Page 4 of Billionaire Dragon King’s Rejected Mate

He had to avoid his mate before she ever had the chance to know who he really was.

Chapter 2

Randi

Randi Matsen had promised herself repeatedly and with the stubborn determination that had carried her through far colder places than Florida that this new chapter of her life would be calm, sensible, and entirely free of complicated men who could derail the careful balance she was trying to build.

Which was precisely why the man standing twenty feet away near the fountain was such a problem.

She pretended to study the clipboard in her hands and nodded along to something her coworker, Marissa, was saying about updated event calendars, but her focus had long since drifted somewhere far less professional. Every few seconds her gaze betrayed her and flickered back toward the tall man who had wandered into the area and was now watching the park’s crew dismantling the ribbon cutting area as he mingled with the stragglers.

He looked like a tourist, which made his intense attention to the activities even stranger. If he were there to have fun, he wouldn’t be so interested in boring details outside of the fun zone.

He stood out like a sore thumb. While most of the corporate people attending the ribbon-cutting were dressed in suits or at least something business-casual, this guy looked like he had just wandered over from the beach. From his T-shirt and faded board shorts, he looked completely relaxed and totally out of place.

And yet somehow everyone he spoke to seemed to take him seriously.

Randi assumed he was probably someone’s friend or maybe a consultant tagging along for the event. Still, her eyes kept drifting back to him, which was annoying.

The man was tall enough to stand out easily in the crowd, broad-shouldered with hair that was tousled like he’d run his hands through it one too many times. When he turned his head, the light caught the startling blue of his eyes.

Not the soft blue of a summer sky. They were much sharper than that. And colder, like ice. They were the kind of eyes that made people look twice.

The kind that made her stomach do a strange little flip every time they landed in her direction.

She shifted her weight and adjusted the sleeve of her company shirt as a breeze stirred across the lawn. The bright sun caught the dragon tattoo on the inside of her wrist, a design she had gotten in Stagholt while attending her sister’s wedding in the Iskara Northlands.

She twisted her arm to hide it but not because she regretted it. Explaining the story behind it usually led to questions she didn’t feel like answering. The Northlands were… complicated.

And she was trying very hard not to think about them too much these days. She wanted to be her own person on her own two feet, not riding her sister’s coattales

“Randi?”

She blinked. Marissa was looking at her expectantly.

“Sorry,” Randi said quickly, straightening the stack of paperwork in her hands. “What was that?”

“I said the transition team wants the media flyers from their special events for the last three quarters, but not until Monday.” Marissa repeated, amused. “You okay? You look a little… distracted.”

“I’m fine,” Randi said, perhaps a bit too quickly.

Marissa’s mouth twitched.

Randi followed her gaze before she could stop herself. The tall stranger had moved closer while they were talking. Much closer.

He now stood only a few feet away, listening to one of the park managers with that same quiet, unreadable expression. Despite the casual clothes, there was something tightly controlled about the way he carried himself, like a man used to being in charge even when he wasn’t saying anything.

And then, as if he felt her looking, he glanced over. The impact was immediate and deeply inconvenient.

Heat flared along her skin in a way that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. It started somewhere near the base of her neck and spread downward in a warm rush that sent her thoughts scattering like startled birds.

It was ridiculous. He wasn’t even touching her. Hell, he was just standing nearby.

And yet every time he drifted within arm’s reach, her body reacted like someone had quietly turned up the temperature in the entire park.

Her pulse jumped.

Her stomach flipped again.