How to Date a Dragon

“Ask her.”

Bliss thought she saw Claudia smirk. What’s that about?

“Okay,” Wendy said, unfazed. “Are you ready, Bliss?”

Bliss pulled the order pad from her apron pocket. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

* * *

A couple hours later, out of the corner of her eye, Bliss caught Claudia exiting her office with someone else. She led him right over to where Bliss was wiping down a table.

“Bliss, this is Anthony,” Claudia said.

The tall, dark, and impossibly handsome man scrutinized her with such an intense stare, Bliss trembled inside.

Reverting to her old, flippant coping mechanism, she said, “Yo, Tony. How you doin’?”

His eyebrows shot up. Claudia gaped at her friend, and the activity near them ceased while people listened to the uncomfortable exchange.

“Um… Bliss,” Claudia whispered, “no one calls him Tony.”

“Oh.” She wanted to slink off into a safe corner and give herself a time-out.

At last one side of Anthony’s mouth turned up. “I’m ‘doin’’ well, thank you. And how you doin’?”

She didn’t miss the mimicry and probably deserved it. Still, the fact that he went along with her Italian- American slang made her feel better somehow. If he was comfortable teasing his employees a little bit, maybe he wasn’t the stick-in-the-mud Claudia had made him out to be.

After a deep breath, she said, “I’m quite well, thank you. And I want you to know how much I appreciate the job and apartment.”

He nodded but made no comment. Focusing on Claudia, he said, “Can I see you in the office, please?”

Oh, shit. Claudia’s probably in trouble with the owner for hiring me.

“Of course.” Claudia followed Anthony to the small office where Bliss had changed into her uniform. She glanced over her shoulder and sent Bliss a wink.

Whew. She doesn’t seem worried, so maybe she’s right and he just appears intimidating. Bliss let out a deep breath. She couldn’t afford to be shit-canned. At least not until she got her Hall-Snark cards back on line—but not online. There had to be a better way to protect her grand finale.

Wendy bounded over to her. “Did you just call him Tony?”

No sense denying it with half a dozen witnesses. “Yeah. And I’m afraid I said, ‘Yo’ too.”

Wendy giggled. “That’s funny.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just is.”

With that, she skipped off to the bar to give Angie her orders.

Bliss noticed Sadie smiling at her. Maybe she’d tell her if the owner was really the pussycat Claudia indicated he was, or if she’d completely blown her chance to make a good first impression.

Bliss made her way around the tables to Sadie’s booth. The woman continued shuffling her tarot cards even as she smiled up at her.

“Um, Sadie. Did I do something terribly wrong by calling your nephew Tony? Does he hate that nickname or something?”

She chuckled. “No, dear. You’re fine. I think you just surprised him. He isn’t used to employees being comfortable around him. At least not right away. I think you made a good first impression.”

“Seriously? I was already looking for another job in my head.”

Sadie laughed melodiously. “Don’t you go anywhere. You’re a breath of fresh air around here.” Then she held up her empty glass.

“Ah, I see you need a refill.”

Sadie grinned. “I see I’m not the only psychic here.”

Bliss smirked. Psychic. Really? “What are you drinking?”

“White Russians, dear. Always White Russians.”

“Okay. In that case, I won’t ask you in the future. But if you change your mind and decide you want something else…”

“I won’t.” Sadie stated it so matter-of-factly, Bliss couldn’t help wonder what was so special about that drink. Maybe she just knows what she likes.

Bliss was about to go put in the order when Sadie said, “Oh, and dear…”

“Yes?”

“Be careful of Drake.”

“Huh?” Drake hadn’t even visited the bar while she’d been working. “How do you know about Drake and me?”

“I know a lot of things.” Sadie spread the cards across the table. “Turn one over.”

Bliss took a step back. “I—uh, I don’t believe in letting tarot cards tell me what to do.”

Sadie snorted. “The cards don’t tell you what to do. They give you insight so you can use your free will accordingly.”

Claudia said to keep her happy. “Okaaay.” Bliss reached for the card closest to her and flipped it over.

It was a picture of two chalices and two people, or more accurately, a mermaid and a guy with a trident and a fishtail. Maybe Poseidon. It was kind of hard to see it at first, because Bliss was looking at it upside down.

Sadie smiled. “Well, it’s better news than I thought.”

Bliss waited quietly, not wanting to tell the old woman what she really thought of this hooey.

“It appears you’ve met your mate, but there may be some obstacle in the way. Don’t worry. It’s temporary.”

“What do you mean? What’s temporary?”

“Pull another card, dear.”

Bliss did as she was asked. This time she reached for one in the middle of the deck that was sticking out a bit farther than the rest, almost begging her to take it.

The card read Strength in large letters, and it depicted a woman with a lion.

Sadie nodded. “As I thought… you will be facing some kind of formidable foe, and you may have to fight for what you want, but if you choose to do so, you will prevail.”

Forgetting about playing nice with the overconfident so-called psychic, Bliss said, “You’re not telling me anything specific. I can make that true about a few different things in my life right now. What does this have to do with Drake?”

“Earlier, when I looked at you, I had a vision of Drake standing beside you. I knew you two were connected in some way, but I’m guessing the relationship is very new.”

A vision? The woman has visions?

Without waiting for confirmation, Sadie continued. “I’d say the cards are giving you the go-ahead, but I wouldn’t expect it to be all smooth sailing.”

Bliss smirked. “I’ve never heard of a relationship that was easy-breezy all of the time.”

“Good. Then you won’t presume it to be.”

Bliss didn’t know if she was any better informed now than she had been five minutes ago. What had she really learned? That the owner’s aunt thinks she has visions. She somehow put Drake and Bliss together as a couple, and… and what? Their relationship would have the usual ups and downs of any other relationship? A big, fat “So what?” formed in her mind, but she kept her mouth shut.

“Well, um… thanks for the advice.”

“You’re welcome, but I didn’t give you any advice.”

She didn’t? Bliss thought back to what she’d been told. The woman had simply shared what she saw, but she never did tell Bliss what to do about any of it.

“Hmmm… Well, it was interesting, nonetheless. I’d better get back to work. Even I