Page 15 of Dragon's Honor

“No, I haven’t. She wasn’t, she’s not my mate.”

“Then why didn’t you take your hearstone from her? Why is she still wearing it?”

Ash growled. “Just fucking leave it alone, Henrik. It’s not your problem.”

“It is if you go insane and shift into your dragon in the middle of South Beach.”

“I’m not going to lose my mind or shift in the middle of Miami.”

“Because you’re going to go find your mate? Before she finds someone else?”

Ash snapped and shoved his brother hard, knocking him across the sand on his ass.

Fuck.

He needed to see her again.

4

A Date Hijacked

“Come on, Fin. You don’t even have to think of it as a date. It’s just dinner. You can’t keep moping around the apartment, fidgeting with that bracelet you refuse to take off.” Olivia reached over the kitchen table and grabbed Finley’s hand. “Do it for me. I swear, he’s a good guy.”

Finley sighed, staring at her sister who looked entirely too perky for this early in the morning. They hadn’t even had breakfast yet, and she was getting inundated by pressure to date.

It wasn’t that she was pining over Ash, exactly. She hardly knew him, and she wasn’t stupid. If he hadn’t called in a month, it was pretty obvious that her phone wasn’t going to magically ring now. But with as palpable as the chemistry had been between them, it just didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t have faked the lust in his eyes as he held her on his lap. He couldn’t have faked his concern when he saw her singed palms.

And whether he wanted to admit it or not, there was something strange about her bracelet, the tourmaline gems that glowed only when they touched.

“Fin? Please? I think you’ll like him.”

She sighed. “Just dinner?”

“Just dinner.” Olivia grinned as if the matter was already solved.

Finley supposed it kind of was. She wasn’t good at saying no to her sister, even when it just didn’t feel right.

Going on a blind date was worse than getting prepped for dental surgery. She’d never had a good date in her life. Something always went wrong.

Her first date ended with the guy throwing up on her shoes. Those were her favorite Chucks at the time too. Another guy ditched her to get back together with his ex. Then there was the guy who had been a set up. He walked into the coffee shop, ordered his coffee, spotted her across the room and left without saying a word.

Olivia was the only one who had never made her feel like she’d never measure up to arbitrary expectations of who and what she should be. Everyone in her life, no matter how fleeting their presence was, always seemed to have some opinion of who Finley really was that never lined up with her own vision. Even the guy who threw up on her had been saying to her all night that he was bummed she at how little she drank. As if throwing up together would’ve really solidified the romance of the evening.

Even long-term boyfriends didn’t work out. Her last didn’t like that she was independent. He said a man wanted to feel needed and she never needed anything from him. Never mind that he had no follow through. She couldn’t need someone who wasn’t going to actually help her.

Olivia was the only person she could count on. They counted on each other.

Finley knew she kept her heart protected. After her mother abandoned her, literally moving out of their apartment while she was at a sleepover, she didn’t feel like she could trust anyone. She came home to a trashed living room, broken dishes, and a bedroom without any furniture. She waited three days before she called Olivia.

Heat stained her cheeks even as she thought about it. Shame, guilt, and disgust was all she felt when she thought of her mother.

Going on a date just felt like self-imposed flogging, but at least Finley intended to be nothing but herself. She wasn’t going to stand for any more expectations that she didn’t hold for herself.

A few minutes before her mystery date was supposed to arrive, her phone rang.

For half a breath, she hoped it was Ash.

But sure enough, it was just the lobby security guard.

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