Her Dragon Destiny
Black Claw Dragons: Book 5
Roxie Ray
Contents
1. Bethany
2. Maddox
3. Bethany
4. Maddox
5. Bethany
6. Maddox
7. Bethany
8. Maddox
9. Bethany
10. Maddox
11. Bethany
12. Maddox
13. Bethany
14. Maddox
15. Bethany
16. Maddox
17. Bethany
18. Maddox
19. Bethany
20. Maddox
21. Bethany
22. Maddox
23. Bethany
24. Maddox
25. Rico
Her Dragon Rebel
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Her Dragon Destiny
1
Bethany
Not for the first time, or even the second or third, I wished Kyle was here to help me make this decision. These houses were little goldmines, but it wasn’t easy to know which ones were worth the time and energy.
Kyle always knew. From the first house we flipped, left to me by my grandparents, he’d had a knack for knowing which ones had strong bones and which ones would be more trouble than they were worth.
This one had been abandoned long ago. The longer a house went empty, the harder it was to bring back to life. Kyle had taught me that. He’d taught me so many things.
When my grandparents died and left me their swath of land—and the aging rental properties on them—my best friend Kyle had helped me figure out how to turn it into a thriving business. He’d been by my side, my closest confidante and advisor, since we were both kids.
But he was gone, and I still had a business to run. The rental properties were great income, but I didn’t want to stop flipping. I’d been very lucky to find a contractor that I trusted to give me a fair, honest rate, as well as her opinions, without inflating numbers or padding her pockets.
But this morning, Kara had to go to one of the rentals to fix a leaking dishwasher and hadn’t been able to come to look at the property. Instead, I took lots of pictures and notes, trying to remember everything Kyle had taught me, as well as filling out a checklist Kara had made for me and measuring everything. Then I measured it twice. Cut once, measure twice. Another lesson from Kyle.
If Kara liked my notes, we’d schedule a time with the property owner to get even more in-depth with the inspection.
I loved this part of the job. It was dusty and dirty and usually stinky. There were bugs and mud and mold. And yet, finding a house that was all of the above, yet could be brought back and rented to someone who needed a nice place to live at a fair price, or sold to someone who wanted an updated home without going through renovations themselves... That was truly the best part of the job.
Hopefully, Kara would be at the office when I returned so we could go over this data together. I had to make an offer on the house in a hurry. I wasn’t the only flipper in the area, and it was a pretty stiff competition. The house had only been on the market for a day, so I hoped to seal the deal before the other guys even saw it.
It was hard enough to be the only female flipper in the area. Nobody trusted me to do the job right. Nobody’d ever questioned Kyle about his expertise, of course. Part of the knocks of being a woman in a world that was largely dominated by men.
But I’d maximized the potential of the property my grandparents left me. It was time to branch out.
After slipping the key back into the hiding spot, I hurried to my car once I was sure I had all the info I needed. The owner had trusted me to inspect the property on my own, which was nice. That was one of the few perks about being a woman. They didn’t trust me to do a good job, but they didn’t suspect me of duplicity, either.
Not that I would’ve ever cheated anyone. I’d been trying to build a reputation of being fair and honest. So far, so good. All it took was being fair and honest. Funny how that worked.
The property was just a few minutes from my home and office, so I beat Kara there. But I hadn’t even had time to get my computer fired up when she walked in the door. My office was my favorite part of the house. It was full of plants and had a small fountain. I had my desk there, seats for anyone that I might need to have a meeting with, and a small area in the corner for my daughter to play in so she didn’t get all up in Mommy’s biz.
Kara sauntered in with a big smile on her face. “I got something for you.”
Her body language was way too excited, so I sat up tall in my chair. “I love presents,” I said. “What’d you get me?”
She pulled out a wooden sign with “Mom--Boss--CEO” hand-lettered on it.
I squealed and jumped up. “I love it!”
Kara had a hammer and nail in her hand, brought from her truck and ready to hang my new sign. I looked around and pointed to the spot I wanted it and beamed as she hung it. “That’s amazing,” I said. “Thank you.”
She winked and plopped down in the plush chair across from my desk. “How was your date?”
My jaw dropped. I’d forgotten all about it. It had been such a weird experience that I’d brushed it off and hadn’t given it another thought. Even when my mind drifted to it, I’d pushed it away and ignored it, purposefully not thinking about the date.
“I don’t even know how to describe it. It was the most bizarre thing ever,” I explained. “Harry, my date, and I had a nice time at the restaurant. So nice, we decided to go for ice cream.”
Kara nodded eagerly. “Did he eat it off of your belly?”
What was it with my friends? My other friend, Abby, had said something of the same ilk. “No,” I exclaimed. “Though, I did consider it. I wasn’t ready for that. Not on
