It was disturbingly domestic.
“The Hendersons called,” she said, pulling out mixing bowls. “They need a cake for their daughter’s engagement party. Three tiers, fondant flowers, the works.”
“When?”
“Saturday.”
Alessandro’s typing paused. “That’s ambitious.”
“That’s my job.” She measured flour, each scoop level and precise. “I’ve done bigger orders on shorter notice.”
“Have you done them while magically tethered to a demanding houseguest?”
“You’re not that demanding.”
“I required you to explain the coffee maker three separate times.”
“It’s a complicated coffee maker.”
“It has two buttons.”
She laughed before she could stop herself. His satisfaction at having caused it reached her like a warm pulse—and there he goes, she thought,the smuggest dragon on the Eastern Seaboard, taking a victory lap over a coffee-maker joke.She fumbled her measuring cup and resented every degree of that warmth.
This was the problem. The ease of it. The way they’d slipped into a rhythm without meaning to.
The bell over the door chimed, and Marina’s stomach dropped as she recognized the purple hair and knowing grin.
“Good morning, lovebirds!”
Bea swept into the bakery like a force of nature, her arms full of crystals and sage bundles and what appeared to be a small ceremonial dagger.
“We’re not…” Marina started.
“Save it, babe. Your aura’s been pink for three days.” Bea dropped her supplies on the counter and turned to Alessandro with an appraising look. “You’re doing something right, dragon boy. She’s practically glowing.”
Alessandro looked up from his laptop with an expression of polite confusion. His genuine bewilderment at Bea’s assessment bled into Marina, and underneath it, a flicker of hope that she desperately pretended not to notice.
“Her aura is always pink,” he said carefully.
“No, her aura is usually blue. Calm. Reserved. Very ‘please don’t look at me too closely.’” Bea circled behind the counter to peer at Marina’s face. “Now it’s pink. With silver sparkles. That’s new.”
“I don’t have silver sparkles.”
“You absolutely do. Estelle noticed too. She’s been texting me every hour for updates.”
“There’s nothing to update. We’re just…” Marina gestured vaguely at Alessandro. “Coexisting.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” Bea’s smile was insufferable. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re playing house with a hot dragon and pretending it doesn’t mean anything.”
“It doesn’t mean anything. This is temporary. Twenty days, and then he goes back to Manhattan and I go back to my life.”
“Uh-huh.” Bea didn’t sound convinced. “Tell that to your silver sparkles.”
Alessandro’s phone rang, saving Marina from having to respond. He stepped into the kitchen to take it, and Bea immediately pounced.
“You’re falling for him.”
“I’m magically tethered to him,” Marina said. “There’s a difference. You’d sparkle too if you couldn’t stand more thanfifty feet from a man who has strong feelings about the way you store your spatulas.”
