Page 60 of Wooing the Wiccan
Uh-oh. Now I’ve done it.
“But I’m offended that you don’t know I’m planning to tone down my overwhelming aura so that your boo is more comfortable.”
I blink at him. “My what?”
“Your boo. Honestly, Raðulfr, you need to make an effort to learn modern slang. How can you relate to young people on their level if you can’t communicate with them?” He rolls his eyes.
“I’m about ninety-nine percent certain that if any ‘young people’ had heard you say that, they would have laughed at you.” I hold up my hand to stop his indignant reply. “But thank you for what I think was a promise not to overwhelm Jared. He’s never met a dragon before… that he knows about.” It’s entirely possible hehas, but not that I’ve witnessed or heard about.
Brandt instantly forgets that I offended him. “I’m the best one for him to meet, then. Aside from Cecylia. If I’d thought of it, I would have asked Percy to bring her in today. It’s hard to be intimidated when a dragonet is wrapping you around her baby claws.”
I can’t stop the grin that forms as I picture Jared cooing over Cecy. It would be impossible for him not to—she has a way about her. I also suspect that she might be using some of her magic to charm people. Dragons usually can’t when they’re that young, but Brandt’s her father, and he’s exceptionally strong, so it’s not completely out of the question that she’s already able to access some of her power. Unlike elves, dragon magic isn’t based purely on spellcraft, so there isn’t as much focus and deliberation needed to make things happen.
We reach reception, and to my surprise, Jared is already there. He’s talking animatedly to Dáithí, who’s come out from behind his desk, and there’s a warm smile on his face that gives me pause. Dáithí’s great, but if Jared had been worried about coming here, it doesn’t seem likely that five minutes of chatter would have relaxed him this much. Was I wrong about the reason for his unhappiness?
Even as I think it, he glances up and sees me. The way his smile widens has me crossing to him without hesitation and dropping a kiss on his beautiful mouth. “Hello.”
“Hi. Dáithí was just telling me the latest office gossip.”
“Who left the buttprint on the photocopier, and was it a prank or something more salacious?” Brandt asks. “I’m on team salacious. We need a good office sex story.”
Jared tries to hold back a smile as I sigh. “We donotneed an office sex story, and might I remind youagainabout appropriate?—”
“Management behavior, blah blah,” Brandt interrupts. “I didn’t say we need to make people engage in sex at work, justthat I’m here for the gossip if they do.” He extends a hand to Jared. “Hi. You must be Jared. I’m Brandt, Raðulfr’s oldest friend, and I’m very pleased to meet you.”
Jared glances at me as he shakes hands. “You’re the dragon… wingleader? Is that right? I’m sorry, I’m still learning all the terminology.”
Brandt beams at him. “You got it right. Raðulfr says you haven’t met any dragons before.”
With an apologetic grimace, Jared says, “Not that I know of. I’m still useless at recognizing community members who have their glamor on, though, so I might have.”
Waving that off, my oldest friend declares, “You’ll have to come to Here Be Dragons. I’ll invite some people, and you can meet my Percy and Cecy, and I bet someone would take you flying. You haven’t lived until you’ve been flying with a dragon. Raðulfr will bring you.”
Alarmed—how is this not being overwhelming?—I suggest, “Maybe when the weather warms up some more.” Or next fall. Six months should give Jared time to get his feet under him.
“Percy’s your partner, right? The former lucifer?” There’s an adorable line of concentration between Jared’s brows as he tries to remember what he’s learned in the past month.
“Yep,” Brandt confirms, delighted. “And Cecy is our daughter. She’ll be three later this year. You work with children, don’t you?”
“Not as young as that, but yes. I teach kindergarten. It’s always a challenge, and very messy, but I love it.”
“We should get you involved with our education system,” Brandt suggests, and I wish there was a way for me to kick him without Jared noticing. It’s a thought I had myself, but I was going to wait until Jared had more time to get used to us all before mentioning it. I didn’t account for the boundless enthusiasm of dragons.
“You have a separate education system?” Jared glances at me again. “Raðulfr didn’t mention that.”
“CSG had one in place when we migrated, and they very kindly allowed us to join and expand it. It’s now a shared organization,” I explain, but before I can continue, Brandt hooks his arm through Jared’s.
“We can talk about all that later,” he announces. “Jared’s here to meet people. We’ll start with Raðulfr’s security team, because they’ll get snippy if we don’t, but then I’ll take you to where the fun is.” They start walking toward the hallway, and I shoot an alarmed look at Dáithí as Brandt continues, “Elves are great, don’t get me wrong—I love them. Dragons look the way we do because we thought elves were awesome. But they really like their rules, and sometimes that makes them boring. You met Eoin, right? He can be a real stick in the mud. We dragons consider it our duty to make the elves loosen up.”
“This is a disaster,” I whisper, just as Jared looks back over his shoulder and grins at me.
“I think your guy can handle Brandt,” Dáithí says. “He gave me an idea for managing Eoin that was inspired.”
For a second, I’m torn between hearing all about it and chasing after Brandt and Jared before?—
“—hardly dangerous at all. We almost always catch people before they hit the ground.”
“Tell me all about it later,” I tell Dáithí, racing across reception. I’ve waited too long for Jared to let Brandt accidentally drop him from over a thousand feet up.
