Page 21 of Always Say Yes to a Dragon

“Yes. It will be our second ‘date.’”

“How?”

“Just shut up and help me.”

“I was writing a research paper when you interrupted me.”

“No one cares about that boring shit,” I said. Niemrin was always writing papers and giving lectures. How he didn’t put himself to sleep, I’d never know.

“You are an embarrassment to all dragons everywhere,” he said, with no heat.

Niemrin always made fun of my lack of attention to knowledge acquisition. But libraries had so many titles, and they all blurred together after a few dozen.Thingswere so much easier than books. No one argued about the philosophical meaning of a necklace.

“Are you organizing by gem type or price? Or overall value?” Niemrin picked up a ruby bracelet with one green claw. The bracelet was one piece in a set that I’d spent a few hours tracking down and paid tens of thousands for.

It would look stunning on Elle.

I grabbed the bracelet out of his hands. “Price.” I couldn’t expect her to sense how much time I’d put into finding each piece, or the relative rarity of an item so she could calculate overall value, but I wanted her to see how large and varied my treasure hoard was.

Niemrin sighed. “You are the most single-minded dragon I’ve ever had the misfortune of knowing. Elle’shuman. She won’t leave because you gave her yoursecondmost expensive necklace. She won’t even know the difference.”

“Elle might not know the difference, butIwill.”

“And thus, it starts.” He shook his head. “Maybe I should write my next paper onyou.”

I blew a playful puff of smoke at him. “What would you call it?Best Practices for Winning over Humans?”

“Previously Sane Dragon Loses Mind When He Finds a Mate: A Case Study.” He picked up another necklace, which I immediately grabbed out of his hands.

I scoffed. Even the most well-behaved dragon could succumb to instinct while wooing a mate.

“Maybe you should do a case study on yourself:Dragon Drags Feet on Courting for the First Time in History: No Reasonable Explanation Found.” Niemrin had yet to give the librarian he was obsessed with a single courting gift in the entire seven months he’d known her.

“I told you, I have my reasons.” The smoke streaming from his nostrils was less friendly than the puff I’d sent him.

“Whatever. And you callmean idiot. At least I’m going after what I want. I even looked up human mating traditions.” Or at least watched some romantic shows and movies. Niemrin was always accusing me of jumping into things with no forethought.

I carefully placed the bracelet with the matching necklace and earrings in its case. It was less expensive than the emerald set but more expensive than the diamonds.

“Oh?” He eyed me skeptically. “And what did you find?”

“They approach things a little differently, that’s all. They like to ‘maintain an air of mystery’ and rarely have sex on the first few ‘dates.’ But they still value gifts and a mate who can provide for them.” So letting her pick a gift from my jewelry collection would be an excellent second date activity. Thousands of jewelry commercials couldn’t be wrong.

“What is an ‘air of mystery’?” Niemrin asked.

I shrugged. I’d found references to that and not appearing too “thirsty” everywhere. Figuring out that “thirsty” wasn’t a reference to needing a drink hadn’t cleared up anything. “I think they don’t want to appear too eager. I can’t figure out why, though. How are they supposed to figure out if they’re compatible if they’re always mysterious?”

“And you know you’re compatible from the twelve and a half seconds you’ve spent with her?”

I held up a claw to list off all the things I’d learned about Elle over our short acquaintance. “She took the time to learn how to pronounce my name correctly, which means she’s thoughtful and meticulous.”

Niemrin nodded. Every human I’d encountered had trouble with the pronunciation. I’d been temptednotto give her permission to use my nickname just to hear the evidence of her time and dedication, but I wanted the intimacy of a nickname more.

“She offered me a special dish that wasn’t on the menu yet and paidlotsof attention to me the last time I visited her at work, which means she wanted me to enjoy myself and see her again.” I ticked off another claw. “When we met for coffee, she asked about me before demanding her gift, so she’s interested in me, too.

“She’s forthright with what she wants, unlike most humans. She will defend both herself and others, so she won’t just nod and agree, which is important for good communication.” Two more claws. I triumphantly held up my hand and waved it, all five claws ticked off.

I held up my other hand and ticked off another finger. “She looked past my blunder of asking her to meet at my home first and still agreed to coffee. She was open to compromise during our negotiation and appreciates that I am as well.” I assumed Elle had refused to see me every night because she didn’t want to appear “thirsty,” but she’d bent a little and agreed to see me tonight instead of making me wait even longer for our second “date.”

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