Page 23 of Magic and Mayhem

“Do you want to see me little-little?” Couldn’t say it yet. No rushing Daddy. “I like playing.”

Daddy gave me a kiss and looked like I was the bestest dragon ever. “I would love to play with you later, sweet boy.”

I kinda wanted to play now, but my tummy decided to rumble and make Daddy grin really big. “Ugh.”

“Dinnertime, then playtime.” Daddy kissed my cheek. “But first, it’sshow off my datetime.”

He had a good plan…but I just hoped he’d remembered to bring his patience on our date too.

Chapter 7

Talon

They really needed to be a bit more subtle.

Even Kenzie was trying not to giggle as half the restaurant tuned in every time one of us opened our mouths. Just Kenzie asking me if he should have milk or juice for dinner had everyone sighing like we were in a goddamned movie.

It was the strangest first date I’d ever been on, but I was glad I didn’t have to worry about outing us in the middle of dinner.

Hell, I could’ve given him a fucking bottle in the middle of dinner and the only person to have a problem with it would’ve been the cranky owner…and that would’ve been some kind of lecture about not bringing in outside food or drinks.

“How did the rest of your afternoon go?” Trying to find something that wouldn’t be too personal for the town to overhear, I decided to stick with work questions.

“Wonderful.” Beaming as he fiddled with his straw, Kenzie looked pleased to be able to talk about his work. “I was working on the paint ingredients that we talked about and I found the notebook. I did write it down in a notebook.”

Obviously pleased to have gotten that right, he wiggled excitedly and chattered about his projects. “I just have to do some research about how the paint can be made or…or produced. It’s going to take some time, but I’m feeling much more confident.”

Produced as in made in some kind of replicator?

“I’m sure the owners will be patient. What counts is that it’s right for the toy.” And hopefully, they could fix the toxicity problem.

Nodding earnestly, Kenzie chattered about the ingredients and the chemical makeup and a tangent about pigments that I had to admit went right over my head. Thinking sounds and the occasional comment about the parts I did understand kept the conversation going, but I was making a mental list of what to start researching.

The library was going to be my first stop before my next shift, but I wasn’t sure if I’d end up needing to look online instead. Kenzie was beyond smart when it came to anything to do with his passion.

“Do you think it’s like hunting for food since they’d be used for paint? I don’t want to kill things willy-nilly.” It took me a few seconds to realize the ingredient he’d been talking about was alive.

Before I could figure out a way to subtly google what he’d been talking about, an old man walked by our table, frowned, and shook his head. “You’re gonna bore thewertalking about yourhort. You got to romance him first. Get him used to the way things are done.”

Huh?

Ver?

Wer?

What else had he said?

I couldn’t take good notes if I couldn’t spell it.

As Kenzie sighed and blushed faintly, I sorted through what I knew. The crazy old man thought Kenzie would bore me talking about his something…his job? It hadn’t been English, but it seemed to be something like job or career or hobby since we’d been talking about his work.

Going with that, there also seemed to be some kind of cultural issue with Kenzie possibly rushing into showing me his interests.

Fuck it.

“I find everything about Kenzie to be fascinating.” Giving the old, slightly stooped man a stern glare, because if anyone was going to make Kenzie blush it was me, I decided he was on the controlling end of the local spectrum and treated him like a Dom who’d slid out of his own lane and into mine. “And it’s not your place to scold him.”

I really didn’t like that word in general, but it seemed to fit the circumstances.

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