Page 61 of Lahaina Noon

Gabe was hunched over a table with Siobhan and Ivan, playing poker for pennies. Ivan was incredibly good, but she figured his luck would change as she suspected Siobhan was cheating a little with her magic. She looked over at the twins and saw they had Jorrie and Jack enthralled by their stories.

Liam was watching Jorrie with longing on his face. When Jorrie would glance at Liam, he would suddenly look elsewhere. Jorrie would look at him with desire until Shepard, who also seemed interested in her, drew her back into conversation. Then it started all over again. It was sweet, really. Those two just needed to heat the sheets and get itout of their systems. Good grief, she was starting to sound like Jorrie. She was not going to admit that out loud.

Vaughn suddenly appeared, handing her a glass of wine and a menu. He sat down and simply gazed at her tenderly. She smiled and took his hand. They sipped their wine in happy silence until an attendant came and asked for their order.

Bridget settled back in her seat and picked up the book she’d brought. She tried to read for a bit but soon found she couldn’t focus. She looked at Vaughn. He was frowning at some files he was reading. He looked cute with his brow furrowed and lips compressed in concentration.

“Working?” she inquired softly.

His forehead smoothed out and he smiled, nodding.

“Need any help?”

He blinked, then fully focused on her. He looked down at the file and back at her again. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have you look at these,” he said as he passed her the files. “These are some of the supplier contracts for our integration program. This would be a good chance for you to get to know what you’re getting into.”

She started reading the files and contracts, discussing her thoughts and pointing out things he hadn’t noticed while they ate. She really had a good eye for this, and he found they still worked well together, bouncing ideas off each other. They fell back into the same working rhythm as they’d developed the previous six months.

Jorrie wandered over and started giving her input as well. Soon, the work was done. He was glad he’d hired them both. They were a force to be reckoned with and could take some of the load off his shoulders.The attendant returned to refresh their drinks and let them know there were two hours until they landed.

After the plane touched down, they loaded into several SUVs. Vaughn surprised them by detouring to some of the hot spots of Rome. He explained to Bridget, “We arrived a little early and there’s a storm coming in later, so we will be delayed setting off on our overwater flight by a few hours. I told Gabe’s school this was a learning opportunity and figured we should show him the sights. Let him take some pictures, get some souvenirs, and have a little fun.”

She squeezed his hand,you big softie, thank you.

He was laughing later when he heard Gabe, Jack, and the twins whooping from across the ruins of the Roman Forum. “Sounds like Gabe’s not the only one enjoying the sights.”

She laughed as well. “Let’s gather our kids and check out the Colosseum, then take them for real pizza.”

Vaughn smiled.Our kids.

Dinner was full of laughter and smiles. They’d gone to a small family-owned place that Vaughn knew from his business travels. The owners welcomed him with open arms and chattered away at him like a long-lost son. Jorrie was soon an adopted daughter when they found she could speak Italian like a native. Gabe learned that pepperoni in Italy was not what he expected, and Jack was laughing like there wasn’t a care in the world.

Bridget occasionally saw a cloud cross his face, but he would shake it off and jump back into the fun. She saw Davis watching Jack with desire clear on his face.He’s going to have his hands full,she thought. Rain poured outside, but inside, it waswarm and cozy.

All too soon, it was time for the journey to continue, and they left the smiling restaurant crew with a promise to stop in again on their way home. They loaded into the vehicles and began the drive to the coast. It wasn’t very long, less than an hour, and they reached their destination without incident. They found a spot to park the vehicles, not far from a lookout point on the shore.

Now a tourist spot, the lookout extended into the ocean and had a large circular plaza with plenty of room for the dragons to change forms. They walked to the plaza, and the dragons began to separate so they’d have room for their transformations. As Siobhan and Bridget were the only humans there to ever see a dragon, they would ensure everyone could handle what they were going to experience. They were about to have their minds blown.

Bridget gave her friends and son some last-minute advice. “Don’t forget, in their full forms, they can still hear and understand you. You just won’t be able to understand anything they are saying. Remember the signals we worked out?” she asked.

They all nodded, Gabe, looking a little green around the gills. She hugged him, saying nothing, not wanting to embarrass him in front of the others.

Jack gave a cheeky salute. “Aye, aye, Captain!”

They turned to face the dragons, and Bridget sent Vaughn an all clear. She had learned that in dragon form, all of the dragons could mind-link each other. Only her mate could hear her, though, for which she was glad. She didn’t want the others to hear some of her exchanges with Vaughn.

The men stripped out of their clothes, packing them in the bags at their feet. They would need them when they arrived on the island.

Jorrie dug her fingernails into Bridget’s arm and hissed in her ear, “You didn’t tell me about that part.”

Bridget looked at her friend in confusion. “Yes, I did. They can’t transform their clothes. They take them off, so they don’t rip them.”

Jorrie shook her head emphatically. “Not that, you didn’t tell me about, you know,that,” as she nodded at Liam and the twins.

Liam was standing there fully nude, not in the least self-conscious about it.

Bridget glanced at the other men, none of them were. Although Vaughn was by far the sexiest one, in her opinion, they all looked like they were sculpted from marble and very generously gifted. She blushed, whispering back, “I didn’t know that was a dragon thing. I thought it was just Vaughn.”

Jorrie swallowed noisily. “Yeah, well, he’s no slouch either.”

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