Page 84 of Magic and Mayhem

But I started at the very beginning and tried to keep things simple. “So they know you’re little. They know I’m your Daddy. They know you’re keeping me?”

That seemed to be a reasonable place to begin, so I was glad when he nodded. “Yes, I was very clear about the keeping you part.”

He didn’t seem worried about any of the rest of it, so I tried to keep that in mind. “Are we aiming to talk to them in the parking lot or are we asking them to join us for dinner?”

When Kenzie scrunched up his face, I hoped that meant we were on the same page. “The parking lot, Daddy.”

That definitely seemed like the best choice for a variety of reasons.

“Kenzie, what are your parents’ names?” He’d mostly just talked about his mother and that was in vague terms like Mom.

He went very still. “I almost said Mom and Dad. Everyone knows them around here. My mother’s name is Lindsay and my father’s name is Keith. Um, they’re both dragons, but they don’t have anything against humans because I’ve got an older brother who married one and she’s nice.”

That was definitely something I should’ve asked as well, but it hadn’t occurred to me that someone might not approve of us because I was human.

Now, I was pretty sure if he’d been dating a mage there’d have been comments, but no one had been weird because I was human.

Pushing that conversation to the back of my mind, though, I pulled in and parked, putting on a relaxed expression I hoped looked believable. “Ready?”

He’d better be because they pulled in next to us and his mother was already out of the vehicle. She wasn’t happy, but she was looking very normal and like any other human mom who was pissed at her son.

“Yes, Daddy.” Kenzie leaned over and kissed my cheek, not caring about our audience. “Don’t worry. I’m keeping you even if they don’t like you.”

He seemed to think that would make me feel much better, but before I could question him, his mother was tugging on the door handle. “Mackenize McMillan, did you find your mate without telling your mother?”

Oops.

“Kenzie.” The frustrated tone in my voice had him pointing a big smile my way.

“No one says mates anymore. We use boyfriend or partner or spouse. Real words.” His response and maybe the way he was ignoring his mother was making her even more insane. It was also making her eyes sparkle and I could definitely see where Kenzie got his looks from.

I hadn’t actually meant to comment on it, but the shock of the situation had the words popping out. “You’ve got her eyes, cutie.”

Yep, she could hear me.

But it seemed to work in my favor because her frustration level dropped dramatically and I got a warmer smile.

“Yeah, I’m a weird mix of both of them. I’m really glad I’m not as short as her, though.” Kenzie seemed dead set on making her nuts because he giggled as she glared at him again. “Hi, Mom. I can’t open the door while you’re this close.”

Yep, he was poking at her.

Dragons liked to live dangerously.

Thankfully for both of us, his father looked much more laid back and seemed to be trying not to laugh as he climbed out of the driver’s seat. No dragon sparkles and no frustration there. He seemed completely unaffected by his wife’s anger and his son’s cheeky responses.

Seemed like a good sign to me.

His mother looked like she was going to charge back in, but Keith wrapped her up tight and took a few steps back, cutting off her frustration mid-stream. “Kenzie, come apologize to your mother and tell your…your partner why she’s a bit miffed at you.”

Understatement of the year right there.

Kenzie seemed to have complete confidence that he wasn’t about to die, though, and nodded with a big smile. “I did.”

Kind of.

I wasn’t going to throw him under the bus, though, so I didn’t point out that he might’ve left out a few important details. “How about you introduce me?”

Climbing out of the car to make it clear to Kenzie he had to stop fucking with his mother, I ignored his giggles and focused on looking relaxed and completely at ease with the situation. It seemed to work, thankfully, because his mother didn’t look like she was going for his neck any longer and his father held out his hand as I came around the front of the car. “Good to meet you. I’m KeithMcMillan.”

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