How to Date a Dragon(2)

He grabbed her arm to steady her. “Hey,” he shouted to one of the paramedics. “Give her some oxygen.”

“No, I’m fine. I don’t need any medical attention.” Thanks to the gorgeous hunk with the weird hair.

“Please… let them check you out.”

“I’d rather let you check me out.” She covered her mouth and grinned. “Sorry. It must be the smoke inhalation.

He laughed. “Seriously? First you grab my ass, and now you’re hitting on me?”

“I didn’t ‘grab your ass.’ For your information, I ran face-first into your… behind.”

“Oh. Well, pardon me for being in the way.”

His smile almost stopped her heart—or was it the lack of oxygen? Regardless, she had to rip herself away from him and get her computer out of the building before it melted. No matter how hard she pulled, he didn’t budge.

“You need to go back in there for my computer. Apartment twenty-five, halfway down the hall.”

He took off his gloves. “Look, I’m sorry, miss, but if I went back in there now, my chief would have my hide.”

“But my whole life is on that computer. I’m in the finale of a huge TV competition.”

He didn’t seem impressed, so she tried again.

“It’s my greeting card business and all my newest designs are there. This show would pay for a whole ad campaign and give me fifty grand if I win.” Realizing she sounded like a babbling idiot, she pressed on. “I’ve worked so hard to make it this far. If I lose my work, I’ll never catch up. I’ll wind up presenting a half-assed portfolio, and not only can I forget about winning, but it could ruin me!”

***

Drake couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His weakness might be beautiful brunettes, but did she honestly expect him to risk his life for an object that could be replaced? Could she not see smoke pouring out of the building? Sure, he could probably manage it, being fireproof and all, but after the chewing out he got the last time…

“Don’t you keep a backup file online?”

“No. I don’t trust the Internet,” she said with the saddest expression in her beautiful brown eyes. “There are too many hackers out there, and this greeting card competition is outrageously competitive. Pleeeease!”

All this hoopla for a piece of paper that reads, “Roses are red. Violets are blue?” The brunette didn’t appear to be insane, no matter how stupid this reality show sounded. There were crazier things on TV.

His chief had already warned Drake about risking his neck and told him to knock off taking stupid chances. He’d lucked out the last time. The mayor, a big dog lover, heard that Drake had gone back into a two-alarm blaze to rescue a greyhound. Then Mr. Mayor made the chief disregard any thought of suspending Drake by giving him a medal. But that sort of luck wouldn’t hold, especially if this insubordination was about an inanimate object.

Drake reached out and physically turned the woman around so she could see the inferno behind her. The feel of her soft, warm skin sent an unexpected jolt of awareness through him.

Her hands flew to cover her mouth, and the same sad, desperate sound all fire victims made as they witnessed the destruction and loss of something precious eked out. The tears forming in her eyes did him in.

If he weren’t fireproof, running back into that building would toast him like a marshmallow, but being a dragon, he knew he could do it.

“Ah, hell.” Before anyone could stop him, he dashed in the side entrance. He could always say he thought he heard a call for help.

“Stop. Oh, crap,” was what he really heard. Apparently the brunette had changed her mind, but he was committed now.

Second floor, halfway down the hall, he repeated to himself until he found it. She had left her door open. Fortunate for him, not so much for her apartment. Smoke and flames were everywhere. He felt the familiar tingle just under his skin that signaled an impending shift. Fan-fucking-tastic. Skin became scales. Fingers became claws. His neck elongated, and out popped his tail, creating an unsightly bulge in the back of his loose coveralls. His wings were cramped and folded up under his jacket, but it couldn’t be helped.

His sight was greatly improved in his alternate form, and he spotted the Mac on her glass tabletop. The flames hadn’t reached it yet, so he did his best to grab it with his eagle-like talons and carry it against his chest.

Lumbering down the hall, he wondered where, and if, he’d be able to shift back before anyone saw him. Maybe it’s cooler in the basement—but what if I get trapped down there?

Instead of heading down another level, he opened the emergency door just enough to toss the laptop onto the grass outside. The outside air was so much cooler that he thought he might be able to shift back right there.