Page 33 of Always Say Yes to a Dragon

I’ll move you to a new apartment if you’d prefer.

Three dots appeared and disappeared multiple times.

Please don’t. You can pick me up.

Followed by an address.

My stomach dropped. She’d ended the negotiation instead of demanding or accepting a higher price. Where had I gone wrong?

When I looked up her address, I rubbed my eyes, hoping I was seeing things. As I usually did when I couldn’t figure something out, I called Niemrin.

“What?” Niemrin demanded when he picked up.

“Look up the address I just sent you.”

A short pause, followed by, “What the fuck? I thought we got rid of all the slums.”

“That’s Elle’s apartment.”

He made a low humming noise. “Why isn’t she in one of yours?”

“That’s what I can’t figure out. I offered one, and she rejected it.”

“What did she ask for instead?”

“Nothing!”

I could almost hear him wince. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know! Our first date went great. She took a complete set of jewelry, and she agreed to see me early tomorrow.” I frowned. “But she didn’t want to let me pick her up, so I offered her a new apartment in exchange, and instead shedeclinedand sent me her address. Is this some human thing? A hint I’m not getting?” Hints often flew over my head. “Should I surprise her with the apartment?” That sounded like a great idea, every instinct in my body demanding I care for my future mate.

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried to date a human.”

“What about that librarian you’re always going on about? You should just court her already.” If I had to listen to one more rambling speech about how smart and perfect she was, I would puke.

“Tiffany has a suitor,” Niemrin gritted out.

It was my turn to wince. If Elle had already had a suitor, I’m not sure what I would have done. Instead, I worried about what might happen if Udar saw her and tried to take her before she mated me. Niemrin would never act with such little integrity.

“Is it serious?” I asked. Dragons tended to take either casual lovers or a mate, no in-between. My stomach dipped again. Did Elle see me as some kind of in-between?I’ll get her the apartment.Somewhere safe and secure withoutrent hikeswhile she evaluated me.

“She’s engaged. He has shit taste in jewelry. Her ‘engagement’ ring has only one diamond, and it’s barely four carats.” Niemrin’s voice forced my attention back to his own troubles.

“Only four?” Forcing a mate to wear thesamepiece of jewelry their entire life seemed barbaric enough. For the permanent jewelry to be four tiny carats on top of that? This librarian ignoring Niemrinfor such a poor human must have stung his considerable pride. Gold-sniffing may not have been his strong suit, but even he could afford something more suitable than that.

“At least without a mate, I have time to pursue my research.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t you think about anything else?”

“Of course I do.”

“Sure.” My computer dinged with an incoming message from Councilor Jasmine. The council had approved my proposal. My wings flared out with the taste of victory. “Want to do something more interesting than stare at moldy old books all day?”

“There’s nothing more interesting than staring at ‘moldy old books.’”

“I have to go to some party to raise funds for Kilinis on Saturday. Come with me.”

“I wouldn’t go to some stuffy, fancy party for all the clouds in the sky.”

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