Page 28 of Dragon Daddy's Second Chance

Brian glanced over his shoulder, then back at him a little smile on his face, “Sorry, sir, I can’t refuse a paying guest,” he said. “But I could make it a very uncomfortable trip.”

He laughed, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that and hold on.”

As soon as they cleared the marina, Brian hit the throttle and the boat surged forward with a burst of power sending Lisa tumbling to the floor with a scream that could be heard over the roar of the engines. She lay there stunned for a second, then slowly picked herself up off the floor, then looked over at Brian, her face full of anger. It quickly disappeared when she saw him watching her, her face crumpled up, a few tears appeared in her eyes, then she grabbed her wrist.

“Oh, I think I’m hurt,” she whimpered, sliding over next to him. “My wrist is throbbing, I think it might be broken, that guy did that on purpose.”

“Let me see,” he said, trying not to laugh. “Can you move it?”

Lisa wiggled her fingers. “Oh, that really hurts,” she cried, grabbing it with her other hand. “See, I told you, it’s broken, you’re going to have to take me to a doctor when we get there.”

“If it’s that bad, we should turn back. Max has a perfectly good doctor on the island,” he said, starting to get to his feet. “I’ll just let Brian know you need to go back.”

“Wait, maybe it’s not that bad,” Lisa said, a look of desperation on her face. “We don’t have to go back. See, it’s already feeling better.”

“It’s up to you,” he said with a shrug. “But I told you before we left, I have things to do on the island. You’re on your own.”

“You wouldn’t really leave me all alone on a strange island, would you?” Lisa asked, batting her eyelashes at him. “I mean, what if I get lost? What if something happens to me? You’d never forgive yourself. Besides, I just need to make a couple of quick stops; you can even help me pick out a new bikini.”

“The last thing I want to do is go shopping with you,” he said, sliding away from her. “I don’t know what you’re up to Lisa, but it’s not going to work. You should have stayed on the island.”

She gasped and put her hand over her heart. “Blake, I’m shocked that you think I’m up to something, I just want to go shopping,” she said, tears in her eyes. “You really hurt my feelings.”

“Looks like your wrist is better,” he said, nodding at her hand. “That was a miraculous recovery.”

Lisa grabbed her wrist and dropped it onto her lap. “I guess it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” she said, clearly annoyed with him. “Maybe we could just go for a drinksomewhere. You must have time for that. I’ve always wanted one of those drinks with a little umbrella in it.”

He looked over at her, then shook his head. “I’m here on business, Lisa, that’s the only reason I left Wren behind,” he said. “I’m not going shopping with you, I’m not going for a drink, you’re going to have to find someone else to entertain you this afternoon. It’s not going to be me.”

The pout on her face was real this time, as was the dirty look she gave him, and he scooted away from her again, hoping that she’d gotten the message loud and clear. It was a relief when the marina came into view, and he got up to help Brian prepare the boat for docking, ignoring Lisa sitting in the back of the boat and pouting.

When they finally got off the boat, Lisa linked her arm with his, looked up at him, and then pulled it away again when he scowled at her. “Okay, how about a picture then,” she said, taking his rejection in stride, which should have been his first warning. “Come on, Blake, a picture isn’t going to hurt anything.”

He studied her for a second. “Fine, but just one,” he said. “I have an appointment, and I can’t be late.”

Lisa stopped a woman walking by and asked her to take their picture, then stood next to him, then just as the woman pressed the button, reached up, grabbed his head, turned him to face her, and kissed him. He heard the camera take several shots before he managed to get away from Lisa, unconsciously wiping his mouth, and stumbling backward.

“Don’t ever do that again,” he growled, then strode off toward town, so angry that he was afraid of what he might do, the sound of Lisa’s pleased laughter following him up the dock.

***Wren***

Wren stood looking out the window of the cabin, but there wasn’t much to see. Darkness had fallen over the jungle several hours before, but she felt better watching the path from the village. She refused to believe that something terrible had happened to Blake, couldn’t believe that fate would have brought him back to her only to separate them again. Telling herself that there had to be a good reason he still wasn’t back, she turned and walked into the kitchen to prepare the fourth cup of tea that she wouldn’t drink.

Pouring out the old one, she switched on the kettle and stood leaning up against the counter waiting for it to boil, a little voice in the back of her head reminding her that Lisa had been with Blake at the marina. It wouldn’t be the first time her little sister had stolen her boyfriend. She could think of at least three boys who’d dumped her for Lisa, only to have her dump them once she’d won them over.

Blake wasn’t a boy, and he loved her, she reminded herself; they were bonded, fated to spend the rest of their lives together, and he would never fall for Lisa’s tricks. It was just a coincidence she’d been at the marina, just a coincidence Blake was late, her sister hadn’t gotten her hooks into him. They hadn’t come this far for her sister to ruin everything. Blake wasn’t that weak, he wouldn’t succumb to Lisa’s wiles. He wasn’t that kind of man. But no matter how many times she told herself that same thing over and over, just in different ways, she couldn’t completely silence that little voice; she’d been burned too many times by her sister.

When Blake finally came through the door a few minutes later, she was limp with relief until she saw the lipstick on the collar of his shirt. “Where have you been?” she demanded. “And whose lipstick is that on your shirt?”

Blake looked over at her, his face full of exhaustion. “It’s your sister’s,” he said. “It’s a long story and I’m tired. I don’t suppose we could save this conversation for the morning.”

“I’m not sure that we can unless you’re planning on sleeping with Theo or on the couch,” she said, alarm bells going off in her head. “Why is Lisa’s lipstick on your collar?”

“Don’t you trust me?” he asked, then sighed. “I can see that you don’t, so maybe I will sleep on the couch. I thought we were better than this; I thought we trusted each other. It’s been a terrible night, and the last thing I want to do right now is relive the whole thing.”

“I’m sorry, Blake, I do trust you,” she said. “I just…Lisa likes to take things that belong to me, not because she wants them but because she doesn’t want me to have them. I just don’t want you to become one of those things.”

“Wren, that’s not going to happen,” he said, with a sigh. “Can you just trust me enough to wait for me to explain in the morning?”

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