How to Date a Dragon(30)

Bliss didn’t want to give in too easily. Sure he was gorgeous and seemed like a great guy other than this “one mistake,” as he called it. And having a committed relationship would be nice, but could she believe him? Did he really just forget to delete his profile? What was that little ditty she’d heard once? Cops beat, firefighters cheat? The fact that there was a little rhyme like that gave her pause.

She rose. “I need to think about it.”

“I understand,” he said softly.

Bliss strolled to the kitchen and put some water in the teakettle. For a split second she thought about her mother and how much she wanted Bliss to find a man, get married, have kids. Then she remembered that Drake, in the heat of the moment, had said he couldn’t get her pregnant. Stop it, Bliss. You’re not living your mother’s life. Decide what you want and go for it.

As much as she hated to admit it, she wanted Drake… at least the Drake she’d thought she was getting to know. Was he really being honest with her? He hardly seemed the type to avoid confrontation. Could he be covering up a relationship he had going simultaneously while romancing her? Argh. It’s all too confusing.

Angie would be coming upstairs soon. Bliss wished she and Drake could have it all sorted out by the time her roommate got home, but life was rarely that neat. She still didn’t know Angie all that well and wondered what she’d think of Bliss and Drake just picking up where they’d left off after… Knock it off, Bliss. You’re doing it again! Stop caring what others think.

Bliss heard something from the living room and poked her head around the support column. Drake was trying to get up!

“Lie down,” she squealed and rushed over to him.

“I—I shouldn’t be here. It was nice of you to—” He gasped and clutched his chest as if he had moved wrong and reinjured himself.

“Stop.” She jammed her hands on her hips. “Do I have to push you back down on the lounger and sit on you, or are you going to stay without a fight?”

He snorted. At last their eyes met and she saw raw regret there. A corner of her chilly, suspicious edge melted. She braced his back and helped him lie down again. After he had sagged into the cushion, she sat next to him. Her thigh molded against his shoulder. Heat seeped into her leg from his, as if he were burning up.

“Wow, you’re hot.” She placed her hand on his cool forehead. That’s weird. Maybe the blood is rushing to where he needs it more. “I don’t think you have a fever, but you’re really in no shape to go anywhere.”

“I know, but if you want me to leave, I can call one of my buddies. The ribbing will stop eventually.”

“I don’t mind you being here. And I think Angie would be mad at me if I asked you to leave. She seemed as upset about the incident as anyone.”

He smiled. “Yeah, Angie’s a good kid.”

“You think of her as a kid?”

“Sure. What is she? Twenty-two? Twenty-three?”

“Yeah, thereabouts. How old are you?”

“Five hundred and fifty.”

Bliss laughed. “I didn’t ask how old you felt. I asked how old you were.”

“You know what they say… You’re only as old as you feel.”

She chuckled and focused on his face. His smile. His lips. She was just starting to lean in to taste his full mouth when the door opened and Angie appeared, carrying the beautiful bouquet that had started all the trouble.

“Hey, Drake. How’re you doing, buddy?”

“I—I’ll be right back,” Bliss said, and hurried off to the bathroom. She’d remembered some pain pills left over from a badly sprained ankle. She checked her little medicine kit to see if they were still in it. Yup. The fact that she thought of offering him some pain relief meant she still cared about him. However, she had no intention of pretending she was okay with his desire to date her while looking elsewhere at the same time.

While she was in there doing her business, she got the idea for a new Hall-Snark card. This one was generic enough to use in her new line, but Drake was getting the first one.

You made a mistake, and that means you’re human, but do it again and you’ll see me fumin’.

She hurried to her bedroom to jot the words down before returning to check on Drake.

***

So many conflicting emotions whirled through Drake, he could barely handle just lying there, waiting for his regenerative powers to kick in.

What an idiot I am! Why did I bother meeting a dragon when I was still trying to find Bliss?

Because, Drake, ol’ boy, you’re a coward. You didn’t want to go through the trouble and uncertainty of telling a human that you’re an aberration.