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She shook her head, her own frown deepening, “I don’t recall…”
Damn it, he was going to kill that raven. She’d just got engaged to her centaur boyfriend and had gone completely feather-brained of late.
But even so. She’d told him she’d get the information to Min before they met.
“To be honest, I don’t look at my emails as often as I should. So she probably has sent it,” Min mumbled.
Flaming gods. This was a potential fuck-up. His fingertips started to tap out the first chord of his favorite Mopin nocturne on his leg. He saw her gaze flick to his hand and stopped abruptly, furling in his claws. Sometimes when he was agitated it was either tap out a tune or have a rogue flame escape from his nostrils. The first was more socially acceptable.
“The authorities will be checking to ensure we are a… bona fide couple. Obviously, anyone can put that down on paper. They will want evidence that we are living together.” He paused. “Also, I would prefer you didn’t work in the bookshop for the duration of our arrangement. I will need your total focus and attention on dating me—I mean, pretending to date me.”
“Right, yes, I understand.”
“Will you be able to arrange cover? I will pay for that also, of course.”
She nodded. “I am sure that won’t be a problem.” An embarrassing silence followed, until thankfully, his PA brought in the drinks. Ethan curled his hand into a fist, resisting the urge to tap.
“Will that be all?”
“That’s all, thank you Sonia.”
As the door closed behind Sonia, Min asked, “Does living in your home mean… we will be sharing a room?”
She was peering over the top of her glasses at him, biting on her lower lip. Her eyes were darker, wider, more beautiful above the rims, and the way her lip pillowed softly under her teeth was… rather too pleasing. Again, the kissing image came to mind. Again, he had to punch his libido into oblivion.
“You will have your own room. Rest assured, you will have absolute privacy.”
She nodded, but her features were tight.
Maybe she didn’t want to be in such close proximity to a dragon. Maybe even being in a nearby room would be bothersome for her. Did she think he breathed fire at night, or burnt down doors to ravish humans? “Min, I really don’t want you to be uncomfortable about any of this. But the issue is…” He dragged in a deep breath before continuing. “A high-breed human like you, dating a dragon, even a rich dragon, may be hard for the Council of Towns to believe unless there is evidence that…” He ground to an embarrassed halt.
She sat staring at her hands clasped in her lap.
“I’m getting the sense you’re not happy with this…”
“It’s not that. It’s just…”
He stared at her, trying to read her expression. Her cheeks were flushed bright pink, and she adjusted her glasses on her nose with fluttering fingers.
When she looked up, her blush had intensified. “It’s just… I’ve never dated anyone, let alone lived with a guy. So I—I guess you may have to advise me on how this all works.”
A wave of shock traversed his spine, along with something else in the mix, something he wasn’t prepared to unpack. “You’ve never dated? At all? Not even a human?”
“No, I—I—I guess no one ever swept me off my feet.” She gave a nervous little laugh.
“I see.” Heck. This was disconcerting. She’d never dated. Did that mean… that she was a virgin? Ethan shifted position.
She looked over at him, head cocked. “I surmise that you have dated. I mean, you seem like a guy who…” her voice trailed off. “Who is worldly-wise.”
“Yes, I’ve dated.” He cleared his throat. “But I’ll be honest, never a human.”
“Okay. Well, I guess we’ll both have to learn the ropes as we go, won’t we.”
“Indeed.” Ethan snapped his eyes away from her mouth. “There will be public events, photo shoots and the like. Obviously, we will have to, um, look like we’re genuinely dating, and of course I will ask permission to touch you, but I may have to put my arm around you, hold your hand.” He quickly aborted an image of winding his tail around her waist and pulling her close.
He really must not let his tail get involved.
Staring miserably at his shoes, he watched the leather tighten as his claws curled inside them.
