spending time with him, whereas he would put spending time with her over anything else?
Even if she’d stayed home, he would have worked twice as hard whenever he wasn’t with her to get things done. He considered that his job as mate and protector. Her job was to enjoy her life and be happy.
He was starting to realize that convincing her of that was going to be hard.
As she pulled away, he sat on the porch, waved to her, and then spoke in his mind to Titus.
You there?
Yes, Titus replied.
I need you to do me a favor. I need you to do surveillance on my mate, but not let her know about it. If you know what I mean.
I see. I can do it.
Thank you. I’ll send you the coordinates.
I can scent her. She has your scent on her.
Titus was an excellent tracker. Still…
I’d prefer you drive straight to her address than come here and have to track her.
Fine. I am excited to see your mate.
He grunted. Sure. As long as you don’t let her see you.
I can do that. Can I ask why the surveillance?
Yeah, why the professional stalking? That was Magnus.
Liam sighed. I need you to keep this between us, so put the guard up in your mind against Aegis, but I saw Dante last night.
The Dante? As in from our world?
Yes.
With your mate? Shit.
He came to her house because I would have usually left by then. He probably couldn’t scent I was around the corner because my scent was already so strong around the place. We may have fought.
Did he try anything? Titus’s growl was a low rumble.
No.
Good. Otherwise, I’d have to track his shiny ass down and kill him.
No. I don’t know what he is up to. But I don’t want him or his crew around my mate.
I get it, Titus answered. I’ll take care of it.
What about me?
You’ve done enough, Liam said.
Fine, Magnus retorted. But win her over and come home soon. It’s getting boring around there.
With Aegis? I doubt it.
You sure you don’t want to tell him about the other dragons?
I’m sure, Liam responded. I don’t want him to know yet. Not until we know more about what’s going on.
I understand, Titus said.
Yeah. Magnus agreed.
All right, Liam said. I’ll see you two later.
It was time to get back to work so he could surprise his mate when she got home.
Kate felt a little guilty about being so tough with Liam that morning when she’d been getting ready for work. Truthfully, maybe she was a little unhealthy in her relationship with work, but in the past, it was all she had to keep her going.
And besides, in her view, men only worked hard until they got you, and then they got lazy, staying home, watching football, making excuses even as bills piled up and she had to provide for them, working harder and harder. That’s what had happened with her friends.
Would Liam be pouting at home? Was he thinking now that they were together, he could relax? She’d liked that he was a hard worker like she was. Someone she could trust as a teammate and partner. She didn’t want things to change again.
When she pulled up to her home, she realized all her worries were for nothing. If anything, he seemed to have worked even harder today. Somehow, in one day, he’d gotten all the sod laid, and the whole area in front of her house was full of beautiful squares of grass that were neatly fitted together. Liam was out watering the sod by hand, wearing no shirt, which was enough to almost cause her to hit her own mailbox.
She pulled into her drive carefully, and Liam gave her a wave as she got out of the car and looked around. There were still curves where there was rich soil and no grass, where Liam planned to do flower beds probably.
It was amazing seeing the change in her life reflected in the way he’d beautified her yard and removed the garbage and fixed everything that was broken.
Slowly but surely, Liam was showing her the promise of a better life. The way to happiness.
And it scared her.
She realized it was easier to go to work, to make herself busy, than to really think about where this was going. What a relationship meant.
It meant putting herself out there, hoping someone else put in the same effort and never gave up. It meant trusting, and hoping, and happiness that always started good but could go very bad if they both didn’t work at it.
He set down the hose, turned it off, and grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his shoulders as he walked over to her. Tank bounded past her, rolling over the grass joyfully even though he was getting totally soaked.
Liam smiled. “I think he likes it.”
She nodded.
“What do you think?”
“I love it,” she said, walking forward and taking her first step onto soft, clean grass. Grass that was hers. Oddly, against her will, tears bit at the corners of her eyes, and Liam looked stricken.
He took her hands. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just so happy. It’s overwhelming. Things have gotten so good so fast. I’m just afraid to accept it.”
“Just accept it,” he said. “Because I’m here to stay. Things are only going to get better from here.”