Luke went to grab the notebook, and the baby dragon growled, biting down harder as Luke pulled. The baby dragon’s wings flapped in the air as it tried to fly away, tugging Luke forward a step.
Laughter bubbled up in Emmeline’s chest, and she covered her mouth with her hand, watching as Luke fought with an adorable and hungry baby dragon.
Eventually, the baby’s rider caught wind, and she rushed over, scolding her pet.
“I’m so sorry!” she said to Luke, pulling the notebook from the baby dragon’s mouth. The damage wasn’t catastrophic, but one side was soggy with drool. Luke gave the woman a weak smile, and she grabbed her baby dragon, scolding it as she walked away.
Once she was gone, Luke made a face. Emmeline snickered.
“Eugh,” he said, gingerly holding the other end of the notebook. He opened the flap, then paused. “What the hell is this?”
Her mirth quickly disappeared. Even from here, she could see an oil stain, left behind by the fried bitter gourds.
As if sensing Emmeline’s meddling, Luke snapped his head around to look at her. She avoided his gaze, though not before she saw his eyes flash. Her heart rate spiked in response.
Turning on her heels with a little yelp, she walked in the opposite direction, but she hardly made it two feet before she felt his hand on her wrist.
With a firm tug, he had her spinning toward him, colliding into his chest before she knew what was happening. Eyes wide, she placed her hand against his chest for balance, inhaling the scent of cypress and spruce from his skin.
“What the f—” she began, then stopped as his gaze went to the side, to where he was holding up her other hand. The words died on her lips as the damning evidence was clear for both of them to see: her stained fingers.
Luke raised a brow. Emmeline was momentarily disarmed.
There was no point denying it now, but that wasn’t the reason it felt like the ground was quivering beneath her feet. His thumb was pressed against her pulse, and she wondered if he could feel it quicken beneath his touch.
A thrill shot through her to have him so near.
“Seriously?” he asked, vexed, and she tried to recall what all of this had been for. She lifted her chin.
“That was for all that drama with the file,” she said.
His eyes flashed, the irritation giving way to something else. His grip on her wrist loosened, but he didn’t let go of her just yet, and she didn’t pull away. He was assessing her carefully, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Don’t mess with me,” she said, trying to sound threatening, but the words hardly came out as confidently as she wanted them to.
He continued looking at her. “Why is winning so important to you?” he finally asked.
Was he being genuine in his curiosity?
“Why does it matter?” she replied, hesitating.
As if sensing her thoughts, he dropped her hand, shrugging. “You’re a determined person. I just want to know what drives you.”
She wasn’t sure what compelled her to respond; she could have easily walked away. Maybe it was the tenderness in his brown eyes, or maybe she was too tired to resist today.
Her gaze jumped away from him. “I don’t lose,” she said. “I make sure of it.”
Though her stomach was in knots, she forced herself to look at him. “I’m the oldest,” she explained. “Then it’s my sister, then my two brothers, who are six and seven years younger. I’ve always been the one who looked out for everyone else. And to do that, I have to be on top of things, to make sure everything goes according to plan.”
Luke made a pensive sound, listening. It was a little strange to talk like this; she was so used to being the one who listened. With her family, she was the one in the background, but with him, she felt as if she had been brought into focus.
It would have been easy to end the conversation there, but there was a feeling of something loosening in her chest. His gaze on her was intense, and she continued, the words spilling out.
“Things are a bit complicated with my mom,” she said, swallowing. “We get along, and I love her, but she can put a lot of pressure on me, which then makes me put a lot of pressure on myself—” Luke’s brows furrowed, and she quickly corrected. “But it’s not a bad thing! It’s what pushes me to succeed.”
“Success is good,” Luke agreed, “but there’s nothing wrong with failure.”
She had an immediate reaction to that, her nose wrinkling with her elaborate nose-ring, and his lips twitched.
