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"Hey boss!" The gruff call down the hallway was too terse to ignore.
Both dragons traded a glance and left the office. "What?"
If the bouncer was surprised to see Rafael as well as Lance, he didn’t show it. "Sophia’s ex showed up. She pulled him into the back lounge, but I can hear them from the front door."
Raf sighed. Just when he’d thought they might have gotten somewhere on the topic of relationships. Maybe Lance was right. "Sounds like you’re on. You want backup?"
Lance was already halfway across the room. "We’ll be fine. It’s hardly the first scuffle back there." Raf watched as his friend bounced his shoulders a couple times, loosening up as if he was expecting a fight. Not that many were stupid enough to take a swing at a dragon, but it had happened accidentally when Lance waded into something. He was the unofficial Denver peacekeeper, a role that he played to perfection. Not for the first time, Rafael wondered if it would be of use to try and make some kind of official leadership. Lance or not, it might prevent some of the territory wars to have a dragon or other large creature as a mediator.
He tucked away the thought for some later time when he wasn’t so stressed and returned to finish his task.
Chapter 6 - Ashley
"Ashley?" The voice at her office door made her turn, finding her friend and coworker, Miriam.
"Hmm?" She was embarrassed to realize she’d been staring into space. Her thoughts hadn’t gone tohimspecifically, but knowing that her dreams usually did made any zoning out counterproductive. How many times did she have to remember his touch? And in the worst possible places, too, like a crowded conference room.
"Marshall’s team is here. You ready to go through the plan of attack?" Only the faintest crinkles around Miriam’s eyes suggested she had thoughts about Ashley’s obvious distraction. Likely she would have a lot to say over lunch later, but their personal lives stayed out of the office.
Shit. How long had she been staring into space? "Uh, give me a moment to collect my things."
A giggle from her friend was quickly stifled—heaven forbid their boss think they were having fun—but Miri just nodded. She glanced over her shoulder and then entered the office, letting the door fall shut quietly. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" Very eloquent.
"You’ve been working non-stop lately. I know you love work, but running full-steam for a couple of weeks of twelve-plus hour days is a bit much, even for you." Miriam frowned, all humor from the moment before forgotten. "Did something happen?"
Ashley leaned her elbows on her desk and put her face in her hands. She had been working harder than usual, but she needed to fill her time so she stopped thinking about a certain someone. She reluctantly looked back up at Miriam. "I didn’t realize it was that obvious."
"To someone else? It’s probably not." Her friend shrugged. "I know you better than that. You’ve pulled long days when we’re right up against a deadline, but this case only started a week and a half ago, after you finished the paperwork for the last one. You don’t need that kind of hourly investment to be ready for this meeting today."
It was all very true, and Ashley didn’t have a good excuse not to tell her good friend, even if she’d been avoiding the subject ever since her fling with Raf.Dammit, Ash, don’t even think his name."I’m just having a bit of a rough patch."
"Uh huh." The neutral noise spoke volumes.
Ashley sighed. "No personal life in the office, remember?"
Her friend’s eyes immediately sparkled with renewed interest. "It’s already affecting your work life, Ash. What’s going on?"
Ashley hesitated. If her boss found out she’d slept with the CEO of one of the companies involved in a sale, she’d be fired on the spot, even if it was technically after the job was done. "I’ll tell you everything at lunch, but the short version is I had a one-night stand, and it kinda reminded me just how little social life I have." She shrugged, trying to appear unaffected. "I guess I’m just lonely. It’s not like I can meet someone with this job. Especially after The Bastard." They had ceased mentioning her ex’s name when it only made her angry.
Miriam nodded agreement, but there was more going on behind her concerned blue eyes. "Who was he?"
Ashley’s mouth snapped shut when his name was on the tip of her tongue. "At lunch."
Since there was really only one reason she wouldn’t say, Miriam was understandably shocked; she stared, eyes wide and mouth gaping open, before she caught herself. "Fine, but now you owe me every detail. I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me."
With a wince, Ashley pasted on a smile. "I’m sorry. I just liked hearing all your happy stories lately. I didn’t want to ruin it with my moping."
"Hey, it’s not moping. We all feel lonely now and again. Don’t be so hard on yourself."
Maybe that was true, but Ashley hadn’t had a problem with it until recently. It had something to do with how Rafael had made her feel—his care and attention had felt like he cherished her, and it had been a long time since anyone had looked at her like she was that special. Even if he’d only been worshipping her body, there was a connection beyond that she couldn’t really explain except that on some drunken level they’d been kindred spirits for a beautiful moment. Most of her dreams had her back in his bed, waking up only to realize it was just a figment of her imagination. Once she’d even dreamed about making breakfast with Raf for a couple kids that looked just like him. She had no idea where that had come from. It had been the last straw; she refused to consciously spend time thinking about him—whether her subconscious had another agenda or not.
"Meeting, Ash."
Ashley blushed when her friend had to distract her from her thoughts—again. "I’m coming."
Miriam smirked before turning to leave. "I’ll offer him coffee. Get moving, sister."
