Page 8 of Dragon Exposed

I didn’t know what had come over me, but the moment my lips touched his, I felt like I’d taken down half a bottle of tequila, and I was ready to let my clothes fall off.

And then he’d acted like I was a fool, incapable of taking care of myself or taking out the vampire. Like a bucket of ice water, I was no longer into it. Or, at least, my brain wasn’t. My pussy still had other thoughts.

Three texts from Nina waited for me once I got out of the shower.

Nina: Can’t do coffee. Still in bed.

This one was followed by a photo of a man I’d never seen, passed out and drooling slightly on the pillow.

Nina: Late lunch instead? We could meet up around two, maybe?

Nina: I hope Mr. Smolder-face-with-the-long-romance-novel-hair is rocking your world.

I rolled my eyes as I responded with a picture of my own.

Izobelle: Bed’s empty, and the only one who took off my Spanx last night was me. I’m not nearly as worldly as you are.

Without a coffee buddy, I let out a sigh and headed for the door anyway, craving caffeine and maybe one of those flashes from theMen in Blackmemory erasers, to wipe Levi straight out of my head.

Instead of the peaceful Sunday morning I was hoping for, my phone rang a few sips into my coffee.

There was no way I could skip it.

“Denison.” It had become a habit to answer my phone with my last name any time someone from work called. It wasn’t exactly intentional, but everyone else did it, and the habit started quickly.

“Izobelle, I need you in the office early tomorrow. The network wants us to do an outdoor show on Tuesday, which means I need all hands on deck to get it put together.” My boss, Hal, sounded frazzled already, which meant the early start time wasn’t all I needed to do tomorrow. I’d need to stop off at his favorite coffee spot and make sure he got caffeine and pastries which he’d claim not to want but would demolish before noon. “And I’m going to need you to put together a segment about the Epsilon massacre. Newsworthy, but upbeat.”

Upbeat. Sure. What massacre didn’t have an upbeat side to it? “Morning show worthy, got it. I’ll make sure we mention thoughts and prayers.” I wanted to roll my eyes, but this was the business. “What time do you need me?”

“Three?”

“I’ll be there.” I hung up before he could make any more outrageous demands and started to think through how I was going to be functioning at three in the morning. The normal work hours were rough enough. If they found out I’d narrowly escaped the club before the vampire really started in on his victims, my history would undoubtedly come up, and I hardly wanted to draw that sort of attention to myself when I was in the middle of trying to hunt and kill someone, vampire or not.

Fuck, I was going to need at least another cup, if not two.

“Hey, Izobelle.”

His voice sent a shiver down my spine. Levi.

I turned to face him slowly, hoping the late night hadn’t left bags under my eyes that were too bad. No makeup, still damp hair, in yoga pants, was not the look I would’ve chosen for my second run-in with him. “Are you following me?”

God, he looked lickable. He didn’t look like the late night affected him at all, and the man-bun he was rocking normally would’ve been a hell-no for me, but he didn’t look like he was doing it to be a hipster. It was more like he’d pulled his hair up to keep it out of his face. Which I could totally respect.

“Just feeling damn lucky to see you again. Can I join you?”

“Only if you get my next cup. I think it’s only fair that the stalker pays.” I smirked at him as I pushed the chair opposite me out with my toes. “Is this a usual haunt for you?”

He sank into the chair before he answered. “I admit, I saw a gorgeous blonde through the window and decided coffee wouldn’t be a bad idea.” His eyes never left my face, but it still felt like he was looking me up and down, like I could feel his gaze tracing over me as palpably as fingertips. “What’s good here?”

I swallowed hard, trying not to get lost in his vibrant green eyes. Trying to remember how to speak. “Whatever you like, probably. I’ve never had a bad cup of coffee here. They make killer cranberry orange muffins too.” I waited a beat before saying softly, “I’m glad to see you made it out last night.”

“I’m glad you didn’t follow me back in. I couldn’t find your friend though. Did you find her?” His eyes were filled with concern.

“Not until this morning, but she’s fine. She found someone to take her home. We’ll probably grab a late lunch.” I sighed, realizing I never responded to her offer. Maybe I wouldn’t be grabbing a late lunch.

Why did that suddenly not sound like such a bad thing? Did I really want to spend more time with this stranger?

“Good.” He smiled at me, and then stood. “What are you drinking? I believe I owe you a refill.”

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