“Darn, I’ll have to cancel my interview on the morning shows.”
“Sarcasm will get you nowhere.”
“I don’t know what to do with this.” I lay on the carpet and picked fluff off it.
“Before I launch into an explanation, let’s take a leap to your last conversation.”
Great. I was wrestling with the reality of dragons and Jess was into flashbacks.
“You were keen on sexy dragon shifter dad.”
“That’s got nothing to do with anything, Jess.” I couldn’t deal with that right now.
“No, Ledge. You didn’t.”
Damn it, why was he so perceptive? “No idea what you’re talking about, and stop trying to steer the conversation away from shifters.”
“You slept with him.”
He wasn’t going to let this go. “Fine, so what if I did. Is it against a dragon’s code of conduct to sleep with a human?”
He sighed. “No. But I’m not the one you should be asking about shifters.”
Of course he was right, but I was avoidinghim.
As it was Sunday and my day off, Theron would be getting the kids’ breakfasts, but I needed to show my face so the children would know I was here.
Returning to the bathroom, I splashed water on my face again. My stomach flip-flopped, and I gripped the sink as a wave of nausea washed over me. Nothing strange about that, considering I’d discovered mythological animals existed.
Theron was in the pantry making a heck of a racket when I crept downstairs. I hugged each of the kids, but I cringed at the smell of bacon and toast. I poured a coffee, took one sip, and tossed it down the sink before grabbing a bottle of water.
“Daddy’s making a lot of noise,” Skye observed.
“He can’t find the flour, but you know where it is, Ledger.” Rory loved being helpful.
“He’s hiding,” Fraser said.
Jess wasn’t the only observant person I knew.
“Can you come outside, Ledger?” Skye put out her hand, and I took it because being in the kitchen with the different cooking aromas and Theron avoiding me was claustrophobic.
I sat in a lounge chair as the kids played around me, thinking of my dissertation. I was so behind, and I was the only one to blame. Coming to the Gibson household was supposed to help me finish it, but I’d let Theron occupy my thoughts.
My advisor had sent an email with the subject lineUrgent check-in needed. I didn't open it.
Three months ago, this document was my future, and now I was distracted and thinking of a man who’d been inside me, one who turned out to be a dragon shifter.
I must have dozed off because Rory shook me and said I’d get burned if I didn’t go inside. “Not from us.” The three kids giggled. “From the sun.”
They pulled me up, and we walked inside, arm in arm. But Theron must have been cooking up a storm because there was the smell of baking, and maybe chicken soup and a batch of lasagna. Fraser asked if I wanted some of the latter.
I screwed up my face because the cooking aromas mingled, and in my mind, they ganged up and were coming for me. My stomach heaved, and Rory said I didn’t look well. Theron walked out of the pantry, and our eyes locked. But the room blurred, and I grabbed my belly and raced toward the powder room.
Four sets of eyes followed me—I didn’t need a dragon inside me to sense their gaze—as I charged in and kicked the door closed behind me. I couldn’t recall when I’d last eaten, but I puked up what little was in my stomach.
“Ledger, do you have a pain in your tummy?” Skye was such an angel.
“I’m okay, pumpkin. I’ll be out soon.”
