Page 11 of Billionaire Dragon King’s Rejected Mate

“Are you okay?”

His reaction was fierce and unexpected. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Whoa, just asking.”

He let out a breath and gave his head a shake. “Sorry. That was rude.”

She studied him for a second but didn’t push. There was something vulnerable in his demeanor all of a sudden and she didn’t want to feel like she was exploiting that. Instead, she gestured with her head.

“Lazy river?” Randi asked and pointed toward a shaded path lined with palm trees.

Chance followed her gaze as families floated peacefully past in bright inner tubes and drifted beneath waterfalls and faux rock tunnels.

“Sounds good, as long as there are no rapids,” he teased.

She rolled her eyes. “You are such a wuss. A few rapids wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“As long as you promise not to let me down,” he added. The corner of his mouth lifted just enough to make her wonder if that was the closest he got to flirting.

“Oh please,” Randi shot back. She was already headed toward the stack of inner tubes. Her voice was light but her pulse was doing something annoyingly not light at all. “If anyone’s in danger here, it’s me, because I’m about to be stuck floating next to a guy who thinks mild current equals imminent death.”

He laughed at that. Actually laughed, not the polite, distracted version he’d done earlier, and something in her chest eased as she grabbed two tubes and handed one to him. Their fingers brushed for half a second too long, and she had to catch herself from gasping as an electric shock jolted through her body

What is going on with me? She hurried toward the water, suddenly needing something to cool her off.

They slipped into the lazy river with a soft splash, and the chilly water wrapped around her legs before she settled into the tube. She leaned back as the current carried them forward, and tried to ignore her desire to share Chance’s inner tube, on his lap.

She splashed water on her face and slowed her breathing as the world softened into the hush of moving water and distant chatter.

For a minute, neither of them said anything, and Randi told herself she was fine with that. It didn’t mean awkwardness, and it gave her inner hussy a chance to calm down. She found herself glancing over at him anyway, at the way his head tipped back slightly and his eyes scanned the artificial sky of palm fronds and sun, like he was trying to memorize it or maybe escape into it.

“So,” she said finally and nudged her tube lightly against his, “are you gonna tell me what was going on in that head of yours, or are you one of those mysterious, brooding types who makes people guess?”

Chance turned his head toward her. His expression shifted and something guarded slipped into place even as his voice stayed easy. “Maybe I like keeping people guessing.”

“Mm-hmm,” she hummed, unconvinced, and dragged her fingers through the water as they drifted beneath a misting waterfall. Droplets caught in her hair and cooled her skin. “That’s usually code for not wanting to answer questions.”

“Or,” he countered, “it’s code for I really don’t have a good answer.”

She tilted her head and studied him again, because there it was. That flicker of almost-honesty and it made her curious in a way she hadn’t expected, in a way that felt less like polite interest and more like… something she probably shouldn’t name yet.

“Well,” she said and let her tone soften just a little, “lucky for you, I’m great at awkward conversations, so we can just fill the silence with me talking about myself instead.”

“That sounds dangerous,” he said.

“It is,” she agreed with a grin. “I work in marketing for TimeOff Corporation, which means I spend most of my days convincing people that their lives will be magically better if they book a vacation package, even though I personally have not had a real vacation in, oh…” she paused and pretended to count on her fingers, “an embarrassing amount of time.”

Chance’s brows lifted slightly. “TimeOff, huh.”

“Don’t sound so impressed,” she said, though she caught the shift in his tone immediately, the way it sharpened just a fraction. “It’s mostly emails and marketing campaign meetings and trying to make relaxation sound like a personality trait.”

“And you’re good at it?” he asked.

“I mean,” she shrugged as her tube bumped his again as the current curved them around a bend, “I’m still learning but I’ve run a couple marketing campaigns myself, so either I’m good at it or everyone’s just really desperate for employees.”

“Maybe both,” he said quietly.

She glanced at him again and caught that same faraway look from earlier, and this time she didn’t let it pass so easily.