married off and living in the suburbs.”
“Oh, boy. I don’t envy you, but at least your parents aren’t stuck on the idea of your marrying a rich guy.”
“Seriously? Yours are like that? Do they know what you do?”
Claudia laughed. “They know I work on Beacon Hill, but they don’t know I manage a bar. If they did, they’d have a fit. I’m supposed to be rubbing elbows with Boston’s elite.”
“What do they think you do?”
“All they know is that I got my MBA and I manage a small independent company on Charles Street. Technically, that’s true, so if you ever see them, don’t mention the bar. Actually, the less said about my job, the better.”
“You completed your business degree? I thought you still had another semester to go.”
“I finished it in December.”
“Congrats. So, are you looking for a better job?”
“Nope.”
Her friend confused her sometimes, but Bliss had other things to think about right now. “Unfortunately, if I go back home, I can look forward to a lot of arranged, so-called accidental meetings with eligible young men. My parents will want him to be Italian so they can have a whole passel of
“With a name like Cameron, it sounds like your hero might be Irish,” Claudia said.
“Or Scottish. I think I remember seeing a Cameron clan wearing their tartan kilts at that Highland Games thing we went to.”
“Oh, yeah. Who could forget those sexy kilts?” Claudia waggled her eyebrows. “So… what does your guy look like?”
“Tall, about six feet. Rugged, great firm ass, green eyes, and hair that’s hard to describe. It’s not blond or red. It’s kind of sandy or light brown with actual yellow streaks. Not highlights like you see on other people. I’m talking about a primary color in half- or quarter-inch stripes.”
“Interesting… What else?”
“He has a side part and it’s long in the front—right to his eyebrows. It kind of angles across his forehead. All shaggy and sexy.” She sighed.
“He sounds like a hunk.”
“Yeah, and if you ever see him, keep your mitts off. He’s mine.”
“I wouldn’t dream of horning in on your territory. You might bite.”
Bliss smiled, at last. “Or tell you to bite
The more Bliss thought about it, the more she liked the idea of making a card for the handsome firefighter. It
“Claudia, can I borrow your computer, printer, and some card stock?”
“Sure. You can use my photos too if you want.”
“You’re sweet, but I have a design in my head that I can draw. I’d make the whole thing with a pen, but my handwriting is terrible and I want him to be able to read it.”
“Okay, I’ll give you the necessary stuff and turn on the printer. As for card stock, I happen to have some with matching envelopes. It’s plain white. Is that okay?”
“That’s perfect.”
Drake plopped into his desk chair and powered up his computer.
“Well, I have plenty of time on my hands. Let’s see what kind of trouble I can get into here,” he muttered to himself.
Holding the lovely brunette had reminded him of something he’d been meaning to investigate. Dating websites. That had been on Drake’s to-do list for a while. He craved some kind of company, specifically of the female variety, and loneliness had been setting in big time. The death of his last known relative had made him feel adrift in an aloof sea.
Unfortunately, his mother would never see her fondest wish come true. She had always wanted him to find a nice female dragon, settle down, and continue the species.
He was the last of his line now, and finding another clan had proven nearly impossible. There was an Asian clan in San Francisco, but they had made it clear East Coast dragons weren’t welcome.
His uncle had missed the family fortune and power so much, he’d decided to recreate it quickly in any way he could. Loan sharking, running guns, selling drugs to kids. Drake had not only walked away from one fortune, but two. The lair where his family had kept their treasure had caved in at about the same time they had to flee Britain. He wondered if his uncle had something to do with that.
When Drake discovered how his uncle “earned” his new money, he refused to have anything to do with the older dragon. His elder didn’t appreciate being judged but gave Drake a chance to reconsider and join the “family business.” Drake’s principles won out and he packed his bags.
He had originally moved to Boston because he’d heard about a female dragon and a paranormal bar here. Even though the dragon was a prostitute, he was willing to give it a go. He’d do just about anything to honor his dear mother’s wishes. Unfortunately, by the time he acted on the information and found Boston Uncommon, the female had gone home to San Francisco. The guys at the bar said something about all being forgiven and Lily being in her family’s embrace again. Nice for Lily. Not so much for him… and the species.
The only problem with a human hookup was that sometimes during sex, if he overheated before he finished “blowing off steam,” so to speak, his eyes glowed and his skin toughened into hard scales. He could even develop claws, all of which signified a shift he might not be able to stop. A couple of close calls with former female companions had told him he’d have to find someone who could accept him
He was fairly sure the young woman whose life and business he had saved saw his alternate form, yet she didn’t faint or scream. Perhaps it was the
If only the chief hadn’t had such a need to rip him a new one right then and there, he’d have pursued her. Now she was gone.
He typed in his password to access the dating site and tried to think of some cryptic way to describe himself and what he was looking for that would attract another dragon—or someone who was dragon-tolerant.
Why, oh why didn’t dragons have their own dating site? He snorted to himself and a slight curl of smoke exited his nostrils.
If dragons were open about their alternate identities, he might be able to find more, but “coming out of the cave” was forbidden. Humans would fear them. Fear leads to hate, and hate leads to discrimination—or worse, annihilation. No. He was stuck. There
He sighed and scanned a few profiles.
His paternal grandparents had moved to Nova Scotia from Scotland when his father was a wee lad. He
