I nodded. “So did Jury, but it worked out. This is different, though. She doesn’t like me. At all. And she’s not the same sort of person I am. She’s kind of mean.”
Dad laughed, but it sounded sad. “Sometimes people come across in ways they don’t intend, then when you get to know them, you find they’re not at all who you think they are. First impressions can be pretty rough.”
He pressed a few buttons on the computer keyboard and shut the laptop. “Give it some more time. Maybe she’ll surprise you, or you’ll surprise yourself. And most of all, you have got to learn to trust Artemis. He won’t lead you wrong. It’s been my experience our dragons know far more than they let on to us.”
I loved my dad. He normally had great advice. Finding him again had been the best thing that could’ve happened to me and Mom. But this time, he was far off the mark. Artemis just had some sort of obsession for her scent or something.
Putting some distance between us was the answer. It would help both Artemis and me get over whatever it was that made Bethany seem so attractive. She was a beautiful woman, sure, but there were lots of beautiful women in the world. She wasn’t special.
I’d convince myself of that because Artemis was wrong. Bethany wasn’t our fated mate.
7
Bethany
By the time Thursday rolled around, I’d had enough. Taking the rest of the week off seemed more and more attractive. Potential properties were nonexistent, my paperwork was caught up, and Kara had her maintenance that she didn’t need any help from me to do.
I wasn’t even sure she had any to do anyway. A tap on my office door was all it took for me to close my laptop and sigh. “Come in.”
It was Kara. “I was just thinking about you,” I said. “Do you have anything for me?”
She shook her head and plopped down. “No, after dealing with Andrew Hamilton’s eviction yesterday, I’m taking the weekend off. I’ll deal with any emergency calls if they come in.”
I let my body go limp in the chair and hung my head back. “Andrew Hamilton was a nightmare. Thanks for your help with it. Anything happen I need to know?”
“Sure,” she said. She’d gone over and supervised the movers to make sure nothing had gone wrong. “Andrew showed up with Jury Kingston and they walked through the house. Andrew pointed out places he said were damaged before he moved in, trying to make it so we have to give his damage deposit back.”
I lifted my head and stared at her. “You’re joking. Does he think he’s getting it back? It goes to cover damages, sure, but it’s already gone toward back rent owed.”
She shrugged. “He seems unaware of that fact.”
The urge to scream rose in my throat. “I put it in his lease agreement and eviction notice!”
Kara gave me a rueful smile. “He said something about you calling the police on him?”
That asshole. I’d given him chance after chance to make it right or try to catch up on his rent. He hadn’t given me a penny in months. “No, I didn’t. One of the neighbors did because he was screaming at me.”
Her eyes went wide. “What? Why didn’t you call me?”
I chuckled. Kara was so tough. In her line of work, she had to be. Talk about a male-dominated industry. “Maddox showed up.”
She sat up straight. “No. What happened?”
I explained the encounter. The more I told her, the more she winced. “What did you say?” she asked after I finished explaining how he’d tried to tell me how to be secure, then backpedaled.
“Nothing,” I said. “I stared at him until he went around the corner of the house, then went inside.”
“After the bar, that had to have been awkward, but you may have been a little hard.” She waited for my reply.
“How so? He keeps butting into my business,” I said. “Every time I turn around, there he is.”
Kara wasn’t buying my excuse. “This time wasn’t his fault. Someone called him, right?”
I nodded. My elderly neighbor had. “Yeah.”
“Cut the guy some slack. He obviously has a thing for you.” She shrugged. “He’s so hot, he’s probably not used to a female that doesn’t fall all over him.”
I snorted. “I bet you’re right. He’s hot and popular, but he’s not smooth. I bet he’s never had to be suave a day in his life.”
We both lost ourselves to giggles for a few minutes. “Anyway, Andrew is out of my rental and our lives, thank goodness. And the Maddox thing was weird, but it’s over now.”
She shook her head. “I’m not so sure. I bet he’ll try again.”
“No way.” I laughed and neatened up my desk. “He’s got the picture now.”
“Long weekend?” she asked and eyed my hands as they moved around the desk, cleaning up what little I’d been able to make myself work on.
“Yep. I’m going to find some fun stuff to do with Tiff and get my mind off all this. It’s stress I don’t need.”
She grinned. “That sounds perfect. I’m taking one myself, provided nothing crazy happens.” She blushed and ducked her head. “I’ve got a date.”
My jaw dropped. “Why didn’t you lead with that?” I asked. “Dish!”
She told me about meeting the guy at the hardware store in town. I didn’t recognize his name. “If it goes well, I’ll come over and share a glass of wine to tell you all about it.”
I put my laptop in the drawer and stood, happy for her. Just because I didn’t want to date didn’t mean I wasn’t excited for my friend. Kara was the sweetest and deserved a great guy who would treat her well. “Awesome. Let’s get to it.”
We said goodbye in the driveway and parted ways. She walked to the rental house she lived in, not far from the house Andrew had vacated. She got free rent; I got
