Page 37 of Her Purr-fect Christmas Mate

“Of course they do!” Peony sounded outraged.

He hid a grin. They were back at the bookstore. Peony had looked at theClosedsign with an expression of such simmering rage that he’d half expected her to throw it to the ground and stamp on it. But of course, she was far too professional to do something like that.

Then his dragon had glimmered at him. He’d paused partway across the shop floor and glanced back to see his mate look around hastily, then drop the sign and grind it angrily under one boot.

Warmth pooled in his chest.My mate.

He cleared his throat. “I suppose I can see the value in it. Expensive books to display good taste or match the décor—”

Peony snorted. “What would you know about décor? There’s literally nothing in your house that doesn’t have a practical use.”

He raised a careful eyebrow. He still wasn’t sure how much of this was real and how much was a game, but God, he wouldn’t stop playing it for the world. “You’re not suggesting people actually still read books?”

“Of course they do!”

“Ebooks, maybe, but—”

“Realbooks.” Peony paused and held up her hands placatingly. He got the feeling there was an old argument here she was used to making. “Not that ebooks aren’t real books. Iloveebooks. But there’s a difference between handing over a gift card and letting someone fill their device, and giving someone a physical copy of a book that you know they’ll love, or that you cherished from your childhood, or that has reallybiteableedges—”

“Excuse me?” Was this her inner cat coming through?

She grinned at him. “Board books for babies. Compelling reading materialandsomething to chomp on, all in one.”

“And better than letting them chew on your phone.”

“Exactly!”

She hurried to the back of the store. Mordecai followed her, feeling… strange.

Hewas the dragon. So why did he feel like a wandering knight, creeping into a cave of treasures?

He had barely noticed his surroundings when he’d been in the building the night before. His attention had all been on his enemies. And then on Peony.

Trying desperately to be on anything but Peony, he corrected himself with a twist of guilt.

The store was dark. Light from outside filtered around the edges of the blinds that covered the big front windows, just enough to fill the shop floor with deep shadows instead of pitch black. Darkness made all the books anonymous. A thousand unreadable covers and spines.

He couldn’t imagine anything less welcoming. And this was how his mate wanted to spend their first full day together?

What were you expecting?said a shiver-sharp voice inside him.Her to fall into your open arms? She’d have to wrench them open first.

But they’d got past that, hadn’t they? She still sniped at him, and he played the stuffy, sneering asshole, but… it was a game. Wasn’t it?

Maybe she regrets last night. Or maybe it was part of the game, too.

Maybe she just hates you.

Ice formed inside him. “What is it we are doing here again? I can’t help but notice that patrons aren’t filling the streets, desperate to buy biteable books.”

Peony glanced back at him, eyes wide. Her edges shimmered and—*Nononono-shit-not-now*—“Oh no. I amnotshifting again. You’re not getting out of this that easily!” She narrowed her eyes at him and disappeared behind a door. A moment later, the shop lights turned on, and the gloomy shelves transformed.

When Mordecai thoughtbookstore, if he thought of them at all, he thought of clinical white lights and enameled shelves of soulless bestsellers, or close-ranked, musty shelves beneath flickering, yellowed bulbs. This was neither. The overhead lights filled the shop with a warm glow. The front of the store had tables piled high with books, lit like the Crown Jewels, and shelving units were cunningly arranged around them to invite browsers to venture further into the store.Do you like the look of these cookbooks?they seemed to ask.Just wait until you see what’s back here. Or is it thrillers you’re after? Romance? Dragons and wizards? Come and peruse my wares. You’re going to love it here.

The Christmas décor was still up, of course, but behind it, the shop’s workaday wonder shone through. Even the light fixtures were in on it: soft pink roses hung from the pendant light above the romance section, and an origami dragon wound around the tops of the fantasy shelves, guarding the books. There was a taped outline of a body on the floor in the Crime section. It was whimsical and ridiculous, and he couldn’t imagine Blanderley having signed off on any of it.

This all had to be Peony’s doing.

Cluttered,he tried to tell himself as Peony hurried over to the big counter that took pride of place in the center of the store.A dust trap. Who needs so many books anyway? Glued-up scraps of paper and cardboard full of stories that don’t help anyone.

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