Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“None.” Brows pulling together, he looked every inch the thoughtful lawyer trying to solve a problem. “I was downright obnoxious the first time I went into the diner with Wren. We’d driven in from the airport and it’d been a long day. They started talking about bugs and asking me if I was Team Pony or Team Binkie.”
“Maybe they liked your attitude? Do you think you flirted with anyone without realizing it?” Nothing they did was logical, so we both knew I was grasping at straws.
What could he have done that would’ve made them think he belonged?
“Did they try to fix you up with someone?” They were very big on finding mates and matching kinky people up.
“No.” Pierce almost looked offended at the idea. “I wouldn’t have missed that.”
Oh, he probably would have if he’d been in work or planning mode, but I hadn’t heard any gossip, so it was low on the possibilities list.
What else?
Oh.
“There’s a woman over at the crystal shop that reads palms and has a crystal ball.” I’d been told she was completely human but that seemed highly unlikely. “She’ll read your fortune and supposedly gives good advice.”
Pierce went very still. “Wren went to the crystal shop for souvenirs.”
Interesting.
“But not you?” Pierce shook his head but looked like he was starting to regret that decision. “Thought he could be left on his own, huh?”
“Yes.” His grumbly tone had me trying not to smile. “His mother is going to blame this on me. Whatever he did, she’ll think it’s my fault.”
From what he’d told me about his family, he was probably right.
“He’s an adult. He can make his own stupid decisions. It’s not like he can be hurt by the average asshole.” He was a dragon for fuck’s sake. “And honestly, all he’d have to do is tell the men at the diner that someone hurt his feelings and they’ll get Lorne to eat whoever it was that caused the problem.”
Pierce nodded before he thought about it, then went very still. “That little dragon isn’t actually eating people, is he? I checked missing persons reports and nothing jumped out at me, but he’s…odd.”
That was a fairly polite description of him.
“Well, I thought it was just for fun to make people realize he was cute and dangerous. But you’re making me rethink that assumption.” He was confident people were crunchy. The men in the diner made that clear. “I’m voting for the we have enough on our plate option.”
Pierce didn’t like that one. The way his face scrunched up made that abundantly clear, but after a few seconds, he slowly let out a controlled breath.
I’d won.
“I will second your vote.” Still sounding frustrated, he traced his finger around the top of his water glass. “Figuring out the portal and if we’re dinosaurs are probably higher on our to-do list.”
Life really had a way of changing on a dime.
Last week I was avoiding my family and trying to find the privacy to have little time, and this week I was sitting at dinner with my mate debating our evolutionary track…and if one of the locals was eating people.
Yep, life was strange.
“And then there’s the whole what do you do for the government conversation and where we’re going after the portal decisions have been made. We’ve really got a lot on our plates.” That didn’t even begin to add in family stuff and what my parents were going to do when they realized I had no plans of dragging my mate back home.
“When you put it like that, I can’t argue with you.” He seemed to find that cute or funny for some reason but making him smile just did it for me, so I wasn’t going to question it. “I will do my best to keep it all in perspective.”
“I think that’s the best plan.” He was such an adorable planner. “Otherwise we’ll get lost in fixing everything we see. We don’t have the time for that. At some point you have to seduce me completely, so that takes precedence over crunchy people.”
Oh, I almost got a laugh.
Pierce barely held it back, eyes sparkling and shaking his head as he let out a slow, deep breath. When he finally spoke, I could still hear the strain in his voice. “Yes, I won’t lose perspective on what’s important in life.”
Good.
“I’m glad we’re in agreement on that.” It was time to check a few things off the list so we could confidently move to the seduction part of the evening when we got back to the hotel room. “First on our to-do list and before our waiter comes back, is there anywhere you have to be in the next couple of weeks? Post-portal apocalypse, of course.”
Almost got it again.
Swallowing back a laugh, Pierce shook his head. “No. Once we handle the apocalypse, I’m free for several weeks. I explained to my work supervisor that there were some cultural events I needed to attend to and then I told him I had to go to a friend’s wedding. He thinks I need the next month off and nothing has come up to make him question that.”