Have I intentionally left the door to the hallway open? Absolutely. Roark and Kieren are off in the kitchen, scrounging through the fridge in a way that will have Leopold furious with himself that he didn’t hear them. Both because they’re making a mess and because he’s not there to help them.
I’m waiting like a hunter waits for his prey. There’s no way she’s not coming downstairs to see what’s gone on in the collection. I thought about sitting there until she arrived. But that’s a little too stalker-like, even for me.
Raine passes by my room, and I step out behind her. She pauses at the balcony, then when she pivots, I step forward. “Going down for something to eat?” I ask.
“Oh,” she says with a flinch, her hands clasped in front of her chest.
“Forgive me, Raine. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“I didn’t think... I thought you would all be in for the night.”
“It’s not that late.”
“I suppose.”
“Would you like to see the progress on the cabinets?”
“Progress? It’s not done?”
“Yes, the floor of an ancient castle turns out to not be level. They’re going to finish up in the morning.” Which, of course, is going to cause another problem. We can’t have her around them tomorrow, especially not with Kieren here. His dragon contradicts his skin and is just an asshole. He’s liableto eat one or two if he thinks they looked at Raine. Ceremony performed or not. Which maybe is the answer to everything, if she hadn’t put him off.
But damn, it was fun watching her stand up to him. I didn’t know which of them was going to break first. Fucking fantastic that it was our prince, backing down for an adorable little human girl.
Woman,my dragon rumbles. Woman, so much woman. I could scent her on Roark when he strolled into the castle. I haven’t asked him for the details yet. I’m waiting to hear all about it like it’s dessert and I’m a dieter. Wonderous and torturous at the same time.
I’m not sure which I like better: her little pants suits or the leggings and oversized button-up shirt she has on now. This. I could slide my hand ever so easily into the leggings under the voluminous shirt.
“Oh, okay. I told them about the floor. They promised me it would be no issue.”
“I’m sure you did, and I’m sure they said it wouldn’t be an issue. But then, they wanted to get their cabinets into Cloud Rift.”
“You know, I was wondering about that. I expected to have to wait months. When they called me right back and said they could have it here within a week, I was shocked. They’re out of Germany, but I thought maybe because it’s so close.”
“No, they’re playing the angle. If you look at the inside of the doors, you can see where they have sanded off the name of a museum in Manchester, New Hampshire. I didn’t even know there was a Manchester besides the one in England with the football team.”
“Oh no!”
“You didn’t make them do that Raine—they did itthemselves. Because they wanted the clout of having their product here, holding the collection of a dragon shifter.”
“It feels wrong.”
“That’s their problem, not yours. You didn’t know they would do it.”
“It felt too fast. I should have known.” Her arms wrap around herself.
I stare at her, my head cocked sideways as we walk to the hall.
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Of course, I’m right. Why do I have to tell people that all the time?” I say with a laugh. I hold the door open, all the while listening for steps behind us. She shut Kieren down, and he can wait for morning like the scolded puppy he is. “Here it is.”
“Whoa, this is amazing.” She claps. “I can’t.” Her fingers skate up the side of an open door. “This is so good.” She pulls out a large metal screen that must be for hanging paintings. She gives it a gentle tap, and it rolls back to the wall. “They’re almost done.”
“They worked hard.”
“Did you help?”
“No, I like hardly working a lot better.” Which isn’t true. I just happen to be really good at my earthly job. Numbers, patterns, and models come easily to me. The human head of our company has called me the fortune teller more than once. But I’m not a mage, wizard, or witch. It’s just math. That’s its own type of witchcraft.
