Page 7 of So I Dared a Dragon

We’re watching you, and we’ll make you pay.

three

. . .

Bibi

Several weeks later…

“Welcome back.” Tina picked up her phone and snapped a picture of me as soon as I walked into the meeting, which was sure to be posted online immediately.

“Yes, I was gone longer than planned. I missed you too.” I grinned as I took my seat at the head of the table. My trip to Vegas with Hugo was only supposed to be a weekend getaway, but extenuating circumstances kept us there much longer. “It feels amazing to be back in the same room with the team. But if I’d known there was going to be a photoshoot, I would’ve swung by the makeup trailer first.”

Tina glanced up at me from whoever she was texting, with look only a mom could give. “I have to prove to Calista that you’re actually back.”

Her name made my heart constrict.

“Keeping her in Sunset Springs was a challenge,” Marissa added. “Every day you were gone, I expected to have to book a last-minute flight to Vegas and go on a wild Calista goose chase.”

“I never expected to be gone for a month.” It still felt surreal to be back. “But when a unicorn shifter male stripper got murdered on stage during The Horny Hunks revue, there was no way I could say no when they asked for my help finding the perpetrator. What happens in Vegas is never what you have planned.”

“We’ll need to come out swinging on this episode to quiet down the forums.” Hannah barely took her eyes off her laptop screen. “There are some loud voices who are convinced you stayed in Vegas so long to avoid actually filming Calista’s episode. They’re calling you the Fairy Ghost Mother.”

Ouch. But I deserved it. “They could easily look up where I was.”

“There are pictures of you on stage with the Horny Hunks.” Hannah grinned, and held up her tablet.

“Not only that, but reports of the murdered Horny Hunk were all over the news. The case rocked the Las Vegas entertainment scene. There was no way I could walk away from the situation, not even for Calista. Not even for my own show. I didn’t want them to think we were an easy target. I assure you, all that time away will only make this episode the best one yet. My best friend deserves nothing less. And I know the three of you have been working tirelessly to make that happen.”

Tina, Marissa, and Hannah beamed at me, confirming my suspicions. I’d been spoiled rotten with the best team in the business.

“We’ve come up with some impressive options to put on stage with her,” Marissa said with surprisingly worrisome sigh. “It wasn’t without challenges.”

“Oh?” I had to admit, I had mixed feelings about all these good options. Was there a piece of me that wondered if I belonged to Calista?

Of course there was.

There was no way to share a bond like that and not love someone. But my gut, my wolf instincts, knew she wasn’t my mate.

My heart…well, that was another story.

“Despite numerous attempts to find out who Calista’s ideal partner was, she only gave us one answer,” Tina said.

She didn’t have to tell me what that was. “Me.”

“We weren’t sure if we should be looking for a male or female mate for her.” Marissa’s face brightened. “So we did something we’ve never done before and asked some of the ladies who’ve applied to be contestants if they were willing to appear on the other side of the stage.”

“Of course, we made sure that they signed NDAs,” Hannah said. “The element of surprise is important not only for the viewers, but especially for Calista. There’s a faction of forum regulars who think the show is getting predictable.”

“How could they possibly say that?” I shook my head with disbelief. “In our last episode, we brought Bigfoot himself on stage and barely held off a war with dire wolves and zombie beasts.”

“Think of it as their way of saying that we need to outdo ourselves with this episode.” Marissa grinned as she slid a pile of manila folders across the table. “These are our top choices. But we wanted to let you make the final call because you know her so well.”

All eyes were on me as I opened the first folder. The smiling face of a blonde woman greeted me. I perused her bio, learning that she was long-distance runner and adrenaline junkie who described herself as a plant mom. She’d definitely make an amazing contestant…on another episode.

The next one was a gorgeous male lion shifter. Dark skin, sparkling eyes. A smile that would make the butterflies in almostanyone’s belly flutter. He’d worked for special ops in the military and loved mountain climbing.

Maybe we could set these two up on their own episode… No. Even if I could talk the network into another episode, it wouldn’t help me find the perfect mate for Calista.

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