“You mean he can’t sing? I figured with that name—”
“Are you judging him based on hisname? Really,Uriel?”
“Oh come on. He should be on one of those nighttime soaps everyone used to love.Javier McLeod.” Uriel did his best impression from one of the cliffhanger pre-commercial scenes, including the dramatic gasp and head tilt. “Besides, I’m named after an angel.”
“Uriel’s always the bad guy.”
Uriel gasped. “That’s not true.”
Joe shrugged. “If you’d watched television any time in the last decade or two, you’d know whether or not I was telling the truth.” Joe scoffed. “Dragons are real. I’m such a sucker.”
Uriel snickered and got another elbow in the side.
“If you say one thing about me sucking—”
“I would never,” Uriel said.
Ding.
“We have to go. He’s singingI Will Always Love You.”
“Oh, I am not going if I have to hear that,” Uriel said. “That song belongs to Dolly and Whitney, and no one else. Period.”
“Why does you knowing that turn me on?” Joe asked. “And honestly, I have no problem going over there all by myself, wading through the snow, all on my lonesome, to face off with a man so in love with me he’s—”
“Wellies are by the front door.”
Joe hopped off the bar stool. “Did you just say wellies? What are we, British?”
“Find me a better boot for wet snow, and I’ll buy them. For now, it’s wellies.”
“You are the strangest man I have ever met.”
Uriel scoffed. “That’s because you’ve never met a dragon.”
“Sure. Let me guess, his name is probably Draconis or something original like that, right?”
“Well, the current clan leader does have a son named Draco, now that you mention it.”
“Sure. Clan leader. Keep trying, Oh, and after we deal with Javier, we should go pick upRiding Rudolph.”
“Uh….” Uriel slipped his feet into his boots, wondering how long it would take Joe to notice that two pairs sat by the door. His magic had worked overtime during the night. Maybe Joe had his own pajamas in Uriel’s dresser now so he could quit stealing Uriel’s.
“Why are you smiling like that? It’s creepy.”
“No reason. Do you want a sweater?”
Joe’s eyebrows furrowed. “You like me wearing your sweaters but not your pajamas? I’m on to you, mister.”
“I never said—”
“You say it all with your eyes,Draconis.”
And from the look Joe shot him, apparently, Uriel wasn’t the only one. He turned around and went to the bedroom, returning a moment later with one of his fluffiest sweaters.
Joe beamed. “You’re forgiven. Hmmm, cozy sweater.”
Then he pulled it on over his pajamas and robe.
