Page 73 of Always Say Yes to a Dragon

“Can you claim the others in the morning?” I was so warm and cozy, wrapped in his arms.

“Yeah,Arum. I’ll answer as many questions as you want to ask tomorrow morning.”

Az treated me to a decadent day of lounging in bed, banging my brains out, and taking me shopping for furniture for my new apartment. I fell asleep sated and boneless and not entirely certain I hadn’t dreamed the whole thing.

The next morning, I woke up in Az’s bed, curled up next to him, and quietly snuck out of bed. I stealthily opened a few drawers in his kitchen until I found a stack of Post-it notes and a pen in a drawer that was too organized to be a full-on junk drawer but served the same purpose.

I glanced around to make sure Az was still in bed and hadn’t snuck up on me. Then, in my neatest handwriting, I wrote out a couple of notes about how much I enjoyed spending time with him and stuck them in places I was sure he’d find them.

I flushed as I wrote every single one, feeling like a high schooler all over again, wondering if I was being too open, too honest. These were things I’d struggle to say out loud, but writing them felt a little easier.

What if he saw them and laughed?

He won’t, I reassured myself over and over again, holding tight to everything he’d ever done or said.

18

Az’zael

Ileaned back in my office chair and shoved a hand in my pocket. Crinkled paper brushed against my scales, and I eagerly pulled it out.

It was the second note I’d found today, written in Elle’s looping handwriting. I already planned to create a special case for them, one I could easily open, to read them whenever I wanted.

This one read,I love that you’re always so understanding. Thank you for not pushing me, even on things I know you disagree with.

I smoothed the note and reread it, clinging to the evidence that I’d made the right call to ignore my mom’s advice and give Elle some space.

Diego’s voice crackled through my intercom speaker. “Councilor Williams is here for you.”

“Send her in.”

She sauntered in a moment later, dressed as sharply as ever.

“Did we have something scheduled?” Shit.

“No. I came to congratulate you. City Council was concerned that Accutrust would pull out after what happened at the gala, but it seems you turned it around. We’ll be able to move forward with the new housing project.”

I straightened up, buoyed by having set something in motion when most ideas took so much time to implement. “Hey, what about fixing up some of the existing housing?” I pulled up Elle’s old apartment complex on my screen. The one she’d officially move out of today.

Jasmine looked it over. “Well, these properties are privately owned. I’m not sure there’s much we can do about them.”

“Oh, I think I can fixthat.” Would Elle like her old apartment complex? I could buy it and have it fixed up as a one-month anniversary gift.

I frowned. The repairs would take longer than a month. I could still give her the building, though.

Jasmine raised her eyebrows. “Why the sudden interest in slums? You’ve only ever focused on the nicer parts of town.”

I shrugged. “Kilinis is my city. I wouldn’t let any part of my hoard get disorganized or neglected. Why wouldn’t that extend to the city?” Elle living in squalor was unthinkable. I’d fixed that, but she had neighbors, too.

“I suppose it would.”

Jasmine studied me carefully, as if waiting for me to say something important. I sifted through the conversations we’d had, plus those I’d had with Elle about the city and its needs. Elle had said something on our second date about her living situation—something about her rent increasing. Which seemed grossly unfair, given the condition of her building.

“I’ve heard people complain that their rent keeps going up as well. Can we do something about that?”

Jasmine blinked several times before a slow smile crossed her lips. “There’s something called rent control that would help with that, but we haven’t had the political will to do it. Yet.”

Oh, I had lots of political will. Especially once I understood how the policy would stabilize things for Kilinis’s current residents.

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