Page 22 of A Savior for the Arrogant Dragon

“Kira, I was hoping I’d run into you today,” he said, slightly out of breath. “How’s your trip going so far?”

She wondered what would happen if she told him the truth, “Oh, it’s been amazing,” she said. “That rain yesterday was kind of a pain, but Mary Beth and I still managed to get a hike in after it quit.”

“That’s great,” Corey said, looking like he really meant it. “My buddies and I got some fishing in after the rain. We didn’t have much luck, but it was fun. We’re going to give it a try again today.”

“That sounds great,” she said. “I’m spending the day lolling on the beach, doing a little bit of swimming and a lot of reading.”

Corey grinned at her, “You do look pretty comfortable, so I won’t try to convince you to come with us,” he said. “But maybe I could talk you into having dinner with me tonight. There’s some gossip around the island that the fishing boats went out early this morning to pull in the crab trap, which means there will be a crab boil tonight. I was hoping you’d go with me.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun,” she said, and a bit too much like a date, she thought. “Mary Beth and Iare supposed to have dinner together tonight, but if there’s a crab boil, I’m sure we’ll be there. Maybe we’ll run into each other.”

Corey tried to hide his disappointment, “Oh, okay, I understand,” he said. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your book. I saw you sitting here and thought that I‘d come over and say hi.”

She smiled at him, thinking that he seemed like a nice guy, but he didn’t make her feel the way Simon did, and then she wanted to slap herself for the thought. “I’m glad you did,” she said. “I’ll watch for you tonight. Maybe we can sit together.”

“Oh, that would be great. I’ll be with my friends,” he said, pointing to a group of men on the beach playing football. “We’re here for a bachelor party. My best friend is getting married in a couple of weeks.”

She looked at the group of men on the beach shouting and running around like kids, “I have a feeling you won’t be hard to miss,” she said, shaking her head. “You should probably get back to your friends. I’ll see you tonight. I hope you catch lots of fish.”

CHAPTER 13

***SIMON***

Simon wandered up the beach, wondering if the morning could get any worse. After embarrassing himself with Cindy, he’d forgotten twice that he didn’t look like himself anymore and had been laughed at when he approached a group of women. It stung more than he’d realized to be judged solely on his looks, and he’d left the village hoping that he’d find some peace on the beach. Now, walking along with his feet in the water, he felt adrift. He had no idea how to fill the hours that stretched out in front of him; not looking the way he did.

He was trapped in a body that wasn’t his own, stripped of everything that made him who he was, the good looks gone, the money just a memory, and he had no idea how to cope with the world the way he was. No amount of charm was going to overcome his common looks. Dropping his name wasn’t going to open any doors when he looked the way he did. All the power he’d had was gone, he was just like millions of other men in the world.

For a second, he felt a sense of liberation. He was free to do what he pleased, free to live his life the way he wanted,not the way his parents wanted. Then he remembered the money, and his heart sank. He’d never been forced to earn a living, and he had never had a job in his life, and the prospect was daunting. He wasn’t even sure how to go about finding a job, let alone applying for one, and the little bit of euphoria he’d felt quickly evaporated.

Feeling like the situation was hopeless, he started to turn around to go back to his cabin, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Kira and kept going. She was sitting in a beach chair, a cooler by her side, talking to a man, and to his surprise a feeling that he could only describe as jealousy welled up inside him. He staggered a step, absorbing the feeling for a second, then looked back over at the two of them, groaning when Kira smiled at the man and sensation only got worse.

Too shocked to move, he stood in the surf, the ocean lapping at his feet and watched as Kira got to her feet and gave the man a hug, then not sure what his plan was, started for them. Unable to control the jealousy, having never felt the emotion before, he was breathing hard, the urge to punch the man raging through him as he stomped toward them. When the man released Kira and stepped back a couple of feet, the feeling eased a little, and he was able to breathe again, but he didn’t stop, couldn’t fight the urge to be near her.

A second later, Kira looked over and saw him coming toward them, at first it looked like she was relieved, then a strange look appeared on her face, and even from a distance, he could see her cheeks turning pink. Unsure what the blush meant, he hesitated, unsure of himself for the first time in his life, suddenly understanding how other men must feel. He didn’t have long to think about it though, because Kira started waving her arms and pointing over his shoulder at something.

He turned just in time to see the football coming straight for his face, but not soon enough to duck or get out of the way in time. The ball slammed into the side of his face, and the impact knocked him to the sand. His head bounced a couple of times, then came to rest, and he lay there his vision filled with stars, the world suddenly spinning. He felt Kira crouched next to him before he could see her, and tried to smile, but pain radiated from the side of his face, and he groaned instead.

“Oh, my God, Simon, are you okay?” Kira asked, gently brushing the hair back from his face. “Is anything broken?”

It took him a few seconds to focus on her face, “I don’t think so,” he finally managed to say. “It might be a good thing if something was. I might not be so ugly then.”

“Oh, Simon, you’re not ugly,” Kira said, with a sigh. “Do you think you can sit up?”

“Here, let me help,” the man Kira had been hugging offered. “You took quite a hit, man.”

The jealousy was back, raging deep inside him, waiting to spill over, “I’m good. It’ll take more than a football to take me down,” he said, struggling to his feet, ignoring the way his head was spinning. “Who are you, anyway?”

Kira gave him a look, “Simon, this is Corey,” she said. “We met the other day in the village. He was just telling me there might be a crab boil tonight.”

“Kira’s going to sit with me,” Corey said. “We’re going to meet there.”

“Is that right?” he asked, a frown on his face. “How nice for you.”

“Simon, that wasn’t very nice, behave yourself,” Kira said, then turned to Corey. “Thanks for telling me about the crab boil. I will see you tonight.”

The man looked like he wanted to argue,then let out a long sigh, “Are you sure you don’t need any help?” he asked. “I don’t mind.”

“We’re okay,” Kira said. “I’m just going to get Simon some ice for his eye. I don’t think he’s hurt otherwise.”

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