Page 12 of The Ruby Dragon's Unconventional Mate

“Yes.” He nodded and offered Amber a smile. “I was coming to get my cookbook and see if you have anything new that Idesperately need. Nothing sad, but a serial killer wouldn’t go amiss.”

“Naughty! I have a hot little romance that’s new—it’s a take to the tub type of novel.”

He arched an eyebrow, refusing to blush, to admit Bryant was right there. “I do love my baths. It’s the best part of being a dragon of leisure.”

Bryant opened his mouth, scowled, and then snapped it closed.

“Mmhmm. Well, you know, you’re a lazy little shit.” Amber winked at him, her eyes dancing, removing all the sting from the words. “Are you stopping by Kota’s place? I have a stack of books for them, too.”

“I will happily drop them off.” He needed to see his nieces. “Samuel says thank you for the books for Grant. He was incredibly happy.”

“I’m glad. Books for all.” She took the cookbook from Bryant, then handed it to him. “Now, Mr. Bryant, we can find you something special too.”

“Thanks. I’ll just browse around.”

“Sorry about the book.” Lars probably should offer to let Bryant borrow it, but he didn’t really want to. “Have a good day, man.”

“You too.”

And Bryant wandered off. Amber blinked at him. “This is a messed-up situation.”

“It is what it is. No worries. There’s no…there are absolutely no worries here.” Lars shrugged. “We weren’t together. It’s not like we were mated, and then he decided he didn’t want me anymore. It was just a flirtation, and now we’re coworkers.”

Now he wasn’t wanted anymore, and he was going to be cool with that.

“Yeah, I heard about what happened at the coffee shop.” Amber rolled her eyes and pointed to the tree across the way, blackened and split by his lightning bolt.

“I think everybody heard about what happened at the coffee shop.” He shrugged. “You know, the lightning strike was probably a little much. I’m a kinda embarrassed.”

He really wasn’t, but it was nice to say.

“Still, I’ll be glad when everything’s settled back down. Have you met the other guardian? Is he all right? Is he even real?” she whispered.

This was what he had been afraid of. Lachlan was so very private, only coming out in the darkness to do rounds and then disappearing that no one ever got to know him. “Oh yeah, he’s real. He’s a nice guy. Keeps to himself a lot, but he’s totally capable of doing his job. He’s just not social, you know?”

Lars wasn’t going to say anything that wasn’t utterly vague about the platinum dragon who was Bryant’s brother. Logan was happy with them. He would be too. The wing would learn to love them or not; he didn’t care.

“Don’t worry about the wing. It’s safe as houses.” Even if Logan had needed to hire two dragons to replace Jason. It figured, he guessed, that Jason was so amazing that he had been doing the work of a dozen guardians.

“I trust you, Lars. I’m looking forward to getting to know—what is the new dragon’s name?”

“Lachlan, but I don’t—I don’t know how he likes to be addressed. You might ask his brother. That might be the smartest answer.” Lars didn’t call him anything. He worked mornings and one weekend a month, more if Logan was out of town on business.

“All right…” Amber’s frown was just deepening, not easing as he’d hoped.

Goddess, this was awful. Now he felt like everybody in the wing was going to be unsure about Bryant and Lachlan. That wasn’t what he had been going for. He had been going for sure. He’d been going for confident and guardian-like.

“Are you talking about my twin?” Bryant swooped over, fire in his eyes.

He refused to cower. He’d done nothing wrong. “Put it on my tab, Amber.”

“Sure, Lars.” Amber studied Bryant. “I was just wondering when we might meet your brother.”

Bryant stiffened a little. “I’m not sure. Lachlan likes to meet folks one-on-one rather than in big groups. Maybe he’d like to have you and your mate for supper?”

“You don’t know?” Amber propped her chin on her beringed hand and stared at Bryant.

“Um.” Bryant blinked, then looked at Lars, who widened his eyes very large. Like, don’t look at me.

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