How to Date a Dragon

“I haven’t had a chance to finish it yet, but yeah, it will. With the fire and trying to stay as far away from my parents as I can and still live there…”

“I understand. Hopefully you can find your own place soon.”

The phone rang and Bliss stiffened. It might be Claudia’s concierge alerting her to the presence of a certain hottie in her lobby.

Claudia strode into her living room and answered it. Bliss followed her, and by the short conversation, she knew Drake was here and waiting for her.

Smiling, Claudia hung up the phone. “It’s go time. Have fun tonight.”

Bliss took a deep breath. “If I can just keep myself from fawning all over him, I should be all right.”

Claudia laughed. “When have you ever fawned over anybody?”

“You’re right. I should probably worry more about insulting him and pushing him away.”

“Is that why you do it?”

Bliss gasped. “Hell, no. I just do it to be funny. I’m always surprised when people actually take offense.”

“Well, behave yourself. You don’t want to push this one away.”

“And now I’m nervous again.”

* * *

As soon as the waiter finished taking their orders, Bliss gazed at Drake with her big, brown eyes. “I’m curious about something.”

“What’s that?” Uh-oh. Is she going to bring up what she saw through the smoke?

“Something your firefighting buddy Benjamin said.”

“Oh, no. What did he say?”

“He didn’t say anything bad about you or anything. I just heard him yell over to the chief, ‘That’s the girl he’s been looking for.’”

Busted. Drake grinned. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He reached across the intimate table for two and took her hand. “That clever card… No one has given me anything like that before.”

“Really? I should imagine you’ve had any number of girlfriends in the past.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder in a sexy, flirty gesture. “None of them ever gave you a card?”

She has no idea how hard it is for a dragon to date. “Not made especially for me. I probably received a card on my birthday but nothing memorable like that.”

Bliss smiled. “Well, I’m glad I did something memorable.”

“I would have remembered you anyway.”

“Why? I’m sure I’m not the only single woman you’ve carried out of a burning building.”

“You’re the most beautiful.”

Bliss’s olive complexion deepened with a slight flush of red and she dropped her gaze to her lap.

“I hope one little compliment didn’t embarrass you. I might want to give you more sometime.”

She chuckled. “No. I’m not embarrassed. Just not used to it.”

“Seriously? You must have been dating morons. I’m told women need to hear how beautiful they are every now and then.”

She was quiet for a moment. “How do you do it every day?”

“Do what?” Drake asked.

“Run into burning buildings. I’ve had nightmares about being trapped in another one ever since the fire.”

“Ah, you’re changing the subject.” Drake chuckled. “Well, first of all, it doesn’t happen every day.”

“Thank goodness. But why doesn’t it bother you? You seemed perfectly comfortable in the middle of it. You were even joking with me.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “I had protective gear. You didn’t.”

“It wasn’t just that,” Bliss said.

“I’m used to it, I guess. Although I’ve heard that lots of guys have dreams of fires and being trapped, especially in the beginning of their careers.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Is there anything that can be done about it?”

“Are you asking if there’s something you can do about your nightmares?”

“Maybe. I imagine it will fade, but now I jump whenever I hear a siren. The other day when I was looking at apartments and heard the fire alarm… even though I was in a different building altogether, I had to get outside. I never followed up on the apartment, either. It was too close to that stupid school.”

“I think that’s natural. Do you have claustrophobia?”

“No. At least I didn’t. Don’t tell me I’m going to develop it now.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Probably not. I just wondered if you had it and that might have contributed to your need to get outside.”

“I think it had more to do with how close together buildings are in this city. When one lights up, I’ll bet a whole block could go.”

“Not if we get there quickly enough. That’s part of the job… to keep fires from spreading.”

She was quiet for another moment. “What’s the safest type of building to live in?”

“You mean like brick or concrete, as opposed to wood?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, naturally wood is more flammable than brick or concrete. But your best bet is to have neighbors who don’t smoke or cook or let their children play with matches.”

Bliss rolled her eyes. “Oh sure. That’s practical.”

He grinned again. Bliss was beginning to love that grin. Drake certainly was a charmer. Even if he isn’t my future husband, he’d be great to practice on.

At that moment, she thought she saw his eyes glow. They were a golden color but had been green a moment before.

“Are—are you all right?”

He leaned away from her and straightened. “What do you mean?”

“Your eyes. They took on this gold glow for a second.”

He hesitated a moment, then chuckled. “It must have been the reflection of the candlelight.”

“Oh. Of course.” She felt like an idiot. Get it together, Bliss. You don’t want him to think you’ve lost your mind, even if you have.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem to think it was worth dwelling on. “So, how’s your house hunt going? Any other prospects?”

“I may have found a place on Michelangelo Street. I’m just waiting for my application to be approved.”

“That’s a great neighborhood. I love the North End.”

“At least it’s Italian. Mama will be happy. A lot of younger people are moving there now, so I’ll be happy too.”

“We’ll have to try out some of the restaurants in the area.”

Yay! Second date talk. “I’d like that.” She couldn’t help smiling.

“So, tell me about the apartment.”

“It’s small. Tiny, really.”

“A studio?”

“No. One bedroom. I don’t think I could handle a bed in my living space.”

“I have a studio. The high ceilings make it feel bigger, and during the day I have more square footage because I built a Murphy bed in the corner.”

“That’s the thing that folds up into the wall, right?”

“Exactly. And I built a desk into the underside so when I flip it up to put the bed away, I can simply unhook the desk and it folds down.”

“You sound pretty handy.”

“I like to work with my hands.”