Page 15 of The Dragon's Mate Proposal

I spun to see her eyes sparkling with azure humor.

“Jealousy already,” I murmured quietly enough so the person on the other side of the door couldn’t hear. “How intriguing. I didn’t know you felt that strongly about me.”

Samantha’s face flushed a dark red, which both my dragon and I found vastly more interesting than dealing with the voice at the door. Unfortunately, I couldn’t ignore it.

“Not jealousy,” Samantha snapped finally.

But she didn’t elaborate.

“Cade, open the door now, or I’ll do it myself! You can’t avoid me.”

“And she has a key,” Samantha said. “A jilted lover you didn’t think to mention?”

“Not at all,” I said, teeth bared.

“No?”

I shook my head. “None of my lovers ever leave jilted. Not after I’ve pleasured their bodies with mine.”

Samantha kept her face neutral, but she couldn’t control the dilation of her pupils.

“I thought so,” I said as the door rattled in its frame yet again.

That time I went to it and pulled it open.

“Keep it down,” I hissed at the tiny redhead on the other side.

Her green eyes popped open with emerald flame. “Shut the fuck up, Cade. This is my goddamn place. I run it. So, I can be as loud or as quiet as I want, and those who don’t pay me their fee to stay don’t get to say shit about it.”

I gritted my teeth as she extended a hand.

“You’ll get your money,” I said, wondering if I could back that claim up.

“That’s what you said yesterday, Cade. And the day before.”

“Listen, Jelania,” I tried to say, but she cut me off with a snarl.

“Don’t say it,” she snapped. “Just pay me the money you owe me.”

I shook my head slowly. “I can’t. I don’t have it.”

There were a few coins left in my pocket, but I had to pay for food for Samantha and me somehow. Besides, they wouldn’t even cover half of what I already owed Jelania. Let alone any more nights.

“Pay up or get out,” she said without an ounce of sympathy.

I gritted my teeth, looking up and away, trying to gather my patience, even as my dignity fled.

“Please,” I said as quietly as I could, hating myself for having to resort to begging. If I couldn’t even afford a roof over her head, there was no way Samantha would ever fall in love with me.

Not that I saw it ending in anything other than an explosion of yelling anyway.

“No,” Jelania said without mercy. “You’re already three days behind, Cade. I’m not running a charity here. Either pay it or get out.”

“Fine,” I snarled, losing my cool. “We’re leaving, then. Happy?”

Jelania nodded and smiled. “Yes.”

I wasn’t sure what response I expected, but it wasn’t that. It should have been. Jelania wasn’t the type to have feelings. She ran a business.

---