Page 8 of The Last Bachelor Dragon

“Oh, I see, you wanted me to suffer, is that it?” Nora asked, stomping over to him. “I know what you’re trying to do, Max, and it won’t work. I’m not going to tell you who I am. You’re nothing but a big bully. It must feel good to throw your power around like you have been, especially when I have none. Well, I’ve got news for you, I’m done letting you bully me. Either leave me alone or take me over to Bermuda so I can get on with my life.”

The creature inside him reared to life at the thought ofNora leaving, sending a wave of magic shooting through him. “I should be charging rent for this place,” he said, ignoring the desire that had begun to make his body tingle. “No one gets to stay on the island for free.”

Nora stared at him for a second, frustration making her cheeks turn an attractive shade of pink. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, then laughed when he just stared at her. “You’re just not going to give up, are you?”

When he crossed his arms over his chest, she threw her hands up in the air. “Okay, fine, charge me rent, why not? It makes sense after all,” she said, stretching up on her tiptoes and getting right in his face. “But I’m going to need another job, Marie doesn’t pay me enough to afford rent.”

Not sure if he’d really won the battle, he dropped his arms to his sides, wondering what it would take to break Nora’s will. “You can report to the catering manager tomorrow morning, I’m sure she could always use another dishwasher,” he said, waiting for a sense of triumph that never came. “Rent is six hundred a month; you get one meal a day in the village, and you check with me before you make any more changes to the cabin.”

***Nora***

“Maybe you should put that in writing since you don’t trust me,” Nora sneered at him, then shoved the bag of food back at him. “I’m suddenly not very hungry anymore. You should take this with you when you go.”

“I don’t know why I even tried,” Max said, snatching the bag back. “You’re the most stubborn, frustrating woman I’ve ever met. I give up, I’m done.”

“Good, then take me over to Bermuda so we can both be done,” she said, putting her hands on her hips, ignoring the little touch of sadness that came when she thought aboutleaving the island. “You don’t want me here, and I don’t want to be here. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Max let out a frustrated sigh. “How can I make you understand that I can’t just leave you on Bermuda with no passport and no money?” he said. “You wouldn’t last twenty-four hours on your own, you have no idea what it’s like there if you’re not in the tourist areas.”

“Then I’ll work here until I’ve saved up enough money to support myself until I find a job over there. Then you can leave me over there without worrying that I’m out on the streets alone,” she said. “That’s the best I can offer, Max. I’m not going to tell you who I am, I can’t, it’s too big of a risk. I know what would happen.”

Max’s body language changed instantly and the air inside the cabin suddenly became charged with energy, making her feel warm all over. “Nora, are you in some kind of trouble?” he asked, a strange look in his eyes. “Are you in danger? I need you to tell me if you are, I can’t protect you if I don’t know what the threat is.”

She felt herself softening to him when he looked at her that way, the concern in his eyes mixed with that strange look made her feel like he truly cared about her, and for the first time, she thought about trusting him. It only lasted a second when she remembered what waited for her back home, and forced herself to take a step back from him. He was one of them, she couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t be on the phone to her father the instant he figured out who she was.

“Look, I get that you're worried about me, but it’s not like that. No one is trying to hurt me,” she said. “I just needed to disappear, and until I got tangled up with Joe, I was doing okay. I learned my lesson: You can’t trust anyone.”

Max studied her for a second. “Including me,” he said,shaking his head. “I get it, Nora, I really do. We all have secrets. I have a few of my own.”

“Then you should understand why I don’t want to tell you who I am,” she said, hoping that he was finally getting the message. “My entire future depends on me staying gone, I won’t do anything to risk that. No matter how much you tell me that I can trust you, I just can’t take the chance you’ll change your mind.”

“Then it looks like we’re stuck,” he said, a scowl on his face. “I’ll tell Carla to expect you bright and early in the morning. After all, you’ve got bills to pay.”

“Fine with me, I don’t mind working for a living,” she said. “I’ll wash dishes eight hours a day if it means I get to keep my freedom.”

Max opened his mouth, then closed it again with a growl before he turned and stomped over to the door. “Enjoy your dinner,” he called over his shoulder. “I can be just as stubborn as you can. This should be fun.”

She stood staring at the door, wondering what he would do next for a long time, then finally turned away with a sigh. She hadn’t come this far to let a man like Max ruin her plans. If he couldn’t understand her perspective, even after she’d explained it to him, then there was nothing she could do but fight. She wasn’t going to give up her freedom, not for anyone.

The next morning, after searching for ten minutes, she finally found Carla in the walk-in cooler, mumbling over a crate of fruit and shaking her head. “Look at this,” the woman said, turning and shoving the box in her hands. “What am I supposed to do with this mess?”

“I don’t know,” she stammered, thrown off balance. “Maybe you could make a fruit spread? That’s what our cook always did with bad fruit, she hated to waste anything.”

Carla stared at her for a second. “That’s not a bad idea,”she said, then shoved her toward the door. “Thanks for the advice, but guests aren’t allowed back in the kitchen.”

“I’m not a guest, I’m supposed to start work here today,” she said. “Max said he’d let you know I was going to be here.”

Carla closed the door behind them, then turned and studied her again. “You’re not exactly what I was expecting,” she said. “What are you doing working here if you’ve got a cook at home?”

“I don’t have a cook at home, that was before…well…I left,” she tried to explain. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Max said you needed a dishwasher, and since he’s charging me rent I needed to make more money than what Marie is paying me. But I understand if you don’t want me…I can figure out something else.”

“Now hold on, I didn’t say I couldn’t use you, but we should get something straight right now, around here we all share in the workload,” Carla said. “We all wash dishes, we all clean up after ourselves, so if I decide to keep you, you won’t be washing dishes all day.”

“Honestly, I’ll just be happy with a job,” she said. “I don’t have much work experience except a few months waiting tables in a diner.”

“Well, that’s a start, I always need someone to help out with the breakfast shift. We’ll start slowly and see how you do,” Carla said. “We’d better get you a uniform and an apron, then I’ll have one of the other servers show you the ropes.”

CHAPTER 6

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