Page 43 of Accidentally a Dragon Daddy

“Where the hell is everything?” I said, staring at the emptiness that greeted me. “Damon?”

“One moment,” he called from somewhere on the lowest level.

I padded over to the top of the stairs, listening as he moved something around down there. But I couldn’t stop staring at the bareness of his house. Everything that had littered tables, countertops, or been placed into corners was gone. Even some of the tables were straight up missing.

“Were you robbed?” I asked, turning around as he came back up the stairs.

“No, not at all, I just—”

Damon came to a screeching halt as his head came up and he took me in. His jaw dropped, and all he did was stare. At me.

“Do you like it?” I asked, fighting back nerves as I turned from side to side to show off the glani. He’d seen it on me in the store, but only momentarily. “Am I wearing it right? I thought I remembered how to put it on, but if I didn’t, I could—”

“You look perfect,” he said in an oddly subdued voice. “Absolutely perfect.”

“Thank you,” I said a bit demurely, enjoying his reaction. I may have fluttered my eyelashes a bit more than necessary. It was oddly enjoyable to see such a big and powerful man brought to a complete halt simply by my looks.

“I wasn’t sure you’d wear it,” he said, finding his voice.

I shrugged. “When in Rome …”

Damon smiled appreciatively, his eyes still roaming my body from head to toe. The intense attention was starting to affect me, whether I wanted it to or not. I looked away—and perhaps twisted my hips a little more than necessary as I did—to take in the house with a wave of one arm in silent question.

“Do you like it?”

“Like what?” I asked. “There’s nothing here, Damon. What on Earth are you doing?”

“I’m un-deathtrapping my house.”

I gaped at him. “Wait. You’ve spent all morning moving goodness knows how much stuff into storage because it was unsafe for a baby?”

He nodded like a proud idiot, a big goofy grin on his face.

“Damon,” I moaned, rubbing my face as guilt filled me. It was my fault. “That was a wild overreaction on my part. We have so long until the baby arrives. Then they’ll just be a lump for ages after that. There’s no need for all this. You can bring it back up.”

“No,” he said with a wave to dismiss my point. “Honestly, I never even looked at most of that stuff. I’m just going to get rid of it.”

“Get rid of it?” I asked. “Just like that? This is your house!”

“Not my stuff, though.” He smiled again, setting off a flock of butterflies in my stomach. “We’ll spend the next eight months until the baby arrives filling it with new stuff. This is no longer my house. It’s our house. You live here, too. Even if you aren’t living with me.”

I bit my lip as he quickly added that qualifier to the end. Ever since we’d returned from his sister’s school, he’d been scrupulous about keeping his distance and letting me acclimate to my new life.

Though that hadn’t stopped his eyes from wandering. If anything, I’d caught him staring more frequently, given it was all he could do. Every so often, I saw something else in those deep blue circles when he watched me. Something bestial. It watched with a possessiveness that scared me … and in those moments I was extremely honest with myself, it intrigued me as well.

Just what was his dragon thinking?

“Are you sure?” I asked him.

“Yes. I didn’t even buy half this stuff, truth be told. I didn’t spend enough time here to bother.”

In his own home? That was odd. It had felt somewhat stiff in its presentation, but I’d written that off as the simple fact it’d been owned by a male.

“Where did you spend your time, then?” I asked. Was there a woman before me, perhaps? Did I have to worry about a jealous ex just as I did a hateful sister?

“Working,” he said.

That same darkness appeared ever so briefly in his eyes, but he was quick to dismiss it, forcing a smile.

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