Page 24 of The Dragon's Mate Proposal

He grunted. “Yes. Let’s.”

I frowned at his back as he headed outside. There was something in his voice. It was like dealing with two different people. The one who wanted to save the house and the one who wanted nothing but money.

And I had no idea which one was which.

Chapter Thirteen

Cade

“I think you might have been exaggerating a bit,” Samantha said as I touched down on the grassy field outside the cluster of buildings, my claws digging deep into the soft earth as I ensured a soft landing.

“About what?” I asked, extending my wing for her to crawl-slide down from my back. I watched her body wriggle and move, still unused to the balance of walking on the membrane.

It did fun things to her hips, and my dragons interest flared, mirroring my own. I couldn’t help but wonder what she would look like if I—

“You said we were going to town,” Samantha explained, her feet touching solid ground, allowing me to shift. “I’m not quite sure this qualifies as ‘town.’”

I followed her hand as she waved it around to encompass the mix of wood and stone buildings.

“It’s a town. People live here. There are businesses.” I shrugged. “What would you call it?”

She looked at me, raising both eyebrows and squinting out of one eye.

“Why are you squinting at me?” I asked, crossing my arms.

Samantha shook her head. “I’m not. I’m raising one eyebrow. Giving you that look of ‘really?’”

“You mean like this?” I asked, lifting one eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

I snickered.

“What’s so funny about that? It was an acceptable response to your comment.”

I fought back some more laughter. “Are you aware your face doesn’t actually mirror your intentions?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You weren’t lifting one eyebrow,” I told her. “You were lifting both and squinting from one eye.”

“No, I wasn’t. I was lifting one eyebrow.”

“Come with me,” I said, taking her by the arm, leading her into town. We stopped at the first place that had windows. “Now make the face.”

“Fine,” she said, exasperated, leaning into the window.

Her face scrunched up, both eyebrows rising, while she squinted through her right eye.

“Oh my god!” she yelped, backing away as she saw her reflection. “No. No way.”

“What?”

“Cade!” she moaned, hands over her face. “I’ve been giving people that look for years. I never knew! Nobody ever told me! Oh my god, this is so embarrassing.”

I laughed hard, which earned me a glare.

“No,” I said, waving a finger. “Samantha, this is a time to laugh. To shrug it off, and realize that you looked so silly for years, and everyone just accepted it.”

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