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His inner beast growled. Liar.
Ignoring his dragon, Bram shuttered his face, hugged Murray closer to his chest, and motioned with his head. His voice was full of dominance when he said, “I have the necessary paperwork inside. Follow me.”
He turned without another word. The sooner he finished this interview, the sooner the DDA inspector could leave and become some other male’s problem.
~~~
As Stonefire’s leader turned his yummy broad back and walked away, Evie felt her temper creeping up. The man hadn’t even so much as said hello, let alone asked for her name.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he was pulling his dragon-shifter dominance shit on her.
She clenched a fist at her side and tried counting down from ten. If she couldn’t calm herself the hell down, she would have zero chance of getting into this dragon-shifter’s bed, let alone convincing him to allow her to live with Clan Stonefire.
Taking a deep breath, she followed Bram inside his cottage to the desk at the far side of the room. He picked up a manila folder and held it out just as the baby in his other arm started slapping the dragonman’s chest. He jostled the boy as he said, “You’ll find everything inside is in order.”
Even with a baby in his arms, the man was all business. She wondered if her earlier once-over had affected him at all.
Bram was going to be a tough bastard to crack.
Evie forced a smile and was careful to sway her hips as she crossed the few steps between them. She felt a little silly as she never walked this way normally, but as the dragonman’s eyes flickered down to her hips and back to her face, she resisted a triumphant smile. Maybe he wasn’t as indifferent as he’d made himself out to be.
The small win cooled her temper. When she reached out to take the folder, she was careful to brush her hand against Bram’s. She knew full well this was all an act, but his hand was rough and warm to the touch and she wondered what his strong hands could do to a woman when she was naked and beneath him.
Wait, where the hell had that come from? She’d never had such thoughts around Skyhunter’s clan leader, and they’d even shaken hands a few times. Evie would just need to be careful. She wasn’t here to fancy the man. She was here to ensure her future and her safety.
Careful to keep her seductress mask in place, she purred, “Thank you.”
The dragonman’s jaw tightened and he moved away from her to sit behind his desk.
Okay, despite all the online articles saying men loved that kind of husky, low voice, Bram clearly didn’t. I’ll just mark it off my list of things to try, no worries. I have loads of other tips.
As he turned the baby in his lap, he motioned for her to take a seat. Once she sat down, she opened the folder and did a quick sweep, but everything looked filled out correctly. Closing the folder, she eyed the baby bouncing on Bram’s leg for a second before she asked in a more usual voice, “Is that Caitriona Belmont’s son?”
“Yes, this is wee Murray.”
The way the dragon-shifter leader looked down at the little baby boy, full of love and even hope, warmed her heart. Somehow, some way, she needed to find a way to get him to relax like that with her. Only then would she have a chance of seducing him.
Realizing she’d been staring for a few seconds, Evie crossed her legs and leaned forward. While her attire wasn’t tart-worthy, she’d unbuttoned a few buttons of her blouse to allow a small glimpse of skin and a tease of what cleavage she had. Bram’s eyes did dip down for a second, but then his expression turned back into the hard one from his greeting at the door.
This dragonman was more resistant to her act than she liked. From his glances to various parts of her body, she had a feeling he was attracted to her, but her current techniques weren’t working.
Since Bram responded better to her business tone, she continued in it. “Your latest report to the DDA says the boy is still being fostered between several clan members. When will you have a permanent home for him?”
The dragonman’s eyes turned hard. “As you can see, the boy is happy. When I find the right family for him, then he’ll have a permanent home, not before.”
She didn’t like his dominant tone, but she was experienced enough to keep her voice level. “The contracts signed between you and the late Caitriona Belmont clearly stipulates that in the event of her death, you have six months to place the baby in a permanent home or we will assign him one. It’s been five months already, so time is running out.”
Bram hugged the baby close and Murray stopped moving to stare up at Stonefire’s leader. Bram’s voice was as dominant as ever when he replied, “Maybe you should remember we’re living beings with feelings too. Would you want your child fostered to a random person or placed with someone who will love him or her?”
Evie resisted a frown. “Of course you have feelings. I never claimed otherwise. Now who’s being judgmental?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Evie regretted them. Somewhere between the door and this moment, she’d fallen on her DDA training instead
of her supposed seductress persona.
Shit. She might’ve just bollixed this up.
Bram silently stared at her until little Murray started crying. He broke her gaze to look at the boy as he said in a gentle tone, “Sssh, lad. Nothing is amiss.” The boy’s cry increased in volume and Bram looked back to her, his expression once again neutral. “I need to see to Murray’s care. We’ll continue this discussion tonight over dinner. Dacian will escort you back here around seven p.m. and you can report to me what you find today.”
