Page 13 of Billionaire Dragon King’s Rejected Mate

She leaned back, let the sun warm her face, let the water carry them side by side, and told herself that whatever he was hiding could wait because for now, this, whatever this was beginning to be, felt just a little too good to push too hard.

Chapter 5

Chance

Chance told himself it was just the easy, temporary companionship that came from shared laughter, refreshing water, and the kind of day that didn’t ask anything of him. But even as he followed Randi up the winding staircase toward another water slide, he knew it was way more than that. Her voice drifted back to him as she tossed some joke over her shoulder about him surviving this one without filing a formal complaint.

“You’re hesitating again,” she called and glanced back with a grin that was entirely too appealing.

“I’m evaluating risk,” he corrected.

“On a water slide.” Sarcasm practically dripped from her lips.

“People underestimate water slides,” he said and stepped up beside her as they reached the top platform. The park stretched out below them in a blur of bright colors and movement. “That’s how they get you.”

She laughed and shook her head as she grabbed a double tube and shoved it lightly toward him. “If you die, I’m not explaining this to anyone.”

“If I die, it will absolutely haunt you forever,” he shot back and settled into the tube beside her. Their legs bumped awkwardly for a second before they adjusted.

“Oh, definitely,” she said. “I’ll think about you every time I see a warning sign.”

The attendant gave them a quick nod and then pushed them off. The world tilted and rushed past as the slide curved sharply and water splashed up around them. Randi’s startled laugh cut through the noise as Chance felt himself let go for a few seconds. His grip tightened instinctively on the handles as they rushed along and their shoulders knocked together through a turn.

“Still alive?” she called over the roar.

“Barely,” he managed, though he grinned despite himself. A chuckle slipped out of him before he could stop it.

They shot out into the pool at the bottom with a splash that soaked them both. The tube wobbled before it steadied itself as they caught their breath. For a moment, he let himself stay there, close enough to see the way water clung to her lashes, the way her smile softened when she looked at him like that, open and unguarded and entirely unaware of the line he was already standing too close to crossing.

“See?” she said as she brushed wet hair back from her face. “Not so terrifying.”

“Let’s not get carried away,” he replied, though his voice had no sense of reproach at all.

She studied him for a second, like she might say something else, but instead she just tipped herself off the tube and headed for the pool’s exit. He quickly followed before the next patrons shot into the pool.

He tossed the tube onto a pile and followed after Randi. He tried to ignore the way her hips swayed as she walked, even though his dragon wasn’t about to let that go unnoticed.

“Come on,” she called back over her shoulder. “I think you’ve hit your bravery quota for the day.”

He almost asked her to stay and almost suggested grabbing food, or another ride, or anything that would stretch this out just a little longer. But common sense landed heavily that he would go against everything he knew better than to ignore, and he forced himself to step back and put space where it belonged.

“Ice cream?” Randi pointed toward a cart.

“I’ve got to head out,” he answered. He aimed for casual and landed somewhere close enough. The thought of watching her tongue lick the ice cream was more than he could handle.

“Already?” she asked, and there it was again. That flicker of something he didn’t want to name.

“Yeah,” he said. “Rain check?” The words slipped out before he even thought them. He kicked himself at the question when his intentions were to stay away from her.

She hesitated just long enough to make him wonder if he’d already miscalculated, and then she smiled, easy again but not quite the same as before.

“Yeah,” she said. “Rain check.”

He watched her walk away longer than was necessary, and when he finally turned in the opposite direction, it felt less like leaving and more like pulling himself away from something that had already started to take root.

Mate, his dragon reminded him.

Not gonna happen, buddy. Chance knew he fought an uphill battle, but he had to at least try.