Page 6 of Charming the Dragon
Kai’s lips twitched. “Yes. You know the clan’s bursting at the seams, and whilst we’re building new cottages, it’ll take time before we have any available for newcomers or guests again.”
Nathan nearly groaned. His stepmum would most definitely try to matchmake. That was probably the entire reason she’d volunteered to host the human.
His dragon laughed.It’ll be fun. Besides, no one will make the human feel more welcome than Denise.
Even so, I don’t want her to get any ridiculous ideas.
Nathan looked at Kai. “There wasn’t anyone else who could’ve taken her in?”
Kai shrugged. “Denise volunteered, so I didn’t ask anyone else. She’s been a great help with the human-dragon children’s events, so I had no reason to say no.”
He eyed his boss. Ever since Kai had mated his human, Jane, and recently became a father, he wanted everyone else to find the same happiness.
His head Protector had come a long way, that’s for sure.
His dragon said,You’ve wanted that too, for years. Don’t try and pretend otherwise. You can’t lie to me.
Ignoring his beast, he stood and sighed. “Fine. When should I meet her?”
Bram replied, “When she arrives. She’ll need help with her luggage.”
Nathan grunted. “Okay, I’ll get her settled into my parents’ house, and then I can set up a schedule with her.”
Which he’d do as quickly as possible, so his stepmother wouldn’t have time to embarrass him. To be honest, he might need to miss a few family dinners to save both him and Hayley from any matchmaking shenanigans.
His dragon sighed heavily but didn’t say anything.
As Kai and Bram discussed the finer details of what Hayley would need, Nathan did his best to listen. However, it was hard to concentrate as his inner beast all but strutted around in his mind.
Between his dragon and his stepmum, Nathan would have to be careful. Otherwise, he could end up mated to the human before he knew it.
If there was one complication he didn’t need right now, it was another female fearing his dragon half and running again. Even if he didn’t know Hayley, in his experience, most humans couldn’t handle both sides of a dragon-shifter.
Chapter Three
Two weeks after her meeting with Bram, Hayley parked in front of the Protector building once more and exited the car. Since few vehicles were allowed to drive around the clan proper, someone was going to have to help with her luggage.
And that wasn’t going to be easy. She eyed her jam-packed car and wondered if she’d gone overboard.
However, she could be here a while and Hayley didn’t want to be caught unawares. By what, she had no idea. Still, she didn’t want to burden Stonefire with trivial requests. Hence, being overly prepared and bringing enough luggage to survive for months.
A deep male voice came from behind her. “Were you afraid someone was going to steal your stuff and so you brought everything you owned with you?”
She turned and blinked at the tall, blond dragonman—yes, he had the trademark tattoo on his upper arm—and tried to place him. She had met him once before, she was certain of it.
Then she remembered his name. “You’re Nathan Woodhouse.”
He frowned. “That’s right. I didn’t think you’d remember.”
She tugged on her top. “I’m good at remembering faces and names. I may look a mess, but my brain is quite orderly.”
Normally she wouldn’t care about the tea stain on her shirt or the smudge of chocolate on her jeans. And yet, as Nathan’s eyes took her in, she willed her cheeks not to heat.
Stop it.In general, dragon-shifters won the genetic lottery and were far too attractive for their own good. She only hoped he wasn’t one of the dragonmen who knew it and thought he was a gift to women.
He grunted, walked over to her car, and gestured. “Is it unlocked?”
“Er, yes.”
