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  George frowned. “An offer you couldn’t resist, you say? Crossed your desk, for a property like this?”

  She smiled, wondering just how much to tell him. Did it matter? She’d signed the paperwork, there was no going back now, not on her partner’s behalf, or hers.

  Don’t. You never know what he might be able to use against you.

  “Indeed. An offer I couldn’t, and didn’t, say no to.” She gave George a real smile. “Pleasure seeing you, George. Stick around? I have a few ideas we could talk about, deals to be made.”

  George’s face wrinkled. “Deals with you always benefit you more than me,” he complained.

  “Of course, they do George,” she laughed. “That’s why they’re my deals.”

  George shrugged. “We’ll see. But probably not. I’m tired of getting screwed by you.” He said it with a smile but she could tell he meant it.

  “That’s the nature of the game, Georgie-boy. The nature of the game.” She gave him a wave and moved deeper into the room.

  “Only for you,” she heard muttered under his breath behind her.

  “That’s why I’m number one!” she called back, letting it go after that.

  There was no need to get petty. Not today. Not after the deal she’d just signed with some corporation out of South America. She couldn’t even remember the name, not that it mattered.

  I’m going to be rich!

  They had wanted to partner with her. Together, she would buy and help redevelop the property up for sale tonight, to make it ready for them to move a factory and distribution center into. Olivia had no idea why her, or why Plymouth Falls, but the deal was signed, and in a few months, her bank account would grow so much it added an extra digit to it.

  To say she was giddy with excitement was selling it short. All she had to do now was secure the property, a sure-fire thing with the budget the corporation had given, combined with her ruthless position atop the real estate hierarchy of Plymouth Falls.

  Arriving at the far side of the room, she eyed the closed set of doors. They were holding the auction at one of Plymouth Falls’ largest office buildings. From the sixth floor, she could look out over most of the town. It must be fate, she thought, recalling that she’d been the one to help the bank secure the top three floors of the building. A sign that she was destined to secure this deal.

  “Please wait.”

  She looked down to see a large arm blocking her path to the door.

  “Is Charles in there?” she asked, casually dropping the name of the owner of both the bank and the property she was going to buy.

  “He is,” the security guard rumbled. “But he’s with someone.”

  “Please let him know I’m here,” she said. “Olivia Lawton. He’ll want to see me right away,” she said, flashing the guard a genuine smile. “Thank you.”

  The guard nodded. “Of course. I do believe he’s been expecting you Miss Lawton.”

  She nodded. Of course, he would.

  The door opened before she could turn away, and Charles came out, talking to someone. Olivia frowned, not liking the excited manner with which he was conversing. It was too excited. Too happy.

  Then she saw the person he was with, and all thoughts of the banker fled her head. He was tall, taller than the security guard by several inches, with a wider frame. He lacked the buffness of the guard, the large sculpted muscles, but the way he moved and the fit of the expensive three-piece tailored suit told her he was no slouch either.

  Even the security guard seemed to know he’d met someone more dangerous than himself, bowing his head low as he shook the man’s hand.

  “You have a good night too, Mr., um, I mean, Aaric.”

  Aaric? What kind of name is that? Ahh, Rick? Did somebody stumble over their words when naming him? ‘Excuse me Ma’am, what do you wish your child’s name to be?’

  ‘Ahh, Rick?’

  She giggled at the byplay in her head, unable to stop herself.

  Instantly, the man’s attention swiveled over to her. His eyes latched onto her. Olivia watched his mouth move but she was too focused on his lips, on the chiseled jawline just below them, to hear what he was saying as he walked toward her.

  Walked toward her?

  Oh God. He must have heard what I said. Yes. Yes, he did. I can see it in the gold of his eyes.

  The gold?

  Looking closer, her gaze fixated upon his, Olivia noted that his eyes were indeed a heavy golden-amber color, so bright that it nearly outweighed the brown that must be his natural shade. A trick of the light, perhaps? She didn’t know, but it was mysterious and intoxicating all at once. She couldn’t stop staring.

  “Did you enjoy my joke?” he asked, face lighting up with a smile that tugged at the thick, stubble-length black beard adorning his cheeks and jaw.

  “Joke?” she asked weakly, trying to tear her eyes away from him so that maybe she could regain some sense of composure.

  “Yes. I heard you laugh. The others, they just groaned. But I do love a good audience,” he said. “Someone who can appreciate it. I’ve recently grown to love these bad-pun things.”

  “Bad puns,” she echoed, trying not to roll her eyes. “I see.”

  “Do you want to hear it?”

  “Sure,” she said, not entirely confident of her reasoning, besides not wanting him to leave yet.

  “Okay.”

  He seemed so proud of himself, but she couldn’t stop staring at the way his shoulders filled out the suit. It was magnificent.

  “Why,” he was saying, “Do people in Athens have a hard time waking up early?”

  Olivia looked at him blankly. “Why?”

  “Because,” he snickered, “Dawn is tough on Greece.”

  She couldn’t help herself. Another very unprofessional giggle slipped out as she got the joke. It was so bad, what else was she supposed to do?

  “Finally, someone with a sense of humor!” the man said, still just as excited as before. “I’m Aaric.” He stuck out his hand.

  “Yes, I heard,” she said, finally managing to reassume her work persona, letting it slip back into place. Hopefully, not too many people had seen her break character. It wouldn’t do well for the impression she was trying to cultivate.

  Reaching out, she shook his hand. His skin was soft and warm, the grip gentle yet filled with an underlying strength beyond anything she’d ever experienced before. Like he was so beyond confident of his grip, that there was no need to do more than just casually squeeze. Ever.

  Then the tingles started, rolling up her arm as the handshake lasted for an eternity too long. After about a second of excessive touching, she pulled her hand back, trying to ignore the way her body had so abruptly responded to his touch.

  Her nipples had been the first warning sign, stiffening under her suit jacket. Thankfully, she was still wearing it, so nobody would be able to see. Nor would anyone know of the blast wave of heat that had filled her lower body.

  Who was this man?

  “Olivia.”

  She looked up to see Charles waving at her. It was her turn. Time to secure the deal.

  “A pleasure meeting you, Aaric,” she said politely, patting him on the upper arm—his shoulder being awkwardly high to reach—and brushing past, trying to ignore the leather and oak scented mixture that tickled her nostrils.

  Of course, he has to smell good too.

  “Farewell, Olivia,” Aaric echoed, and then he moved out into the small crowd of real-estate agents and significant others.

  But her attention was on Charles now. It was time to seal this deal.

  “Charles!” she said with a huge smile, giving him a hug and a quick air-kiss on either cheek.

  “So good to see you,” he said.

  “And you,” she agreed, moving past him into his office. “Sorry I didn’t give you more notice I was interested in the property, else I could have saved you this whole shindig.”

  To her surprise, Charles grew somewhat more somber. That wasn
’t a good sign usually, but Olivia forged ahead anyway.

  “I’ll be quick and to the point. The usual. Ten percent below offering. Cash deal, no financing.” She stuck out her hand, expecting Charles to shake it immediately.

  Real estate in Plymouth Falls was a weird game. Everyone overpriced their properties. Unlike the big cities where there was often a bidding war of over-asking, in Plymouth Falls it was always the one who came in with the offer least under the asking price. Ten percent was generous, but that was how Olivia worked.

  “I’m sorry,” Charles said, shaking his head. “But I cannot sell it to you for that.”

  Olivia blinked. “What are you talking about, Charles?” she asked, not fully understanding. “How can you not sell it to me? That’s an amazing deal on a property like this. Most of those vultures out there will be at fifteen or twenty percent.”

  “I know,” he said. “But you see, I’ve already sold the property. I cannot give it to you.”

  Her façade cracked a little. “You’ve what?” she asked, confused.

  “Someone offered me fifty percent over asking. Cash deal, done tomorrow.” Charles shrugged helplessly. “How was I supposed to turn that down?”

  Olivia gaped at him. “Fifty percent?” she yelped. “Fifty percent over asking price. That’s a joke, Charles. A joke. A stalling tactic. Nobody in their right mind would actually sign for that.”

  “Aaric already did.”

  “Aaric. Like, tall, tanned and ridiculously handsome Aaric? Tailored suit Aaric? Mysterious guy I’ve never seen around before that looks like he doesn’t belong? That guy?” she asked. “Bad joke man?”

  George was nodding throughout. “Yes. I’m sorry, Olivia. I am. But it’s done.”

  She shook George’s hand and turned for the exit.

  “We’ll see about that,” she said tightly.

  Olivia had already signed a deal as well, and she wasn’t about to go back to her foreign client and tell them she’d failed. This wasn’t over.

  Not yet.

  Chapter 3

  “Did you really have to promise him so much money?”

  Aaric rolled his eyes. “Francis, really? It’s a fraction of my own personal account. It’s a fraction, of a fraction, of a fraction, of the House account. This is nothing. Plus, it was necessary.”

  “Why?” Francis asked, pointing at pictures on the wall in front of them of the property Aaric had just bought. “For this?”

  “It’s about the vision, Francis. The vision. I need to learn more about these humans. Help them out. To do that, I need to be able to interact with them on the regular. This outreach center will be perfect.”

  “I’m not arguing the premise of what you want to build here, Aaric. I’m just asking if you had to pay so much for the property. We still have to build it, you know.”

  “Parre said this place was important,” Aaric said, dropping his voice. “So, we’re going to have it.”

  The outreach center was part of his reasons for buying it. Parre wasn’t able to articulate why it was important, but that didn’t matter to Aaric. Just like the price didn’t matter either.

  Francis, one of the human stewards whose family had worked with High House Draconis for over a century, was also their financial manager. That was the reason Aaric had brought him along to the auction, to ensure everything went smoothly.

  So far. So good.

  “Construction must be started immediately,” he said. “Start lining it up, please, so that once the sale is official, there’s no delay.”

  “Of course. I’ll speak to the others, get to work on that.”

  Aaric nodded, already lost in his own thoughts once more. Francis was but one of a number of stewards the dragons of Draconis had entrusted to watch over their assets while they slept, passing down the responsibility from generation to generation.

  “It must be done quickly,” he said, though he didn’t elaborate on why.

  Only Parre and Elanna knew his reasons. The outreach center would introduce Aaric to many humans. Including women. Women who might potentially be his mate. It was imperative he found one soon, so they could bond and begin waking the other dragons.

  “I don’t understand why this needs to go about so quickly,” Francis commented. “There are any number of ways to get it done quicker than this. There are other properties more suited to what you wish to do.”

  “Then buy them too,” Aaric said absentmindedly. “Speed is of the essence. But we need this one.”

  “Of course,” Francis said with a sigh. “I’ll see that it’s done.”

  “Thank you,” Aaric replied.

  The construction would take time. It was inevitable and unavoidable. Which meant in the meantime, Aaric would need to begin seeking out a compatible mate in other ways. That meant getting out and among the general public as much as possible, searching for one he could get along with. Someone who could understand what he truly was and accept it, someone with proper etiquette, and someone who—

  “Hey. You.”

  He stiffened at the rude and ill-mannered interruption.

  “Yes?” he half-growled, realizing as he turned to face the speaker, that he recognized the voice.

  It was the woman from before, the one from outside of Charles’ office. The one he’d told a joke to.

  Except, he saw quickly, the happy smile and laughter had been wiped from her face. Instead, the rounded features were carefully pulled into an expressionless stare, just like her hair was pulled into a featureless ponytail.

  Nice suit though.

  She wore a feminine cut suit and buttoned-down shirt up top, with a strict skirt that came down just above her knees. Black jacket and skirt with white top. It was formal. Bland. Completely unremarkable in every way.

  “Can I help you?” he asked, wondering just what it was this woman—what had her name been?—wanted from him.

  “You’re Aaric.”

  “I am…Olivia,” he said, remembering her name. “Though I don’t recall what I must have done to put such a stiff look on your face. Can I help you?”

  He was trying to be polite, even if nothing about her made him want to be. She was attractive, or at least, she would be if she lost the scowl and relaxed a little. Then, he decided, she would be right up his alley.

  Short, thick, with delicious features he would totally want to explore. Pale blue eyes glared at him from through the slits she’d made of her eyes, hiding the natural beauty of them that he’d noted earlier.

  Lips that had been plump and primed for kissing were hidden so easily beneath a scowl that Aaric began to wonder if what he was seeing now was the real Olivia, and the person he’d caught a glimpse of earlier was something else entirely.

  “We need to talk.”

  He let his eyebrows dictate most of his response. They rose slowly, a fraction of an inch at a time, letting it show just how unimpressed he was with her attitude.

  “Is that so? And what, pray tell, do we need to talk about?” He let some ice slip into his voice, cooling it slightly.

  By the way her left nostril flared, it was obvious Olivia understood he wasn’t very appreciative of her attitude toward him, but just then Aaric rightly didn’t care.

  He was a fire dragon, scion of High House Draconis, and the most powerful being for hundreds of miles around. How dare she talk to him this way? This puny little human, who thought she could boss him around. Him.

  “Sire.”

  Francis’ single word got through his rising temper, a reminder that Aaric was in public. That he had to behave decently and could not resort to intimidating her through other methods.

  Taking a deep breath, he let it exhale, releasing some of his anger. The tension seemed to drop a level, and even Olivia recovered.

  “We need to talk about the property.”

  “Which property?” Aaric might be unable to give in to his temper, but that didn’t mean he was going to make life easy for her.

  “This one,” Olivia
said.

  “The office building?” he said, looking around. “What about it? I’m not interested in buying it, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Not…the office building,” she ground out from between clenched teeth. “I mean the one up for sale.”

  Aaric blinked. “Charles is selling another one of his properties tonight? I didn’t realize that. What one?”

  Olivia paused, taking a deep breath, her face reddening with anger. “I wish to talk with you about the property that Charles put up for sale. The one pictured on the wall there,” she said, pointing.

  “Oh. That one. I bought it,” he said. “I need it.” He turned back to Francis. “Can you bring the car around? I’m ready to go.”

  Francis smiled. “Of course.” He leaned in close, words barely audible. “Be nice.”

  Aaric just growled wordlessly while fighting back a smile. Francis was a good person, he liked him. He was not afraid to talk back or to lay things out bluntly, all too rare in a human who knew they were dealing with dragons.

  Aaric waited until they were alone. The rest of the people at the gathering must have sensed something because they were moving away now, subtly, but a large circle had appeared around the two of them.

  “Sell me the property.” By this point, Olivia was practically shaking with anger.

  “I just bought it,” he said, idly picking at the nails on one hand to demonstrate his indifference to the entire matter.

  Why does she care so much? There’s nothing special about this property.

  “Well, I need to talk about buying it from you then.”

  Aaric shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m not interested in selling it. I have plans for it.”

  “You must not understand,” Olivia said very quietly. “I will own this property. Let’s talk about this politely.”

  Keeping his anger in check was hard, but he recalled what Francis had said. There was no need to let this puny human get under his scales either. She was insignificant, of no matter to him. Once he left today, that would be the end of it.