Page 57 of Dragon His Heels
Whew.
Wait. Who was crying, Talia or Jasmine?
“Uh… are you crying?”
The two women jerked apart; Talia sniffled and swiped at the wetness on her cheeks, clearing her throat and not looking him in the eye.
“Are you…are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded and lifted her face to the ceiling, blinking rapidly. “I’m fine.”
“Why are you crying?”
“Um…”
“That little speech about fated mates,” Jasmine explained.
“Really? You’re crying overthat?”
Talia finally looked at him, although it was a watery glare. He had to bite his lip to keep from grinning at how affronted she appeared.
“Did you need something?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
They both looked at him, clearly expecting him to explain. When he didn’t elaborate, Talia said, “Well? What do you need?”
“You.”
Jasmine said, “Eep,” and pressed two fingers to her lips, while Talia stared at him, her eyes so wide they took up half her face.
He cupped the back of his neck. “I, uh, like I said, I think you really are my fated mate.”
“Oh my,” Jasmine whispered.
“But…you don’t want a mate,” Talia said.
“I didn’t, until you came along.”
“I’ve been here for five years, Gabe.”
“And I’ve needed you that whole time. I just didn’t realize it. Well, I did, but I didn’t think it was in this way. I thought it was purely business. But really, it’s in every way.”
“This is so romantic,” Jasmine murmured.
Talia flung around to face her sister. “Could we have a minute, please?”
“Oh, right.” Jasmine glanced at him. “Sure. I’ll, yeah. Um, bye!” She shot away into the darkness, back into the auditorium or deeper backstage, Gabe had no idea. And he didn’t give a hot damn either. Because Talia was looking at him in that way she’d started to shortly after they flew together for the first time. Like maybe she liked him, too. Or maybe…maybe more than liked.
“I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you these last couple weeks. I just… I didn’t know what to do. I was still trying to figure out how to handle the fact that, despite everything, I still wanted to be with you. And I’m sorry I lied about the condoms.”
She wrapped her arms around her waist. “I’m sorry I lied about Ruby being your daughter. I never meant… I was trying to protect her.”
He scrubbed his hand through his hair. “And fix me.”
“No. I mean…”
“I get it, Talia. It doesn’t make your actions right, but I understand. You wanted me to be a better person.”
