Page 29 of Billionaire Dragon King’s Rejected Mate

“Then I hope you get exactly that,” Bryn said, and this time there was no teasing in it, just quiet support. “You deserve something easy for once.”

Randi held onto those words as she got ready to go meet Josh. She chose something simple but flattering, that didn’t seem like she was trying too hard because this wasn’t about impressing anyone. It was simply about proving to herself that not everything had to feel like standing too close to the edge of a cliff.

Josh was already waiting when she arrived. His smile was immediate and genuine in a way that required no interpretation and no second-guessing.

“You look great,” he complimented as he held the door open for her.

“Thank you,” she replied, and meant it when she smiled back.

Dinner was nice, as nice as tacos could be. There were giggles around the constant mess that occurred with tacos, and Josh nearly snorted tequila out of his nose when she accidentally used the super-hot sauce and took a big bite. She was pretty sure that she could have blown fire for a few minutes if she had tried.

Nice was the word that kept surfacing. The date was steady and consistent as the conversation flowed easily from work to stories to small, shared observations about the world around them. Josh genuinely in a way that made her feel seen without feeling examined and comfortable without feeling off balance.

He was thoughtful and easy to be around, which is exactly what she had told Bryn she wanted.

And when the music shifted later in the evening, softer and slower, he stood and offered his hand with a slightly self-conscious smile. “Do you want to dance?”

She felt a flicker of genuine excitement. “I’d like that.”

The dance floor wasn’t crowded, and when his hand settled at her waist, gentle and respectful, she let herself relax into it. The simplicity of moving in time with someone who wasn’t going to play Jekyll and Hyde was nice.

This could work. She wanted it to work, or maybe needed it to, more than she wanted to admit to get a certain CEO out of her system.

Josh’s fingers brushed against her hand as they turned, a small adjustment, natural and unforced, and she felt… nothing.

Not nothing, exactly. There was warmth and comfort with a pleasant steadiness that matched everything else about the evening.

But there was no spark. No sharp, electric awareness that made her breath catch or her thoughts stutter. There was no heat and no pull, unlike with Chance who only had to glance her way with that half-assed grin of his.

She shut that thought down immediately and tightened her focus on the present, on the way Josh smiled when she met his gaze. Thank God he couldn’t read her thoughts.

This was what she needed. And yet, somewhere beneath it was the undeniable awareness that something was missing.

By the time the night ended, she was still smiling and genuinely enjoying his company, but the clarity she had hoped for, the clean break from everything tangled and uncertain, hadn’t arrived the way she thought it would.

It still lingered, unresolved.

She carried that with her into the next day, tucked neatly behind professionalism and routine, until work pulled her back into its familiar rhythm and she almost managed to forget about it.

Until Chance walked into her department. He wasn’t there for her, that was immediately clear. She couldn’t help but notice how sexy he looked dressed in a pair of jeans and button front shirt. He must be going on location somewhere, and she found herself hoping she was forced to go with him.

Stop it! Stay away from him. She knew she would ignore her own warnings.

His attention was directed toward Marissa, his tone clipped and focused as he asked about timelines and adjustments. It was a completely normal interaction, but Randi had to wonder why he suddenly showed up so much more now that she was aware of him.

She tried to ignore him and kept her head down, until she felt his eyes on her. When she peeked up, he seemed to be staring at her wrist where she had propped her elbow on the desk and used her hand to support her head.

He seemed to be enthralled with her tattoo.

Randi’s pulse skipped in a way that made no sense given the circumstances. He had asked about the ink before, at the water park. She couldn’t figure out what he was so interested in a dragon for.

It seemed very strange.

She lowered her arm and unconsciously rubbed the tattoo. When she looked back up, he stared straight at her. She caught the heat in his eyes.

For the first time since the humiliation and the hurt and the careful rebuilding of her own defenses, Randi felt something shift back in her favor.

He was as affected by their chemistry as she was. She wasn’t the only one struggling. She held his gaze for just a moment before she looked away.