Page 29 of Let Go My Gargoyle
She placed the bags on the dresser.
“How are you holding up?” Griffin asked from behind her.
She shrugged and didn’t bother pretending she didn’t know what he was talking about. “It was a shock.” She glanced at his reflection in the mirror over the dresser. “Did you realize that was the first time I’ve ever seen him?”
“Yes. If it helps, you obviously favor your mother.”
She snorted. “Thanks.” Then she lowered her gaze. “You don’t have to stay. We’ll be fine here.”
“I believe Penelope will be, at least until I make other arrangements, but I am not so sure about you.”
“Out of the two of us, you’re more worried about me?” She arched her brows. Was he serious?
“Yes.”
That was it? No explanation? No reasoning why he’d think a grown woman—a dragon—needed more protection than a four- year-old child?
“I’m not helpless. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time now.”
“How long?”
She glanced up at him, but his face did not register anything beyond basic curiosity. Sighing, she said, “You know I can’t tell you much at all.”
“Does this contract forbid you from talking about your own past?”
“My past is the reason for the contract in the first place.”
“Because he did not want to share his inheritance.”
She winced. Yes, that was part of it.
Griffin brushed a lock of hair off her shoulder. “I only want to help you, Sofia. I’ve already sworn to you that I will not reveal your secrets. Gargoyles are a highly stuffy and proper lot; I can assure you that when I give you my word, it is as good as—or more binding, even—than that contract you signed.”
She chuckled at his description of himself. He didn’t look particularly stuffy or proper. He looked…
Delicious, her dragon whispered.
Would you stop?
Nope.
“Your dragon talking to you again?” Griffin asked.
Sofia forced a weak chuckle.
“What can I do to make you feel more relaxed?” he asked.
Her dragon started listing the ways. None of them involved she and Griffin wearing clothing.
She turned away from the temptation. “Why did you sleep with me the night you left Penelope with me? Why didn’t you just drop her on my doorstep and disappear?”
“I wasn’t quite anticipating the conversation going in this direction.”
She waited.
He sighed. “I was being selfish. Story of my life, actually. I’m really amazingly good at reacting before thinking. Which, for the record, is not normal for a gargoyle.”
“Why do you think you aren’t normal?”
