“No binoculars.” Mabon snatched them and shoved them under his seat. “Definitely no binoculars. We’re already one step away from a restraining order.”
Through the window, their fated one laughed at something a teenage customer said. The sound didn’t carry through the glass, but Mabon could see it in the curve of his shoulders, the tilt of his head. He seemed gentle, kind…perfect, in other words.
And we’re sitting in a car like deranged stalkers with yesterday’s newspaper and slightly suspicious-looking binoculars.
“How do humans do this?” Urien asked quietly. “How do they court each other without looking insane?”
“I don’t think humans usually start with vehicular surveillance.”
“Then what do they start with?”
“Talking, presumably.”
“But what could we say? ‘Hello, we’re dragons, and you’re our fated mate, please don’t call the police.’”
Rux’s head popped up between the front seats. “We could send him a gift. Humans like gifts.”
“What kind of gift says, ‘we’re very old dragons who’ve been searching for you for a century, but we’re not threatening’?”
“Flowers?”
“Too romantic. He doesn’t know us yet.”
“Coffee?”
“He works in a coffee shop, Rux. That’s like giving a blacksmith a horseshoe.”
“What about…”
A sharp knock on the window made all three of them jump.
A police officer peered through the glass, expression professional but suspicious. She made a rolling motion with her hand.
Urien fumbled for the window control. It lowered with a soft whir.
“Afternoon, gentlemen.” Her gaze tracked over all three of them - Mabon with his scrunched up newspaper, Urien covered in dirt, and Rux with his face trying to act like he wasn’t still looking at their Treasure in the coffee shop, through the back passenger window. “Everything alright here?”
“Fine!” Mabon’s voice came out an octave too high. “Definitely fine. Just...reading the paper.”
“In a parked car.”
“Yes.”
“Outside a coffee shop.”
“Yes.”
“For twenty-five minutes.”
Damn. She’d been timing them, too.
“We’re deciding if we want coffee,” Urien said.
The officer’s eyebrow rose. “For twenty-five minutes.”
“It’s a very important decision,” Rux added helpfully from the back. “Life-changing, really.”
Inside the Daily Bean, their mate glanced toward the window, attracted by the commotion. His gaze landed on the Range Rover, the police officer, and three full-grown men clearly having some kind of crisis.
