Roman ignored his brother and guided Emily the rest of the way to the door. “You’ll be home for dinner, aye? We should all sit down and get to know each other. Adam’s still who-knows-where, but Kaya and I will be here. Ross will be busy drooling over his mate, so you won’t have to sit wondering who is who the entire night.”
Ross snorted. “You act as if drooling over Natalie is a bad thing.”
Roman opened the door and gently herded Emily out. “Do you know the way to the surgery? Oh, look—Cam’s here. You’ll take her, won’t you?”
Dread pooled in her belly as she turned and saw Cam, jaw still like granite, striding toward them. He nodded. “Dr. Keith sent me to fetch her.”
Her cheeks heated. “I’m not a stick to fetch and throw back.”
Roman arched an eyebrow, glanced at Cam, and shrugged. “Enjoy, Emily. I think you have this handled.”
The door shut behind her, and for a few beats, she and Cam merely stared at one another.
In the daylight, his hair glinted a mixture of red, bronze, and amber. The early signs of stubble on his face were darker, though, and she wondered what color it would be grown out.
Not that she needed to see him with more facial hair. She didn’t care one way or the other.
Sure, all dragon-shifters were too attractive for their own good, but she’d become mostly immune to their genetic lotteries. Besides, she was short and curvy, didn’t bother with makeup, and wasn’t the most outgoing of people to begin with. It wasn’t as if he’d think of her as anything but a bothersome outsider.
Why am I even thinking about this? Ignore his good looks and focus on your reason for being here.
Cam motioned with his head. “Come with me. Seahaven is small, and whilst you could probably figure it out for yourself, I’ll give you a quick tour and point things out as we go.”
He turned and walked away, not bothering to check if she followed. Emily rushed to catch up to his longer strides.
He must’ve noticed, because he slowed down a bit, so she at least didn’t have to almost jog.
Silence stretched, but she was fine with that. After working so many years with…
No.She was determined not to think of him.
Instead, she took a good look around as they walked.
Seahaven sat nearly half a mile from the cliff’s edge, but she could still see the sea stretching out into the distance. Even with the clouds in the sky, the vast expanse stole her breath away.
Emily had grown up in and around Cardiff, and while there had been the Bristol Channel, it wasn’t very wide and most of the time you could see England on the other side.
She wished she’d looked up the names of everything in the area, but she’d focused so much on the data and supplies she’dneeded for this trip that she hadn’t had time. So she asked, “What’s the name of the water there?”
He gestured to the left. “That’s Farr Bay.” He gestured to the right. “That’s Bettyhill Cove. Further to the east is the North Sea, and above is the Atlantic Ocean.”
She blinked. “That’s a lot of names.”
He shrugged. “Blame it on the mapmakers.”
Her lips twitched. “I’m not sure that’s how it works.”
“Then how about the explorers? Or the arrogant arses who named things after themselves?”
“Says a Scot. A lot of you are Mac-something, the son of such-and-such.”
“Touché. But doesn’t Wales name things with long, unpronounceable names on purpose?”
“Welsh is beautiful. It’s not my fault if you can’t understand it.”
Damn.There went her mouth again. What was it about Cam Alexander that made her lose her manners?
He didn’t seem upset, though, and merely said, “Fair enough. Since I struggled with the old dragon language, Mersae, in school, I’ll confess that other languages aren’t one of my strengths.”
