Page 29 of To Ignite a Dragon's Desire

I could hardly believe I was here anyway.

A craft store in an abandoned mall in the middle of the desert with a beast of a man that turned into a dragon whose eyes were lit up with delight as he studied…

“Yarn?” I asked, following him down the aisle of ceiling-high shelves containing baskets of brightly colored string on either side.

“What do you like more? Pink or purple?” Lucan weighed two balls in each of his large hands, brow furrowed as if this was a vital decision.

“Are you asking my favorite color?”

He raised his bluish-green speckled eyes to me, causing something to flutter in my stomach. That might’ve been the champagne and popcorn, though. It’d also been a long time since I had either of those.

“Will you tell me your favorite color?” he asked.

I thought about it for a second, deciding against blurting out the first thing that came to mind, which was turquoise because it was the closest color to his eyes that I could think of.

When was the last time someone asked me what my favorite color was?

Did I have one anymore?

Lucan waited patiently while I came to a decision.

“Orange,” I finally said. The color of the sun setting on the beach. “But of the two in your hand, I like the purple better.”

Lucan’s smile did something to me. The way it transformed his whole expression from a menacing scowl into the open, relaxed face of someone much younger.

“How old are you?” I blurted out.

“Four hundred and twenty-five.” There it was again. That easy smile.

“Younger than Kieran.” I couldn’t believe I was saying that like there was much of a difference. What was twelve years to a dragon when they basically lived forever?

“Aye.” He nodded. “By a bit.”

“You don’t have to put those back,” I said as Lucan returned the pink and purple yarn to their bins.

“Oh, but I do. It was sexist of me to assume those were the colors you’d like. I’m sorry.” The way he admitted fault and apologized without argument had me second-guessing myself.

Is this some kind of Jedi mind trick?

“What do you need yarn for, anyway?” I trailed behind him as he returned to the hunt.

“Not sure yet,” he mumbled, zeroing in on the section of sun colors. “Is this soft enough for you?”

I went perfectly still as he rubbed a ball of yarn against my cheek. “It’s really soft. Why do I need it to be?”

“I’m going to knit you something.” He shrugged.

My jaw dropped. “You… Knit?”

“Why is that so shocking?” He held up a few different colors of orange, waiting for me to pick.

I didn’t even know they made this many types of yarn. Or that a guy Lucan’s size could look so at home among them.

“Now I’m the one being sexist.” I shook my head. “It’s great that you knit.”

I tried to think, harder this time, about what hobbies I’d have if I’d had any space to develop them over the years. Hiking and camping were something I enjoyed. Watching movies and reading. I wasn’t all that creative.

Lucan studied me as if he knew what I was thinking and I wasn’t sure I liked being the object of his intense gaze despite the way it awakened hidden parts of me.

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